Tag: technique

Posted on

75. Apex or Exit – what’s important when cornering?

I have little to add to add to this except to say that twenty years on from penning this article, riders are still obsessing over finding the apex on the road, when that’s really not what matters. Waiting until we can clearly see where the road leads beyond the bend is what allows us to select the line that copes with mid-corner threats and avoid the classic ‘turn-in too early, run wide later’ cornering error.

Apex or Exit – what’s important when cornering?

Back in the summer of 2006, I was seduced by a magazine’s big cover splash promising “Twenty pages on cornering faster”. Despite reading it cover-to-cover, I could only find a couple of pages on cornering technique. The remaining eighteen pages were thinly-veiled adverts for expensive aftermarket accessories or services to get the bike tweaked. Anyway, cynicism aside, the two pages on riding were the valuable content because the best bolt-on accessory on any bike is the rider, and the most cost-effective tweaks we can do are to our own skills. A good rider can still corner well on a wallowing hippo of a machine. But all the bolt-on bling in the world won’t turn an incompetent owner into Valentino Rossi or Marc Marquez. It’s depth of wisdom, not depth of wallet, that helps us to good cornering out on the road.

So what did the article say? Well the writer spent a lot of time talking about “finding the apex”. You may be wondering what the apex of a corner actually is, because it’s a word bandied around with some freedom when talking about corners. Think of a triangle – stand it upright – the pointy bit at the top is the apex. Now, connect the three points with a smooth curved line and the point at the top is still the apex. If we now give that curved line some width, so it becomes a road, the apex is where the point of that triangle touches the inside of the corner halfway round.

On a race track, where we can use all of the surface, if we start on the OUTSIDE of the corner and if we also exit on the OUTSIDE of the corner, by just touching the INSIDE of the track halfway through the turn – the apex of the triangle – we take the maximum radius (and thus the fastest) ‘racing line’ through the corner. So if the corner is a nice symmetrical one, the apex is ‘mid-corner’, halfway round the bend.

What about ‘early’ or ‘late’ apexes, two more terms you’re likely to hear in any discussion about riding a track? An early apex comes before we are half-way though the corner, and generally indicates an increasing radius turn – the corner opens out. A late apex comes after we are half-way through the corner and may indicate a decreasing radius turn – a corner that gets progressively tighter. On the track, we learn our lines by going round and round until it all flows nicely. Even on a blind corner on the track, we learn to use marker points (which is why they put cones out on track training sessions) to guide us round.

But the road is not a track, and this ‘racing line’ which may be the fastest way around the track, is not a great idea on the road where we have to deal with a number of other problems. For starters, we don’t get the chance to learn a bend by going round it over and over, and we don’t get markers (at least, not handy cones). We have to ride it as we see it, which isn’t easy when most of the corners on UK roads are blind – that is, we can’t see all the way through them from beginning to end. Aiming for an apex where we cannot see out the other side of the corner isn’t a great idea – we could end up turning-in too early, which inevitably leads to running wide later in the corner.

But even when we can see right through the corner, cutting into the apex on a right-hander brings us into close proximity to oncoming vehicles. And on a left-hander, cutting into the apex puts us close to where there might be hidden turnings and driveways on our nearside.

As it happens, the way to learn a track (if the handy cones are absent) is to work backwards. We start by finding the direction we want to be headed on the way out of a bend – the ‘exit’. Keith Code’s definition of the exit is a good one to work with – it’s where we can put the power on as hard as we like. Once we know where we want to be pointed at the exit, then we can find the line backwards to the ‘apex’, and from there back to the ‘turn-in’ point where we would cut across the track to clip the apex, and ultimately back from the turn-in point back to the ‘entry’ which is where the corner forces us to steer or run off the track.

On the road, as I explain in the articles on ‘Point and Squirt’, the solution is to delay turning-in to the corner to the point where we can clearly see through the exit and where the road goes BEYOND the end of the corner. So if – as is likely – our view around the corner is obscured, we simply stay on a wide line around the outside of the curve until we CAN see the exit – where we’re pointed where we want to go next and can accelerate in a straight line, remember. Only when we reach this point do we decide if we should turn-in tighter, aiming to cut across the lane and exit the corner in as straight a line as possible, and this is the key to corners on the road – staying wide in the turn till we can actually see the exit.

Get this right and we avoid almost all ‘running wide in the corner’ errors whilst the apex looks after itself – it’s not something we need to worry about. In fact, far from being an aid to cornering on the road, the apex is a red herring and even a distraction from focusing on the exit and the mid-corner hazards I mentioned a moment ago. For good cornering on the road, simply ignore any debate about the apex.

Posted on

69. Where does Point and Squirt come from?

It’s the cornering technique that pulls everything together but I didn’t learn it from Motorcycle Roadcraft. If there’s one topic I’ve always felt UK-based training at basic and post-test level has been seriously lacking, it’s a comprehensive approach to cornering that goes beyond the mechanical inputs and positioning, but covers hazard recognition, risk assessment and risk management. In short, I picked up the various elements from a number of different sources, tested them via trial-and-error, then combined them into a system of cornering that I used personally. When I started post-test coaching, I taught riders what I’d learned and called it ‘Point and Squirt’ for the “slow in, late apex, quick steering, delayed and upright acceleration” combination that seemed to me to work best on awkward bends. It remains a highly practical and, adaptable approach to cornering.

Where does Point and Squirt come from?

Although I’m often told that what I teach on my Survival Skills post-test training course is the same as you’d find if you read the police handbook ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’ (the most recent critic called it “Roadcraft with lipstick and blusher” which made me chuckle), that’s not actually correct. There are plenty of areas of commonality, not least that the aim of ‘Roadcraft’ and Survival Skills is to try to keep riders upright and that there’s nothing any rider can do with a motorcycle except change speed and direction. But Survival Skills is most definitely not ‘Roadcraft’ under a different name’. The Survival Skills approach avoids seeing ‘progress’ as the goal of advanced riding and changes the ‘do it the right way’ approach to riding to a more pragmatic ‘have we prepared for things to go wrong’ approach. And in particular, Survival Skills has always offered a far more organised approach to cornering. In the mid-90s, the current edition of ‘Roadcraft’ barely covered the topic – steering wasn’t even in the book. Even now, with a much-improved updated edition, it’s my opinion that the Survival Skills Performance: BENDS and Performance: SPORT course go way beyond ‘Roadcraft’s’ new content. Read on, and decide for yourself.

In the UK, and with just a few exceptions, most advanced training – whether it’s delivered by the IAM, RoSPA-certificated instructors, or even in a watered-down form by the ERS (thanks to the connection with the DVSA) – has its roots in UK police practice – the police handbook ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’ is recommended background reading and they all apply the ‘Police System of Motorcycle Control’ as a core component of their training.

However, whilst I make USE of ‘Roadcraft’ as well as the IAM’s offerings and various books from the DVSA, my training certain ISN’T ‘Roadcraft-based’.

Looking further afield than the UK, there are other training schemes around the world and many writers with valuable things to say about riding, so I have drawn heavily on outside sources. I’ve looked at the work of US rider coach Keith Code (of the California Superbike School) and his concept of cornering reference points. There’s David Hough’s huge amount of work, the laid-back approach of Nick Ianetsch, as well as ideas from Lee Parks (Total Control) and Reg Pridmore (CLASS) all to be found in my courses. I’ve obtained training material from contacts with the US-based MSF which have influneced my thinking. I’ve incorporated techniques from the Australian ‘Ride On’ programme. Even more recently, the internet has allowed me to swap ideas with and ride with trainers and other motorcyclists from all over the world. And I also have my not-insignificant time as a courier to draw on, something that taught me how easily things can go wrong on the road.

Survival Skills cornering courses have always focused on three aspects of cornering:

  1. hazard awareness, risk assessment and risk management

  2. a system of ‘reference points’ that allows any rider to navigate around any corner

  3. a method of mapping machine inputs – braking, steering, throttle control – to the reference points

Put together, Survival Skills has delivered the unique ‘Point and Squirt’ approach to cornering since 1997. So, is my Point and Squirt approach to corners “Roadcraft with lipstick and blusher” as that critic claimed? Not in my opinion.

Almost as soon as I bought a bike – a lovely little Honda CB125S – and set off on L plates (no compulsory basic training back then) I wanted to find out more about cornering. Just a few months into my riding career, I got hold of the old ‘Blue Book’ police manual. I soon added an IAM book, and progressively added more – who remembers ‘Superbiking’ by Blackett Ditchburn? No? I thought not!

Unfortunately, despite learning about the ‘Police System of Motorcycle Control’, trying to apply it to corners didn’t help much when nobody had told me how to steer – it wasn’t in ‘Roadcraft’ back then. I actually discovered counter-steering thanks to a magazine article whilst I was at college. Turn the bars the wrong way? Madness! But it worked. I taught myself to ‘push right, go right’ and ‘push left, go left’. Even though it wasn’t in ‘Roadcraft’, it got me round corner and also I realised it could help me swerve out of trouble – something that saved me a number of times when I became a courier.

