Tag: preparation

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68. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness – riding in fog

Fog remains one of the trickiest hazards for motorcyclists, particularly at night or in low-light conditions. Research supports my discussion of visual disorientation and increased reaction time. Modern lighting may help see, high-visibility gear might help others see us — hardly any bikes have a fog light, but the core principles haven’t changed: reduce speed, generous following distances, and riding to what we can actually see, not what we expect. Ultimately, preparation and anticipation remain the rider’s best defences—fog is never enjoyable, but with forethought, it can be managed reasonably safely.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness – riding in fog

I’m pretty sure Keats didn’t ride a motorcycle, but it’s not unusual for spells of settled weather to develop during late on in the autumn, and fog can be a major problem. I still remember two trips vividly. Years ago, when I was only a few months into my riding career, I rode from Maidstone in Kent to West Drayton near Heathrow. The ride took twice as long as expected because the fog came down, and I very nearly didn’t make it. Following the kerb along the inside lane of the A40, I didn’t notice I had drifted off the main carriageway into a slip road. I nearly collided with the Armco barrier on the corner. Thankfully because of the thick fog, I was only riding at about 20mph and took some evasive action. A few years later when I was despatching, I took a package from London to GCHQ at Cheltenham. I left in lovely afternoon shine. I got to Cheltenham in time for a beautiful sunset. And the return ride turned into a nightmare of freezing fog, accidents and traffic jams. So riding in fog and particularly in fog at night, is probably my least favourite part of biking. And if I can, I’ll stay put. But sometimes it has to be done. So what are the problems and how best to deal with them?

Fog forms when moist air travels over colder ground. Although we could encounter for at any time of year, the densest fog often forms in autumn – November is a favourite month for fog. Warm air can still make its way up from the near-continent and it holds more moisture than during the winter months. But the nights are long and fog forms more readily than in summer, and it can be slow to clear – it may even persist all day.

Like all other weather-driven hazards, first stop is the weather forecast. Forewarned is forearmed. Find out what the day-long forecast is. Whilst fog may be slow to clear in the morning, it’s pretty obvious when we wake up in it. But if the weather changes and become clear and still during the day, fog can easily be a problem on the dark ride home. Maybe we can change our departure times.

Towns are generally a bit warmer than the surrounding countryside so it’s not uncommon to drive out of town into fog. We can anticipate where we’re likely to find it. It can be low cloud, so worse on tops of hills. Or it can be caused by cold air that’s sunk into low-lying areas after a still, clear day – damp meadows and river valleys are classic places for fog to form on still evenings. Or it can be blown in off the cold sea. Kent, where I lived for many years, used to get all three types. For example, the M2 being near the coast would often be affected with sea-fog. But the M20, being a few miles inland and crossing the North Downs, was often affected by hill-fog. Watch out for patchy fog, because we never quite know where it is, how thick it is, or how long it’ll last. Don’t be tempted to blast into a wispy looking bit of mist drifting across the road. It could be a lot thicker than you think.

It’s often cold riding in fog, thanks to chill air temperatures, but also because the tiny droplets evaporate from clothing and suck away body heat. If riding in leathers, put waterproofs on, and layer up to stay warm.

On the bike, the first problem is simply seeing out the helmet. The visor gets covered with water droplets on the outside and mists up on the inside from your breath.

Wax polish like Mr Sheen on the outside helps the water bead up and run off, often just by turn our head. Try to avoid wiping a finger – the oily crud on the glove gets smeared across the visor and makes it even more difficult, and long term it scratches it. If the visor gets covered in salt spray or road film, a damp cloth kept in a ziplock bag (I spray that with Mr Sheen too) can clean and re-wax the visor.

Holding our breath all the way home is impractical, and I’ve never yet found a helmet that demisted itself from the vents that were supposed to perform that trick. Breath deflectors also help, but an anti-mist treatment is usually needed. Whilst they do seem to work, they need regular reapplication. Quite honestly, I used Fairy Liquid as a courier, applying a dab of the neat stuff, then polishing it on with a clean cloth. The other option is a Fog City-style add-on. It’s effectively double-glazing for the visor, but I’ve found that at night they reduce visibility, partly because they scratch easily. I’ve heard they can be tricky to seal effectively on some visors.

Having sorted yourself out, make sure the bike is in good shape too, with clean and properly adjusted lights. If dip beam is too low we won’t get any forward vision. If it’s too high, even on low beam it will light up the fog – now the light’s bounced back as glare. Extra-bright lights can actually be a disadvantage when this happens.

