Category: Behaviour

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44. Carrying a pillion passenger – Question and Answer

Riding two-up fundamentally changes the dynamics of the motorcycle — weight distribution, braking, acceleration, cornering, and balance. If we’ve never carried one, it’s very easy to underestimate how much a passenger affects the ride. Electronic aids such as ABS, traction control, and semi-active suspension help, but they do not replace smooth throttle control, progressive braking, and careful cornering. Getting on and off a bike and knowing how to sit and hold on are far from intuitive to a new passenger. Modern aids such as Bluetooth intercoms can improve things, doing away with the need for shoulder taps, but cannot replace clear instructions before getting on, or practice. Plan rides conservatively, allow extra distance for braking, and give rider and passenger time to build confidence before attempting long trips or high-speed manoeuvres.

Carrying a pillion passenger – Question and Answer

It’s an experience – and an experiment – that nearly every rider will go through at one time or another, but the first time we put someone on the back of our machine, we’ll should realise we’re actually taking on a very serious responsibility. Suddenly, someone else’s life is in our hands. Yet it’s surprising just how few riders do think it through. We’ll have state of the art riding kits, but a battered old abandoned helmet that won’t fit is dug out of the garage then handed to the passenger. We’ve got all the protective kit, yet the passenger has to make do with whatever they can find in the cupboard. There’s absolutely no excuse for this. If you haven’t got proper riding kit for the passenger, they shouldn’t be on the back of our bike. And if you’re reading this as a potential passenger, if your pilot won’t take your riding kit seriously, how do you think he or she is likely to treat riding with you on the back? Having heard Brittany Morrow’s story about her recovery after falling from the back of a bike after going for a spin with a guy she barely knew, it made me think again about carrying a passenger, and I’m not exactly a big risk-taker.

Question I’ve been riding a couple of years and I reckon it’s time to take a passenger. What should I look out for?

Answer First thing is to find out whether your passenger has been on the back of a bike before. Then ensure that the passenger is properly dressed for the job, knows how to sit and hold on, and knows some ground rules.

Q OK, so what should my passenger wear?

A Assuming you are properly dressed, they need the same gear as you’d wear! Passengers are commonly given an old lid that’s been kicking around at the back of the garage, but really they should have their own helmet. If you are using a borrowed helmet it MUST fit! Make sure they know how to do the helmet up and CHECK! I’ve seen people stuff the strap up the side of the helmet or have the strap so ridiculously loose it’d pull off over their chin – give assistance if required. Then make sure they understand how to take care of it.

Next up is a pair of decent gloves, sturdy boots, and proper trousers & jacket – even for a short ride, these are a must. Don’t EVER give anyone (Scotsmen included) a lift if they are wearing a skirt! If wearing lace-up boots, make sure laces are tucked away. Scarves too – you may laugh, but my brother nearly strangled a friend when a long scarf caught in the chain.

Q What do I need to show my passenger before we go?

A Make sure the passenger knows where to put their feet! It may seem another stupid tip but I once spent several hours removing melted boot from the silencers on my CX500 after a passenger rested her feet on them, after I’d forgotten to fold down the footpegs!

Explain that they have to hold on, and show them where and how. They can hold onto the rider (preferable for novices) or onto the grab rail. Don’t assume they know. They may try to hold onto the bodywork or the rear light lens – I’ve seen it happen.

Q So how should they sit on the bike?

A Facing forwards, astride the seat, feet on the footpegs. That’s the answer to the DVSA test question. But they should aim to sit reasonably close to the rider to prevent wind getting between rider and passenger, and shouldn’t lean back on a top box, unless it’s specifically designed for the purpose – on a Harley or Goldwing. The mounts aren’t strong enough, nor is the subframe designed to take the weight of a passenger leaning on it. They’ll break.

Q So is it best to hold onto the rider or the grab rail?

A It depends on the the pillion’s preference and experience, and the type of bike. Whichever they choose, it is important they feel relaxed and comfortable, and vital that they do hold onto something on at all times.

If the passenger is confident enough, and the bike has a decent grab rail, then holding that is my preferred option. It detaches the passenger from the rider which may be less confidence inspiring, but it allows a more rigid and stable position for the passenger to deal with both acceleration and braking. The passenger also has more room, and with a better view past the rider, is more likely to be ready for braking, accelerating or cornering.

But if they have never been on a bike before, my preference is for them to hold on to the rider, around the waist of the rider. However, it may not be that easy to grip a riding suit if the rider accelerates, and under braking the rider will be supporting the passenger’s body weight. It also has the drawback, depending on the bike, that they may not be able to see what is about to happen as they will be close to the rider.

Better yet, the rider can wear a ‘body belt’ with a pair of handles. The belt may not be elegant but it’s confidence-inspiring for the novice passenger under acceleration, and helps ensure they move with the rider during cornering, and gives them some way of bracing themselves against braking too. Gripping tight with the thighs can help and gives you some feedback from the pillion.

Some people recommend what I’ve heard called the “brace” position, with one hand on the grab rail and the other bracing in front either on the tank or the seat. I’ve not tried this personally, so I’ll leave it up to you to try.

If there’s one position to be avoided it’s advising the passenger to rest both hands on the back of the tank. There’s absolutely nothing to stop the rider falling backwards under acceleration, and this is exactly what happened to Brittany Morrow. Look her up on internet. I’ve worked with her on the New Zealand Shiny Side Up rider safety initiative and she’s a brave and inspiring woman.

Q Anything else before we set off?

A Explain that on acceleration they will tend to fall backwards, and under braking will slide forwards. Tell them that the bike does lean over, so they are not taken by surprise. You’d be amazed how many new passengers have never thought about that. Explain that in a corner, the rider will balance the bike, and all they need to do is relax and stay in line with the rider – and specifically warn them not to sit upright in a bend – most novice passengers do, so be ready for that. To help the passenger to feel more connected with the rider, tell him/her to look into the turn. All this might sound like a recipe to scare them, but it’s a damn sight scarier for a new passenger when the bikes starts moving and they don’t know what to expect.

Next, tell them how to get on. It may be possible to mount from the left simply by swinging the right leg over the seat but if there’s luggage on the bike or the passenger isn’t very tall, then they will have to mount the bike as if they were riding a horse – they will need to put their left foot on the left peg and stand on it, before swinging their right leg up and over the seat. They can place a hand on your shoulder for support but brace yourself in anticipation. It’s easier if the bike is upright and not on the side stand, but watch out for their weight rocking the bike from side to side – a heavy rider can exert quite a surprising force. Make sure they get on and off only when you tell them to. They should wait till you are ready, seated with your feet firmly braced, and ready for them. And yes, I have had a passenger try to climb on before I did.

When coming to a stop at a junction or lights, ensure the passenger knows they should not put their feet down – the rider will balance the bike when stopped – or to let go – if the lights change, you will need to accelerate away again. And tell them not to fidget around, particularly at slow speed.

Although it’s important not to distract the rider unnecessarily, some signals can help if you don’t have comms between rider and passenger. A thumbs-up can be used to show the rider the passenger is ready to move off. If they want you to stop or slow down, suggest a tap on the shoulder. But they shouldn’t make signals to other road users.

And double-check the passenger is comfortable and secure before pulling away.

Q What about stopping again?

A Remember to slow progressively, which means rolling off the throttle gently, then braking equally gently. Use both brakes, not just the front. In fact, you can use more rear brake than normal because of the extra weight gives the rear tyre more grip. More rear brake also helps keep the front forks from diving – the bike will ‘squat’ and stop more level which makes it easer for you to keep your footing. Remember, you have that extra weight to deal with, so smooth stops are essential.

With the rear brake in action, you’re going to have to put your left foot down. If you’re not used to that, some prior practice would be a good idea, or you’ll end up releasing the rear brake and making a sudden grab at the front to stop.

Coming to a stop, Make sure you stop upright, not leaned over, because if you come to a half leaning the bike even slightly, the extra weight whilst stopped can cause you to drop the bike. Look carefully where you are going to put your feet – is the camber too steep or is the surface covered in wet leaves? Been there, dropped it! And don’t try to ride at walking pace if you don’t have to. Every little wobble will cause the passenger to move around, and it makes it difficult to hold a straight line.

Once stopped, don’t be afraid to put both feet down. And finally, at the end of the ride make sure the passenger understands they sit still until you have the bike securely balanced – they should only dismount again when you tell them.

Q What problems might I come across?

A By far and away the most dangerous issue is losing the passenger off the back. My brother dumped me on the road behind the bike giving it a handful to impress his mates, just as I turned round to wave goodbye. It’s not unknown for riders to lose control as the passenger makes a despairing grab for them.

Not far behind is the sudden hard stop that has the passenger losing grip on the grab rail and sliding into the rider’s back. Suddenly you’re having to support not only your own bodyweight but that if the passenger too. Losing control is common. If the passenger is nutting you, you’re braking too hard.

The answer to both of those is gentle braking and acceleration!

The most common issue is caused by the passenger sitting bolt-upright mid-corner. The bike will try to straighten on, and you’ll have to lean over even further to get round the corner. So warn the passenger first, then take corners slowly so that you can lean in progressively and get round with no more than a moderate lean angle. Don’t bang the bike straight over on its side – what seems perfectly natural to you can seem positively suicidal to a novice pillion.

Alternatively, the passenger tries to help by leaning further – this tightens the bike’s line mid-turn, forcing a steering correction. In my experience, it’s usually other riders who don’t passenger much who fall for this one. Tell ’em to stop being so helpful and to sit still!

Q How should I change my riding?

A Simple – take everything with more care, but particularly when changing speed and overtaking. Practice smooth use of the controls and plenty of forward planning to avoid having to jam the brakes on or swerve suddenly. Pretend you have an egg balanced on the tank.

Two-up, you can’t brake as hard as you can solo, nor can you use anything like the same amount of throttle without losing the passenger off the back. What feels to you like perfectly moderate acceleration can be extremely frightening to a novice, so take it nice and easy. Hanging on with your feet in the rider’s armpits does not inspire pillion confidence. That’s a factor to remember when planning an overtake – if you aren’t sure, don’t go. And if you are filtering, don’t forget your passenger’s knees are probably the widest part of the bike.

The change in geometry of the bike will change the way the machine corners. The bike will be slower to change direction and you will need to work harder to get it turned. At low speed it’s tricky to keep the bike balanced. Some bikes are more badly affected than others – my old GS500E was almost unrideable two-up, but the XJ6 deals with a passenger well.

Give passengers time to get confident in your riding AND their ability to hang on.

Q How does braking differ with a passenger?

A If you’ve been taught to avoid the brakes and rely on throttle sense, you’re about to discover another weakness of this approach to riding – the extra weight of a passenger renders engine braking less effective so practice slowing and stopping with the brakes work, so you can use them smoothly.

As I already mentioned, the extra weight at the rear allows for more rear brake to be applied and you should aim to brake more gently than when riding solo to ensure the passenger can cope with the deceleration forces.

Ultimately, give yourself more time and space for everything, including when following other vehicles.

Q Anything I should adjust on my bike?

A Use common sense. If you are just taking someone a mile or two up the road, then the only thing I would check are the mirrors aren’t giving a good view of the road surface. But if you are setting off for the south of France then there are a bunch of things to check and adjust.

Tyre pressures – check the handbook but on many machines the rear tyre pressure should be increased.
Suspension – check the handbook but normally you will have to adjust preload and perhaps damping to cope with the extra weight
Chain tension – it might be worth checking the chain has not become too tight with a passenger and luggage aboard
Headlamp aim – if the back has sagged under the weight, the lights are now doing a good job of hitting the treetops – sort them out before it gets dark

Q OK, read and done all that, now I reckon we’re ready for the south of France

A Then make sure you both get a bit of practice in before you attempt a long trip. In particular, do some slow speed and braking practice before you mix it with traffic. You’ll find the bike handles very differently and you don’t want to discover that just as you approach the lights. It will also give your passenger time to get used to riding on the back. Having a comfortable, confident passenger will make the ride a lot more fun for both of you.

