Psychological Warfare and the GS500.

[Foxtrot Tango]

Okay, so after a long day at work, out and about: I'm honestly impressed with the quality of some of the posts here. Well, at least on the first few pages, and the gems in between. It's important to distinguish between fear and panic, so let's do that: When I wrote of "fear" I was referring to rational apprehension, panic is response taken to sudden feelings of imminent danger. You can have fear without panic. And I think it's an honest thing to say that the fear can keep you alive. Panic, of course, is bad. Our species evolves mentally and technologically much more quickly than physically. Our instincts in danger can lead us to trouble when we're at the controls of a machine. Training controls panic.

I think the key is to reject unnecessary risk ("Hey, I wonder if I can take that 35 MPH turn at 55 to impress that girl in the Miata...") and mitigate existing risk. Full gear, head to toe, an excellent starting bike like the GS500 (F-16 pilots don't start flying with F-16s), rider training, and buddies at work who are experienced riders and can coach me.

At some point, I will crash. But now I think I stand a pretty damned good chance of walking away, maybe even unharmed.

(Besides, that statistic that says you're 14 times more likely to die is probably mostly squids in tank tops, anyway.)

[Twisted]

Thanks for getting this train wreck of a thread back on track Aldfalchius

[Twisted]

You can have fear without panic. And I think it's an honest thing to say that the fear can keep you alive. Panic, of course, is bad.

So true. As I said when you fear something there is a big element of respect there as well.

I would also like to apologise on behalf of the GStwins members who contribute in a courteous manner for the pretentious ramblings that were posted in your thread.

[codajastal]

(Besides, that statistic that says you're 14 times more likely to die is probably mostly squids in tank tops, anyway.)

they are the ones that ruin it for the rest of us

[slipperymongoose]

@foxtrot: get yourself a copy of twist of the wrist 2 the book or DVD. Alot of the things you said there are covered and it's invaluable.

[dam]

Okay, so after a long day at work, out and about: I'm honestly impressed with the quality of some of the posts here. Well, at least on the first few pages, and the gems in between. It's important to distinguish between fear and panic, so let's do that: When I wrote of "fear" I was referring to rational apprehension, panic is response taken to sudden feelings of imminent danger. You can have fear without panic. And I think it's an honest thing to say that the fear can keep you alive. Panic, of course, is bad. Our species evolves mentally and technologically much more quickly than physically. Our instincts in danger can lead us to trouble when we're at the controls of a machine. Training controls panic.

I think the key is to reject unnecessary risk ("Hey, I wonder if I can take that 35 MPH turn at 55 to impress that girl in the Miata...") and mitigate existing risk. Full gear, head to toe, an excellent starting bike like the GS500 (F-16 pilots don't start flying with F-16s), rider training, and buddies at work who are experienced riders and can coach me.

At some point, I will crash. But now I think I stand a pretty damned good chance of walking away, maybe even unharmed.

(Besides, that statistic that says you're 14 times more likely to die is probably mostly squids in tank tops, anyway.)

In my younger days I've gone down without any gear and walked or rode away with no serious injuries. Now I prefer to use proper protective gear. My point is that if and when you crash you have a good chance of surviving the ordeal just fine. When first learning to ride there will be some scary moments like the first time or three when you feel the tires loose grip and slide a bit. With experience you'll gain confidence in the bike and yourself. You've got the right idea of not trying to impress anybody or taking unnecessary risk. You'll be fine. As for the GS500 being a good starter bike, well IMO it's just a good bike. It's not my first bike and I thoroughly enjoy it.

[ninjeff]

Chicks may dig scars, but they don't dig skin grafts.

Wear your gear kids.

[ohgood]

(Besides, that statistic that says you're 14 times more likely to die is probably mostly squids in tank tops, anyway.)

You're mistaken. IF there is a crash, of any kind, you are much more likely to die or suffer life long injuries on a bike opposed to in a car. Don't be misled.

Nerve damage, etc is highly more likely on a bike.

Bone damage and internal bleeding is much greater possibility on a bike.

[Dr.McNinja]

I don't have fear. I have acute awareness.

For example, to handle right-of-way violations I tend to only ride on streets that have "go on green arrow only" lights. The benefit of being raised around here is that I know most intersections and their nature. I avoid yields at all cost. This includes areas with 4-way stops. It's not uncommon for people to blow through stop signs here.

I'm always ATGATT.

I take the highway anywhere I can. Highways are the safest place for a motorcycle to be. Single direction traffic is VERY manageable even if people are merging into you left and right.

I tap my brakes to warm my rotors up before entering an intersection with a yield and try my best to enter an intersection 5 or so miles below the speed limit to give myself a better chance of slowing myself down to the point where, should I make an impact with something, the likelihood of me getting critically injured or killed is significantly less.

I swerve in my lane as I'm doing the above in order to get the attention of the driver in the right-turn/left-turn lane as I approach them.