One of the problems of riding in fog is a sense of ‘dislocation’. A road we’ve ridden dozens will seem totally different in fog, as our normal visual cues will vanish. So use everything available. Reflective posts are red to the left and white to the right, so if we see a line of red posts, we’re approach a right-hander. And vice versa. Triangular warning signs are reflective and are there to flag up hazards. Watch the centre line – longer ‘hazard lines’ indicate just that, and cat-eyes get closer together too when approaching a hazard, and really close – almost a solid line – when the centre line goes solid. Coloured cat-eyes help on multi-lane roads – red to the left, amber to the right, white between lanes, green where vehicles leave or join a carriageway. Ride to what you can see, not what you think you ought to see.

In general I try to follow the centre line rather than the left hand edge of the road – it keeps you further from dangers to the left which will be harder to see – but be cautious entering cross-hatched zones in the middle – there may be unlit traffic islands in the centre of the road.

Unless we meet someone with no lights, it’s usually easy to see oncoming cars, but side-on there’s little to warn us. We can normally see the tail lights of cars ahead, but don’t simply follow the guy in front – if they run off the road, so will we. Fog’s water so it makes the road surface damp, and potentially very slippery, so a good following distance is important.

We need to remember that with no fog light, the driver behind us will have difficulty seeing us against the brighter lights ahead in a queue of traffic. If we do a lot of foggy miles it might be worth fitting one – I used to fit a fog light as a courier. I’ve also seen riders using bicycle LEDs and was surprised how effective they were, although technically they are illegal if fixed to the bike. Typically, reflective material on hi-vis vests is too high up when everyone is driving on dip beam or fog lights – it needs to be low down to be seen.

And finally, make sure the bike’s easy to ride. Many riders use ‘rat bikes’ for winter riding, but make sure everything works properly – we need every ounce of attention for riding, not to worry about stiff clutches, dodgy brakes or cheap and nasty tyres.

Riding in fog is never fun, but we can make it less stressful.

 

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66. Riding in hot weather – avoiding dehydration

The article is highly relevant, particularly since summers in the UK are getting hotter and hotter. Riding in extreme high temperatures continues to pose a real risk of dehydration, heat exhaustion, and impaired concentration for motorcyclists. The physiological explanations (sweating, fluid and electrolyte loss, impact on kidney function, early fatigue, and later confusion) are all accurate and still supported by modern sports medicine and physiology research. One correction is that modern research suggests moderate caffeine intake is not strongly diuretic in habitual consumers but energy drinks can be counterproductive due to high sugar content. Heat stress is compounded by full protective gear but modern ventilated jackets can aid air flow and cooling if humidity is not too high. It’s also possible to get sunburn through a visor; packing and using sunscreen is a good idea. Don’t ignore the signs of heat stress. Dizziness, headache, nausea, rapid pulse, or cramps can indicate heat exhaustion before severe dehydration sets in.

Riding in hot weather – avoiding dehydration

It always seems to happen. One week I’m riding around wishing I’d remembered to wear the heated waistcoat, then we get a few days of ‘scorchio’ weather. Riding a motorcycle in protective kit on a hot day sets up a unique combination of overheating and sweating, and a cooling and evaporating breeze. The body’s physiological functions only work in a narrow range and if we get too hot or cold, we get disorientated or worse. So the body tries to maintain temperature of around 37 degrees by sweating. The result is a high risk of dehydration at the same time as we’re struggling to stay cool. So what are the dangers of running short of body fluid?

Body fluid and electrolytes are vital to the function of the body’s organs. If they are lost through sweating and if they are not replaced, we suffer dehydration. In the early stages, we get rapidly fatigued and start to lose concentration. In the later stages more serious confusion sets in, and the body’s metabolic functions start to be affected. Not good. And that’s why I send out a notice to riders to ensure that when they attend a Survival Skills advanced rider training course, that they pack some water.

So what are the symptoms of dehydration? A good sign that we are dehydrated is not “feeling thirsty”, it’s not needing to pee! That tells us kidney function is already shutting down to save fluids. By the time we do feel thirsty, with dry lips and a dry mouth, then we are already well into the early stages of dehydration.

Most UK riders are oblivious to just how real a problem this, even when riding at home in a British summer. In countries like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US where they ride long distances in hot and dry conditions, they are much more aware of the risks. You’ll also see racers taking on board fluids just before the start. But dehydration doesn’t only happen to racers. Whilst we’re not working physically so hard, we’re often exposed to that cooling breeze for longer.

