Biker Down - How to avoid the average driver

Someone I know was hit by a teen driver that turned into him. He is in the hospital with some injuries that require surgery, but should recover. So I started thinking about the situation and thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce a concept that I like to call "aggressive-defensive riding." I am sure I am not the first person to come up with this concept, and surely it is documented by someone more knowledgeable than I am.

BTW, if you have a link to a writeup that better explains what I am about to so shrewdly do, please comment. As always, anonymous comments are welcome, but moderated.


Aggressive-Defensive Riding

The basic idea is to be a defensive rider at all times. Most of us are, yet we still get into accidents that "are not our fault." The first thing you must learn is that it is always the riders fault. Yes, that means it is your fault for putting yourself in a position that landed you in an accident in the first place. Of course legally it may not be your fault, but from the perspective of defensive driving principals, it is your fault.

On a bike you have to be a little aggressive about your defensive riding. The basic principals apply: don't follow too closely, always keep your options open so that you can find a way out, don't ride in blind spots, pass with a purpose, watch your mirrors, always check your blind spot... you get the idea. It is all of the same stuff your kids are learning in drivers-ed.

Here is where the aggression comes in. While observing all of those above mentioned elements add in some offensive techniques.


Passing

I see most riders passing cars wide, which I have found to get me into more trouble than anything else. Ride closer to the car taking the tire rut left behind by the cars as you approach. That will put your headlight in their side-view mirror prior to entering their blind spot. This will also allow you to see the drivers face in the side-view mirror. This is also why lane splitting is as safe as it is (that and most Californians know you are there and give way). You are in the drivers side-view mirrors the whole way down the lane.

Another tip for passing is to flash your headlights a few times to get the driver's attention. Simply leaving the high-beam on is not enough. Also consider getting a headlight modulator. They are legal by Federal law, and California law enforcement happens to be one of the few states that realizes they are not allowed to ticket for it.


Approaching Intersections

The best thing to do when approaching an intersection (or anywhere a car might pull out) is to watch the driver's body language while keeping an eye on their tires. If you don't see any movement in the rims, then the car is obviously stopped. If you see some motion in the rims, it may indicate that the driver is considering pulling out and you need to start making some decisions.

Remember that it is hard for someone to judge the speed of a motorcycle due to the smaller footprint. You have to clearly communicate to an unsure driver that they should NOT pull out. I always ride with my low-beam on so that if I need to, my high-beam becomes a caution beacon to the drivers on the road. In the case of the unsure driver starting to pull out in front of me, I will turn on my high-beam to signal that I am coming through the intersection and they should stay put.

There have been situations where that does not work, but I know it is not going to work because I can see that the driver is not paying attention to me. In that case I start to take action way ahead of time to ensure my safety. I brake, change lanes (if possible and legal), and in one case I had to come to a complete stop. In this situation you should by all means utilize the little button on your left handgrip that activates that thing called a horn, and do it with prejudice! They need to know they screwed up, and your making them aware of the fact might cause them to pay more attention on the road, thus saving another biker's life.


City Riding

Always be prepared to brake, and maneuver when doing city riding, especially when there is any kink of cross-traffic hazard. Get used to watching multiple vehicles and mentally prioritizing their hazard to you (seems like it takes the fun out of riding, but once you make it a habit, you will do it without even thinking about it). This will help you to be prepared for finding a way out of just about any situation. I also ride with two fingers (index and middle) resting on the front brake lever and my foot cocked back hovering over the rear brake.


Freeway

Don't let people ride next to you. It is OK to communicate via hand signals that you don't want someone riding parallel with you. Wave them forward or back or accelerate away and reestablish your cruising speed. If they come up on you again be sure you rock your bike in the lane to show you are not happy with their presence and wave them away. This time make your hand and arm movements authoritative so they understand you are upset.

In most cases when this happens it is because the driver wants to check out your bike. You have to balance diplomacy with safety. Most of the time they will get close to take a look and then back off. Give them an opportunity to check out your bike and then move away. Most, if not all, people understand they shouldn't be riding side-by-side with another vehicle, especially a bike, traffic permitting (Los Angeles).


