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Safety, Maintenance and Conscientious Riding |
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June 2001 Volume 2, Number 2 =============
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Unexpected Spills and Thrills by Ray Palubin Recently while riding my new ZRX, I started to take notice of the highway I traveled. I started to really look at the lane itself and noticed the zebra lane color. The part of the lane where tires normally ride was bright and clean while the center of the lane was dark and covered with oil. Then I started to reminisce about those various motorcycle safety courses I had attended over the years. Since I haven’t addressed any safety issues for quite awhile, I thought this would be a good time to brush up. So, lets look at a few road obstacles and hazards that can become extremely dangerous if not dealt with correctly. They are the every-day types of things that all of us have heard about. I recalled what the instructors had said about those
zebra lanes and the hazards associated with them. Their advice, which I
will gladly pass onto you, is to ride in the clean tracks and to stay out
of the center of the lane where oil, grease, and grime accumulate. On dry
days, the center of the lane might be ok but, it is still a good idea to
avoid it whenever possible. There is always the chance that some of the
oils and other fluids that drop from cars and trucks will still be wet and
slippery. When motorcycle tires travel over the antifreeze, oil, grease, and grime left behind by other vehicles there is always a small amount that sticks to your tires. If you suddenly need to panic-brake because someone pulled in front of you, that slick residue on your tires will cause them to slide instead of safely stopping you. The chance of losing control of your bike becomes greatly enhanced. Let’s change the scenario just slightly by placing you in a light spring
rain. What to
do? To start
with, you would want to avoid the center of the lane. Secondly, to help
keep control of the bike, try pumping your brakes instead of applying
continuous pressure. This will prevent you from locking up your tires and
throwing the bike into a spin. And remember to start slowing down earlier
when approaching intersections. Crushed soda cans on the road. They may not seem like a big deal but believe me, they are. Imagine yourself on that really cool cycle of yours carving through a really nice curve with your very expensive cycle leaned over about 45 degrees when there, directly in your path, is a crushed soda can. What do you do? First of all, don’t panic. It may seem impossible, but there are evasive maneuvers that you can take. First; do not hit the brakes! Even light pressure on your brakes while on top of
that smashed can it will cause your bike to slide out from under you. Your
best option, if possible, is to try to straighten up the bike enough to
allow the tires to ride over the can. What if you don’t have time or
enough road to straighten up? Give Me a Brake Recently,
I’ve been noticing a lot of cycle riders (cruisers usually) stopping by
using their back brake only. This is a bad habit to get into, because
inevitably you do train yourself to use the rear brake only. If an
emergency situation does occur your first instinctive reaction will be to
do what you have trained yourself to do. So get the very best training
that you can get and practice what you’ve learned often to stay current.
Simply stated, you should always use both brakes. I’ve heard a lot of
noise recently about the use of down shifting to help reduce your speed.
The argument that down shifting will reduce the life of your clutch is
probably true. Just how fast on the other hand is not really clear. I’ve
been down shifting since my earliest years of motorcycling and I’ve
never replaced a clutch because of it. Besides, most motorcycle training
programs highly encourage down shifting as a method to help reduce speed.
And today’s clutches are built much better then they were just 10 years
ago. In my opinion the clutch wear is minor considering the extra benefits
achieved by letting your engine help you stop. And, as a bonus, it will
also help to reduce brake pad wear and over heating of the rotors. Just
remember that everything is give and take.
Watch Your A... Rear There are an ever-increasing number of cyclists being hit from the rear by cars and trucks. In the last 18 months, three friends of mine have been hit or bumped on their motorcycles from the rear while sitting at an intersection. Fortunately, none of them were hurt but two of them suffered expensive damage to their bikes. What can you do to avoid becoming a victim? As mentioned earlier, training can save your bacon and that training will help you to avoid becoming a victim. Whenever you’re stopped at an intersection, you should be looking in your rear view mirrors for the cager who isn’t paying attention. If you notice that the vehicle behind you isn’t slowing down you will need a plan. First, try placing a little more room between you and the vehicle in front of you. This will also help in giving you more options should the person behind you not stop in time. Additionally, I like to place myself to the left or right of the vehicle in front of me. I never want to be sandwiched between two vehicles if it can be avoided. Pick whichever side provides you the most room so that if you need a place to go quickly it will be there. Also keep your bike in gear and the clutch depressed. This will save time if you need to move fast. Just don’t lose track of your senses because if you find yourself quickly maneuvering to avoid being hit from behind you will want to stop again as soon as the threat is gone. You don’t want to pop the clutch and go flying between bunches of stopped vehicles because that is just as bad. You may even want to practice this maneuver with a couple of imaginary vehicles in a parking lot with nothing around you. Bundle Up Out There My last bit of safety advice is to encourage everyone to wear their safety gear regardless of how hot it is outside or how much pressure you get from those who think wearing a helmet, leathers, boots, gloves etc. is uncool. Just remember that they call them accidents because you never know when they will happen. In addition, if you should be unfortunate enough to have an accident it will be you and not your friends that have to suffer with all those injuries that your safety gear could have prevented. Think about it!! Be
safe out there and happy cycling. |
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