So what can we do to prevent dehydration?

Planning ahead is the answer. We can start by pre-loading with fluid before we go out. For sports like cycling and soccer, it’s recommended that we drink around half a litre (roughly a pint) of fluid a couple of hours before we begin. Then around 15 minutes before setting off, aim to drink another half litre.

On the move, we need to keep replenishing fluids. It’s easy enough to take a bottle of water with us, so we can take a drink when we stop. For sporting activities, it’s recommended that we take around 100-150ml every 15 minutes or so when exercising – that would be around a half-litre bottle of water every hour. Given a particularly hot day, that’s probably not far off what we should be drinking on a bike. I took a Hopp Rider Training day at Cadwell Park on a warm autumn day, and we were reminded to get some water on board before going on track, and regularly reminded to rehydrate between track sessions. Doing it right, we should be making regular loo stops too. If that’s inconvenient, so be it. It’s better than the side effects from dehydration.

Riding alone, we can stop when we like, but on a bike with a 250 mile tank range, don’t wait till refuelling stops. Definitely make intermediate stops – remember, if you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Group rides tend to go on too long, and we’re all dependent on the leader deciding when to pull up. So if you’re organising a group ride and you know it’s going to be a hot day, then factor in short breaks at regular intervals, and try to get people to use the opportunity to top up – you don’t want dehydrated and underperforming riders with you.

There’s a lot of marketing surrounding isotonic fluids – these are basically water plus the electrolytes we lose in sweat, so they have the advantage of keeping the chemical balance of the body right. You’ll find them in most service stations. Isotonic drinks also come in powder form – you can buy tubs of the stuff from any cycle shop and make up a couple of litres for the ride.

Personally I’m not fond of fizzy canned drinks because they are generally sweet and sticky. Coffee is generally considered a diuretic (ie it makes you pee more) but lately there’s been some debate about whether the old advice to avoid caffeine-based drinks is actually correct, although it’s generally accepted that the so-called energy drinks aren’t good for rehydrating. Personally I prefer tea – it’s not nearly so strong a diuretic and I like it!

However, they all cost a lot more than plain tap water!

So what to carry fluids in? I avoid buying plastic bottled water, partly because the plastic is liable to split when wedged into a pannier or under an elastic strap, and partly for environmental reasons. Any cycle shop will sell you a plastic water bottle – they are (just about) unbreakable and will squash – or an aluminium bottle. A little more cash will get you an insulated plastic cycle bottle or a Camelbak which is a plastic bladder that sits in a backpack harness – fill either with ice cubes in it, top up with water and even on a hot day, you’ll have something cool to drink for a hour or so.

A couple of final warnings. Steer well clear of alcohol. It might be tempting to sink a nice cold pint “because I’ll be well under the limit” but if you’re rehydrating, the alcohol will be absorbed faster and be even more disorientating than normal.

And… DON’T drink ice-cold water. The thermal shock of pouring ice-cold fluids into the stomach fools the body into thinking it needs to shut down the sweating mechanism. That’s definitely not what we want.

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64. The (Ride on the) Right Stuff

I’ve nothing much to add to this except to watch for dynamic speed limits and the increasing use of speed traps where you may be hit with an on-the-spot fine. Riders caught by cameras on autoroutes in France have been stopped the next toll.

The (Ride on the) Right Stuff

If you are venturing to Europe for the first time, you’ll probably be a little nervous. Don’t be. It’s actually much simpler than most riders realise so long as you understand that there are different laws, things like traffic lights work differently, and there are different driving habits. Motoring organisations usually cover most of the technical stuff so check before leaving, but also – and I’ll stress this – watch was the locals do. Don’t try riding the same way you do at home and don’t get upset that the local drivers don’t drive the same way we do at home. Blend it, don’t stand out. But let’s start with the ferry crossing – don’t forget to take a tie-down. You’ll see why.

Although Eurotunnel is quick and convenient, many of us will make our first trip on a ferry. The decks are metal, they get wet and they are slippery!