I also learned about how I should use “acceleration sense”, matching the throttle opening (and thus speed) to the radius of a corner as judged by changes to the ‘Limit Point’. Opening and closing the throttle as the radius of the bend changed worked OK on a 12hp 125, and reasonably well a couple of years later on a 37hp 400-F with stiff suspension when I passed my test. But when I added a CX500 to my collection of bikes in 1982, a bike with 50-odd horsepower and a shaft drive, I found any on-off throttle round corners destabilised the soft and relatively long-travel suspension. By trial and error, I found the best way to keep the bike going where I wanted was to slow down a bit earlier, then to keep the throttle steady all the way through the corner from entry to exit. If the bend changed radius, rather than try to change speed with the throttle, I changed lean angle instead. It also worked better on my 400-F, and the technique I’ve continued to use successfully on every bike from a Husqvarna 610TE enduro to a GSX-R sports bike. In short, it works on anything.

Another learning experience was that using a ‘maximum radius’ line that “works the tyres less hard” (that’s a quotation from an early 2000s West Midlands BikeSafe video, one I have in my collection) could have its downsides. When I started riding, the advice in the Highway Code was that riders should still ride three feet (just under a metre) out from the kerb. But more and more riders were rejecting that. So what to use instead? Well, there were lots of magazine articles about the ‘maximum radius line’ where we exploit the width of our lane by riding a ‘wide in, clip the apex, wide out’ racing line. Even if not explicitly suggested, it was definitely hinted at in Roadcraft – just to check my memory was correct, I recently dug out my old ‘Blue Book’ edition of Roadcraft and it does indeed show near-symetrical maximum radius lines worked into the full width of the lane.

So I started using it. There’s another article which goes into more detail but suffice to say, I discovered its drawbacks on the road when I nearly had my head removed by an oncoming police car in the middle of a right-hand bend. In retrospect I suppose ‘racing line’ should have been a clue. The driver didn’t seem too impressed with it either. I’d also discovered that if I got it a bit wrong on a left-hander, I would (and did) end up in a field, I started to use less-aggressive lines that avoided both grass and oncoming police cars. Nevertheless, it’s still being talked about in that much later BikeSafe video.

Although I was still reading anything I could lay my hands on, my cornering skills stagnated through the 80s, mostly because nearly all my riding was as a courier mostly in and around London. But then in 1990 I moved back to Kent. And now I was doing a lot of cross-country courier runs and clocking up a LOT of miles on twisty roads. By coincidence, a series called ‘Survival Arts’ began appearing in the old ‘Motorcycle Sport’ magazine.

In April 1990, the article on cornering jumped out at me. The diagrams showed the rider going much deeper into a corner, then turning tighter later in the bend keeping well away from the centre line (right-hander) or the kerb (left-hander) before exiting on a far less extreme line. It was very different line to the line I’d seen before. And yes, I still have that source too, to double-check.

I remember the day I tried out the Survival Arts line. I was on a run out to Wales on a nice sunny day, and finding it difficult to pass a tractor on a twisty road. I suddenly realised that taking a line on right-handers which went a little deeper in to the turn gave me a good view on the way up to the bend, kept me away from oncoming traffic mid-corner whilst using a quicker, more positive counter-steering input to square off the corners helped me get upright and lined up with the straights sooner. Coming out of a right-hander, I turned the bike tighter onto a straight long enough to pass the tractor. Having got past, I kept trying it, and found it made riding the twisty road a lot easier on left-handers too. It was an absolute revelation. I’ve got some notes dating from 1992 when I actually started to write up the ‘on the road’ benefits of what would become ‘Point and Squirt’. Why Point and Squirt? Because that’s exactly what we do. We wait till we see where the road is going next, then turn sharper, ‘point’ the bike at the exit and turn the throttle harder to ‘squirt’ the bike out down the road to the next hazard.

Soon after, I borrowed a buddy’s copy of Keith Code’s ‘Twist of the Wrist 2’ because I was about to do my first track day. Although a lot of the book was irrelevant to the road (and some almost incomprehensible on first reading), I did take away some postives. Code confirmed my ‘open the throttle all the way through the corner’ approach was right, and his thinking on stability issues and the need to keep the bike upright as much as possible, also confirmed the benefit of the Survival Arts deep in, quick steer approach. He also said “turn only when you see the exit” which I realised is what I was doing with my Survival Arts line. Code’s “steer once” advice and his definition of the exit (“where you can do anything you want with the throttle – pull a wheelie if you want to”) all made immediate sense given what I was already doing.

Code supplied a crucial missing link with his concept of ‘reference markers’ (repeating and easy-to-recognise points in bends). You won’t find this in ‘Roadcraft’ or any of the books based on it. Yet Code’s ‘Two Step’ technique (in short, an approach which gets us to search for one reference point, then when we see it, move our eyes further forward to look for the next) explained when to look, where to look, and what we are looking for. Code provided some crucial missing links and by putting Code’s quick-steer approach, the ‘Two Step’ and the reference marker concept altogether, we have a way of timing braking, steering and acceleration inputs consistently.

By combining what I’d learned from Code with my Survival Arts cornering line, I developed a consistent style that used positively-timed (but NOT ‘harder’) braking to slow whilst upright, a slower, squared-off turning point late in the corner that gets the bike upright earlier, allowing early, positive and upright acceleration out of the bend. My cornering technique took another big step forward – rather than carrying corner speed using the ‘maximum radius’ line as I had on the 125, I was positively sacrificing it.

I got plenty of chance to polish Point and Squirt on long rural courier runs, so let’s fast-forward to 1994 when I got online and began to discuss riding, including my Point and Squirt cornering approach with riders from all over the world. MSF instructor Don Kime sent me some training material which showed how to break down corners using the ‘Slow, Look, Lean, Roll’ approach (quite a few years before Thames Valley Advanced Motorcyclists hi-jacked the technique, incidentally). Now I’d added a way to break the corner down into easily-defined chunks which matched Code’s machine inputs. I also got useful feedback from US riders who’d done Code’s California Superbike School as well as Reg Pridmore’s CLASS in the United States, where the ex-pat British former racer seemed to be teaching a road line not-dissimilar to my Point and Squirt.

By 1996 I was working down in Lydd as a CBT instructor, and I joined a local IAM group. Boy, Point and Squirt did not go down well with my observer. Braking, squaring off, then accelerating upright out of corners; nope, that was all wrong. Instead, I was told how the ‘proper’ approach to cornering was to “vary throttle and speed with radius” and to “smooth out the radius of the corner”. OK, maybe not quite so close to the white paint as my old approach to right-handers, but essentially I was being shown the throttle control that hadn’t worked on my old CX and a near-identical line to the one I’d discarded after the near-decapitation by the police car.

Just a few month later, I ran my own advanced course for one of our trainees who’d recently passed his bike test and turned up with a new machine. I got a day’s warning from the boss, spent the previous evening roughing out a syllabus, and rather than the IAM line it was my own Point and Squirt approach that I showed him. When launched Survival Skills Rider Training in 1997, this reference point-based, slow in on the gas, quick steer and late-turn line was a key part of the two-day Survival: SKILLS course. I’ve continued to develop Point and Squirt, but the essentials were in place.

In early 2000, I was invited to run an advanced riding section on a national motorcycle forum. It rapidly gained members, and questions soon popped up about cornering. When riders had issues cornering, I’d describe the benefits of the Point and Squirt approach. And suddenly, I was being told that this was “the line you’d take if you’d followed the advice in Motorcycle Roadcraft” or that I’d “misunderstood Roadcraft and that if I’d taken IAM training, I’d have been shown how to ‘interpret’ it correctly”.

I checked over my extensive collision of books, articles and videos which date from the early ’70s to see if my memory really was failing but, nope. The Survival Arts line is quite obviously different from diagrams in the ‘Blue Book’ edition of Roadcraft. And there’s that 2000s West Midlands BikeSafe video too (even if the footage clearly shows the rider demonstrating what I’d call Point and Squirt. With hindsight, I’ll concede that there IS a written warning to “tuck in tighter and not to exit too close to the white line on left-handers” in the Blue Book, and the “turn only when you see the exit” advice IS in the mid-90s editions of Roadcraft. But in neither book is the message given any great prominence, possibly because – as is also regularly pointed out – the book was intended to be read alongside the police practical training. However, my response to that is “why write a book with half the story?”

A less charitable suggestion was that I was trying to “score points over other trainers”, or wanted to be the “sole Guardian of the Truth” – if that were true, I’d hardly be explaining how Point and Squirt worked, would I now?

For what it’s worth, a few years after the first “Point and Squirt is just Roadcraft properly explained” bun fight, I met a very nice bloke on a group trip in Europe. He’d had his IAM pass for 20 years but was active in his group. At the end of one of our rides, he quizzed me on the lines I was taking. I explained Point & Squirt. “Nah”, he said, “I don’t like that… it’s all stop/start and sudden jinks… I like match the throttle to the bend mid-corner… and I like to lean the bike and use wide sweeping lines because the bike’s more stable… it’s how my two mates who are both ex-police riders ride too”. Next day I followed him. He was rolling the throttle on and off mid-corner and taking the maximum radius line round bends.