Conclusion

No matter what you are doing you need to be aware of everything around you. It is easy to space-out while riding and I imagine that is a big cause of accidents. Think about the close calls you have had. Think about your accidents. In hindsight I am sure you can think of several ways in which you could have avoided the accident. Introspection is the key to developing your skills as a rider. You should be learning something from yourself every time you get on the bike.

Ride to Julian, CA

I have been pretty busy with work lately so I have not had too many chances to ride. One of the rides I have gone on was to Julian, CA. I took some friends out there because one of them wanted to try out a Buell Blast. She was riding a Yamaha VStar, but it was too heavy of a bike for her. Her husband is still riding one of the two VStars that they bought and she is on a Blast that she found on eBay.

The bike that she bought was from another state and they are importing it into CA. As they go through the process I will get the info from them and post a quick how-to.

Anyway, we rode out to Temecula Harley and from there headed out to Julian. If you are in that area you really should check it out, it is beautiful. One word of caution, there are CHP officers and Sheriff's Deputys everywhere!






The roads were pretty fun with nothing too technical. Great place for new riders to get used to riding twisties. There are no large groups of people speeding down these roads, so my friends were able to enjoy themselves.

BTW, Julian is famous for apple pie, so you might want to save some room. ;-)

Here is the map:


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Jumping the Santa Monica Pier

RedBull is sponsoring a rider to jump the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica peer. The jump is supposed to happen at 7PM Friday July, 11 2008 which is tomorrow. I am going to try to make it. If I do I will take some photos.

Here is the video from the RedBull site:

V-Twin Meetups

We have a new meetup group that is for Sport-Twins. There are tons of groups for 4 bangers and Harleys, and even for Ducati's, but the rest of us get left out. So far everyone that I have met is pretty cool. We have 3 Buell, 1 Aprilia, and 1 Ducati in the group. There are other members, but these are the only ones I have met.

Anyway, I have noticed something about Sport-Twin riders, we all get a long and don't have an elitist attitude. Not to say that all others do, or that some of us don't, it is just an observation. Well, due to the bike feeling like it is slipping on me I had to opt out of a great ride this past weekend lead by Ray on his Aprilia. Hopefully I will be back in the saddle this weekend.

It sucks having only one bike. I may get a Blast or similar to tool around on when my Uly is getting worked on.

Doing a little catching up

I was tired of my 1203 Harley engine sounding like a sewing machine so I put on a new exhaust. I purchased a Jardine RT1 from my local Harley / Buell dealer. They installed it, and the next day I rode out to the race track to watch Higbee and Dixon battle it out in Willow Springs.

Oh, the power!!! The beast has been released. Never mind the awesome sound, I have a lot more noticeable power! I also added the K&N air filter to allow it to breath. Man, it is a whole new bike. I can't wait for them to come out with an 08 race ECM. This bike is so much fun and I love riding it.

I did have some small issues recently that has caused me to lose confidence with my machine. I am taking it in to get looked at before I get back on the road.

What am I going to do next to the bike? Paint it. I will post a poll to see what people think. I am leaning towards a matte black with spot gloss Harley orange racing stripes down the middle.

Since I have disconnected the actuator cable...

Since I have disconnected the actuator cable to the exhaust on my XB12X the bike has been running great. I was on one of the Buell forums someone corrected me on the default position of the valve in the exhaust. It fails shut which forces the exhaust gases to pass through the entire can before exiting.

The bike seems to run better in this configuration. I have enjoyed consistent power with no delays. Really makes things nice in the canyons. There has been one thing that has been bothering me though; the bike feels like it has more power hidden in its guts.

Ride to Willow on Sunday

We will be meeting at Glendale HD - Buell to ride out to Willow Springs. They are in the first race of the day and finish at race 5 so we will need to leave by 7:30AM. I think we will take two routes out there. One over the crest for the adventurous, and one via freeway for everyone else. On the way back we will all take the canyons. Let me know if you have any questions.

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