When board, it may be necessary to ride up or down a ramp. Be cautious if it’s steep either way. Try to do it in one hit. If necessary, wait for other vehicles to get out of the way. If you’re not feeling too confident two-up, you can always get a passenger to walk. Once on board, some ferry companies will secure the bike for you. On some ferries it’s entirely up to you, and some only provide lengths of oily rope. If knots are not your thing, the tie-down will be very useful. I’d recommend placing the bike on the side stand rather than the centre stand. Whilst most crossings on the bigger ferries are quite smooth, in very rough weather, secured bikes do move and it’s possible for the bike

  • to roll forwards off the centre stand

  • to rock sideway off the centre stand

If the machine is on the side stand there are three points of contact (the centre stand is too narrow to count as more than one) and if the bike’s in gear, you have parking brake to help prevent it moving. I wrap a silicone wrist band over the front brake lever and handlebar, which now locks the front brake on. If you use the tie-down to secure the bike downward on the stand, you can get a pretty secure position. If you can secure the wheels front and rear too, you’re pretty secure. Use gloves and / or waterproofs to protect panels and paintwork from ropes and straps. DON’T secure a strap to or over anything plastic or bendy – it WILL snap.

Leaving the ferry involves the ramp again, and there will probably be a queue. Don’t do what one rider did. As we were on an upper deck, I’d paused at the top to make sure I had a safe flat area to stop down on the main car deck. But he got impatient to follow the queue of cars which were stopped halfway down. He pushed past me, and had to brake. Down went the bike which slid to the bottom. Once off the ferry, watch out for slippery surfaces and trucks moving around the dockside, but once on the open road you’ll find driving on the right is surprisingly easy. Basically, we’re following everyone else!

The time to watch out is after a stop. It’s incredibly easy to ride off on the wrong side of the road. The sort of places we get this wrong are:

  • first thing in the morning

  • after any stop that involves leaving the road

  • leaving a filling station, particularly if we’ve ridden in the ‘wrong’ way and are at the pumps facing oncoming traffic – it’s easy to exit onto the wrong side of the road. Turn in so you’re facing the direction of traffic at the pumps – you’re far more likely to come out riding on the correct side again

  • turning out of a one-way street

Take a moment to hit a mental ‘reset’ button. Some people attach some kind of reminder to the key fob, or put a sticker on the bike somewhere. When moving, a good clue we’re on the wrong side of the road (apart from finding a car coming towards us) is to find that we’re looking at the reverse side of road signs. Don’t ask me how I found that out.

In terms of where to be careful when riding, my experience is that the biggest chance of error (after pulling off on the wrong side) is at a T-junction, yet I never actually see this mentioned as an issue. We’re so heavily cued to looking to the FAR side of the road when we look left and to the NEARSIDE when looking right that abroad we forget we MUST reverse this. If we don’t we’re looking on the WRONG SIDES of the road. This is a major cause of collisions for UK drivers abroad (and for Europeans in the UK too). Until we used to looking in the ‘wrong’ place, my advice is always stop, even at a Give Way junction, and take much longer to look both ways.

Here’s another problem which is totally underestimated. Much of Europe operates under the Priority to the Right system – it’s called ‘priorite a droit’ in France. DON’T BELIEVE internet articles or any ‘experienced traveller’ saying “it’s disappearing” or “it’s rare”. It’s real, it’s common in rural areas and urban centres, and drivers DO drive straight out of what appear to be side roads because it IS in operation.

So it’s absolutely essential to understand how it operates and how to recognise it.

In simple terms, when priority to the right is in operation, we MUST give way to a vehicle to our right, even if we appear to be on the ‘main’ road and the other driver seems to be emerging from a ‘side’ road.

On the open road priority is fairly easy to spot. Firstly we need to know if WE have priority. As soon as we turn onto a new road or leave a town look for a yellow and black diamond-shaped sign – this means that WE are on the priority road. At ALL the junctions ahead until our priority is cancelled, we WILL have priority. Whilst major routes often have these priority signs, it’s easy to overlook the fact that most less-important roads DO NOT, and so if we DON’T see this sign, priority to the right will be in operation.

If we are on a priority road, then the sign that CANCELS our priority is a similar yellow and black diamond-shaped sign but with a diagonal stripe through it. From this point on, we MAY have to give way somewhere ahead:

  • we may be coming up to a major road – look for a STOP or GIVE WAY (Cedez le Passage in French-speaking countries) and either SOLID or DOUBLE-DASHED LINES across the end of the road – so the signs and markings are the same as they are in the UK.

  • we may be entering a zone where we have to give way to the right.

Once we know we’re in a town or in a rural area where priority to the right operates, we MUST assess EVERY junction for priority. It’s easy enough. The clue is in the design of red and white triangular junction warning signs:

  • if the sign is a + shape, then we HAVE priority. Double-check by looking for the paint markings at the end of the joining road – we should see the SOLID or DOUBLE-DASHED LINES

  • if the sign is an X shape, then we do NOT HAVE priority over vehicles emerging from our right (although we do over vehicles to our left). And checking the ‘side road’, we’ll also see there are NO PAINT MARKINGS ACROSS IT. This means priority to the right, and we MUST give way to an emerging vehicle. Whilst relatively few drivers simply drive straight out – most emerge cautiously – every now and again someone does pull straight out.