So if Point and Squirt really isn’t ‘Roadcraft-revisited’, does anyone else teach something similar? Some years AFTER I’d talked about Point and Squirt online, Andy Ibbott – then director of the UK outlet of Code’s California Superbike school – wrote about Code’s cornering in ‘Motor Cycle News’. Without calling it Point and Squirt, Andy Morrison of Rapid Training explained it very well indeed in a series in ‘Bike’ magazine between 2005 and 2006, more than ten years after I first started writing about Point and Squirt online, and almost as long after I started teaching it.

So I think I’ve shown that there is a significant difference between the Point and Squirt approach to cornering and what’s covered by Roadcraft-based training. If you’re still struggling to accept that after reading my explanation, maybe book up a course and see for yourself.

Posted on

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.

 

Posted on

63. Dealing with hairpins

Hairpins are just a type of corner. True, they go on longer than other bends, and they usually involve a gradient change, but the essentials remain the same. Nevertheless, they throw many riders off their game. The article provides a practical, step-by-step guide, integrating uphill and downhill considerations, braking, throttle control, line choice, and slow-speed balance.

Dealing with hairpins

Whilst we have a lot of interesting technically tricky roads in southern England, a road feature that few of us are likely to experience until we visit Europe is a hairpin bend. In an example of how demand creates supply, after a number of emails asking for help with dealing with hairpin bends, I wrote first of all this article, then put together some routes that include hairpins for practical training purposes. Though there are hairpins in the more rugged parts of the UK, you might be surprised to know that I’ve found ‘secret’ hairpins for my advanced rider training courses in Buckinghamshire, Oxford, Kent and Surrey. Aside from the London-based course, the only location I’ve not yet found a hairpin – and I doubt I will – is Essex. Surprise, that! And of course, I also know a few for my courses in mid-Wales. So if you want a practical follow up to reading the article, I will cover hairpins on my Performance: SPORT two-day course, but can also offer a short two-hour Basics: HAIRPINS course. Hairpins are great fun to ride but can also become a real problem area if we don’t plan how to deal with them.

So, “how should I deal with a hairpin bend?”.

The broad answer is “in the same way as any other corner”. After all, the elements that make up a hairpin – ‘entry’, ‘turn-in’ and ‘exit’ – are common to all corners. A good starting point – once again – is to apply the standard Survival Skills approach, and to understand how, where and why we might make a mess of them. Once we understand that, it’s not difficult to apply the ‘reference point’ approach and my standard ‘Point and Squirt’ cornering technique to any hairpin.

So where to start?

As mentioned, just like any other bend a hairpin has:

  • a way in – the ‘entry’ to the corner where we have to steer or run off the road

  • a way out – the ‘exit’ where we’re upright again and headed for the next bend

And we can make the standard cornering mistake on hairpin; if we turn in too early then we run wide later.

So you should already have have had a lightbulb moment about the most common problem. The most significant difference between a hairpin and an ‘average’ corner is that the hairpin just goes on a lot longer than normal. Just as on ‘ordinary’ bends, if we ‘turn-in’ too soon, we are guaranteed to run wide on the other side of the hairpin, but with the added problem that if we run wide when we’re on the outside of the corner, we’re unlikely to end up in a hedge but hit a wall of rock or drop over a cliff. The latter is the uniquely scary factor on a mountain road.

But there’s a second problem. A hairpin is – by definition – on a hill. So we’re either cornering uphill or downhill. It all sounds very obvious but unless we’re used to tight corners on hills, we tend to get the balance and timing of our deceleration and throttle inputs in a mess.

And hairpins are often fairly tight so can demand the same sort of slow approach and control we’d apply turning left or right into a junction. If we get the braking / throttle timing wrong AND get on the wrong line AND make a mess of our slow control, we’ve often succeeded in destabilising the bike right in the most awkward part of the corner.

Yet there’s NOTHING about a hairpin bend that should frighten even a CBT trainee, except perhaps the height. (I suffer a bit from vertigo, so I’m in full sympathy with anyone who gets disoriented by looking a 100 metre sheer drop off the edge of the road.)

Mental issues aside, from a technical point of view, what’s a hairpin but a kind of U-turn?

The only significant difference is that we ride into it from speed, rather than start from a standstill (so we need to brake first), and that we accelerate out again rather than come to a standstill (so we need to twist the throttle), but everything else is standard U-turn technique:

  • bracing the knees against the tank to maintain a good posture, keeping the upper body loose, avoiding leaning on the tank, and having loose shoulder and neck so we can turn our head easily

  • slipping the clutch and balancing the forward drive against the rear brake

  • looking as far around the turn as possible

  • using a counter-steering ‘nudge’ to initiate lean into the turn

  • using counterweighting to keep the line tight whilst maintaining enough speed for balance

  • getting the bike upright again at the end of the turn

Let’s break down what we need to achieve stage by stage, and here’s a bit of good news. Unless we already live on top of a mountain, we’ll have to go up before we come down again, so the uphill hairpins give us a chance to practice before we come to the more awkward downhill ones. A second bit of good news it’s unlikely (except in wooded areas) that we cannot see the hairpin coming from some distance. Abroad, make sure you know what the sign for a hairpin is too, just in case it’s not so easy to spot.

As with any corner, the first requirement is to match speed to the radius of the bend ahead, with a bit in hand in case it’s tighter than it looks (or we can see).

  • Get into position for the turn itself. Just like any other bend, we use a wide approach but here’s my first tip. On the OUTSIDE of the turn (and even if your more experience mate is “showing the lines”) DON’T RIDE RIGHT TO THE EDGE. If we’re on the edge of a sheer drop, our mental focus is on staying ON the road. A couple of metres IN from the edge takes a lot of that pressure off. If we’re on the inside of the turn, using all the road is safer but we do need to watch for other vehicles (and I’ll come back to that in a moment.

Here’s my second tip.

  • Once in position, DECELERATE EARLY. Don’t rush up to the bend and brake at the last moment even if your more experienced mate ahead of you is doing that. Slowing early really is a key point. If we’ve sorted our speed early, we won’t be worrying about running out of road, and that means we have the mental freedom to drag our eyes away from the sheer drop and look up and around the curve to see where the hairpin takes us. We need a full turn of the head to do this, so we don’t want to be look round and up the hill just as we’re trying to steer. If the terrain is open, we’ll get an overview of how sharp and steep the turn is, and whether any vehicles are on the way down to meet us at the hairpin – more on that in a moment too.

Third tip.

  • Get into a low gear in plenty of time whilst still upright. Second gear is usually right on the wider hairpins, but it may be necessary to select first on really tight, steep corners. But DON’T OVERRELY ON ENGINE BRAKING – even going uphill, we’ll probably need to bring the speed right down so I’d advice using both brakes even if it’s only lightly. There’s a second reason – we’re going to need the rear brake in a moment and it’s far easier to remember to have a foot on the pedal if we’ve applied both brakes on the way up. And there’s a third reason – it’s good practice for downhill.

The fourth tip is this:

  • get off the brakes and ON THE THROTTLE whilst still upright. We’re going to need the power to drive us round the bend against the slope.

Now we’ve got the speed right, and we’re about to turn into the hairpin itself. Fifth tip:

  • Remember all those U-turns you did on basic training? It’s EXACTLY THE SAME MANOEUVRE, just uphill! Slip the clutch on the really tight ones and remember, the REAR BRAKE balances the THROTTLE to fine-tune our speed just as when we practiced slow control round the cones. With the rear brake ready to control the speed, come off the front brake, look right round the turn, and drive the bike uphill with the throttle.

Sixth tip.

  • Apply a counter-steering ‘nudge’ to get the bike to lean and then use counterweighting (where the rider sits UPRIGHT and pushes the bike DOWN) to help maintain speed around the corner itself – don’t try to ride too slowly or the machine will start to wobble. To get the bike to turn tighter, it’s tempting to ride ever-slower. But there’s a point at which any machine ceases to balance itself, and from then on, we’ll struggle to hold any kind of a controlled line. So to keep a tight line on a hairpin, use counterweighting. We lean the machine IN, but keep our body UPRIGHT. The bike’s extra lean has the effect of needing less space to turn but at the same speed.

So that sets us up ready for the most complicated part of the hairpin – it’s halfway round which is nearly always the steepest part of the turn, and most pronounced on the inside of the corner. This is where the engine is likely to bog down if we’re not driving it against the rear brake. If we are holding the bike on the rear brake, we simply ease the brake off to add drive. But be ready – as the bike comes out of the steepest part of the turn, we will need to ease the brake on again to stop the machine picking up speed and running wide. Once upright AND ONLY WHEN UPRIGHT do we ease off the rear brake and accelerate away up the hill.