And don’t try to ride too far on the first few days – you’ll both be tiring more quickly riding two-up, but a passenger who doesn’t normally go on the bike will be knackered.

Q Ooo errrr – I took someone out on the back for the first time and I didn’t like it one little bit

A It just takes getting used to! Going at speed is generally no problem, but getting the hang of slow control, steering, accelerating and stopping is totally different with someone on the back. Keep practicing!

Q My arms ached after taking a pillion

A Your passenger might be nervous, but so are you! Relax and ease up those tense muscles.

Q Do I need a big bike to carry a passenger?

A Not exactly, if the videos from India are anything to go by, but you need a bike which is built for a passenger. There are several large capacity machines with such ridiculous pillion accommodation that I wouldn’t even try to carry one.

An obvious problem is the physical size of the machine. Tiny bikes will struggle to seat two large riders. Then there’s the seat – even large capacity machines can have a passenger seat the size of a pocket handkerchief, and then I wouldn’t bother. Another problem is the position of the footpegs, which can be at knee-crippling heights.

Rather less obvious is how the steering geometry copes with the extra weight at the rear. I was very surprised to discover my old GS500E wasn’t at all happy two-up. A big tourer like a Goldwing, a Harley Glide or BMW RT will be designed to carry two people from the ground up, have huge seats, comfy footpegs, and the suspension and steering geometry designed for the job. Plus the large lazy engines will haul the extra weight without even noticing it.

Sports tourers are usually perfectly competent two up tools, with reasonable accommodation for the passenger and a reasonable compromise in the way of bike set up, and only the occasional need to drop a gear to regain lost acceleration. A quick tweak of suspension and tyre pressures should be all that’s needed to set the bike up.

But generally speaking sports bikes aren’t great. Yes, I know you see people on the back of them all the time, but they usually look like a frog trying to hang onto a broomstick. They aren’t very comfortable, and the extra weight perched high up on the back of a relatively small, relatively light bike compromises the quick steering and finely tuned suspension. As the rider, you can compensate but it isn’t always much fun.

Q My mate can pull wheelies with his girlfriend on the back

A So what? With a passenger, you are responsible not only for yourself, but for him/her too. Your pillion is putting a lot of trust in you. Don’t abuse that trust by scaring the living s@#t out of them. Keep the riding smooth and you will both enjoy it. Don’t show off!

Q Where can I get a training course covering these point?

A Drop Survival Skills a line. I can run a short two-hour ‘Basics’ course covering these very points.

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43. Which Foot? The Hendon Shuffle – Question and Answer

This article first appeared way back when I was still a basic instructor, and involves a simple question which ends up with a complicated answer; which foot to put down to hold the bike up at a standstill. The “Hendon Shuffle” is still a topic of discussion in some advanced courses. The core message — that the primary purpose of putting a foot down is bike stability rather than strict adherence to a specific foot — is timeless. The modern trend to ever-heavier bikes — particularly the bike adventure and touring models which are often ridden two-up, make this seemingly-simple topic even more important.

Which Foot? The Hendon Shuffle – Question and Answer

Although this is another tip written a long time ago (I note that I updated it in 2007), it’s still an active topic for conversation – I had a trainee out the other day who is retaking his RoSPA test and told me that the local examiner “likes to see the Hendon Shuffle”. Yet as you’ll see in the answer to the first question, there’s been no consistency in how putting our feet down has been taught over the years. And in each case, one very important point gets overlooked – we put our feet down primarily to support the bike at a standstill. Everything else is a secondary decision.

Question When I did my DAS I was told that I should always stop in the Safety Position – that is with the left leg down and the right foot on the rear brake. But I was told by an IAM observer that I should stop with the right foot down and the left foot ready to change gear. Which is correct?

Answer A good question. The Safety Position has been taught by generations of CSM trained CBT/DAS instructors whose approach is that anything other than left foot down is 100% wrong. To my knowledge, some IAM groups encourage a right foot down approach and some IAM observers are equally vehement about this. Just to complete the confusion, the old DSA’s ‘Motorcycling Manual’ used to say (page 64):

“with the clutch lever still pulled in

  1. use your left foot to move the gear lever selector to neutral

  2. release the clutch lever

  3. place both feet on the ground”

So who is right? Well, the only answer must be “none of them”! There are certain circumstances when each of the three methods have value.

Q I’ve heard about something called the Hendon Shuffle. What is it?

A Well, it’s not a North London card sharping technique. It’s something taught to trainees at the Hendon Police school which involves a foot-swapping procedure allowing the rider to find neutral at a standstill – right foot down, left foot up, change gear, left foot down, right foot up to cover brake to get out of gear. Of course if you ride an old British bike, you’ll have to reverse all that!

The same foot-swapping procedure is needed to get back into gear. The theory is that we are always covering a brake all the time you are stationary. It’s something many experienced riders dispense with. It’s time-consuming, it’s debatable whether it’s ever ‘necessary’ and in certain circumstances where we may need to move of smartly (for example, we realise the car behind isn’t stopping) potentially dangerous.

Q So what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

A Assuming a standard left foot gear change, right foot brake…

Left leg down:

  • hill starts are much easier using the back brake

  • allows the use of the rear brake for improved stability and slow speed control, for instance when coming to a standstill or filtering at walking pace where we might have to stop suddenly, or descending a steep hill

  • allows us to show a brake light, improving visibility to traffic behind

  • we have to do the ‘Hendon Shuffle’ to get out of gear and back in to gear

Right leg down

  • w can get in and out of gear easily

  • we can gently hold the front brake for the visibility effect of the brake light

  • we can’t use the back brake so have to rely on the front brake only when coming to a halt, reducing stability and control when the bike is least stable

  • hill starts are more difficult using the front brake

Q I never need to put the right/left foot down

A The most important thing is to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages in each individual situation we find ourselves and definitely not to get anal about one or the other.

I don’t believe that putting the left foot down should not become a rule – yes, holding the bike on the rear brake is useful on a slope but it’s often pointless on the flat, and there are other occasions when the left foot down is equally pointless – for instance when waiting at a pelican crossing – we know the lights are going to change in a couple of seconds so there is no point in worrying about changing in and out of gear, we can select 1st gear as we roll to a halt and just hold it on the clutch.

Q I was told that keeping my right foot up on the rear brake was safer if hit from behind when stopped

A Does it seem likely that the rear brake of a motorcycle will stop a few tonnes of car in its tracks, even if it’s only a gentle tap? No. Even if we do manage to keep a foot on the rear brake, the bike will be shunted forward. And then, speaking from personal experience, both feet go down to try to keep it upright. The biggest plus is that the brake light is on, which will hopefully prevent a car hitting the bike from behind but the best defence is to keep a good lookout in the mirrors and to be ready to move forward in an emergency.

Q This is a silly discussion – I want to make sure the bike doesn’t fall over, not mess around with brakes and gears

A To a great extent I agree. What both arguments tend to overlook is the reason we put a foot down in the first place – it’s there to support the weight of the bike. All other advantages and disadvantages are irrelevant if the bike is now lying on top of us. Many times we would be better advised to put the right foot down to support the bike. For example, when the camber works against us, we may be struggling to reach the ground when turning left at a junction here in the UK. Of course on the continent or in the USA the camber would work in the opposite direction so at a right turn next to the kerb, we might have to put the left foot down to support the bike. Where the surface is poor or oily I will put down which ever foot looks like it has the better grip. Sometimes you simply need maximum stability when stationary. On that slippery surface I might need both feet down. And if it’s a windy day, or I’m carrying a passenger or riding a heavily loaded bike, I would probably have both feet on the ground too.

And just occasionally, we know we’re going to be sat waiting for a long time. Perhaps we know the lights sequence or we’re at roadworks. Now, if we’re out of gear, it gives our clutch hand a rest, but I’d probably put both feet down. I might even put the bike on the side stand!

So I do whatever makes sense to me at the time. Incidentally, despite what you might have been taught at the time, you will not fail the DSA test for not using the Safety Position – the examiner is far more interested in the way you manage your gear changes and braking, and the overall control, then the precise nature of which foot you put down.

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42. Living with Lifesavers

 

Even with modern mirrors, rear-view cameras, and blind-spot warning systems, the lifesaver over-the-shoulder check remains essential and with increasing use of cycles and e-cycles and ‘micro-mobility’ solutions like e-scooters, even a motorcycle is vulnerable when turning left or right. Technology can alert us to vehicles we might otherwise miss, but it does not remove the responsibility to confirm our blind spots in real time. Combining mirror checks with a brief chin-to-shoulder glance fills the gaps in situational awareness, especially in multi-lane traffic or when vehicles accelerate unexpectedly. Practising these lifesaver checks until they become automatic ensures that riders are less likely to be caught by surprise — No Surprise? No Accident!

Living with Lifesavers

For a lot of riders, the last time they make a lifesaver over-the-shoulder check is the moment they turn back into the test centre in front of the examiner. The reason for making the over-the-shoulder observation is explained early on in CBT – it’s to see into the two problem areas to either side. This area is behind our peripheral vision, yet not far enough back to show up in the mirrors. The blind area is quite big enough to hide another motorcycle and even a car can go missing alongside us. The chin-to-shoulder check ‘clears’ this area with a direct observation. So after all the effort that basic trainers go to, from CBT right up to the moment of the test, why do riders start dropping techniques that are intended to increase their riding safety?

In my article about rear observation, I mentioned that in some cases riders have been told to “forget all that stuff you learned – it’s only for passing the test”. Here’s the really disappointing thing. I’ve heard it from people training advanced riders.

I mentioned that when taking post-test training, the trainee is often introduced to the concept sometimes known as ‘mirror history’. The idea is that if we look in our mirrors frequently enough, we’ll know exactly what’s around us and have complete situational awareness without needing the over-the-shoulder check on basic training.

So the big question is: “can we rely on mirror history?”

Let’s think about what a mirror check achieves. We take a snapshot of the situation that exists at the exact moment we look in the mirror. Two mirror checks are thus two snapshots. Just like comparing two ‘before and after’ photos, we don’t know what happened in the gap between the two. And that means any decision we make on the basis of a sequence of snapshots is, simply put, an informed guess.

How good is our informed guess? The answer is that it’s only as good as our checks.

Hopefully, you can now see that there are three problems with relying too heavily on mirror history:

  1. the first is the frequency of our checks. If we leave long gaps in our rear observation, then pretty much anything can be happening behind us and we simply won’t know about it.

  2. the second is that we can forget what we saw, particularly when traffic is moving in queues. A vehicle can slide forward into the blind spot and if it sits there long enough, we can forget that it was visible some seconds ago and now isn’t where we can see it – I’ve made that mistake myself.

  3. the third is that mirror checks can fail to show a rapidly-changing situation that is about to put us at risk.

It might seem that to solve the first problem we simply need to ‘up’ the rate of mirror checks. Easy to say, not nearly so easy to achieve. The moment that a situation developing in front of us begins to cause us concern, what’s the first thing that goes out of the window? Yes, it’s mirror checks. It’s all very well to say that a skilled rider wouldn’t forget but even experts make mistakes under stress. The answer is not to rely on memory but make a real-time sideways check.

On motorways, riders sit alongside vehicles in their blind spot then wonder why the driver starts to move into their lane. The reason may not be that the driver “didn’t look” as we’re so keen to assume, but in fact “looked, saw and forgot”. So it shouldn’t be a big surprise when we find vehicles in our blind spots that we forgot were there.

