Learning to ride again

In thinking more about the content of this blog, I have decided to share the research and steps I went through in the 22 months prior to my trip across country. In this segment, my motorcycle training is featured.

Hand and Eye Coordination
I shift the 250cc Honda motorcycle into first gear. I let out the clutch with purpose and accelerate quickly to a second gear change bringing me to 20mph in the parking lot. Bill the instructor is directly in my path and I am awaiting his signal. Will I be veering right or left? His left hand shoots out quickly. I push the right handle bar forward. The bike tips to the right and I speed around him pushing the left handle bar forward as I pass him to straighten the bike. Then before I hit the end of the parking lot, I slam on the brakes. Bill says “good job” and I am amazed at his coolness when I accelerated toward him in this training exercise.

Classroom
As part of my dream of going cross country by motorcycle, I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course as part of the Connecticut Rider Education Program http://tinyurl.com/5v59nt This course is for anyone who has no experience on a motorcycle or for people returning to the sport. The advantage is it takes the place of the road test to get the license from the DMV and provides 6 hours of classroom instruction and 11 hours of practice in handling the motorcycle provided.

On a crisp weekend in October with temperatures in the 60s, I attended the classroom session on Saturday. The 15 group members attending were diverse. There were 3 girls, a policeman going for his motorcycle patrol license, 3 teenage fellows, 7 middle aged fellows and me. Of that group, one girl, a couple of fellows and myself had riding experience.

The method of class instruction was routine but effective as indicated by the final grades. All scores were in the 90s. We took turns reading the Rider Handbook and study questions out loud. The instructor would pause the reader to highlight particular points likely to be emphasized on the final test. In addition, he brought his riding experience in to illustrate points in the Handbook. Videos were shown about different ways of handling the motorcycle in traffic. A cyclist needs to know all the hazards and anticipate those hazards before they become a problem. It was a lively class as members asked good questions and shared motorcycle related experiences.

Age as a Factor
Being older had its advantages and disadvantages. I could help in the discussions with my experience and I had effective study techniques learned through college. What really worried me was the on-cycle test. Was I going to be able to handle the bike and not dump it. Would my shifting and down shifting be smooth and controlled. Would I make any stupid mistakes in front of my classmates? How would I look in my full set of leathers? I doubt anyone else would go that far for protection. The only required protection was an approved helmet, long sleeved shirt or jacket, sturdy pants, full fingered gloves and sturdy shoes that covered the ankles.

The 11 hours of riding was shared over the two days. Subjecting my left hand to 11 hours of shifting did have an effect toward the end of the session. Every time I came to a stop to wait for another rider to run through an exercise, I quickly shifted into neutral and flexed my hand numerous times. That was the only physical discomfort I felt during the two days.

On the Range
As it turned out, it was cool and my full leather outfit was very comfortable with a couple of layers underneath. The on-cycle sessions began with starting the motorcycle using FINEC. F-Turn on the fuel, I-turn on the ignition, N- shift into neutral, E-flip the engine cut off switch to on, C-use choke if cold. Every time we would finish an exercise, we switched off the engine cutoff switch, turned off the ignition, and turned off the fuel. Then at the instructor’s hand signal, we would start again using FINEC and proceed to the next event. With the noise of 15 engines, the instructors would use hand signals when exercises were under way. When the bikes were stopped, the instructor would verbally instruct the first person in line on the details of the activity and everyone would follow him/her. The leader position would rotate between students so everyone got a chance to “feel the heat” in trying to do the exercise right the first time with everyone looking on.

The events were meant to provide real handling situations that we would encounter on the road. To practice riding over an obstruction, we drove over 2X4s being careful to stand up on the pegs and to lift the front wheel just before crossing it. Zigzagging between cones gave us practice in “counter steering”. That is when the handlebars are pushed in the direction of the turn making the bike unstable and it leans in that direction providing a quick entry into a turn. It is quicker than leaning your weight into the turn and having the bike follow your shifting weight. When there is little space between you and an obstruction in the road, counter steering is the quickest way to avoid the situation.

Next was the fast stop. We accelerated through second gear, passed a mark, hit the brakes and at the same time quickly downshifted to first gear before stopping at the second mark. That exercise is so you know how long it takes to stop the bike and to have your bike in first gear for an escape attempt if a motorist does not stop behind you.

I found the most challenging exercise was doing a figure eight in a box equaling the area of two parking spaces. In first gear, one enters the box and drives to the first corner and pushes the right handle bar right for a sharp turn to the right. At the same time, the rider hangs his/her body weight over the left side of the motorcycle to enable the bike to lean low for a sharp right turn. Then the rider centers his/her body weight and drives diagonally to the corner where he/she started. The handlebars are then pushed left and body weight is shifted to the right for a steep left turn. Finally the weight and bike are centered and the rider drives diagonally to exit the box. The rider is not supposed to go outside the box or dump the bike. Both of those situations occurred while each of us hoped it would not be us.

Oops!
I remember one girl who continually had trouble using the clutch to get a smooth start. But she was very persistent and finally just before the final road test, she got it. Everyone was relieved since we did not want anyone to fail. Most everyone did something wrong during the learning process. My error was getting distracted after a fast stop to meet the instructor in the center of the course. I dismounted and walked away forgetting to put the kickstand down. Fortunately, I was able to break the fall of the 300lb bike so there was no damage. It might have been a different story if I had been using my 500+lb Honda Shadow.

Relief
The final test for the classroom work was given between riding sessions. Then the final road test was given at the end of the day when we repeated all we had learned and points were take off if we were slow, not precise in our movements, or overshot particular lines or cones. Everyone passed. The riders with no motorcycle experience were impressive. They rode as if they had been doing it for years showing that the training created safe and confident riders.

Cheers,
Free Spirit 2/5/2010

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour" - Robert Louis Ste