  • in town there probably won’t be a warning sign. Check any road ahead to the right and if we can see either double dashed lines (Give Way) or a solid line (STOP) across the road, then the road WE are riding on has priority. If there are NO markings, then it’s priorite a droit – we must be ready to give way.

The good news is that priority to the right roads are often blind or awkwardly angled – that’s why the driver has priority. Most UK motorcyclists are either blissfully unaware of this system. I took a group ride over to France for a day trip some years back, and carefully briefed all the riders on the train. There was some sceptical looks, and one or two outright didn’t believe what I was telling them.

We were only about thirty minutes out of Calais when a tractor pulled straight out in front of the rider behind me, who had fortunately slowed down. Over lunch he told me that despite many years of riding in Europe he’d never given much thought about priority to the right and was one of those who thought it didn’t exist anymore, thanks to inaccurate internet articles. But having listened to my briefing, he’d spotted the sign, noticed junction was blind and was looking for emerging vehicles when the tractor pulled out. He confessed he would have expected the tractor to stop if I hadn’t covered the issue on the train.

What about roundabouts? Whilst they often worry riders, as the lane feeds us in to the right side of the island, it’s actually very difficult to go the wrong way round.

But we do need to watch other drivers – particularly in France and Belgium – who may be turning left and crossing our path. They will go 270 degrees around the island with NO signal and they WILL make this manoeuvre from the outer lane on the island. In the UK, we’d probably assume the driver’s going straight on, but not abroad. We risk being wiped out. For the same reason, don’t use the INNER lane to go straight ahead to pass slower vehicles on the island. You’ll liable to find the car on your right turning left straight across you. I nearly got taken out this way many years ago. And be on the alert for cycle lanes that go outside the roundabout – cycles and mopeds often have right-of-way.

Motorways are reasonably straightforward, but watch out for confusing on- and off-ramp designs (I’ve left an autoroute only to find myself riding straight back on again) and in Germany, some are very tight corners indeed – they were built before the Second World War. Fly into them at UK speeds and they’re trouble.

Keep your eyes peeled for traffic lights. Firstly, they’re not always in the same place as we’d expect to see them in the UK, and it’s possible to ride straight through a red light. Traffic lights in France and Belgium are dim and often difficult to see in bright sun. Learn the sequences too. French lights go straight from red to green and drivers DO stop on amber, whilst a flashing amber light means they are switched off with no priority. In Italy there’s a green/amber combination, and drivers often turn right on a red when they shouldn’t. But in Germany this is legal IF other signs allow. In France, a flashing pedestrian sign means pedestrians are crossing even though we have a green light – we should give way. French rules on zebra-style crossings changed some years back and now cars DO stop for pedestrians.

Find out what the speed limits are. Whilst urban limits are usually well-signed, in France anywhere where you pass into a village with a red bordered sign, the urban 50 kph applies. There ARE speed cameras around and in Germany they often enforce limits in very odd places – I got flashed turning a corner on a 100 kph road, where a cycle lane crossed the road. Going back up the hill an hour later, the speed limit was 30 kph but I’d not seen the signs. Whilst it’s unlikely you’ll be pursued back to the UK (although increasingly there are stories of debts for unpaid fines being placed in the hands of UK bailiffs), if you get stopped by a police patrol and it’s found there are outstanding fines, you could be arrested. Be aware that roadblocks are employed on autoroutes in France and you could be clocked on average speed over a section. And if you are way over the limit, fines are huge and the bike could even be seized and crushed.

Road surfaces are generally good in the dry, but in my experience the further south we go, the more slippery the surface is when wet. Watch out for:

  • white paint – often slippery in the dry and like glass in the wet

  • gravel – particularly in the mountains – icy roads in winter are often dressed with gravel

  • polished surfaces, slippery dry, lethal wet

  • bevelled kerbs – round traffic islands and traffic-calmed areas and very difficult to spot at night

  • speed bumps – can be vicious

Finally, learn a few common words that you’ll find on signs. ‘Umleitung’ and ‘Route barree’ are useful, as you’ll find out. Have fun!