And sometimes we’re just looking in the wrong mirror when a situation develops. Some years ago I was following another biker in my Nissan Serena people carrier. We were both in the middle lane of the motorway, and he was looking for a gap in the outside lane to overtake a slower vehicle we were catching. So he was making regular mirror checks to see what was coming up in the outside lane. Meanwhile, we’d just passed an on-ramp and I noticed a car accelerating very rapidly indeed down onto the main carriageway. The Mercedes shot straight through the inside lane, and at the moment the rider made his final mirror check before moving out into a gap to his right, the Mercedes was aiming for the same gap, and crossing through the middle lane behind me.

Naturally, because it was behind me, the rider couldn’t see it in his mirror. He started to move into the outside lane but the car was already in the gap and accelerating. The driver hit the horn, the rider was taken completely by surprise and barely swerved back out of the way.

Now, we can point the finger at the Merc driver but the biker needed to confirm his mirror history – he absolutely NEEDED to turn his head chin-to-shoulder to clear his blind spot. This is the role of the lifesaver. It’s to give real-time information that updates our situational awareness.

Is it dangerous to look over the shoulder at speed? An objection often raised against blind spot checks before committing to an overtake is that it’s dangerous to take our eyes off the car ahead in case it brakes suddenly. I don’t think it should take anyone long to work out that if we’re worried about looking away from the vehicle ahead, we’ll almost certainly struggle to make decent mirror checks too, and it’s unlikely our forward checks will be much better. There’s a simple solution – don’t follow so close and don’t try to force overtakes in restricted spaces. In any case, the quickest and most reliable way to make this final shoulder check is to combine it with a mirror check – follow the glance in the mirror with a chin-to-shoulder check.

We fill in the missing information by combining the two checks, and it only takes a moment longer than looking in the mirror alone.

In the example above, following into the shoulder check AFTER the final mirror check would have taken the rider a fraction of a second but it would have given him that vital update and filled in the gap in his mirror history. His informed guess nearly killed him.

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41. Getting our retaliation in first – pro-active versus reactive riding

Pro-active riding remains central to modern motorcycle safety. While updates such as advanced rider aids and digital alerts can support our awareness, nothing replaces the skill of anticipating hazards before they develop. By assessing potential conflict points, adjusting lane position, controlling speed, and signalling or alerting other road users early, riders can actively manage risk rather than waiting to react. The earlier we plan and act, the less likely we are to be taken by surprise: No surprise? No accident!

Getting our retaliation in first – pro-active versus reactive riding

Since I launched my Survival Skills advanced motorcycle training courses back in 1997, the thinking underpinning my approach to riding hasn’t changed at all. I’ve always thought – based on my experience as a motorcycle courier – that whilst we need to plan for things to go wrong, we don’t actually need to wait until people make mistakes around us. We can anticipate problems, then respond in such as way as to cancel out the problem before it develips. Nevertheless, there have been changes in other places, particularly around the motorcycle test itself. The theory test aims to ensure that riders already have a degree of ability to see into the future before they take the practical test, but the first time I saw the hazard perception videos I thought it was a lost opportunity. Despite the latest innovation – the clips are now based on CGI – I still think they are poorly-conceived. Read on and find out why.

One of concepts underpinning ‘advanced’ riding is the idea that we should apply observation, anticipation and concentration to the riding task. The idea is that by avoiding distraction and focusing on the task in hand – riding the bike – we’ll be more able to identify hazards and work out how they might affect us. But there’s another necessary stop – we have to have a plan to deal with those hazard IF things get tricky. It’s no good seeing a car at the side of the road, and knowing it COULD pull out if we don’t have a plan in mind to deal with the situation if it does emerge into our path. That’s the true essence of a riding plan – we know what’s coming next and we know what we’re going to do to deal with it.

But we can go a step further – we may be able to see how a situation could develop and take a course of action which actively minimises or even cancels out the risk.

Back in 1999, I got hold of a copy of the brand-new BikeSafe 2000 video produced by the Thames Valley police. Although it’s now two decades old, it covers some excellent ground. In particular, I noticed the use of the terms reactive and pro-active – two terms I’ve talked about in my training since 1997. At the time, these terms were not in regular use.

Even now, the distinction between them is not so well-known, perhaps because of the way that the DVSA set up their hazard perception videos. The DVSA recognise three levels of hazard, where a hazard is defined as something that poses a threat with a consequent risk of personal harm:

a potential hazard is something that may or may not become a threat

a developing hazard is something that will require an intervention by the rider in the immediate future

an actual hazard needs to be dealt with NOW!

When the DSA (as was) brought their roadshow around the country to show of the new hazard perception videos, one of the clips I was shown revealed a kiddie on a bicycle cycling down a footpath across a playing field to the nearside of the car. The footpath was angled to intersect with the road some distance ahead, and it appeared that the cyclist would arrive at the end of the footpath at about the same time as the camera vehicle.

As you’d probably expect – it’s a hazard perception video after all – I decided that the cyclist was a hazard almost as soon as he appeared, and clicked on him. He carried on down the path, and bunny-hopped off the pavement and into the road just in front of the camera car. Job done, I thought…

…except that I had scored zero for video.

Why? The presenter explained. “You clicked too early”.

Eh? How can you spot a hazard ‘too early’?

The answer is that at the point where I clicked, the situation was still fluid and the outcome could have changed – the cyclist could have veered off the path onto the grass, slowed down or even stopped. He was only a ‘potential’ hazard. So identifying the cyclist as a hazard at this point was too early.

Being slightly bemused by this, the presenter further explained that if I’d left my ‘click’ until he bunny-hopped off the pavement into the road, that would also have scored zero because I would then have identified the hazard too late – in the car, I would have needed to take sudden evasive action to avoid what was now an ‘actual’ hazard.

The ‘sweet spot’ which would score maximum points was a narrow zone where the cyclist had been in sight for several seconds but was still heading for the road and just a couple of seconds from bunny-hopping his bike out into the road. This was where the hazard was ‘developing’ and would leave me time to steer or brake smoothly to avoid the bike rider.

What should be pretty obvious is that if wait until the cyclist puts us into a position where we will have to change speed or direction, then we’re not being pro-active. We’re being reactive. We’re waiting until we don’t have a choice. It may not be an emergency reaction but it’s too late.

Personally, I’m still puzzled as to why the DVSA’s hazard perception clips require such a last-moment response. I’d argue that the earlier we see a hazard, the sooner we can plan our strategy and get into a position where we are able to ‘get our retaliation in first’. Maybe as soon as the cyclist appeared, I could take up a much wider position away from the kerb. Maybe I could accelerate a little to clear the potential zone of conflict before the cyclist gets there. Maybe I could even sound the horn to get him to look round. All these are pro-active responses.

Being pro-active in this way is the next step after anticipation. If working out that the cyclist is on a potential collision course is risk assessment, then being pro-active is risk MANAGEMENT. And the really big plus is that if we’re already taking steps, we’re not going to be taken by SURPRISE! No Surprise? No Accident.

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40. Overtaking – don’t get caught up with a vehicle turning right

The fundamental error — overtaking without accounting for a right turn — is still one of the most common and most avoidable causes of serious and fatal motorcycle collisions. Increasing numbers of damaged, hidden or missing signs, near-universal use of sat-nav, many more delivery vehicles turning unpredictably, ever-more erratic use of signals; no rider-aid system can detect a driver’s intention to turn across our path. The principle here is therefore unchanged: if there is anywhere a vehicle could turn right, it should be assumed that sooner or later it will. There’s no point blaming the driver after the event. It’s all about anticipating what vehicles are likely to do. Then staying out of trouble.

Overtaking – don’t get caught up with a vehicle turning right

As I’ve mentioned before, overtaking is never ‘safe’ and in fact, a quick look at the accident statistics reveals just how often motorcyclists get overtaking wrong. Passing another vehicle throws up a whole range of potential errors from misjudging speed and distance (and thus time to collision) to observation failures. Not least, we’re always relying on the driver we’re passing to do what we expect. Essentially we’re always taking a calculated risk, so we should be making the pass in such a way as to minimise the chance of something going wrong. But some riders make one of the mistakes that also one of the easiest to avoid; don’t overtake where there is a chance the vehicle we’re planning on passing might turn right!

There’s a slower vehicle we want to pass. But before we commit to the overtake, it’s essential to engage our brain before we engage warp drive.

Let’s start with the ‘look and feel’ of the situation. The vehicle ahead is moving rather slower than we’d expect. Does that mean it’s an easy target for an overtake? Or should it set our Spidy Senses tingling that something’s not quite right. Why might a vehicle be slower than us? It could simply be that the driver’s not in so much of a rush. Or it could mean that the vehicle’s about to make a manoeuvre.

Some years ago, we had a long debate on a forum after an experienced rider tailed a Landrover into a right-hand bend, with the Landie driver on the brakes all the way round. The rider knew the road, and that there was a straight after the bend, so he set up his position ready to overtake as soon as his view of the road ahead opened up. As it did, he cut to the other lane and started to accelerate…

…just as the Landrover continued to steer right, into a farm track he’d never noticed before.

The rider just avoided a collision.

There followed the usual debate about the failure of the Landrover driver to use mirrors or signals. But ultimately, it’s our own responsibility to ask the question “What if…?” and to come up with the right answer. If there IS a place a vehicle CAN turn right, then sooner or later it WILL turn right.

And of course, what was forgotten in all the righteous indignation about the driver’s failings was that “what goes in, must come out”. The rider could have set up the same overtake behind another car, and pulled straight into the path of the Landrover turning right OUT of that farm track.

So it’s not just the road ahead we need to ensure is clear, we need to scan for places a vehicle could turn in.

We need to look for side roads, access roads to car parks or delivery bays, driveways, farm tracks… and more besides. These entrances are often tough to spot. A side turning can be hidden by anything from a hedgerow to a parked van. It was a parked furniture removals lorry that caught me out years ago. It was parked on the grass, so given the long straight ahead, an overtake past a slower car seemed perfectly reasonable. Only at the last moment did I spot the car pulling out from the side turning – the driver hadn’t seen either of us approaching thanks to the same van. Cominig back down the road the other way an hour or so later, I noticed the clue that would have warned me – the finger post pointing into that side road.

There are plenty of side turnings on rural roads, but also plenty of cottages, and each cottage has a driveway. They’re often totally blind, concealed behind a neatly-trimmed hedge. The driver can’t see out, and we can’t see his car either. But there are usually plenty of other clues; the hedge is neatly-trimmed, perhaps with a sliver of mown grass. We might see flowers, a wheelie bin, and even the mirror on the opposite side of the road which the driver uses to compensate for his lack of view. As the No Surprise? No Accident Rhyming Reminder has it, “GAPS=TRAPS”.

In town or country, it’s tempting to overtake slow-moving delivery vans. But pause for a moment. What do delivery vans do? They deliver. If the driver is constantly slowing down then speeding up again, what’s happening? Do you think it might be that he’s trying to spot his delivery address? Is it a good idea to overtake as he slows down? Or should we be thinking about hanging back and waiting for him or her to find the building they’re searching for? What if the van is simply driving slowly? Could the driver be in a strange town and checking the GPS or route signs to find his way? Is it a good place to nip past? If it’s a hire van, and it’s come from a different part of the country, that’s more than likely. Even if we’re looking at a car and thinking that there’s no obvious reason for hesitant driving, it could simply be an inexperienced driver at the wheel. Or maybe it’s a foreign visitor in a hire car, and not used to driving on our side of the road.

If we do decide we’re going to overtake, try to give the driver chance to see us in the mirror. Once committed, pass decisively but slowly enough to be able to take avoiding action. And DON’T BE AFRAID TO SOUND THE HORN – it’s what its there for. If the driver hasn’t seen us coming, the horn will hopefully make him think twice before swinging across the road and into our path.

