Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well

fl'()ln IVI()tm'clfcle C()nsLilnel' News

Ill' Ilavicl L. li()ugh

BQWTIE PRE 5 5 A Division of BowTie, Inc. Irvine, California

®

Also by David L. Hough, Street Strategies: A Survival Guide for Motorcyclists. More Proficient Motorcycling: Mastering the Ride.

Ruth Berman, editor-in-chief Nick Clemente, special consultant Amy Fox, editor Michael Uyesugi, designer Rachel Rice, indexer

Copyright © 2000 by BowTie Press® Photographs and diagrams copyright © 2000 by David L. Hough Additional photographs courtesy of: front cover, © Eric Putter; back cover, © Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA; back cover flap, pp. 38, 55, 58, 171, 175, 218, © Lee Parks; pp. 4, 30, 125, 129,227, © David Searle; pp. 64, 137, © Jay Koblenz All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of BowTie Press®, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hough, David L., 1937Proficient motorcycling: the ultimate guide to riding well / by David L. Hough. p. ern. Includes bibliographical references aud index. ISBN 1-889540-53-6 (soft cover) I. Motorcycling. 1. Title. TL440.5 .H67 2000 629.28'475--dc21 00-008873

BowTie Press® A Division of BowTie, Inc. 3 Burroughs Irvine, California 92618

Printed and bound in Singapore 109

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Proficient Motorcycling

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hile the contents of this book are really a collective wisdom gleaned tram fellow motorcyclists and the school of hard knocks, two individuals were instrumental in allowing this book to come to life. First, it was Bob Carpenter, the editor of Road Rider, who salvaged my lirst article back in 1972. Bob encouraged me to keep submitting, showed me by example how to write, and then suggested I taclde the "Proficient Motorcycling" series that eventually served as the basis for this book. Thanks, Bob. It's been quite a trip so far. Second, my wife, Diana, has been tolerating my travels, travails, and tantmms since we got married. She has accompanied me on many long motorcycle journeys on a variety of motorcycles that weren't very comfortable; endured more than a few cold, wet, windy days; put up with my motorcycling fanaticism for the past thirty years; and kcpt me moving on this project even when I would rather have gone riding. We got married in a little country church on Bainbridge Island forty-three years ago, and we're still together. Pretty amazing, huh?

Foreword ........................................ 6 Preface ......................................... 9 Introduction .................................... .10

Chapter 0: FUsid

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Cany()n Bites ..................................13 li()w Fal' Are Y()U lianging It Out'? .................. .19 Fixing the Odds ................................29 Chapter 1\!!t)~:m'C1!!Ci® K)y!~l@m!C,~ What Keel)S It Balanced'? ........................ .39 What lVIal{es It Tum'? ............................ .48 C()merlng liabits ...............................56

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('ettlng ()n the Gas ..............................65 Delayed Apexing ...............................69 The L()wd()wn ()n the SI()wd()wn .................... 76 Taldng the I'anl(: Out ()f Panic: Stol)S .................82 1~lght Pa(:e, I~ight Pla(:e .......................... 90 Chapter ~: U~"b€']n "rn~~ft~~(~ t~U~"\.fhl'c]~ City TI'afti(: ....................................99 I~()()by Trap Interse(:tillns ....................... .104 Suburb Survival . ...............................110 SUI)erslab Ta(:tics ............................. .118 Aggressive Drivers ............................ .127 Evasive A(:tl()n ................................ .132 Chapter ~: El{}()blf Tl'aps Surfa(:e I-Iazards .............................. .139 Curbs Ahead ................................. .147 Ihll1l1ing Out ()f Pavement ....................... .154 I)eer, Oh I)ear! ............................... .162 Fel"()(:i()us Fid()s .............................. .169

Chapter

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When It l~ail1s ................................ .177 When Y()u're li()t, Y()u're I-IOT ..................... .185 I)ang Wind ................................... .191 Freezing Y()ur Gas ()n the Pass . ................... 197 Night Owls ...................................205 White Line Fever ...............................212

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!~ldz" Bat(:hes ()f l~iI{ers ..............................219 The Se(:()nd I~ider .............................. 226 Let's Get L()aded ..............................234 Slde(:al's .....................................241

Chapter i): 8h0lr!ng ti1t'O

Resources ...................................... 251 Glossary ....................................... 252 Index ........................................ 254