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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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22. Springing into Summer – polishing off ‘rider rust’

The underlying addressed here — the seasonal degradation of perceptual, cognitive, and motor skills and the way that confidence tends to come back faster than competence — has not changed. If anything, modern riding conditions make the issue sharper rather than softer since modern riding aids can quietly smooth over clumsy motor skill inputs and mask warning signs of rustiness. And motorcycles are increasingly being fitted with the kind of rider-assistance systems that even cover up for lapses of concentration and pour judgement in following distance and awareness of the movements of other vehicles on multilane roads. The machine shouldn’t be covering up for our lapses, and that makes a deliberate, structured re-entry into riding not just sensible, but essential.

Springing into Summer – polishing off ‘rider rust’

Winter’s finally over, the roads are dry and salt free, and the sun is warm on your back. We’ve changed the oil, adjusted the chain, checked the tyre pressures, cleaned the visor and paid for the tax and insurance. It must be time to park the car at last and go for a blast over our favourite rural roads, right?

Wrong. It’s not just time to give the bike a once-over, it’s also time to take it easy, polish up our biking minds and bodies, and rebuild those riding skills!

It’s an easy mistake to think that we can take a ride out on the first nice day in the spring and ride it just like we did on the last fine day in autumn. It doesn’t matter whether we have parked the bike up for three months, or whether we’ve commuted through the winter months. We’re not in the same place physically or mentally as we were. Even if we’ve continued commuting during the bad weather, our brain’s operating on a different planet and looking for different problems. All the skills that became second nature during summer have gone rusty and we’ve forgotten half the problems we’re likely to encounter. One thing I see time and again in the spring, particularly after a trainee has parked the bike and swapped it for a car, is that positioning – both defensive ‘dominant’ positions in traffic and positioning for a better view of hazards has vanished. All these skills need practicing before they become automatic again.

We can all get rusty. Even when I was an all-year courier, I found that my rural road riding skills fell away during the winter months, and one year, due to a change of basic training job the bike remained almost entirely parked up for six months. So back on the bike and taking a nice spring ride out with my buddy Keith, as we headed back to Oxford after a sojourn in South Devon I found myself rather rusty. We’re normally evenly matched, but now I was struggling to keep Keith in sight, and the inevitable happened. Pushing on too hard, trying to up my pace, I made a hideous cock of a corner.

I completely failed to read the bend, thinking it went gently to the left when in fact it led into a sharp and tightening right-hander. Suddenly realising I was too fast and going the wrong way, I mentally warned myself “Don’t brake, Steer”. Then it was “oh bugger” as than I hit the brakes anyway. Of course the bike stood up and headed straight for a five metre drop into the River Exe. I was lucky that there was some run-off into a car parking space to admire the view and I glided to a halt alongside the wall protecting the drop.

So what can we do about this?

Two things. The first is to give our bodies a chance to get in tune. Don’t set off on a 300 mile ‘Winter’s Over’ ride-out, without having done some shorter rides. Remember all those aching muscles and stiff knees when you first started to ride? If you’ve been off the bike for any time, they’ll be right back if you overdo it.

And the second suggestion is to spend just a little time going back to basics. Think about the sort of exercises learned on basic training and maybe on an advanced course. Clutch control, slow starts and stops, Figure 8s, U-turns, emergency braking. We can practice all those in a quiet car park.

Take the bike out initially onto quiet roads and do it alone, not on a group ride. We just need to take our time, keep speeds down a tad, ensure we’re not following close behind other vehicles. Now we can spend some time deliberately hazard-spotting, working on machine control inputs – braking, throttle control, counter-steering – and chosing lines and positions. This way we can ease back into the groove.

Talking to ourselves can help but I wouldn’t suggest a full-Monty police-style commentary on everythign. It require so much mental processing – it’s not a usual activity for the average rider – that the very act of thinking how to vocalise the words to describe one hazard actually distracts us from spotting the next. Keep it short and simple; “lefthand bend, push left, go left”… “tight bend, brake”… “car on the left, move right”. So long as we keep it simple, talking our way through hazards will get us refocused on riding the bike quicker than anything else.

And of course, the same basic principle applies in spades if we’re commuting by car or train. Our biking Spidy Sense is going to be lagging way behind. Slow down, to take time and space to get back in to the rhythm.

And if anything does get a bit scary, slow down! Minor mistakes will cause us to tense up, and then things will only get worse. Drop the speed, take the pressure off, and talk yourself into relaxing. After my near-dip, I slowed down maybe 10% – just 5 or 6 mph on thes fast rural roads. As a result, Keith soon disappeared round the bends ahead but that means I could ride my own ride. No longer chasing, I relaxed and began to enjoy the next ten miles or so. As I relaxed, the speed came back and he wasn’t too far ahead when I reached our next turn-off point.