But don’t give in to impatience. It’s easy to do that, and then we get taken out by a driver turning right into an entrance we didn’t see. We have to be pretty darn certain there’s no way the driver could turn right before passing. There’s a Rhyming Reminder rule for that too – “if you don’t KNOW, you don’t GO”.

Overtake cautiously out there!

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39. KISS – ‘Keep it simple, Stupid’ because outcomes matter more than choreography

I’m a big fan of ‘Low Effort Biking’ and picking the least-technically difficult course of action to deliver a specific outcome. The reasons are simple — reduced workload, simplifed decision-making, fewer points at which a manoeuvre can break down. Yet, there’s always been a tendency to equate “advanced” riding with technically intricate techniques. The central argument here remains unchanged: what matters is the outcome, not the choreography. Simpler methods generally leave more margin, create fewer failure points, and are easier to recover from when something goes wrong — which, on real roads, it inevitably will.

 

KISS – ‘Keep it simple, Stupid’ because outcomes matter more than choreography

If there are two ways to achieve the same end, which is the best? If the end result is the same, then it’s probably to keep using the method that’s least technically difficult. It’s a general rule that the more complicated a procedure, there more there is to go wrong and thus the more likely things are to go wrong. And guess what? An accusation that can be thrown at advanced motorcycle riding is that we like to make things complicated. Just look at the way positioning gets described; not “left, right or centre of the lane”. Instead, it’s “position one, position two, position three”. There are plenty more examples of how rather than simplifying riding, we seem to want to make it more technically awkward. There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning new skills and mastering new techniques – after all, it’s what I’m in the business of developing for riders on my Survival Skills post-test training courses. But shouldn’t we be looking for ways to apply those skills in ways that make life a bit easier, not more tricky?

Let’s start with a simple task – turning the bike round so it faces the other way in the road. How can we achieve that? Most of us would immediately say “by making a U-turn”. But is that the SIMPLEST way? I once got an e-mail from a trainee who’d hospitalised himself just a few weeks after I’d shown him how to make a three-point turn. He’d mistaken his route, found himself facing a gate on a dead-end lane and tried to perform a U-turn. Realising it was going wrong, and that he was about to lose his balance, he stuck out a leg to try to stop the bike toppling. He saved the bike but at the expense of a leg fracture. Ouch.

That may be an extreme injury, but there are plenty of bikes sporting the scars of a ‘dropped it doing a U-turn’ incident.

So are there easier ways? For sure. I can do U-turns – I’ve demo’d enough over the years. But when I’m NOT demonstrating the manoeuvre, I rarely bother. I’ll ride around the block or find a petrol station or car park to reverse direction. I’ll even perform a three-point turn. Why? Because it keeps things simple, and removes some unnecessary risk because as we’ve just seen, U-turns DO go wrong.

I’m not saying that being able to turn the bike accurately in a tight space is not a necessary skill, because it is – the technique is needed for tight turns or junctions where there is restricted space, to move around parked vehicles, to negotiate mini-roundabouts and hairpin bends. But there’s little point in making awkward manoeuvres if we don’t NEED to.

Here’s another example. Have you watched someone riding at walking pace twenty metres back from a red traffic light? Have you ever wondered what possible advantage they are gaining from their maneouvre? I have. That rider is not going to make any ‘better progress’ away from the lights than I am, sat there stationary at the STOP line. Any arguments that it’s easier on the engine or saves fuel are nonsensical. And whilst I am sat stationary and nicely balanced with a foot on the floor, I have all the time in the world to watch the mirrors for vehicles coming up from behind. Balancing at slow speed, where’s our focus – on maintaining our balance, or on the mirrors?

Once again, this isn’t saying I’m advocating rushing up to the lights and banging the brakes on at the last second. I’ll roll off and slow down smoothly, in the hope that red will turn back to green allowing me to roll through without stopping. But the walking pace performance seems to have been taken to a point where it serves no useful function except to make life more complicated for the rider.

Some years ago, I was being given a demo ride by a police rider. His tyres were alongside the white line on left-handers and almost in the gutter on right-handers. After a bit he stopped and asked: “why aren’t you following my lines?” I gave him one reason – his sticky back tyre was picking up stone chips and flinging them at me, so I was riding inside his lines to stay clear of the pebble-dashing treatment. But the real reason was that I simply didn’t need to. We weren’t riding at such as speed that we needed to widen the line to stretch out our stopping distance by extending “the distance we could see to be clear”, even if moving another half-metre left or right would have given me a much better view. Instead, it becomes an exercise in maintaining a very precise path – get it wrong and we’re either over the centre line or off the tarmac.

The general technique of using the width of the lane makes sense. But taking it to extremes doesn’t.

And there’s one area where keeping things as simple and as fool-proof as possibile really should get more airtime. And that’s when overtaking. In terms of risk – the chance of something going wrong multiplied by the impact on us when it does – overtaking is almost certainly the most dangerous manoeuvre we perform on a motorcycle. But we treat overtaking as a ‘skill’, and we even try to demonstrate how ‘skillful’ our overtakes are. I once watched another rider coming up behind me on a busy road. He performed a whole series of overtakes, leapfrogging past HGV after HGV. Each time, he waited for a gap in the oncoming traffic and moved forward one truck. Technically proficient, indeed. After ten minutes of this, he was a couple of HGVs ahead of me.

Then we stopped at a red light, and as the queue formed, I filtered back past him to the front of the queue. Which manoeuvre was easier? Who took less risk? OK, the lights may not have changed but each pass put him a couple of seconds further ahead. Even if I’d trailed him into the next town I’d have been just a couple of minutes behind. If there’s one thing I learned back in my courier days, all overtakes are risky, and complex overtakes have a habit of going wrong. ‘Just because we can’ is not a justification for overtaking. I’ll take the easier option. And if an easier option doesn’t appear? Well, I’m not in that much of a rush.

I’ll conclude with two other observations.

Firstly, the more technically complex our riding, the more we have to focus on what we’re doing. And that’s tiring. I still spend long days in the saddle and reducing stress and staying as fresh as possible has major safety benefits because a knackered rider is a rider at risk. Stopped at a red light, I get a few moments to move around and stretch muscles that haven’t moved for a while, and can mentally switch off (rear observation excepted). Overtaking is physically and mentally tiring, above and beyond any progress benefits that may accrue, so seeking out the low effort overtakes is entirely beneficial.

Secondly, whilst there’s absolutely nothing wrong with gaining new and improved skills and knowledge, that doesn’t mean we have to exploit them. In fact, the deeper we can operate within our own skills ‘comfort zone’, the more margin for adjustment we have. It doesn’t matter whether it’s confidence at outright lean angle, our braking technique or the ability to judge the speed and distance of an oncoming car to a nicety. The more we push towards those limits, the less we have in hand in case things go wrong. And remember, the Survival Skills approach to advanced motorcycle riding is always to remember that things CAN go wrong.

So how do we manage a three-point turn on a bike when we don’t have reverse?

Quite simple. Have a good look round and start your turn just like you were about to perform a U-turn but stop with the front wheel in the centre of the road. Here’s the clever bit. Most roads are cambered, so gravity substitutes for reverse, making it easy to paddle backwards – just remember to turn the front wheel the other way. Back at the kerb, you’re probably angled where you want to go next, so one final check and you’re away. If the road’s really narrow, make it a five point turn. ‘Less-skilled’? Maybe, if our definition of skill is making life difficult for ourselves.

And there’s a safety benefit. When performing a U-turn a motorcycle cannot block the road in the same way that a car performing a three-point turn will. I’ve had cars cut past my learners in mid U-turn just because they can. If it was scary for me, it must have been heart-stopping for the trainees. Now, if you’re performing a three-point turn, as soon as you stop, half the road is free for any impatient driver to pass.

So my take on riding is that eliminating complex techniques makes life easier. Ask yourself – are you doing something because you need to? Or because it’s nice? Remember KISS – Keep it simple, Stupid.

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37. Mirror and blind spot checks – when and when not to!

Some newer motorcycles are now fitted with rear-view cameras and blind-spot warning systems, often using flashing lights or screen icons to indicate nearby vehicles. These can be helpful additions, particularly in poor visibility, but they do not change the fundamentals of rear observation. Cameras flatten perspective (as I’ve discovered with car interior mirrors) and can still leave lateral blind areas unobserved. Blind-spot warning systems are advisory only: they may not detect motorcycles, cyclists, or fast-closing vehicles, and they cannot judge intent or timing. Riders should treat these systems as prompts, not permissions. They may reinforce what the mirrors are already telling us, but they are no substitute for correct mirror use combined with a properly timed shoulder check. Good situational awareness remains a rider skill, not a software feature. Don’t delay or omit a shoulder check because “the light didn’t flash”. In short: these systems supplement situational awareness; they do not create it.

Mirror and blind spot checks – when and when not to!

Around three years after I started riding I demolished my beautiful Honda 400-Four in London. How? I was looking back over my right shoulder when the driver on my left cut across the one-way system in front of me. I was still looking the wrong way as I hit the rear of the car. Not surprisingly, I have been a bit cautious about timing shoulder checks and even mirror checks ever since. But what makes for good rear observation? There’s a lot of confusion out there. Why? Several reasons. What learners are taught changed dramatically as recently as 1997, and advanced groups tend to take a different approach anyway. And of course riders of all flavours forget what they learned. And then there’s the faulty thinking that what’s taught on test is “just for learners”. Throw in some dubious magazine articles, the wonders of YouTube and the internet generally, and the result is almost as many ideas about rear observation and what’s ‘right’ as there are riders. So I’m going to apply a slightly different approach – I’ll review the reasons riders get confused, then rather than say “this is what to do”, we’ll look at just WHY we need to know what’s around us to come up with some better answers.

WHERE DID THE CONFUSION COME FROM – At the time I started as a motorcycle trainer, the old DSA motorcycle test actually required that test candidates had to make a full ‘look-behind’ rear observation. Using mirrors wasn’t good enough – that’s why test candidates used to take the mirrors off for the test, to force themselves to look behind. Before slowing or braking, before indicating and before turning, test candidates as late as the mid-90’s were required to look right back over their shoulder.

Even more unbelievably, the test candidate had to look over the RIGHT shoulder before turning LEFT. I will categorically state looking right before turning left is almost completely worthless. More than anything else, it was probably being trained to make this rearward check that convinced a lot of riders that what was learned for the test was a complete waste of time!

In fact, I agree this check was pointless AND dangerous. Even if we manage to avoid dragging the bars around with us, causing a wobble, looking right back over the shoulder takes time. A couple of seconds. Even at urban speeds, that means we’re covering a considerable distance – twenty to thirty metres – looking the wrong way. It was exactly this kind of look that led to my own crash.

It sounds pretty unbelievable now because even a half-decent set of mirrors will gather much the same information as this old-fashioned full turn of the head, in a fraction of the time. But it was only with the introduction of Direct Access in 1997 that the DSA finally realised motorcycles had been fitted with mirrors for decades and allowed test candidates to use a combination of mirror use combined with more judicious blind spot checks. I still remember being informally ‘tipped-off’ to this change by the examiner. Mind you, even the IAM weren’t consistent on this – I have a older (but not THAT old) version of the IAM book that shows a rider doing the full-on look-behind check captioned as ‘the lifesaver’. That’s not what would have been taught on basic training since 1997.

GET THE BEST FROM THE MIRRORS – Mirrors are there for a reason – to find out what’s behind us. Whilst some mirrors still give a good view of our elbows, most can be set up to give reasonable rearward view. Set them up to give the best coverage – I tend to have the offside mirror up to give a more ‘wide angle’ view, whilst the left is angled behind – after all, I rarely need a view of the pavement. But I can change that on motorways or when in London to deal with multiple lanes going the same way. Mirror extenders that bolt-on between the mirror and mount can improve the view on some bike. Don’t forget, mirrors are convex. That offers a wider angle view but distort distances, making vehicles appear further away than they really are. Be cautious on a new machine until you have got used to judging distance and speed. Mirrors should be checked often enough that we’re not taken by SURPRISE! One tip – I avoid aftermarket mirrors if I’ve broken one because original mirrors are generally optically superior and balanced even if they do cost. Cheap mirrors often distort view and vibrate. I think it’s worth spending the extra.