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------ike most motorcyclists, my initial rider training (in dare call it that) came in the f01111 of a salesman pushing a bike off the showroom floor into the parking lot and pointing out its control features to me, "This is the throttle and this is the clutch. Your left foot does the shifting-down to first gear, then up to each of the other four-and yonr right foot does the braldng. There's a front wheel brake at yonr right hand, but try to avoid using that." With that, he kick-started the little Kawasaki and held it for me to climb aboard. After about 15 minutes of wobbling around the parking lot, getting a feci for the strange beast, 1 went back into the dealership, wrote a check, and within a few minutes was out on my own, dicing my way through city traffic at rush honr. I'm very lucky to be alive today. I believe the year was 1973, and with my new-found interest in two-wheeling I immediately went to a newsstand and pnrchased every motorcycling magazine available. Luckily for me, one of those publications was a fairly new one called Road Rider, produced by a renegade publisher in California named Roger Hull. And within its pages 1 fonnd, during the ensuing years, the wisdom that I credit with keeping me alive and riding to this day. Most of that wisdom came in the f01111 of detailed instructions on how to ride a bike safely and efficiently, written by one David L. Hough. I read David's semi-regular articles for the next fifteen years or so, often carrying a dog-eared copy of the magazine with me to a vacant parking lot, where I could practice the procednres he outlined. Then 1 would stop and read them again, then practice again, and on until I achieved the desired results in cornering, braking, obstacle avoid-

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ance, etc.

Eventually I discovered a professional motorcycle riding academy, and signed up for their training conrses. I suppose I expected to learn something new and different but was surprised to find that the teaching texts and range exercises were nearly identical to those 1 had learned from Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling" magazine series. Many years later I would discover that nearly all of the private and state-rnn riding schools that sprang up dnring the great motorcycling boom of the seventies were based on David's prolific output in one way or another, whether they credited him with it or not. In fact, to tlIis day I often find exact, word-far-word copies of David's nearly thiltyyear-old writings being used and repeated on the Internet, in newsletters and magazines, and as traiuing materials in schools around the world-without one word of credit as to their source. And I don't believe David has ever made a dime off of, or even complained about, this rampant plagiarism of his life's work. My love of motorcycling eventually led me away from my engineering career and back into college for journalism traiuing, after which I became a full-time writer and eventually the editor of a motorcycle club magazine called Wing World in Phoeuix, Arizona. Then, several years later, through a series of odd twists of fate that would seem ludicrous if they were fiction, I came to California to accept the post of managing editor at Road Rider. Immediately, I set about attempting to resurrect "Proficient Motorcycling," which David had ceased writing, believing he, "had said all there was to say on the subject." Through his mentor; Road Rider's editor, Bob Carpenter, I tracked David down in

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You don't have to like wind, but you can gain the confidence that comes from knowing you can control the bike under most wind conditions. We mention most, because sometimes winds are so violent that it is unwise to continue riding. I can recall dropping down off a pass early one spring, to flnd myself headed straight into a sinister silver-streaked cloud moving across the valley ahead. Suddenly, a snarling sleet squall hammered the bike so hard the tires were starting to slide into the other lane. T made a quick downwind U-turn, sped back to a road maintenance area I had just passed, laid the bike on its side in the lee of a gravel pile, and hnnkered down until the squall moved on. Between Texas and the Great Lakes, motorcyclists must be aware of the extreme hazard of tornadoes. Should you observe a funnel start to fOlID, you should inunediately seek shelter beneath some heavy structure such as a highway overpass.

The homework exercise for gusting winds is to practice countersteering (push steering) all the time as you ride along. Approaching a curve to the right, consciously push on the right grip. Changing lanes toward the left, push on the left grip. Or, if the ergonomics of your machine have you leaning back and pulling on the handlebars as you ride along, try pulling both grips toward the direction you want to go. For a right tum, pull both grips toward the right. If you practice countersteering every time you ride, you 'Illean the bike into sudden wind gusts without having to think about it.