So the rear brake turns out to be vital to the slow control needed to negotiate an uphill hairpin. For many riders, this use of the rear brake is the missing link.

Here’s the seventh tip.

  • In the wrong gear? Don’t try to change gear mid-hairpin because the bike will stop dead and fall over. Instead, slip the clutch – and you CAN slip the clutch in top gear if you have to.

The other common error is to try to ’round out’ the corner with a mid-corner apex and a sweeping line that maximises the radius. The trouble is, even a minor error will have us running wide on the exit, and that’s not great news if there’s a sheer drop under the front wheel. So the eighth tip is that we MUST avoid cutting into the corner too early:

  • So under power, stay on the WIDE LINE until we can see BOTH SIDES of the stretch of road leading away from the hairpin. This is our ‘turn-in’ point, where (if clear) we CAN cut across to straighten out the final part of the corner. As I said earlier, it’s exactly the same technique as we’d use on any other blind corner. And if we do encounter another vehicle coming down as we go round, keeping wide is much safer. The deep-in, late-turn ‘Point and Squirt’ line I teach on my Survival Skills advanced motorcycle riding courses absolutely works on a hairpin.

Once we’ve solved uphill hairpins and understood the need to drive the bike right round the turn, but NOT to try to accelerate too early, then suddenly downhill hairpins make more sense too. It’s the same approach. Once again, it’s all about making sure we give ourselves plenty of time to pick our line, set our speed, get the bike turning tight whilst using the rear brake to stop the bike picking up speed and running wide. Rather oddly, it’s going downhill for some reason causes a lot of riders to be very tentative with the brakes. But there’s no run-off on the average hairpin so it’s absolutely vital we are confident to get our speed off because downhill hairpins are all about ‘slow in’.

Whilst there’s nothing wrong with keeping the bike in a low gear, we MUST have sufficient confidence to use the brakes to set our speed. Even if you’re riding a BMW GS with a shed-load of engine braking, once the throttle’s shut there’s no more engine braking left. But even if the brakes are only on lightly, it’s now easy to fine-tune our approach speed, because it’s easy to misjudge deceleration downhill, thanks to gravity.

And don’t forget, whilst gravity also pulls us down around the corner itself, if we were using both brakes down the hill it’s much easier to remember to keep a foot on the rear brake to control our speed round the tightest part of the corner. Just as we did when going uphill, don’t release the rear brake until the bike is all the way round and upright again – let it off too soon and the bike WILL pick up speed and start to run wide. Once again, slip the clutch if needed on a really tight turn but don’t coast round.

Here are tips nine to thirteen:

  • whether up or down, try to minimise gear changes between hairpins. It’s less thing to worry about and if we let the engine rev we’ll get good drive up and good engine braking down

  • if we have a clear view and other traffic allows, we can cross to the ‘wrong’ side of the centre line to open out the hairpin where it’s really tight, and then pull our line back onto our own side as we exit the bend – it’s better than turning-in too tight and running wide later

  • coaches and lorries coming the other way will to need a lot of road to get round the hairpin – if the road’s narrow, it may be best to stop short and let it complete the turn first rather than to try to compete for space

  • if we’re being tailgated by another vehicle through the bends, back off on a straight and let the driver pass

  • remember we’re dealing with bends. That means polished surfaces, rippled tarmac and fuel spills. After rain (or snow) expect water to run across the hairpin, and watch out for gravel or stone chips torn out of the surface

And tips fourteen to seventeen help if you’re riding in a group:

  • ride at YOUR pace, not the leader’s or the rider ahead

  • leave sufficient space so that you can look around and see where the road goes, whilst leaving plenty of space in case they make a mess of it

  • don’t follow the rider in front, and let them get far enough ahead so that they are not a distraction, hold back and let them finish the hairpin before you get there

  • don’t copy the rider ahead but ride your own ride. If you rely on them the guy ahead to get it right and they don’t, so will you.

Eighteen, nineteen and twenty:

  • understand that if we are nervous about hairpins, getting the first few wrong will make us REALLY nervous about the rest of them. That means tenseness, and tenseness destroys control. Take the time to get the first ones right.

  • we’re heading to the mountains, it’s a very good idea (tip nineteen) to practice a slightly different style of U-turn – ride into them from speed so braking is necessary, and leave them by accelerating away. I use a ‘box’ exercise to help with this. That way we can build in some practice BEFORE we leave.

  • don’t forget that building ANY SKILL RIDING SOLO is NOT the same when riding TWO-UP, particularly when it’s loaded with gear – the bike WILL respond differently loaded and the best time to discover this is in Tesco’s car park, not as we hit the first downhill hairpin and wonder why we’re struggling with the turn.

Working your way through those should help you prepare for your first experience of the hairpin bend.

Posted on

62. Do you need to blip the throttle on a downshift?

Sometimes I am baffled as to why certain techniques get treated as ‘only for learners’ and this is one – easing the clutch out on down-changes versus the ‘advanced’ technique of “blipping the clutch”. There may be classic machines with gearboxes that reward a blip on downshifts, but modern motorcycles rarely need them. With the increasing focus on motorcycle noise, which has led to bans on some roads in Europe, unnecessary high-rev blips increase noise, so that’s another reason to favour easing the clutch.

Do you need to blip the throttle on a downshift?

In case you’re not familiar with what I mean by a ‘blip’, it’s a little tweak of the throttle, just as we pull in the clutch lever, to raise the revs momentarily. And there’s always an argument about whether or not we need to ‘blip’ the throttle on a down-shift, with many experienced riders telling novice and newly-qualified riders that it’s a skill they need to learn. Why?

The usual argument in favour is that it matches the engine speed with the road speed ready for the lower gear, and it thus kinder to the gearbox. I’ve seen it argued that blipping the throttle stops the dogs in the gearbox clashing as they engage, thus resulting in a quieter and mechanically more sympathetic change. Maybe that’s true, but I’ve never broken a gearbox and most of my bikes have reached high miles. A couple have gone over 100,000 miles and one despatching GS500, which must have done more gear changes per mile than most, lasted to over 140,000 miles. I’m not saying the reasoning is wrong but in terms of wear and tear on a modern bike, I doubt it’s anything the average rider needs to worry about.

A second argument is weighted towards ‘spirited’ riding, where riders are generating a lot of engine braking to slow the bike, so changing gear at relatively high revs. It’s true if we do that and dump the clutch again, it can momentarily lock-up the rear wheel as the lower gear ratio tries to spin the engine faster. It’s why some machines have slipper clutches. So a blip of the throttle helps avoid this lock-up. But to be honest, I’m rarely riding that rapidly on the road that I need to avoid this issue.

A third argument is that if we don’t blip, but let the clutch out slowly, we’re ‘reverse loading’ the clutch. Imagine slipping the clutch from a standstill. It’s doing the reverse, and that supposedly wears out the plates. Well, that GS500 was on its second clutch, but my 80,000+ Hornet is still on the original, despite lots of gear shifts.

At number four is my favourite explanation. “Blipping is a more skilful technique”. Says who? And why is making life more complicated automatically equated as greater skill? And it IS more complicated, and having spent many years training riders, it’s actually quite a tricky skill to master. Remember, the usual reason for selecting a lower gears is because we’re slowing down. We may be braking to slow, and now, if we want to blip, we have to make a wrist movement to open the throttle at the same time as we have our fingers pulling on the front brake lever. If we don’t this right, each tweak of the throttle also give the front brake an extra tug. And now the bike slows in a series of jerks rather than a smooth progression. Not so easy, after all. So many riders – including some with a lot of experience – dispense with braking entirely to rely on engine braking alone. Now, to lose a lot of speed, they end up forcing the bike down into unnecessarily low gears because it’s the only way to generate the deceleration that would have been achieved far more easily with the brakes.

So, let’s backtrack and see what we’re actually trying to achieve. The answer is a downshift, where the transition between gears is made smoothly.

Once we figure that out, it should be obvious that just HOW we accomplish the smooth shift is less important than making the shift smooth!

There’s a much simpler way, and we teach it to new riders; we pull the clutch lever in, shift the gear, then ease the clutch back out so that the clutch slips initially as it spins the engine up to the higher speed. Whilst the clutch smooths out the gearshift, we can focus on using the front brake effectively without the complication of trying to tweak the throttle. It’s much easy to brake smoothly.

Why this slipping technique is frowned on in certain circles I have no idea. After all, we have to slip the clutch to pull away. The clutch is there to smooth the transition between gears, and can equally well be used on down changes as well as up changes.

My own opinion is that for a road rider, the technique is a bit of a hangover from the clunky old gearboxes of yore. It was certainly useful to get a smooth shift on some 70s and 80s Moto Guzzis and BMWs I rode, but I genuinely can’t remember the last time I rode a Japanese bike that really NEEDED a blip of the throttle for a smooth downshift. It’s also useful on the track, where we are downshifting at high revs.