SHOULDER, HEAD or BLINDSPOT CHECKS – Even the best mirrors have blind spots – so do the fancy rear view cameras as it happens, even if they eliminate the one between the shoulder blades. A police car once tried to hide when I was on my GSX-R750, and it’ll certainly hide another motorcycle, which should make you wonder why other riders persist in following in another bike’s wheel tracks. We can usually ‘clear’ this blind spot by tucking in an elbow (it’s how I let the police driver know I’d spotted him) or rocking our head from side to side.

The others are over the shoulders to the the left and right. Vehicles can lurk in this blindspot so we have to be careful when turning into side roads, manoeuvering round roundabouts or changing lane on one-way streets or dual carriageways. There is only one solution to blindspots (hence the term blindspot check) and that’s a physical turn of the head (hence the term head check) to see what’s alongside us and in the mirror’s blind area. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of confusion about just how, when and where:

riders who get confused about the difference between the full-on look-behind observation and a chin-to-shoulder blindspot check and may – usually during an advanced course when memories of the bike test resurface – try to look too far round

riders who say that ANY head check is dangerous

in the middle is conventional advanced practice, where newly-qualified riders can be actively discouraged from making a blind spot check – the argument is that if mirror checks are frequent enough, nothing can sneak up so relying on ‘mirror history’ (that is, remembering what we saw in the mirrors a moment ago) will be good enough but having been surprised often enough by vehicles – usually motorcycles – that had slipped into my blind spot unnoticed, I’m not convinced

Remember, it’s not a full-on look behind, simply a turn of the head sufficient – chin to shoulder – to see into the blind area (hence the term shoulder check). Anything further back should be visible in the mirrors. So head, shoulder and blindspot checks are more or less interchangeable.

A further advantage to a physical head movement is that it might alert another driver that you are about to do something.

MIRROR BLIND SPOT CHECKS – So how do we make them? Let’s start by asking some key questions:

what am I looking for – the presence (or absence, come to that) of other road users

why am I looking for it – the reason we are looking is to decide if there might be a conflict between what we want to do and what the other driver might do

where am I looking for it – the clue is in the name, we’re filling in the gap between peripheral vision and what we can see in the mirrors, very roughly backward from the line of our shoulders, hence the ‘shoulder check’ name

when am I looking for it – simple enough, before we move away, signal, change speed or change direction

Gathering this information is called taking ‘Rear Observation’ in the language of basic and post-test training. So to sum up we combine:

a rearwards look right behind ONLY when moving off

regular and sensible use of the mirrors

'shoulder checks' (sometimes called 'head checks') which are looks into the blind areas to either side

By doing so, we develop what’s called ‘Situational Awareness’.

WHICH WAY TO LOOK – Since the old DSA system of looking right when turning left completely confused many riders, I tell trainees just use common sense:

look in the direction you are about to move - right before moving or turning right, left before moving or turning to the left

look into any space that's big enough for another vehicle to squeeze into (and don't forget that could be a cycle or a scooter!)

THE REAL LIFESAVER – Probably the most important shoulder check, and one that fully deserves to be called a Lifesaver, is a final blindspot check that confirms it’s safe to take up a different position. It’s usually over the right shoulder before turning right into a side road, but it could be to the left too – for example, before exiting a roundabout after a right turn, and I’d check before turning left too. Many trainers say it’s unnecessary but I remember where I might have overtaken you when I was a courier, and there are cyclists to consider too. It’s also important to check before changing lanes on one-way streets and multilane roads, or where lanes merge back together. The lifesaver CONFIRMS our other observations. The key point is timing. We must make this check BEFORE we start the manoeuvre. If we’re already halfway into a manoeuvre and then look, it could be too late. So, the term ‘lifesaver’ really explains WHY we carry out a shoulder check!

COMBINING MIRRORS and SHOULDER CHECKS – Understand that a shoulder check is NOT a substitute for a mirror check, nor vice versa (whatever you might hear about mirror history). Whilst we often only need the mirrors to discover what’s behind us, it’s important to check the blind spot when we need to know what’s alongside. To save time, don’t make two separate observations, but combine the two – look in the mirror and then turn the head a little further to make the blind spot check. It takes just a fraction longer.

MOVING OFF FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD – There is one exception to the ‘only turn the head enough to see into the blind spot’ idea, and that’s when moving off from the side of the road. On CBT and on the Module One and Two parts of the DVSA bike test, the test candidate IS expected to ‘take rear observation’ before moving off, and this is the full-on, right behind look. It’s safe enough at a standstill. (And as a reminder, if you’re reading this before taking the bike test, you MUST look behind you ANY time you ride the bike in the off-road areas! You’re even supposed to look behind before pushing the bike out of the imaginary garage. On Mod One, if in doubt, look behind.) Nevertheless, on the road I would still combine this check with mirrors – check the mirrors first, THEN make the final check behind. But which mirror? If the road behind is straight, then looking in the right mirror before making the final rearwards check makes sense. But if the road curves to the LEFT behind, the right mirror won’t show anything useful and there’s a risk that we won’t see anything looking over the right shoulder either. When I was a basic instructor, one of the examiners had a habit of getting the trainees to pull up on a left hand bend (probably because it was the only place where there was room to stop for the ‘move off again’ exercise rather than any malicious intent) and it wasn’t unknown for a trainee to look over the right shoulder and not see anything. The curve in the road meant the car coming up behind was behind their left shoulder. A check in the LEFT mirror was therefore a very good idea.

PRACTICE – Work on rear observation so that it becomes automatic. Constantly ask yourself what is behind you – if you don’t know at all times, you need to improve your rear observation! But be aware that just looking isn’t enough. We need to understand what we’re seeing and be ready to act on that information – situational awareness. And there’s one final caution to add. Be certain it’s safe to look away from the road ahead, even if all that’s needed is a glance in the mirrors. This is often forgotten by new riders – like myself all those years ago – and not emphasised enough by trainers. We must time rear observation carefully, and any time there’s something more interesting going on in front…

…then keep your eyes ahead. If I’d known that, my 400-F might have finished the journey in one piece.

 

 

Mirror and blind spot checks – when and when not to!

Around three years after I started riding I demolished my beautiful Honda 400-Four in London. How? I was looking back over my right shoulder when the driver on my left cut across the one-way system in front of me. I was still looking the wrong way as I hit the rear of the car. Not surprisingly, I have been a bit cautious about timing shoulder checks and even mirror checks ever since. But what makes for good rear observation? There’s a lot of confusion out there. Why? Several reasons. What learners are taught changed dramatically as recently as 1997, and advanced groups tend to take a different approach anyway. And of course riders of all flavours forget what they learned. And then there’s the faulty thinking that what’s taught on test is “just for learners”. Throw in some dubious magazine articles, the wonders of YouTube and the internet generally, and the result is almost as many ideas about rear observation and what’s ‘right’ as there are riders. So I’m going to apply a slightly different approach – I’ll review the reasons riders get confused, then rather than say “this is what to do”, we’ll look at just WHY we need to know what’s around us to come up with some better answers.

WHERE DID THE CONFUSION COME FROM – At the time I started as a motorcycle trainer, the old DSA motorcycle test actually required that test candidates had to make a full ‘look-behind’ rear observation. Using mirrors wasn’t good enough – that’s why test candidates used to take the mirrors off for the test, to force themselves to look behind. Before slowing or braking, before indicating and before turning, test candidates as late as the mid-90’s were required to look right back over their shoulder.

Even more unbelievably, the test candidate had to look over the RIGHT shoulder before turning LEFT. I will categorically state looking right before turning left is almost completely worthless. More than anything else, it was probably being trained to make this rearward check that convinced a lot of riders that what was learned for the test was a complete waste of time!

In fact, I agree this check was pointless AND dangerous. Even if we manage to avoid dragging the bars around with us, causing a wobble, looking right back over the shoulder takes time. A couple of seconds. Even at urban speeds, that means we’re covering a considerable distance – twenty to thirty metres – looking the wrong way. It was exactly this kind of look that led to my own crash.

It sounds pretty unbelievable now because even a half-decent set of mirrors will gather much the same information as this old-fashioned full turn of the head, in a fraction of the time. But it was only with the introduction of Direct Access in 1997 that the DSA finally realised motorcycles had been fitted with mirrors for decades and allowed test candidates to use a combination of mirror use combined with more judicious blind spot checks. I still remember being informally ‘tipped-off’ to this change by the examiner. Mind you, even the IAM weren’t consistent on this – I have a older (but not THAT old) version of the IAM book that shows a rider doing the full-on look-behind check captioned as ‘the lifesaver’. That’s not what would have been taught on basic training since 1997.

GET THE BEST FROM THE MIRRORS – Mirrors are there for a reason – to find out what’s behind us. Whilst some mirrors still give a good view of our elbows, most can be set up to give reasonable rearward view. Set them up to give the best coverage – I tend to have the offside mirror up to give a more ‘wide angle’ view, whilst the left is angled behind – after all, I rarely need a view of the pavement. But I can change that on motorways or when in London to deal with multiple lanes going the same way. Mirror extenders that bolt-on between the mirror and mount can improve the view on some bike. Don’t forget, mirrors are convex. That offers a wider angle view but distort distances, making vehicles appear further away than they really are. Be cautious on a new machine until you have got used to judging distance and speed. Mirrors should be checked often enough that we’re not taken by SURPRISE! One tip – I avoid aftermarket mirrors if I’ve broken one because original mirrors are generally optically superior and balanced even if they do cost. Cheap mirrors often distort view and vibrate. I think it’s worth spending the extra.

SHOULDER, HEAD or BLINDSPOT CHECKS – Even the best mirrors have blind spots – so do the fancy rear view cameras as it happens, even if they eliminate the one between the shoulder blades. A police car once tried to hide when I was on my GSX-R750, and it’ll certainly hide another motorcycle, which should make you wonder why other riders persist in following in another bike’s wheel tracks. We can usually ‘clear’ this blind spot by tucking in an elbow (it’s how I let the police driver know I’d spotted him) or rocking our head from side to side.

The others are over the shoulders to the the left and right. Vehicles can lurk in this blindspot so we have to be careful when turning into side roads, manoeuvering round roundabouts or changing lane on one-way streets or dual carriageways. There is only one solution to blindspots (hence the term blindspot check) and that’s a physical turn of the head (hence the term head check) to see what’s alongside us and in the mirror’s blind area. Unfortunately, there’s plenty of confusion about just how, when and where:

riders who get confused about the difference between the full-on look-behind observation and a chin-to-shoulder blindspot check and may – usually during an advanced course when memories of the bike test resurface – try to look too far round

riders who say that ANY head check is dangerous

in the middle is conventional advanced practice, where newly-qualified riders can be actively discouraged from making a blind spot check – the argument is that if mirror checks are frequent enough, nothing can sneak up so relying on ‘mirror history’ (that is, remembering what we saw in the mirrors a moment ago) will be good enough but having been surprised often enough by vehicles – usually motorcycles – that had slipped into my blind spot unnoticed, I’m not convinced

Remember, it’s not a full-on look behind, simply a turn of the head sufficient – chin to shoulder – to see into the blind area (hence the term shoulder check). Anything further back should be visible in the mirrors. So head, shoulder and blindspot checks are more or less interchangeable.

A further advantage to a physical head movement is that it might alert another driver that you are about to do something.