And of course, why not think about a refresher course? You can book one of these with Survival Skills Rider Training, and we’ll head off to give your riding a service. Even if you have post-test training qualifications, why not get a different perspective by training with another organisation? You’ll not only practice what’s rusty in company with someone to point it out, but you’ll undoubtedly learn a few new wrinkles too.

 

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17. Staying Warm on two wheels

Physics doesn’t change. Only our understanding of the principles does. Given how long ago I wrote this article, it has not just stood up well to the passage of years, I’d venture to say that it was is quietly ahead of its time, at least in the world of motorcycling: the emphasis on core temperature, cognition and risk perception, and decision-making, rather than just comfort, aligns very closely with how cold-weather risk is framed today in both occupational safety and human-factors research. Hypothermia is insidious and often unrecognised and framing getting cold as a decision-making and control problem is crucial, and extends far beyond a comfort issue, something still under-emphasised in mainstream motorcycling advice. That reinforces why riders underestimate cold-related risk. The central insight — cold hands are a symptom of falling core temperature — is the core of the article and scientifically valid as is the explanation of insulation as rate-of-loss reduction rather than heat retention. This is a mistake riders still make even today, relying on layering too much.

Where I writing the article today, I would point out that much of my critique of heated grips is fair, but they are more reliable and somewhat more effective than the ones I struggled with back in my courier days, but they are still more useful as a supplement to heated clothing, but not a solution, particularly on a long ride.

Staying Warm on two wheels

Motorcycles and cold weather aren’t entirely compatible. Whilst the biggest winter risk to riding in the UK is ice, the subtle disorientation caused by hypothermia isn’t that far behind. The wind chill factor is considerable on a bike, and the hands are stuck out in the wind. They also have a large surface area to lose heat from, and so are the first part of the body that we notice getting cold. Unfortunately, because gloves still need to allow us to operate the controls, they are also probably the most difficult part of the body to keep warm. Over the years, I tried all sorts of ways of keeping my hands warm. I tried some pretty expensive kit as well as ideas I knocked up myself for nothing. So have a read, learn from my experience, and before you dash out and spend big cash too, don’t make the same mistakes I did.

In an attempt to keep my hands warm I’ve tried:-

thick gloves
thermal gloves
World War 2 flying gloves (really!)
skiing gloves
silk inner gloves
thermal inners
overmitts
handlebar muffs
cut down milk containers
heated inners
heated handlebar grips

But before I discuss how well they worked – or didn’t work – let’s consider just why hypothermia isn’t uncommon when riding a bike.

Heat is lost from the body by three routes:

radiation
convection
conduction

Fairly obviously, the blood flows out down our arms and legs to hands and feet, and back to the heart. But when it’s cold, the blood passing down arms and legs is cooled by the windblast – their large surfaces act as radiators – and returned to the core of the body. Now it has to be re-heated before being pumped round the body again. The body can cope with mild cooling – it just turns up the heat by burning more fuel – but there’s a limit. Once we start losing heat faster than the body’s self-warming process can cope with, we start losing heat from the body’s core. And the steeper the temperature gradient (ie, how cold it is), the faster we chill.

Now, we don’t really feel any of that, but what we feel is the next stage. As our core temperature starts to fall, the circulation of warm blood to the surface capillaries begins to shut down to reduce further heat loss. Skin feels cold to the touch. Go a stage further and the blood supply to the body’s extremities also starts to shut down – now it’s not just skin that’s cold, but our hands and feet, and eventually even our arms and legs.

What are the effects of this chilling? When are arms and legs get cold, the muscles operating our fingers, hands and feet become stiff and unresponsive. And we start to struggle to control the bike. I remember one icy ride from London to Kent when I couldn’t actually change gear for the last ten minutes.

That’s bad enough, but it gets worse. We also lose heat through our neck and head, and that means the brain is affected too. We start losing focus and making bad decisions.

So that’s hypothermia. And it sets in surprisingly easily on a bike. If you’ve ever reached the stage of shivering uncontrollably, you’re in the early stages of hypothermia. . This is not idle speculation – this comes straight from sports physiology research.

So what was the mistake I made? It’s pretty obvious when you read the list above – they were all attempts to keep my hands warm. Unfortunately, that’s treating the SYMPTOMS rather than the DISEASE.

Let’s just recall what thermally-insulated clothing does. We think of it as ‘retaining’ heat, but that’s not actually how it works. It SLOWS DOWN the rate of heat loss.