Now, that’s not to say that raising the revs momentarily is NOT useful in certain circumstances. Personally, I do twist the throttle slightly to lift the revs a little, but then I’m rarely trying to use the front brake at the same time – if for some reason I’m having to brake hard, I tend to leave the gears for later and focus on getting my speed off. But a little blip also helps to match revs when maintaining speed – perhaps when downshifting to a better gear prior to overtaking, or ready to climb a steep hill.

When I do blip, I don’t give the throttle a big twist sending the revs rocketing skyward. It’s a subtle movement with a subtle result. It’s always seemed to me that the big handful approach is not only obtrusive in terms of environmental sensitivity, it’s ham-fisted too. And it’s just as unlikely we’ll match the revs accurately as if we simply dumped the clutch on a closed throttle. If the back tyre is playing hopscotch, then it’s likely we’re shifting at too high revs and mis-matching our blip to the clutch movement.

If you do want to learn to blip on a down change, remember the object of the exercise is NOT to bounce off the rev-limiter on every blip, but a subtle adjustment of the revs upward to allow the smoother selection of the lower gear. Don’t shift when the revs are too high either – so long as the motor is spinning somewhere around the middle of the rev-range, that’s about right for the road – we have the ability to generate more engine braking as needed, or we can accelerate away again. The easiest way to develop the technique is to roll off the throttle earlier than usual (remember to keep an eye on the mirrors) so that the brakes aren’t needed, then it’s relatively easy to practice the blipping technique without getting the front brake in a a tangle.

To sum up, my conclusion is that like many techniques, there’s no clear cut ‘yes, we must’ or ‘no, it’s not necessary’ answer. It’s neither right or wrong, but one more technique to learn and use when appropriate.

So… blip if you want to… learn to blip if you can’t… but don’t feel there’s a problem if you don’t.

Posted on

59. Straight line -vs- trail braking

The next article was written well over twenty years ago, well before the current influencer-fuelled fad for trail braking as the ‘right way’ to enter corners became popularised on social media, usually without any cautions as to what happens if the level of grip under the tyres changes whilst the rider is braking and leaning simultaneously. Traction is not just finite, it’s unpredictably variable. There lies the risk on the road.

What I could have made clearer is that I believed then (and still do now) that trail braking is an entirely valid ‘get out of trouble’ technique. When we realise we’re running into a corner too rapidly, and leaning the bike alone is not going to avoid an off-road excursion, then using both front and rear brakes to bleed off some speed and tighten the radius of the turn is likely to be our way out of trouble. I taught it on my first Performance: BENDS courses in the late ’90s and I still cover it now, so I’m not ‘anti-trail braking’ as I have sometimes been labelled. To my mind, it’s a technique to be used when needed and not as a default approach to slowing for corners..

Straight line -vs- trail braking

One of the questions that I seem to get fairly frequently is what do I think about trail braking into bends. And when I do discuss it, it’s often a bit of a biking hot potato, with supporters on the one hand and others who say it’s a dangerous race track technique with no place on the road. First of all, it’s important that we understand the difference beween the two techniques, but also how they are linked. And we also need to be aware of what is sometimes called the ‘Traction Pie’. Essentially, is explains how it’s possible that we can divide up the grip that’s needed BETWEEN braking AND cornering at the same time.

The classic braking technique on the approach to a corner is to complete all braking before we start to steer the bike. The big advantage of this technique is that it separates traction management into two phases, FIRST braking THEN cornering. By keeping them apart we allow the tyres to use ALL their grip for one task OR the other. As a result, we significantly reduce the risk of losing traction at either end of the bike.

By contrast, when using the trail-braking technique the rider carries the brakes from the upright approach into the corner, gradually reducing the pressure on the brakes while adding lean angle until the brakes are off and the bike is at the chosen lean angle.

So what’s the problem?

Essentially, because the braking forces are using up traction AT THE SAME TIME AS the leaning forces, it’s possible to exceed the total amount of traction they tyres can deliver. And if that happens, we’re in trouble.

It’s that potential for loss of grip that’s always been used to promote the traditional upright braking approach to bends – if a wheel does lock under braking, upright it’s controllable even on a bike without ABS.

Separating braking and steering is by far and away the simplest way of dealing with a bend, and there’s far less to go wrong. Not least, if we’re off the brakes, we free ourselves up mentally to look around the corner to see what comes next. If we’re on the brakes, we’re actually mentally focused on the road surface itself (think about it) and what we might hit if it all goes wrong – cars, walls and other hard objects – and that in turn leads us in the direction of target fixation.

So why bother with trail braking at all? Two reasons.

The first is simply ‘advantage’ – since we carry the brakes into the first part of the corner, it’s possible to brake a little later, which means we carry speed a little further down the preceding straight. You’ve probably realised where this would be an advantage – on the track.

You may also have heard that “the bike steers better with the forks compressed”. It’s actually written on Freddie Spencer’s site and it’s hard to argue with a racer as talented as Freddie. But I can honestly say that every road bike I’ve ridden has, to a greater or a less extent, sat up and headed for the ditch on the brakes. Maybe a race bike set up on race tyres and race geometry does steer OK on the brakes, but my thinking is that this is a misunderstanding of what’s happening – as the bike slows on the brakes, it turns on a progressively tighter line simply because the speed is dropping.

Anyway, we’re not riding on the track, we’re on the road. We’re not out-braking other riders, nor trying to squeeze half a second off our point-to-point time. In fact, attempting trail braking as a regular approach to getting round bends risks all the things that goes wrong in bends:

  • running in too fast

  • turning in too early

  • running wide later in the corner

But with an added problem – because we’re braking and steering at the same time, we’ll be edging closer to the limit of traction. And of course, we’re assuming that the surface can deliver the grip we’re asking for – but surface grip can very from metre to metre. When we deliberately trail brake into a bend and get it wrong or the surface fails to deliver, the bend will bite back – hard! Which brings us right back to the benefits of braking upright to sort out speed before we reach the bend itself. On the road, braking hard and late is rarely the key to riding quickly – it just unsettles the bike and unsettles the rider!

As it happens, Nick Ienatsch – another US racer and writer for the US mag Sport Rider who is a big fan of trail braking on the track – says in his ‘The Pace’ articles that trail braking makes steering more difficult and is out of place on the road.

So if we’re not simply trying to use trail braking to ride faster, what’s the other potential benefit?

The simple answer is that we’re not on a track, and that means the road ahead is essentially unpredictable. Not only do we misjudge corners – the bend that looked easy a moment ago suddenly starts tightening up – or we may find the road blocked just out of sight. Even if we approach the bend ‘at a speed that allows us to stop in the distance we can see to be clear’, if our forward progress reveals a couple of cows wandering around mid-corner, we’re going to have to lose some speed. We cannot throw our hands up and say “but I can only brake in a straight line”, we are almost certainly going to have to carry those brakes into the corner itself.

So now we really are talking about a technique that is of genuine use on the road. So long as we weren’t planning on enter the corner at knee-down speeds, then our modest lean angle allows for those brakes to be carried into turn.

And then we have two further options. We can keep the brakes on, and maintain our lean angle – and then, as I just mentioned, our reduction in speed will automatically make the bike turn tighter. That will deal with decreasing radius corner. Or we can use the reduction in speed to reduce our lean angle, and now as the lean angle comes up we can use the second option – brake progressively harder until the bike is upright and we’re braking at emergency levels. That will get us stopped if the road is blocked.

But in both cases we have to understand that if we haven’t already locked up the front wheel by braking in a straight line, there is ALWAYS grip to begin to steer and add some lean. It may not be much if we’re braking hard, but it’s there all the same.

We just have to lean the machine gently to start with, and remember that as we feed lean in, we feed the brakes out.

Mix and match. Slice that pie between the leaning and braking.

One final tip. Having got the speed where we want it, release the brakes smoothly and progressively – don’t suddenly ping them off. If we do, that will unload the front suspension equally suddenly, and that will give us a very nasty surprise indeed. Because we’ve added a little extra counter-steering input to fight the bike’s ‘sit-up on the brakes’ tendency, removing the braking force means that extra steering input makes it fall into the corner rather abruptly.

Posted on

49. The ‘Point and Squirt’ approach to corners

This particular article has its origins in some heated debates that took place online on my regular bike forum. The core problem it addresses — riders committing to a corner before they can see their way out — is still one of the most common precursors to serious road crashes. The debates concerned the difference between what some called ‘conventional’ cornering lines, and what I have been teaching since 1997 as the ‘Point and Squirt’ technique. Point and Squirt has its origins in a series of articles published in the 1980s in the old Motorcycle Sport and Leisure magazine, one of which showed some cornering diagrams which featured a ‘late apex’ line. I’d long since realised that running wide on the exit to bend was best avoided and the late apex line got me thinking, and also experimenting – not just with late apex, but with a quicker steering input to make the best use of it. That was something that went pretty much against the grain at the time. It was usually stated that machine inputs should be smooth. The trouble was, smooth was usually interpreted as ‘slow’. But the fact is that quick steering inputs can be also smooth. It’s all in the timing. I developed over many despatching miles, and when I started training it was a natural way to cover cornering. Point and Squirt remains relevant precisely because it is based on vision, timing, and options. The fact that modern bikes accelerate harder, steer faster, and forgive more errors only increases the importance of when riders choose to turn and apply throttle.