MIRROR BLIND SPOT CHECKS – So how do we make them? Let’s start by asking some key questions:

what am I looking for – the presence (or absence, come to that) of other road users

why am I looking for it – the reason we are looking is to decide if there might be a conflict between what we want to do and what the other driver might do

where am I looking for it – the clue is in the name, we’re filling in the gap between peripheral vision and what we can see in the mirrors, very roughly backward from the line of our shoulders, hence the ‘shoulder check’ name

when am I looking for it – simple enough, before we move away, signal, change speed or change direction

Gathering this information is called taking ‘Rear Observation’ in the language of basic and post-test training. So to sum up we combine:

a rearwards look right behind ONLY when moving off

regular and sensible use of the mirrors

'shoulder checks' (sometimes called 'head checks') which are looks into the blind areas to either side

By doing so, we develop what’s called ‘Situational Awareness’.

WHICH WAY TO LOOK – Since the old DSA system of looking right when turning left completely confused many riders, I tell trainees just use common sense:

look in the direction you are about to move - right before moving or turning right, left before moving or turning to the left

look into any space that's big enough for another vehicle to squeeze into (and don't forget that could be a cycle or a scooter!)

THE REAL LIFESAVER – Probably the most important shoulder check, and one that fully deserves to be called a Lifesaver, is a final blindspot check that confirms it’s safe to take up a different position. It’s usually over the right shoulder before turning right into a side road, but it could be to the left too – for example, before exiting a roundabout after a right turn, and I’d check before turning left too. Many trainers say it’s unnecessary but I remember where I might have overtaken you when I was a courier, and there are cyclists to consider too. It’s also important to check before changing lanes on one-way streets and multilane roads, or where lanes merge back together. The lifesaver CONFIRMS our other observations. The key point is timing. We must make this check BEFORE we start the manoeuvre. If we’re already halfway into a manoeuvre and then look, it could be too late. So, the term ‘lifesaver’ really explains WHY we carry out a shoulder check!

COMBINING MIRRORS and SHOULDER CHECKS – Understand that a shoulder check is NOT a substitute for a mirror check, nor vice versa (whatever you might hear about mirror history). Whilst we often only need the mirrors to discover what’s behind us, it’s important to check the blind spot when we need to know what’s alongside. To save time, don’t make two separate observations, but combine the two – look in the mirror and then turn the head a little further to make the blind spot check. It takes just a fraction longer.

MOVING OFF FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD – There is one exception to the ‘only turn the head enough to see into the blind spot’ idea, and that’s when moving off from the side of the road. On CBT and on the Module One and Two parts of the DVSA bike test, the test candidate IS expected to ‘take rear observation’ before moving off, and this is the full-on, right behind look. It’s safe enough at a standstill. (And as a reminder, if you’re reading this before taking the bike test, you MUST look behind you ANY time you ride the bike in the off-road areas! You’re even supposed to look behind before pushing the bike out of the imaginary garage. On Mod One, if in doubt, look behind.) Nevertheless, on the road I would still combine this check with mirrors – check the mirrors first, THEN make the final check behind. But which mirror? If the road behind is straight, then looking in the right mirror before making the final rearwards check makes sense. But if the road curves to the LEFT behind, the right mirror won’t show anything useful and there’s a risk that we won’t see anything looking over the right shoulder either. When I was a basic instructor, one of the examiners had a habit of getting the trainees to pull up on a left hand bend (probably because it was the only place where there was room to stop for the ‘move off again’ exercise rather than any malicious intent) and it wasn’t unknown for a trainee to look over the right shoulder and not see anything. The curve in the road meant the car coming up behind was behind their left shoulder. A check in the LEFT mirror was therefore a very good idea.

PRACTICE – Work on rear observation so that it becomes automatic. Constantly ask yourself what is behind you – if you don’t know at all times, you need to improve your rear observation! But be aware that just looking isn’t enough. We need to understand what we’re seeing and be ready to act on that information – situational awareness. And there’s one final caution to add. Be certain it’s safe to look away from the road ahead, even if all that’s needed is a glance in the mirrors. This is often forgotten by new riders – like myself all those years ago – and not emphasised enough by trainers. We must time rear observation carefully, and any time there’s something more interesting going on in front…

…then keep your eyes ahead. If I’d known that, my 400-F might have finished the journey in one piece.

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35. Nine simple techniques to master Slow Control on a motorcycle

Articles which focus on the biomechanical inputs we make to ride motorcycles should not be subject to fashion or doctrine, but to physics. So there is very little that needs to be said about that aspect of the article, but in the last quarter century the trend has been towards motorcycles that are both more powerful, heavier and taller. Nothing there helps at walking pace. Nor does a too-abrupt ride-by-wire throttle.

What about new technology? I found using the rear brake essential to slow turns on a Honda equipped with DCT transmission and one new technology is throttle assist that add revs when the engine is about to stall and smooths abrupt throttle changes to keep the bike moving when the rider’s inputs are inconsistent. I’d say there’s a risk that it can give riders the impression that they are in control when, in reality, the electronics are compensating.

I neglected to mentioned linked brakes, where rear brake input introduces a small amount of front brake. It doesn’t negate the advice, but it does reinforce the need to discover how a new machine performs before discovering a difference mid-manoeuvre. Arguably, slow-speed control now demands more precision, not less. The techniques below are therefore not old-fashioned basics; they are core survival skills for today’s bikes, traffic and road conditions.

Nine simple techniques to master Slow Control on a motorcycle

If there is one area of bike control that really shows up our weaknesses, it’s slow speed control. We can fudge most things but slow riding topples a lot of riders. Look at the number of bikes around with bent levers, scrapes on the fairings and dinged silencers. It’s not only novice riders who trip up at slow speed. Many experienced riders have problems when they encounter hairpin bends, yet it’s the slow riding technique taught on basic training that’s needed. It’s not just the fear of looking like a complete prat when we topple off in the carpark in front of our mates that should worry us. We can save ourselves some much-needed £’s in repairs and resprays by using the correct techniques. And far from least of our concerns is that a low speed crash leaves us in a highly vulnerable state when other vehicles are around. So here are some Survival Skills tips, based on my practical Confidence: BUILDER post-test training course, that are easy to learn, simple to work with, and will sharpen up your own slow riding very quickly indeed. One safety warning – work on the skills in a nice, quiet and low-risk environment – an empty car park is ideal.

POSTURE: This is where it all starts because a poor riding position compromises everything else.

Firstly, get into the habit of keeping fingers OFF the front brake – it’s often easier said than done for experienced riders, but the first instinct when things start to go wrong is to grab the front brake. That stops the bike dead, which causes it to topple over if we happen to be mid-turn.

Next, don’t dangle feet either. I see that a lot, usually from less-confident riders, but it also seems to have become a fashion thing to ride around feet trailing on the ground. With our feet off the pegs, we no longer use our knees to lock ourselves onto the bike. There’s also a risk of stubbing a toe. At best that’ll give your ankle a painful wrench or even break it, at worst it can tip you off. Feet up, at ALL times when moving.

With feet on the pegs, make sure they’re in the right place, and that’s with the arch of the foot on the peg itself. If we have the ball of the foot on the pegs, we can’t reach the rear brake, which is absolutely vital to slow control. So position the left foot over the rear brake lever. It’s this failure to cover the rear brake that leads to riders using the front brake on slow control – and the sudden grab-and-topple when things go a bit wrong. Keep checking and re-checking the foot’s still covering the brake.

Then, with feet up and in the right place, sit forward towards the tank. We don’t need squeeze up tight, just close enough so we can brace our knees against the tank. It’s the legs that stabilise our lower body, then we can brace our back muscles to stabilise the torso. This ‘Brace Position’ allows us to keep shoulders, elbows and wrists loose, and keep our weight off the bars. Leaning on the bars destroys slow speed control. The lower the bars, the more difficult this is. Riding a sports bike at slow speed needs extra effort on the part of the rider.

To make accurate tight turns, we need to look along our path, and that means turning our head to look as far through the turn as we can. Being in the ‘Brace Position’ with loose shoulders helps the neck stay loose which makes it easier to look round. What we don’t want to do is look down at the road surface ahead of the front wheel. We may be worried about bumps and potholes, but if they’re already under the wheel, it’s too late. We need to pick up problems BEFORE we are about to ride over them and that means keeping the head turned.

SLOW RIDING IN A STRAIGHT LINE: Start with the absolute basics, because if we get this right, everything else gets a lot easier.

That means slipping the clutch. It is possible to ride a bike with a smooth engine slowly with no clutch at all – I can do it with my XJ6 easily. So why slip the clutch? Because if I rely on throttle control without slipping the clutch, I have to keep the throttle absolutely smooth. A slight tweak either way will change the bike’s speed and balance. What often happens is that we hit a bump, the throttle is twisted open, the bike surges forward, the rider shuts the throttle and simultaneously grabs the front brake. Down we go in a heap.

We spend a lot of time on basic training practicing slipping the clutch, but riders get out of the habit, so here’s a reminder and some ways to practice. Start by riding away from a standstill in a straight line but don’t let the clutch all the way out – keep it in the ‘friction zone’ as it’s sometimes called. How do we know we’re slipping it correctly? Two things. Firstly the bike will keep moving and won’t slow down – if it does, the clutch is too far in. Secondly we should be able to ‘blip’ the throttle without the bike surging forward – if it does, the clutch is too far out.

Get that mastered, then introduce the rear brake. Ride away in a straight line, keep the clutch slipping but after ten metres or so, gently press on the rear brake to slow the bike to a stop. Then repeat. Keep practicing until the stops are as smooth as the starts. And give yourself a mental slap if you fingers are on the front brake, because we’re going to need to keep fingers off the front brake as soon as we start turning. This exercise develops your rear brake control. Work at it till it’s automatic.

THE NEED FOR SPEED: Motorcycles are full of paradoxes. Here’s another. To make tight turns, riding more slowly is NOT the answer. The bike needs to LEAN and it’s MUCH EASIER to lean over when the motorcycle has forward motion – ride too slowly and it just wants to topple over. So let’s find the minimum speed that delivers stability. Ride off in a straight line, get the speed up to about 20 mph, then progressively roll off the throttle. Initially, the bike will feel good and stable, and will easily go in a straight line. Although all bikes are different, above 10 mph, the bike’s reasonably well-balanced. But as the speed drops and falls to single figures, it will become increasingly reluctant to go straight ahead, and you’ll find you need to ‘force’ it straight. Eventually, the bike starts to wander however hard you try to ride it straight. Note the speed where the bike loses stability. And keep fingers off the front brake.

START UPRIGHT, STOP UPRIGHT: It is possible to start from a standstill with the front wheel turned to full lock, and some trainers do teach this technique. But because the back wheel is pushing the bike in a different direction to where the front wheel is pointed, the bike tries to topple over. A rider with a reasonable sense of what’s happening can compensate by immediately getting the bike to lean as it moves but for someone with developing skills, it can upset the apple cart.

So there’s a much easier way. Begin ANY slow manoeuvre by getting the bike rolling in a straight line, get briskly to that minimum speed where the bike is stable, and ONLY THEN start turning. If you are having trouble starting the turn, don’t forget that even at brisk walking pace counter-steering actually initiates the lean. Only a tiny nudge is needed but it gets the bike leaning. And when we want to stop again, get the bike upright, ensure the bars are straight THEN apply the rear brake to stop (remember – toes on the rear brake, fingers off the front brake). Stopping upright means the bike is balanced. If we try to stop mid-turn, the machine will be leaning over, and that’s when we lose balance and end up in a heap.