I pay attention to traffic conditions, road conditions, and what's going on ahead of me. I'm (mostly) aware of what's behind me and the speed it's approaching.

As far as stops. When I see someone approaching behind me and I have no car covering me I get on both brakes. I figure if I'm hit them at least the brakes will take most of the impact force and reduce the force that I hit the guy's hood with. Otherwise I'll just stay on my rear brake at a long stop light, or my front brake at a shorter one.


I ride very conservatively and save spirited riding for the track. As much as I'd love to tear up the mountains here I don't want to risk a squid/trucker/car deciding to take over my entire lane during a turn. I've had my fair share of close calls that taught me everything above is so important it should be practiced in a parking lot in a controlled environment.

[ninjeff]

I always ride with my high beams on (in the day time)
Every little bit helps.

[SAFE-T]

Statistics often do not capture data that would allow us to glean the type of information we might want ~ for all riders you are 14 times more likely to die on a motorcycle than in a car, although this includes a lot of people with no training, little experience and who don't wear proper gear or helmets. So there is a lot of room to reduce the risk, and in a perfect world I am suggesting we could reduce it by 95%. Being that even the best trained, equipped and experienced rider like Valentino Rossi still makes mistakes, you are not ever going to reduce your risk by 95%. But there is still a wide margin between 0-95% where there are some real gains to be made.

[Paulcet]

I've seen two references to Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist II book.  I have an additional suggestion:  David Hough's Proficient Motorcycling.  Dr.McNinja's points come right out of that book.  Much more applicable to street riding than Code's, IMHO.  But get both if you can.

And, I really like how FT writes!  Stick around, even if you don't get a GS500!

[Twisted]

What you will notice as you get more experience on the bike and your confidence increases is that you will start to develop this weird 6th sense where you will be travelling along for example say on a dual carriageway and you will notice one car out of a long line of many and you will think to yourself "Keep an eye on this guy." More often than enough he will try to do something like change lanes on you. It happens a lot on the road, some days you can tell what the driver is going to do even before the driver does. You will be doing a lot of thinking for yourself and for others when riding. So be prepared to concentrate while on the bike. It isn't like a car where you can just zone out.

[Phil B]

I think the key is to reject unnecessary risk ("Hey, I wonder if I can take that 35 MPH turn at 55 to impress that girl in the Miata...")

Still waiting to read about unneccessary risk....

[slipperymongoose]

An unnecessary risk - chucking a wheelie in rush hour on a wet road. 

[adidasguy]

Unnecessary risks:

1. Riding in show
2. Riding in ice
3. Riding and not watching out for black ice when hovering around freezing
4. Riding in the rain in the fall in wet leaves because if it is something I wouldn't rollerblade on, I shouldn't ride a bike on it either. Wet leaves are like ice.
5. Having a passenger when you really don't like doing that but someone won't stop bugging you to give them a ride. (Reason for solo seats!)
6. I'm just going down the block to the store so I don't need my gear for that short distance.
7. "This is MY lane so car - get out of my way!" That never works for obvious reasons.
8. Plowing fast through puddles just to see how far you can splash only to suddenly realize you're hydro-planing and will soon be on your face drinking up the puddles.
9. Going faster than you feel comfortable going.

[SgtBatten]

An unnecessary risk - chucking a wheelie in rush hour on a wet road.

Chucking a wheelie at all is the risk. Not just when it's busy.

Other risks include trying to keep up with more experienced riders on unfamiliar roads.
Lane splitting
Following close to the car in front

There's a million of them

[dam]

Unnecessary risk: Hey everybody watch this

[xunedeinx]

Unnecessary risk: Hey everybody watch this

Its a redneck mans famous last words...

"Hey check this out!!!"

[dam]

Unnecessary risks:

2. Riding in ice
3. Riding and not watching out for black ice when hovering around freezing
5. Having a passenger when you really don't like doing that but someone won't stop bugging you to give them a ride. (Reason for solo seats!)
9. Going faster than you feel comfortable going.

8. Plowing fast through puddles just to see how far you can splash only to suddenly realize you're hydro-planing and will soon be on your face drinking up the puddles.

Due to their rounded profile and very different footprint motorcycle tires are far less likely to hydroplane than wide flat car tires but still an unnecessary risk.

Calculated risk:

1. Riding in snow
4. Riding in the rain in the fall in wet leaves because if it is something I wouldn't rollerblade on, I shouldn't ride a bike on it either. Wet leaves are like ice.

There are those that ride year round regardless of the weather except for ice. I've never had problems with snow or wet leaves. What are you supposed to do stop and find an alternate rout if there's something on the road? You might also want to avoid sand, gravel, mud from the farm implements, and road apples. Watch out for the walnuts in the fall also

Freedom of choice!

6. I'm just going down the block to the store so I don't need my gear for that short distance.

Insane risk!!!:

7. "This is MY lane so car - get out of my way!" That never works for obvious reasons.

There are many hazards in life. We all take risks and must accept the consequences of our choices.