The ‘Point and Squirt’ approach to corners

Let’s go back to basics. Riding a bike requires us to be able to:

  • change speed

  • change direction

That’s all that the machine itself can do. Of course, there are other issues:

  • managing stability

  • managing risk

But it’s our ability to change speed and direction first and foremost that allows us to manage stability and risk in a bend. So what I teach on my Survival Skills Performance cornering courses is all about getting these basics right.

Here’s the first point to consider. It’s easy to get a motorcycle to either change direction OR change speed. We can mix-and-match, but it’s not so easy. So whenever we can, it makes sense to separate the braking and acceleration forces from cornering forces. On the approach to a corner we can achieve that quite simply – we get all deceleration, whether by closing the throttle or braking, completed upright before the corner. Once we’ve finished steering – which is the moment the bike is clear of the curve and upright again – we accelerate positively. So it’s this late turn-in and the upright acceleration which gives the technique the ‘Point and Squirt’ name.

What we don’t try to do is ‘chase the Limit Point’ by accelerating whilst still leaned over in the curve, as it says in ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’. With Point and Squirt, when the machine is leaned over, it’s ONLY having to deal with the cornering forces.

Now, here’s the second point. To minimise risk, we need to respond to hazards, whether that’s the shape of the corner itself, the presence of other vehicles and places they could turn, the state of the road surface and possible stability problems, or other issues such pedestrians and animals. To manage the risks posed by those hazards, we have to SEE them – or at least realise that we CANNOT see them! So until a mid-corner hazard forces a change of position on us, our line around the bend is dictated by what we can see. The line that gives us the best view of the road ahead is what I call the ‘Vision Line’, and we follow it from the moment we enter the corner to the point at which we can clearly see where the road goes next. To maintain the view, we usually position ourselves towards the outer edge of our lane, just so long as we don’t put ourselves at risk from oncoming vehicles (on a left-hander in the UK) or blind entrances or debris at the edge of the road (on a right-hander).

And thirdly. We need to know where we are in a bend – we need some kind of road map. And this is where I borrow from track technique – we can define ANY corner in terms of:

  1. the ‘entry’ – where the bend forces us to steer or run off the road

  2. the ‘turn-in point’ – where we can see the exit

  3. the ‘exit’ – where we’re upright again and pointed to where we want to go next.

Once we realise that committing ourselves to turning-in to a corner when we can’t see our way out of the bend is liable to lead to us running wide later in the corner, then it’s fairly obvious that we should only turn-in and attempt to widen the line around the final part of the corner when the view opens up for good. It’s this view of the way out – the exit – that locates the ‘turn-in point’. Using a late ‘turn-in point’ minimises the risk of turning in too early, and running wide later in the bend.

Why the controversy? Firstly, I was told “it’s in Roadcraft already”. It isn’t, although there are common elements such as the wide ‘vision line’. But the Point and Squirt approach emphasises the advantage of separating from the steering the inputs that make the bike do a ‘rocking horse’ on the brakes or under power. It also emphasises the late turn-in, late apex line. And it requires a moderately quick steering to make the direction change when the view opens up. Whilst it’s always possible to interpret ‘Roadcraft’ that way by reading between the lines, none of these elements are made explicitly clear as they are in Point and Squirt.

A more negative view was that Point and Squirt is a racing technique. Because I was talking about braking rather than simply rolling off the throttle, it was assumed that it must be all about dashing up to the corner before braking late and hard, and that the late ‘turn-in’ would result in the rider banging the bike over on its side before firing it out with a handful of throttle and wheelspin. Clearly that’s NOT what I’m suggesting. Of course, if we want to, we could brake later and harder, then maximise acceleration out of the turn, but getting through the corner quicker isn’t the raison d’etre. A moment’s thought will show that because Point and Squirt is about views and lines, it works just as well with a police-style ‘acceleration sense’ approach to riding.

What else? “Point and Squirt line’s ‘late apex’ requires a big steering input which could destabilise the bike.” It’s true that Point and Squirt gets the bike turned over a shorter distance, but if we’re travelling a little more slowly, it’s not a problem – in any case, there’s nearly always plenty of grip available to steer the machine, mid-corner it’s braking and accelerating grip that’s in short supply. We also get the bike upright sooner which is a benefit.

And “by taking a very late apex and making a more rapid change of direction, a rider is prevented from reducing the severity of a bend by ‘maximising the radius of the corner’.” Whilst in theory, this wider line ‘works the tyres less hard’ – that’s the very explanation given in a West Midlands BikeSafe video, the reality of what riders do with a wider line is very different. We all use it to carry more speed, not lean over less. The benefits are non-existant! What was really ironic in the West Midlands video was that having explained the benefits of the maximum radius line, the police rider then demonstrated a sequence of perfect Point and Squirt lines!

A more reasonable response was that it doesn’t apply to all corners. I’d totally agree, but I’d point out that it all comes back to the view. If we can see clearly right through the corner from one end to the other, then there’s no need to delay our ‘turn-in’, and we can indeed open out our line to ‘maximise the radius’ but in the UK at least, it’s rare to find a corner where there is nothing blocking our line of sight. Turning in too early means we’re relying on guesswork to figure out where the road goes. Even then, the wide exit means our steering must be spot on. If we get it wrong, we’ll run wide. What defines Point and Squirt is that delayed ‘turn-in’ which is controlled entirely by our view of the way out of the bend. That means it applies to any corner where we can’t see the exit on the way in, which happens to be most bends in the UK. And it’s also an excellent way to negotiate mountain hairpins where running wide could be catastrophic.

Nothing about Point and Squirt is particularly unique – you can find elements of it in various different books. What is unique is that way it’s all put together, and how it pulls all aspects of cornering – assessment of the bend, managing risk along the way, choosing a line and timing machine inputs – into one neat and self-contained system.

Funnily enough, right in the middle of the big online debate Andy Ibbott used his MCN column to explain how to “Separate throttle and steering and never run wide again”. Covering precisely the theory behind Point and Squirt, he stated:

“We need to get the bike pointing in the right direction before applying the throttle”.

My point exactly!

 

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

38. Staying upright on icy roads

This article remains fundamentally sound. The core message — avoid ice if at all possible; if you cannot, prioritise stability, smoothness, and planning — is still exactly right, and the last update which mentioned less-predictable winter weather continues to be a factor.

That said, a few areas benefit from clarification or modest updating, mainly around modern tyres, electronics, and rider aids, and one or two points where rider folklore still needs firmly nailing down. Many modern motorcycles are fitted with ABS, traction control and sophisticated engine management, and while these systems can reduce the consequences of rider error, they do not change the basic physics of ice. ABS may prevent an immediate front-wheel lock, but it cannot shorten stopping distances on ice and may actually destabilise the bike if it intervenes abruptly. Traction control reacts only once slip has already occurred, and on ice a sideways slip may be unrecoverable. Likewise, modern tyres offer excellent wet-road performance but still provide virtually no usable grip on ice, regardless of compound or tread pattern. Riders should regard electronic aids as a last line of defence, not a licence to continue riding in conditions where grip is fundamentally unavailable.

Staying upright on icy roads

This is another article which has needed a bit of a rewrite, because global warming seems to have spun off some seriously cold winters with snow and ice hanging around for months even in the south east of England. However, just as I wrote when I first put this tip together, the best solution to dealing with ice is to try to avoid it in the first place! I have a ‘bad weather’ clause in my training courses so it’s usually possible two or three days out to get early warning of approaching bad weather – the weather forecasts have improved significantly in the last decade or so. Failing that, take a look out of the window and have a look at car windscreens and the lawn. If it looks grim, take the car, the bus or leave the ride for another day. I was a ‘real biker’ for many years and learned the hard way that two-wheelers and ice don’t mix.

The best advice for riding on icy roads is “don’t”. But if there’s no choice, then do a bit of thinking ahead. Although it can stay frozen all day, it’s usually freezing mornings after a clear night that are likely to be the biggest issue, although the roads can freeze again if cloud clears after dark.

Plan the route to take roads that are more likely to have been treated. Back lanes are far less likely to have seen a gritting truck than main roads, and residential roads roads are more likely to be icy than motorways. Where cars have been running over the road, heat from the tyres will usually melt the ice in the wheel tracks, but if all the surface is icy, the least-polished and grippiest bit of the road is generally in the middle of the lane. A good indicator of a slippery bit of road is that it is shiny.

Remember too, that built-up areas are nearly always significantly warmer than country roads and just because the roads in town have been clear, that’s no guarantee there will be no ice on rural roads. Even if the road appears clear, there may be colder frost hollows or exposed areas where it isn’t – this is the ‘microclimate’ effect talked about in the police handbook, ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’.