KNOW WHERE YOU’RE TURNING: We’re always told to look “as far around the corner as possible” but where? What I do is look INSIDE the point that I’m aiming the bike for. That is, if there’s a kerb on the outside of the turn, I don’t look at the kerb but the road surface a metre inside it. The more we want to avoid something, the more it pulls our eyes towards it – if there’s parked car on the outside of a right-turn at a junction, that’s the last place I want to look. Find somewhere more positive. For example, rather than look at the car, I’d look at the centre line in the road, and use that as a ‘reference point’ to turn around. Anything distinctive on the road will do. A cats-eye, a discoloured patch of tarmac, a leaf or even a blob of chewing gum. Anything that keeps our eyes from looking at where we don’t want to go! And keep fingers off the front brake.

TURNING IN A FIGURE 8: The best exercise to develop slow turns is a nice big Figure 8. We practice turning in both directions, we practice changing direction, and if we’re to keep it reasonably accurate, we have to look right round. A common mistake by practicing riders (and some trainers too) is trying to ride too slowly (see above) and to try to turn too tight initially. That makes the exercise difficult, so we perform badly, which saps (rather than builds) confidence. Instead, start big and wide with plenty of speed. Focus on keeping throttle and clutch control smooth with the bars turned, and using the rear brake (NOT the throttle) to control speed. And keep fingers clear of the front brake. Get that head turned, and try to look one quarter of a turn ahead – 90 degrees. Try to find ‘reference points’ as just mentioned. You can use your own cones, but car park paint markings will do. Start by using the LENGTH of two cars as your goal for each circle. As control improves, steadily tighten the Figure 8 by LEANING, not by slowing down. It’s confidence with the lean that makes for tighter turns. Many riders try to ride the Figure 8 progressively slower as they tighten it, and of course that just means the bike stops balancing.

COUNTERWEIGHTING: Pull up and take a break. With the bike upright, turn the bars full lock to the left. Notice how the throttle and and clutch actually get more difficult to hold – the throttle’s stretched away at arm’s length and the clutch is tucked up in your stomach. That makes full-lock control awkward. Now, pop the bike on the side stand and put your feet on the pegs. You’ll have to ‘sit up straight’ to avoid falling off the bike. Notice anything about your grip on the bars? With your body the ‘wrong’ way for the corner, the angle of your arms and wrists just got a bit easier.

Now, here’s an extra wrinkle that I teach on my Confidence: BUILDER, Survival: URBAN and Basics: SLOW RIDING courses. Twist your backside slightly so your body and shoulders face slightly into the turn. You’ll find the first effect of this is to push the ‘uphill’ knee into the tank, bracing the body against the slope of the seat. The second effect is that because your shoulders are now more nearly parallel with the bars, your arms are at a much more natural angle, and the clutch and throttle are easier to operate. And last but not least, because your shoulders are angled, so is your head. In fact, you’re already looking into the turn. Just an easy extra twist of the neck and we’re looking that 90 degrees ahead. This is a REALLY useful tip for more mature riders who aren’t as flexible as they used to be!

COUNTERWEIGHTING ON A FIGURE 8: Go back to the Figure 8 exercise but now try to introduce this counterweighting (where we sit up on the bike and lean the ‘wrong’ way) together with the body twist. The easiest way to do this is to make sure there’s a short straight stretch between the two loops. Now see what happens when you tip the bike over further whilst keeping speed up (for balance) whilst counterweighting. You’ll find the bike turns tighter. And this is the counterintuitive key to slow control – speed gives the machine dynamic balance, lean angle gets it turning tighter… and leaning the ‘wrong’ way makes it lean more at the same speed.

TIGHT TURNS ON A SLOPE: Now halfway through the Figure 8, as your clutch and throttle control improved, you probably forgot the rear brake. When getting trainees to perform this exercise I have to remind them about every thirty seconds to keep their toes on the lever. But it’s our speed control. Why might we need speed control? What happens if the ground slopes – as the road does when making a U-turn over the top of the camber? The bike tries to pick up speed. So the answer is to drag the rear brake as soon as the bike turns over the top of the hill, before it angles down the slope where it would otherwise pick up speed. And as we turn uphill again, simply ease off the brake.

SLOW RIDING ERRORS: If you’re having trouble with slow riding, here’s a quick reminder of the common errors. Check you’re not making any of them:

Feet – dangling off the pegs
Toes – up on the pegs, nowhere near the rear brake
Knees – waving in the breeze so the body is unsupported and moving around, causing the bike to wobble
Fingers – covering the front brake, ready to make a sudden grab if the bike wobbles
Stiff elbows – the bike won’t steer
Neck / head / eyes – not looking where to go but under the front wheel
Too slow – the bike won’t turn at all
Not slipping the clutch – all the speed control is dependent on the throttle and if you shut it, the bike will stop dead and topple over
Leaning in – pushes the bike upright and an upright bike wants to go straight on

SUMMING UP: That’s enough for one riding article but this collection of techniques and tips works on any bike of any size. Work on the exercises, develop the skills and you’ll have everything you need for negotiating everything from standard DVSA bike test U-turn and slalom, for the slow skills needed to pass the IAM riding test, to negotiating mini-roundabouts on your daily commute, and right up to negotiating mountain hairpins on holiday. Master them before needing them on the road. Or do you want to discover you haven’t got the slow riding skills two-up on a loaded bike turning into a narrow, back-on-itself, downhill corner or junction?

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34. Roundabouts routines – straight lines, wide lines, stability, view, advantage and risk

This is likely one of my most contentious posts as my position is very far from the ‘straight lines are stable lines’ approach to riding roundabout followed by many advanced riders and regularly promoted by advanced trainers. Roundabouts are junctions first and foremost, and the dominant risks are not loss of grip or any other issues caused by steering the bike but the potential for misunderstanding, misjudgement, and conflict with other road users. In that sense, a line that reduces lean angle but potentially hides the approaching bike from turning traffic and makes emerging vehicles harder to see at the same time, then increases ambiguity about the rider’s intent is not inherently safer simply because an upright line feels more stable, particularly if the rider then uses the straight line to carry more speed. In the Survival Skills approach, stability is a secondary benefit; predictability, defence, and escape options come first.

Roundabouts routines – straight lines, wide lines, stability, view, advantage and risk

A recurring topic is how to deal with roundabouts. Essentially, the problem is that there is a head-on collision between the DVSA approach as taught to new riders which follows the advice in the Highway Code, and advice from advanced sources which often talks about ‘straightening out’ roundabouts. I’ve even seen one highly dubious article which advocated turning left from the right-hand side and turning right from the left-hand side race track style. The justification was ‘more progress’ and you can probably guess by now that I thought that was extremely poor advice because roundabouts are junctions. My first (and last) question to anyone advocating a roundabout as a suitable place to be making progress is “would you speed up through a crossroads?” I think you can guess the answer to that. Here’s my own Survival Skills thinking.

Roundabouts are a kind of junction. And anywhere traffic flows cross each other are potentially dangerous places, particularly where the flow – as is the case at most roundabouts – is regulated by ‘Give Way’ markings. Like any other junction, the point of highest risk is where vehicles on conflicting courses merge and separate again.

Drivers have problems with motorcycles at junctions. Sometimes they look and cannot see the motorcycle because something blocks their view. Sometimes they look and fail to see – there are a number of well-defined reasons for this. And sometimes they see the bike, but misjudge its speed and distance, and commit to a potentially dangerous manoeuvre.

And roundabouts are also places where drivers and riders get confused about each others’ intentions. It’s not always immediately obvious where another vehicle is going.

I didn’t learn any of that from a book. I learned it all by bitter experience as a courier. Put it all together, and my experience tells me that manoeuvres that aim for us to get out the other side a second or two earlier really aren’t very sound ones.

The article in question suggested :

“If you wish to turn left or right at the roundabout then (again assuming there is no other traffic about) you will need to maximise the radius of the turn within the constraints of the road-layout”.

The diagram shows a left-turn line with a far right approach, clipping the inside kerb and exiting near the centre white line, and the mirror image for a right-turn line – a far left approach, clipping the island and exiting close to the left hand kerb.

Need? Do we NEED to maximise the radius of the turn? Of course not.

But beyond whether it’s ‘nice’ or ‘necessary’, let’s have a think about some genuine concerns with this approach.

Let’s start by pointing out that it’s entirely the opposite of the ‘keep left to turn left, keep right to turn right’ approach taught to every new driver. The standard approach is taught for a pair of very good reasons. The first is that our position sends a signal to other road users, just as much as the use of an indicator. So if we’re approaching wide left with a right indicator showing, what’s the driver to think? Maybe that we’ve forgotten to cancel the signal. And maybe he or she will believe the position rather than the signal, and pull out. The biggest plus for following the same Highway Code lines around roundabouts as we teach on basic training is that it sends clear and unambiguous signals to other road users – including pedestrians or cyclists who might be crossing the side roads, let us not forget – about our intentions. If everyone stuck to the Highway Code approach, none of us would ever be confused as to what anyone else intended. The moment we start using a non-standard approach, there’s a significant risk of confusion – other drivers won’t anticipate the manoeuvre. That’s when things go pearshaped!

The second reason is defensive. Anyone who’s ever watched a race, car or motorcycle, will know that a wide approach to a corner leaves a big gap that anyone wanting to overtake will attempt to exploit. Turning left or right from a wide position opens up a huge hole. We’re liable to find a following vehicle attempting to fill it, and if that vehicle’s going straight ahead, we have a major problem.

Someone pointed out that the statement about “assuming there is no other traffic about” means we don’t need to factor in these issues. But how often can we be ABSOLUTELY certain the junction is completely clear? Few roundabouts have perfect views to the left or right, and many have the ahead view OVER the top of the island deliberately obscured, precisely to make us more circumspect about zooming around the roundabout just as someone coming the other way turns right across our path. And did YOU think of pedestrians and cyclists?

And how far back does “no other traffic” have to extend? What if another vehicle appears just as we commit ourselves to this confusing path? When I see riders exploiting these kind of lines on roundabouts, it’s often taken to mean “no other traffic already in my path”. Hmm.

But thirdly, I’d have a concern even on a totally deserted roundabout. What should be our biggest concern after conflicts with other traffic? How about the surface? We could find a change of surface, potholes, poorly-finished repairs, gravel and bits of debris just out of sight. And where could any forward-thinking rider reasonably expect to find a diesel or fuel spill? I’d be looking for it on the wide exit to a left turn and a wide exit to a right turn – right where this article suggests we should plan to head.

And my fourth concern would be changing line if a problem emerges. Does this maximum radius line make it easier or more difficult to change direction if we need to take evasive action? If we use the line to carry more speed, the answer’s fairly obvous. And if we slow down in case we encounter a problem, what’s the benefit of maximising the radius of the turn in the first place? None that I can see.

So I would stick to the ‘keep left to turn left, keep right to turn right’ approach. But what about going straight ahead? Isn’t it safe enough to straighten out a roundabout if it’s clear? Isn’t it possible to approach on on the left, then clip the island mid-roundabout, then exit back on the left?

This is sometimes called the kerb-kerb-kerb (KKK) line and the “if it’s clear” statement is the crucial one.

Some years back, I nearly had two riders – judging by the bibs they were a pair from the local advanced group – buried in the side of my people carrier. I was emerging from a junction, the road was clear to my right so I started to pull forward. Fortunately, I was still checking right because this pair were cutting over the cross-hatched zone designed to force vehicles to the right where they can be seen. The road layout was modified precisely because emerging vehicles cannot see around the hedge belonging to a cottage that’s right on the corner to the emerging vehicle’s right. If I had been less cautious, I doubt they would have avoided me as I pulled out. We would never keep tight to the left passing a side turning on the left because it restricts our view, but that’s what this KKK approach implies. And if you think about it, it also restricts our view of traffic coming around the island from the opposite direction, traffic that might be turning across our path.

On another occasion, it was me using the KKK line and I nearly got taken out by a following Kawasaki rider. Having followed me on my KKK line through the previous three roundabouts, for some reason he tried to out-brake me into the fourth. Fortunately for both of us, I was watching my mirrors and was able to give him room, but had I held my line across the island, he would have speared me. So we don’t just need to think about wringing advantage from a roundabout, but to think how we can use our lines to defend our position.