Freezing Y()ur

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I couldn't believe how cold it was for a desert ride in Southern California. Up on the Angeles Crest highway, only 30 miles uphill from sunuy Pasadena, my dual sport sidecar rig was crunching into packed snow and black ice. I'd missed an important turnoff on the Los Angeles-Barstow-Las Vegas dual sport ride and had continued on the ltighway far enough that I didn't want to go back and try to find the off-road route. I didn't realize we'd have to follow the crest highway another 50 miles at elevations above 6,000 feet before we could get back down to the desert and connect with the dual sport route again. The moral of this tale is that even in balmy Southern California, with warm breezes wafting through the palm trees down at sea level, you can find yourself in winter conditions just by gaining a little altitude. Now, whether you are heading out on an April tour from Amarillo, a September trip from Seattle, or just itching for a December spin in Duluth, my advice is to be a little smarter than T was up on that Angeles Crest highway. Let's consider some of the implications of cold weather riding.

TUl'illi1g l:3a%':~I( There is a lot of wisdom in knowing when to turn around. Ascending the Angeles Crest highway, we were passed at warp speeds hy a rider carving corners on a Ducati. But at the first sign of frost in the shadows, the Ducati rider wisely turned around and zoomed hack downhill. Being on the sidecar rig, we had additional options, so we continued. But if I had run into sleet up there, I would have turned around also. It's not smart to keep motoring ahead into worsening conditions if you have a choice.

Before you mnlinue rushing off across the landsCClpe into worsening conditions, pull over alongside the rood, shut down the engine, and squander 0 few minutes focusing on the- situation.

On the other hand, if you're in the middle of a cross-country trip when you're caught in a wiuter storm, the only sensible option may be to continue ahead. Say you're making a transit across Utah. The next wmm restaurant is 40 miles away in Salina, and the last one was 60 miles back in Green River. That front is going to run over you whether you stop, retreat, or continue, so you might as well keep moving toward Salina. Now, one of these days yon're goiJ1g to find yourself in this situation, and I want you to remember this: Before you continue rushing off across the landscape into worsening cOJ1ditions, pull over alongside the road, shut down the engine, and squander a few minutes focusing on the situation. Okay, it's cold and the wind is howliJ1g. Get out the map. Huddle down in the lee of the bike, warm your fingers on the engine, take a look at the map, and make a decision. Is it wise to keep going, or should you beat a retreat? If the only option is to keep going, what extra insulation can you add under your riding gear? Remind yourself of the symptoms of hypothelmia.

To understand the tactics for protecting the body, let's remember how the human heating mld cooling system functions. The body "burns" food to generate heat, and pumps wmmed oxygen-rich blood throughout its system. Blood near the skin surface gives off heat to the air. The lungs absorb oxygen from the air and expel warm water vapor and carbon dioxide. The body automatically adjusts blood pressure, blood flow, and breathing rate to maintain an almost constant temperature of the central core (the heart, lungs, kidneys, and other central organs) regardless of outside air temperature. Tf the core temperature begins to increase or decrease, the system quickly attempts to correct it. A core temperature that is too cold is called hypothermia. Only a couple of degrees below normal temperature can be life threatening.

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When you're leading a group through controlled intersections in traffic, it is unlilcely you'll get everyone through before the light turns red. There is a temptation for following riders to speed up and run the yellow to stay with the group, and riders at the tail end may panic and nm the red, too. Explain at the start that riders are expected to obey all traffic signals, and that you will slow down as necessary to let everyone catch up. In practical terms, with a series of signal lights the leader will get stopped as often as the tail end riders, and everyone will pass through all the intersections at --"uoounlIe saIlIe rat"~l'v,,-b-een-in-s(JIIIeoiggroups-wh,,re-"escort"-Tiders pull over to block the intersection and let everyone nm the red light, but I don't recommend that tactic unless the escorts are on-duty cops. The real legal eagles tend to look askance at motorcyclists taking the law into their own hands. All you usually have to do in a group ride through the city is keep speed in check as you leave town to give everyone a chance to catch up before you roll the group up to cruising speed. Once in a while you may have to creep along in the slow lane or even pull the group off the road to wait for riders caught at a long light. With a group of only five or six riders, it is easy to find a place to stop, and to get rolling again, but with groups of thirty or more, it is best to keep going at a slower speed and let the stragglers catch up. Don't even think about stopping a group on the shoulder of a busy highway just because one rider has a problem. I've seen some extremely dangerous screwups where a whole gaggle of bi kes has come to a screeching halt along a busy freeway because one rider dropped a glove. Yes, I'll admit to having been a "Daffy Dave" now and again, running the tanlc dry or having a Hat tire. But I'd encourage you to avoid the embarrassment yourself, whether a leader or a follower.

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