We should also look for ice in shaded patches, behind buildings and under trees, even behind parked high-hided vehicles. If water can pool, such as in dips in the road and at bottoms of hills, we should keep our eyes open. Watch out for run-off from springs and fields – a good clue is an anti-skid surface! Car washes in towns can overspill and burst water mains nearly always accompany really cold weather. Be cautious on bridges – they cool from both sides – and metal access covers can be icy when the road surface is still just damp.

One particularly unpleasant riding condition is ‘black ice’. It’s hard to spot because it looks like a wet road but is actually a sheet of ice. The only clue is that it looks ‘wetter’ than usual, if that makes sense. It usually follows a late evening shower and clearing skies and a frost. Years ago, returning from a blood run at 4am on a January morning, I was passing through the town centre thinking it would be warmer than the country lane route home, when I hit a patch. Fortunately I was upright at the time, because what I thought was a missed gear turned out to be wheelspin. If I’d been accelerating coming out of the corner, I’d have been on my ear. As it was, I was able to roll off the ice and back onto some grippy tarmac.

So if we suspect ice, aim to get any braking and gear changing done upright, and get the bike upright before getting back on the throttle. Make brake, throttle and clutch movements slow and smooth. Keep speeds down so as to reduce steering input and lean angle. Posture is important and we need to try to keep weight off the handlebars. This isn’t easy on a sportsbike but sit forward on the seat, grip the tank with the knees, brace the back and keep shoulders, elbows and wrists loose.

If the bike does twitch, don’t try to fight it. There’s a reasonable chance the bike will regain grip but trying to fight the wobble just makes things worse in my experience. If we do hit ice, the most important thing is NOT to touch the brakes. It’s an incredibly strong instinct to overcome, but touch the front on a non-ABS bike and we’ll be on our ear before we know what’s happened. The rear brake will probably lock the back wheel, but we may be able to save the slide if we’re upright. Even with ABS the bike will be destabilised. I’ve been told to “steer into a slide”, but on the couple of times I’ve hit ice mid-corner, I’ve crashed so quickly I’ve had no time even to think about it.

Which gear should we ride in? The old advice was to ride in a higher gear than normal, but I suspect it works best on old bikes. It applies to 1960’s Bonnies and BMWs with low-revving, slow-revving engines. It’s entirely debatable if it should be applied to modern high-revving, fast-spinning bikes. If we ride in an artificially high gear to keep the revs low, we’ll be using more throttle than usual for the speed. Some years back on my GSX-R750, I was in too high a gear when I hit a slippery surface and the rear wheel lost traction. The bigger-than-usual throttle opening caused the engine to rev, that spun up the rear wheel, the rear back end stepped out sideways and I just avoided a high-side… at about 10mph! Counter-intuitively, a lower gear would have needed less throttle to drive the bike forward at the same speed, and so the wheelspin would have been less violent. And even if you have traction control, it’ll kick in and you’ll almost certainly shut the throttle. If you are riding an older machine that’s not so equipped, then the answer is to make your own traction control – drag the rear brake lightly right through the manoeuvre until the machine is upright again. It’s crude but it stops wheelspin… and it works. I’m not saying ride everywhere in first gear but take any advice to ride in a “higher gear than normal” with a pinch of salt if you’re not riding a Royal Enfield.

Take it easy out there, and stay shiny side up!

Staying upright on icy roads

This is another article which has needed a bit of a rewrite, because global warming seems to have spun off some seriously cold winters with snow and ice hanging around for months even in the south east of England. However, just as I wrote when I first put this tip together, the best solution to dealing with ice is to try to avoid it in the first place! I have a ‘bad weather’ clause in my training courses so it’s usually possible two or three days out to get early warning of approaching bad weather – the weather forecasts have improved significantly in the last decade or so. Failing that, take a look out of the window and have a look at car windscreens and the lawn. If it looks grim, take the car, the bus or leave the ride for another day. I was a ‘real biker’ for many years and learned the hard way that two-wheelers and ice don’t mix.

The best advice for riding on icy roads is “don’t”. But if there’s no choice, then do a bit of thinking ahead. Although it can stay frozen all day, it’s usually freezing mornings after a clear night that are likely to be the biggest issue, although the roads can freeze again if cloud clears after dark.

Plan the route to take roads that are more likely to have been treated. Back lanes are far less likely to have seen a gritting truck than main roads, and residential roads roads are more likely to be icy than motorways. Where cars have been running over the road, heat from the tyres will usually melt the ice in the wheel tracks, but if all the surface is icy, the least-polished and grippiest bit of the road is generally in the middle of the lane. A good indicator of a slippery bit of road is that it is shiny.

Remember too, that built-up areas are nearly always significantly warmer than country roads and just because the roads in town have been clear, that’s no guarantee there will be no ice on rural roads. Even if the road appears clear, there may be colder frost hollows or exposed areas where it isn’t – this is the ‘microclimate’ effect talked about in the police handbook, ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’.

We should also look for ice in shaded patches, behind buildings and under trees, even behind parked high-hided vehicles. If water can pool, such as in dips in the road and at bottoms of hills, we should keep our eyes open. Watch out for run-off from springs and fields – a good clue is an anti-skid surface! Car washes in towns can overspill and burst water mains nearly always accompany really cold weather. Be cautious on bridges – they cool from both sides – and metal access covers can be icy when the road surface is still just damp.

One particularly unpleasant riding condition is ‘black ice’. It’s hard to spot because it looks like a wet road but is actually a sheet of ice. The only clue is that it looks ‘wetter’ than usual, if that makes sense. It usually follows a late evening shower and clearing skies and a frost. Years ago, returning from a blood run at 4am on a January morning, I was passing through the town centre thinking it would be warmer than the country lane route home, when I hit a patch. Fortunately I was upright at the time, because what I thought was a missed gear turned out to be wheelspin. If I’d been accelerating coming out of the corner, I’d have been on my ear. As it was, I was able to roll off the ice and back onto some grippy tarmac.

So if we suspect ice, aim to get any braking and gear changing done upright, and get the bike upright before getting back on the throttle. Make brake, throttle and clutch movements slow and smooth. Keep speeds down so as to reduce steering input and lean angle. Posture is important and we need to try to keep weight off the handlebars. This isn’t easy on a sportsbike but sit forward on the seat, grip the tank with the knees, brace the back and keep shoulders, elbows and wrists loose.

If the bike does twitch, don’t try to fight it. There’s a reasonable chance the bike will regain grip but trying to fight the wobble just makes things worse in my experience. If we do hit ice, the most important thing is NOT to touch the brakes. It’s an incredibly strong instinct to overcome, but touch the front on a non-ABS bike and we’ll be on our ear before we know what’s happened. The rear brake will probably lock the back wheel, but we may be able to save the slide if we’re upright. Even with ABS the bike will be destabilised. I’ve been told to “steer into a slide”, but on the couple of times I’ve hit ice mid-corner, I’ve crashed so quickly I’ve had no time even to think about it.

Which gear should we ride in? The old advice was to ride in a higher gear than normal, but I suspect it works best on old bikes. It applies to 1960’s Bonnies and BMWs with low-revving, slow-revving engines. It’s entirely debatable if it should be applied to modern high-revving, fast-spinning bikes. If we ride in an artificially high gear to keep the revs low, we’ll be using more throttle than usual for the speed. Some years back on my GSX-R750, I was in too high a gear when I hit a slippery surface and the rear wheel lost traction. The bigger-than-usual throttle opening caused the engine to rev, that spun up the rear wheel, the rear back end stepped out sideways and I just avoided a high-side… at about 10mph! Counter-intuitively, a lower gear would have needed less throttle to drive the bike forward at the same speed, and so the wheelspin would have been less violent. And even if you have traction control, it’ll kick in and you’ll almost certainly shut the throttle. If you are riding an older machine that’s not so equipped, then the answer is to make your own traction control – drag the rear brake lightly right through the manoeuvre until the machine is upright again. It’s crude but it stops wheelspin… and it works. I’m not saying ride everywhere in first gear but take any advice to ride in a “higher gear than normal” with a pinch of salt if you’re not riding a Royal Enfield.

Take it easy out there, and stay shiny side up!

Staying upright on icy roads

This is another article which has needed a bit of a rewrite, because global warming seems to have spun off some seriously cold winters with snow and ice hanging around for months even in the south east of England. However, just as I wrote when I first put this tip together, the best solution to dealing with ice is to try to avoid it in the first place! I have a ‘bad weather’ clause in my training courses so it’s usually possible two or three days out to get early warning of approaching bad weather – the weather forecasts have improved significantly in the last decade or so. Failing that, take a look out of the window and have a look at car windscreens and the lawn. If it looks grim, take the car, the bus or leave the ride for another day. I was a ‘real biker’ for many years and learned the hard way that two-wheelers and ice don’t mix.

The best advice for riding on icy roads is “don’t”. But if there’s no choice, then do a bit of thinking ahead. Although it can stay frozen all day, it’s usually freezing mornings after a clear night that are likely to be the biggest issue, although the roads can freeze again if cloud clears after dark.