So here are two points to think about:

thermal insulation only works up to the point where the temperature gradient across the insulation is steep enough for the rate of heat loss to exceed the body’s ability to heat itself. Once temperatures dip low enough, from that point on, we are going to chill. For clothing with good thermal insulation, that threshold temperature is lower.

if we only ride short distances, thermal insulation may slow down the rate of heat less enough that we don’t notice the chilling effect of cold weather. But on a longer ride in the same clothing, we will continue to lose heat for as long as we’re riding, and then all that our thermal clothing can do, no matter how good it is, is to delay the onset of chilling. It prolongs the agony, as it were. This is a serious problem if you are habitually a short distance rider and suddenly do a long trip. It took me years to understand why the clothing that kept me nice and warm on short rides let me get so cold on long runs.

So the key point is that whilst moderately chilly weather may be tolerable for short rides, as soon as the temperature really dips or we take a long ride, we’re going to chill. Circulation to the arms, legs and brain are all reduced, and eventually we’ll lose our mental focus too.

One obvious solution is to keep adding thermal insulation until we stay toasty. That’s the idea behind ‘layering’. But after a bit, thick gloves with inners get too bulky to be easy to use, and we end up looking like the Michelin Man – try looking over your shoulder!

So let’s step backwards a bit, and recall that if we keep the core temperture high, blood keeps circulating. But how can we supplement the body’s own ability to supply enough extra heat?

Well, the obvious solution if hands are cold is to use something to heat the hands – heated grips and gloves . But remember – this is the symptom, not the disease. They might make our fingers feel warm but they are very inefficient – most of the heat produced is lost again, either by conduction down the metal bars or radiation from the back of the glove. My experience is that I still got physically cold even if my fingers felt warm, probably because the warm fingers ‘fool’ the brain into opening up capillaries to blood flow, which then loses heat. And as a secondary problem, I’ve found heated grips and gloves fail very quickly because of the constant flexing. I generally reckoned on a year for heated grips before the wiring failed and one winter for the gloves, sometimes just a couple of months. It’s the heating elements that go in gloves and the feed wire on the throttle side with grips.

So can we heat the core directly? We can, by using heated clothing. A heated jacket or waistcoat adds heat where it’s needed, and given the same insulation, the result is that we push the point where we start to chill to a lower temperature. With core temperature maintained, so is circulation to the extremities and so hands and feet get a constant supply of warm blood.

In my experience of riding through really cold weather – I was a blood runner for several years, being called out at all hours of the night including in mid-winter – a heated waistcoat may not completely overcome the cooling effect but goes a long way towards it – on one 3am ride in January when it was -10c, my fingers still got cold but they didn’t go numb. I would have struggled to complete the ride without the waistcoat. I’ve found that if it’s chilly (10 – 5C) wearing a long-sleeved shirt, a light fleece then my heated waistcoat keeps me warm. If it’s cold (around 0) I wear the fleece over the waistcoatr. Below zero, I put unlined waterproofs over my riding suit, and that is sufficient to deal with a three hour riding down to about -10C.

Heated waistcoats are available for around £100 and my experience is also that they last much longer. My first Gerbing waistcoat lasted a decade, and my replacement from Exo2 is even older. Only the oldest bikes will have problems with a waistcoat – they draw no more than about 30 watts – half a halogen headlight bulb. It’s also possible to daisy-chain heated gloves, socks, leggings and collars from some manufacturers, but make sure your bike’s alternator can cope with all that lot.

Personally, I’d avoid a heated jacket. You can wear a heated waistcoat under several layers of insulation BEFORE putting a jacket on – you can’t do this if the heating element is built in to the jacket.

Final tip – plug the leaks! Keep wind out of your clothing by tightening wrist straps, using a scarf or neckwarmer and zipping jackets to trousers or wearing one-piece suits. Several thin layers are better than one thick one, unless it is a fleece – the idea is to trap air and stop it moving. If you have a separate jacket, bib-and-brace type trousers help keep the kidneys warm. A cheap one piece rain suit over the top will do wonders if you have separate jacket and jeans.

And a word of warning – don’t put the heated waistcoat next to the skin – the heating element can get pretty hot and you will end up looking like you barbecued yourself! You can get inline temperture controllers, or just wire in a simple on-off switch on the bike’s dash. Don’t forget to fit an inline fuse to avoid self-immolation.

If you want to stay warm on a bike this winter, spend some smart money on a heated waistcoat!