As you can see, I ride with different priorities on roundabouts.

So on Survival: SKILLS two-day course or my one-day Survival: URBAN course?

I look for defensive approaches, not wringing out some marginal ‘advantage’. The Highway Code approach line, keeping left when we intend to turn left, or keeping right when we plan on turning right, is a ‘blocking’ line with respect to following vehicles, and also helps confirm our indicators by sending a clear signal to other road users about where we want to go. The slower, tighter turn may mean less speed around the corner itself, but keeps us away from the likely location of a diesel spill or gravel accumulations, and also makes it easier to change direction – or even stop – if needed. Avoiding a maximum radius line means less speed mid-corner but gets us upright sooner, just like the Survival Skills ‘Point and Squirt’ – that means we’re back on the throttle sooner, and quicker away from the roundabout.

But I have created a variation on the KKK approach – and it works within the Highway Code instructions.

Let’s start with self-defence. I’ll take the usual Survival Skills approach by analysing what can go wrong. Although we tend to worry about traffic coming round the island from our right, that’s not actually the biggest threat because WE choose whether or not to pull out. What we CANNOT control is the driver of a vehicle emerging from our LEFT once we’re on the roundabout. It’s not a problem if we turning left at the first exit, and it’s not too much of an issue when turning right, because we’re over by the island and relatively far away. But the recommended Highway Code approach to going straight on – keeping left all the way around the outside of the island – puts us at considerable risk from drivers pulling out in front of us. There’s are secondary risk that vehicles may try to overtake or cut the corner on the way off the island. To monitor BOTH threats, we’re looking left and over our right shoulder. And finally, if a vehicle does emerge from the left AND we have another alongside on the right, we’ve no escape route – our only option is an emergency stop.

So here’s the Survival Skills approach. Instead of keeping left to go ahead, keep RIGHT. If there’s a single approach lane, keep right-of-centre. If there are two or more lanes, use the right-hand lane. Arriving at the island, the first thing that does is give us a slightly better view to our RIGHT, to search for oncoming vehicles turning across our path. This makes pulling onto the island slightly easier. But the big benefits happen once we’re on the island. Now ALL the danger is to our LEFT whether a vehicle in the adjacent lane, or a driver who might pull out from the exit ahead of us. That means we only have to look one way until we’re off the roundabout. We’re also further away from the exit to the left – the driver will have to move a long way to get into our path. And there’s one final bonus – if a driver DOES pull out and block our own path, we have an escape route – we can simply do a lap of the island. And if nothing goes wrong, and if our route ahead is clear, we can exit off into the left-hand lane as in the second half of the KKK line. All we have sacrificed is the straightest line onto the island, but if all’s clear we can take the straightest line off. And the right-hand lane approach to go straight ahead IS in the Highway Code so there’s a lowered risk of confusion.

Understanding risk THEN ACTIVELY SEEKING TO REDUCE IT is at the heart of the Survival Skills approach to riding. ‘Progress’ comes as a result of having eliminated risk. We should never seek ‘advantage’ in ways that increase risk. And if we can keep things simple at the same time, then so much the better.

Final point. The impression we make on others matters. If drivers see us ignoring the Highway Code lines, it simply reinforces the negative impressions most other road users hold about motorcyclists, however much we might impress our mates with our lines. Doesn’t advanced riding consider ‘the other fellow’ too?

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31. Posture – the key to smoother riding

Good posture remains the foundation of smooth, controlled riding — even with the increasingly-sophisticated electronics appearing on modern machines. Whilst electronics can help manage the bike, that does not replace the rider’s requirement to control the machine dynamically. In addition, posture affects vision and scanning: a stable, flexible upper body allows the head and eyes to move freely, enabling riders to gather information beyond the immediate front tyre, anticipate hazards, and react smoothly. Adjustable bars, pegs, and seats on some bikes allow do allow riders to fine-tune their riding position, balancing stability, feedback, and comfort but whether practicing slow-speed manoeuvres or riding the bike on the road, the principles of the Brace Position remain as relevant today as they ever were.

Posture – the key to smoother riding

In some ways, this article should have been number one, because our posture is hugely important to good control. Without good posture, so many riding tasks become tougher than they need to be, from slow control to emergency stops to cornering at speed. However, it doesn’t mean that every article written about posture is correct. For example, had anyone read this particular article on a website covering riding skills (the article seems to have disappeared recently) they might be forgiven for thinking they were doing it all wrong.

“Body Position – as many people will realise as they gain confidence and move around on the bike, the way you sit on your bike has a direct affect on the way the bike handles. Unfortunately many people never learn the correct way to sit. Sit close to the tank with your “groin” pressed against it! Lean forward and lie across the tank with your head behind the screen. Do not lean on the tank but allow your stomach muscles to support you so that if you take your hands off the bars you are still in the same position. You should try this when stationary to get a feel for it – just let go of the bars and let your stomach muscles do the work.”

Eh? How does anyone ‘sit close to the tank’ and ‘lie across the tank with your head behind the screen’ at the same time?

The only explanation I could come up with was that the writer – who’d apparently picked up this advice on a training course – had got thorougly confused. I would advice riders to sit forward on the seat (although not so close that “your groin is pressed against it” for improved slow control on tight turns. And getting tucked in behind the screen is something I’d do riding down a straight on the track. But both together? One buddy tried it on a Goldwing and pointed out:

“I could barely see over the dash, my elbows were behind my back and my wrists twisted at an awkward angle.”

So there’s a third issue – bikes and their riders aren’t all the same size and shape.

In short it was one of the worst pieces I’ve seen for a long time, and it’s no great loss that it’s vanished from the virtual library of bad advice.

About the only thing I agreed on is that posture IS important, so let’s try to understand how. Above anything else, we need to find a position that’s both stable and comfortable, that allows us to operate all the controls and see where we are going.

So let’s start with stability. We need to find a position where our legs support the upper body. Why is that, you might be wondering? It’s our arms and hands that do most of the work in controlling the bike.

The reason is that we need to be in what I call the ‘Brace Position’ to make effective inputs, whether we’re braking, steering or accelerating. And we need this Brace Position because our inputs make the motorcycle change speed and direction beneath us. Unless we’re connected to the bike, the bike may move without us when we want to stay connected – it’s not impossible to fall off the back of a bike when accelerating too rapidly. And conversely, there are time we want to move independently of the machine and unless we are braced effectively, it’s hard to do so – the technique of counterweighting on slow turns relies on us being able to shift our bodyweight one way as the bike leans the other. In particular, the brace position locks us in place to counter-steer effectively.

So the Brace Position starts at the footpegs. There’s always a debate about whether to ride with the arch of the foot (which means we can use the foot controls without moving them) or the ball of the foot (which lets us take more weight via our legs) on the pegs, but we’ll leave that to one side for the moment. Conventional footpegs are more or less under the hips precisely so we can take some of our weight through them – and that means we are not taking all our weight through our backside, although on a bike with forward foot controls that’s not possible.

But even on a Harley, so long as there is a there is tank over the engine – or a dummy tank like Honda’s NC series – there is another important connection point with the machine – our knees. Even without conventional footpegs, the knees provide the lower body stability that we’ll need in a moment. It’s also useful to lock the knees against the tank on a bumpy surface – that allows us to use our thighs as ‘active suspension’. Rather like a jockey’s legs working in harmony with a galloping horse, the forks and rear shock can move beneath us in partial isolation over big irregularities such as speed bumps, keeping the machine a little more stable as well as giving us a smoother ride on top.

Once our knees are gripping the tank, we can brace the muscles in our lower back, NOT the stomach muscles as that article suggested – if they are tightened, it’s probably a sign we’re tense. With the lower back stiffened, we can keep the upper half of the torso flexible. This is vital because it ensures we can maintain looseness in our shoulders, elbows and wrists. This is the third key element of the Brace Position, because it prevents us leaning on the bars because they are set low – as on a sports bike – or hanging on to them if they are more upright.

This need to avoid leaning on or hanging onto the handlebars and staying loose is not intuitive at all.

Leaning on the handlebars creates problems steering at speed – one arm MUST move forward and the other MUST move backwards if the bars are to turn, and the bars MUST turn if we’re to steer. Many sportsbike riders are amazed at how nimble their ‘slow-steering’ machines suddenly become when they start using the Brace Position on corners. Leaning on the bars also kills fine control stone dead on slow control too.

But leaning on the bars or hanging on too hard also tends to cause wobbles in a straight line. Common sense would suggest that we would need to actively point the bike in a straight line all the times by constantly correcting the steering. In fact, once rolling a motorcycle has dynamic balance – mass always wants to move in a straight line unless some force is applied to make it change direction and this applies to a motorcycle too. Additionally, the steering is designed to be self-centering and to correct itself if deflected by a bump. But riders detect wobbles or steering instability and believe that must hold on ever-tighter. In fact, it’s the rider’s own body movements, swaying around on the bike because they are not braced, which get fed into the bars and create the problem in the first place. When I talk about this issue on my Survival Skills advanced rider training course, I often get a blank or even disbelieving looks, which usually vanish when I perform a hands-off riding demo.

We also need to keep the elbows bent – here’s why:

a bent elbow acts as a shock absorber (just like bent knees) and allows the steering to shake. The moment we 'lock' the steering by leaning on the bars, we feed any bumps and shakes the bike generates straight back into the steering making matters ten times worse

a bent elbow allows us to steer using the leverage from the arms. If our elbows are locked, we are steering from the shoulders and back which is crude and tiring

Keeping elbows flexible is a problem with sports bike riders who lean on the bars with locked elbows, but in contrast, we can often spot novice riders on small bikes who are virtually sitting on the pillion seat. With their arms stretched straight out in front of them, the end result is similar – it’s difficult to turn the bars. Don’t forget that the wrists also need to be loose.

If we don’t have some ‘give’ in our arms, we also lose feedback from the front tyre under braking or when steering on a slippery surface. It’s a loose connection from shoulders to the bars that allows fine control over the steering. My tip to trainees is to remember the bars work like the tiller of a boat – they are for steering and not for hanging on to.

Here’s another poor piece of advice which you have possibly heard:

“Keep your forearms level with the ground”.

The rationale is that it puts the rider in the most ergonomically efficient position to turn the handlebars by moving them forwards and backwards. Think about that for a moment. The effort needed to achieve a level forearm depends on the height of the bars in relationship to our elbows. The taller the rider and the lower the bars, the more that rider will have to lean forward in a racing crouch to achieve that ‘flat arm’ shape, and that in turn will push the rider’s backside rearwards and change the position of the knees. It’s actually the need to position our knees and keep the upper half of the body flexible that pretty much fixes our elbow angle. The precise angle of the forearms is not so important as the fact our elbows ARE bent.

Of course, riders are all different sizes and shapes so there’s rarely going to be a perfect position for everyone on a single machine, but most bikes do have an envelope within which there is room to move around and find the position that suits each of us. Whilst many machines make it fairly obvious roughly where we should sit by means of cutouts on the tank and seat contours or humps, our precise position will depend on how we fit the machine. Unfortunately, few have any adjustability built-in, so it’s our bodies that have to adjust.

Do we ever change the ideal Brace Position? I’ll certainly adopt it for the short periods where I prioritise control, but at other times I’ll tend to prioritise comfort – that could be more of a crouched position for riding into a headwind on a motorways where my main aim is not pin-point control but minimizing fatigue.

Remember, it’s what we want to achieve that matters so it’s important not to look for any sort of ‘fixed in stone’ position but instead to understand why locking on with the knees to keep shoulders, elbows and wrists loose is important when fine work is needed. Once we understand that, we can usually find a working compromise which maximises comfort AND control.