Plan the route to take roads that are more likely to have been treated. Back lanes are far less likely to have seen a gritting truck than main roads, and residential roads roads are more likely to be icy than motorways. Where cars have been running over the road, heat from the tyres will usually melt the ice in the wheel tracks, but if all the surface is icy, the least-polished and grippiest bit of the road is generally in the middle of the lane. A good indicator of a slippery bit of road is that it is shiny.

Remember too, that built-up areas are nearly always significantly warmer than country roads and just because the roads in town have been clear, that’s no guarantee there will be no ice on rural roads. Even if the road appears clear, there may be colder frost hollows or exposed areas where it isn’t – this is the ‘microclimate’ effect talked about in the police handbook, ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’.

We should also look for ice in shaded patches, behind buildings and under trees, even behind parked high-hided vehicles. If water can pool, such as in dips in the road and at bottoms of hills, we should keep our eyes open. Watch out for run-off from springs and fields – a good clue is an anti-skid surface! Car washes in towns can overspill and burst water mains nearly always accompany really cold weather. Be cautious on bridges – they cool from both sides – and metal access covers can be icy when the road surface is still just damp.

One particularly unpleasant riding condition is ‘black ice’. It’s hard to spot because it looks like a wet road but is actually a sheet of ice. The only clue is that it looks ‘wetter’ than usual, if that makes sense. It usually follows a late evening shower and clearing skies and a frost. Years ago, returning from a blood run at 4am on a January morning, I was passing through the town centre thinking it would be warmer than the country lane route home, when I hit a patch. Fortunately I was upright at the time, because what I thought was a missed gear turned out to be wheelspin. If I’d been accelerating coming out of the corner, I’d have been on my ear. As it was, I was able to roll off the ice and back onto some grippy tarmac.

So if we suspect ice, aim to get any braking and gear changing done upright, and get the bike upright before getting back on the throttle. Make brake, throttle and clutch movements slow and smooth. Keep speeds down so as to reduce steering input and lean angle. Posture is important and we need to try to keep weight off the handlebars. This isn’t easy on a sportsbike but sit forward on the seat, grip the tank with the knees, brace the back and keep shoulders, elbows and wrists loose.

If the bike does twitch, don’t try to fight it. There’s a reasonable chance the bike will regain grip but trying to fight the wobble just makes things worse in my experience. If we do hit ice, the most important thing is NOT to touch the brakes. It’s an incredibly strong instinct to overcome, but touch the front on a non-ABS bike and we’ll be on our ear before we know what’s happened. The rear brake will probably lock the back wheel, but we may be able to save the slide if we’re upright. Even with ABS the bike will be destabilised. I’ve been told to “steer into a slide”, but on the couple of times I’ve hit ice mid-corner, I’ve crashed so quickly I’ve had no time even to think about it.

Which gear should we ride in? The old advice was to ride in a higher gear than normal, but I suspect it works best on old bikes. It applies to 1960’s Bonnies and BMWs with low-revving, slow-revving engines. It’s entirely debatable if it should be applied to modern high-revving, fast-spinning bikes. If we ride in an artificially high gear to keep the revs low, we’ll be using more throttle than usual for the speed. Some years back on my GSX-R750, I was in too high a gear when I hit a slippery surface and the rear wheel lost traction. The bigger-than-usual throttle opening caused the engine to rev, that spun up the rear wheel, the rear back end stepped out sideways and I just avoided a high-side… at about 10mph! Counter-intuitively, a lower gear would have needed less throttle to drive the bike forward at the same speed, and so the wheelspin would have been less violent. And even if you have traction control, it’ll kick in and you’ll almost certainly shut the throttle. If you are riding an older machine that’s not so equipped, then the answer is to make your own traction control – drag the rear brake lightly right through the manoeuvre until the machine is upright again. It’s crude but it stops wheelspin… and it works. I’m not saying ride everywhere in first gear but take any advice to ride in a “higher gear than normal” with a pinch of salt if you’re not riding a Royal Enfield.

Take it easy out there, and stay shiny side up!

 

 

Staying upright on icy roads

This is another article which has needed a bit of a rewrite, because global warming seems to have spun off some seriously cold winters with snow and ice hanging around for months even in the south east of England. However, just as I wrote when I first put this tip together, the best solution to dealing with ice is to try to avoid it in the first place! I have a ‘bad weather’ clause in my training courses so it’s usually possible two or three days out to get early warning of approaching bad weather – the weather forecasts have improved significantly in the last decade or so. Failing that, take a look out of the window and have a look at car windscreens and the lawn. If it looks grim, take the car, the bus or leave the ride for another day. I was a ‘real biker’ for many years and learned the hard way that two-wheelers and ice don’t mix.

The best advice for riding on icy roads is “don’t”. But if there’s no choice, then do a bit of thinking ahead. Although it can stay frozen all day, it’s usually freezing mornings after a clear night that are likely to be the biggest issue, although the roads can freeze again if cloud clears after dark.

Plan the route to take roads that are more likely to have been treated. Back lanes are far less likely to have seen a gritting truck than main roads, and residential roads roads are more likely to be icy than motorways. Where cars have been running over the road, heat from the tyres will usually melt the ice in the wheel tracks, but if all the surface is icy, the least-polished and grippiest bit of the road is generally in the middle of the lane. A good indicator of a slippery bit of road is that it is shiny.

Remember too, that built-up areas are nearly always significantly warmer than country roads and just because the roads in town have been clear, that’s no guarantee there will be no ice on rural roads. Even if the road appears clear, there may be colder frost hollows or exposed areas where it isn’t – this is the ‘microclimate’ effect talked about in the police handbook, ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’.

We should also look for ice in shaded patches, behind buildings and under trees, even behind parked high-hided vehicles. If water can pool, such as in dips in the road and at bottoms of hills, we should keep our eyes open. Watch out for run-off from springs and fields – a good clue is an anti-skid surface! Car washes in towns can overspill and burst water mains nearly always accompany really cold weather. Be cautious on bridges – they cool from both sides – and metal access covers can be icy when the road surface is still just damp.

One particularly unpleasant riding condition is ‘black ice’. It’s hard to spot because it looks like a wet road but is actually a sheet of ice. The only clue is that it looks ‘wetter’ than usual, if that makes sense. It usually follows a late evening shower and clearing skies and a frost. Years ago, returning from a blood run at 4am on a January morning, I was passing through the town centre thinking it would be warmer than the country lane route home, when I hit a patch. Fortunately I was upright at the time, because what I thought was a missed gear turned out to be wheelspin. If I’d been accelerating coming out of the corner, I’d have been on my ear. As it was, I was able to roll off the ice and back onto some grippy tarmac.

So if we suspect ice, aim to get any braking and gear changing done upright, and get the bike upright before getting back on the throttle. Make brake, throttle and clutch movements slow and smooth. Keep speeds down so as to reduce steering input and lean angle. Posture is important and we need to try to keep weight off the handlebars. This isn’t easy on a sportsbike but sit forward on the seat, grip the tank with the knees, brace the back and keep shoulders, elbows and wrists loose.

If the bike does twitch, don’t try to fight it. There’s a reasonable chance the bike will regain grip but trying to fight the wobble just makes things worse in my experience. If we do hit ice, the most important thing is NOT to touch the brakes. It’s an incredibly strong instinct to overcome, but touch the front on a non-ABS bike and we’ll be on our ear before we know what’s happened. The rear brake will probably lock the back wheel, but we may be able to save the slide if we’re upright. Even with ABS the bike will be destabilised. I’ve been told to “steer into a slide”, but on the couple of times I’ve hit ice mid-corner, I’ve crashed so quickly I’ve had no time even to think about it.

Which gear should we ride in? The old advice was to ride in a higher gear than normal, but I suspect it works best on old bikes. It applies to 1960’s Bonnies and BMWs with low-revving, slow-revving engines. It’s entirely debatable if it should be applied to modern high-revving, fast-spinning bikes. If we ride in an artificially high gear to keep the revs low, we’ll be using more throttle than usual for the speed. Some years back on my GSX-R750, I was in too high a gear when I hit a slippery surface and the rear wheel lost traction. The bigger-than-usual throttle opening caused the engine to rev, that spun up the rear wheel, the rear back end stepped out sideways and I just avoided a high-side… at about 10mph! Counter-intuitively, a lower gear would have needed less throttle to drive the bike forward at the same speed, and so the wheelspin would have been less violent. And even if you have traction control, it’ll kick in and you’ll almost certainly shut the throttle. If you are riding an older machine that’s not so equipped, then the answer is to make your own traction control – drag the rear brake lightly right through the manoeuvre until the machine is upright again. It’s crude but it stops wheelspin… and it works. I’m not saying ride everywhere in first gear but take any advice to ride in a “higher gear than normal” with a pinch of salt if you’re not riding a Royal Enfield.

Take it easy out there, and stay shiny side up!