Car driving skills don't convert to motorcycle road riding skills
by
, 20th October 2010 at 20:46 (6080 Views)
You often hear new riders who are experienced car drivers complaining that they have to go through the full licence process to get a motorcycle licence. Their primary argument is that their years of car driving experience transfers across to riding a motorcycle, so they should be able to get to a full licence in a shorter period of time.
My personal opinion is that riding a motorcycle requires a different set of skills to driving a car, and that the dangers experienced riding a motorcycle are also different. As a result, having only car driving skills does not sufficiently equip you to ride a motorcycle to the extent that the period of time to complete getting a motorcycle licence should be shortened.
You often get car drivers asking why? So here are some examples of why I think car driving skills don't convert to motorcycle road riding skills:
- Cars can't vary there position greatly in most lanes, especially while cornering. Motorcycles are much narrower and can. So straight away you have a choice of lane position on a bike that doesn't exist in a car.
- Throttle control in a car while cornering is not so crucial. In an automatic car you have even less control. On a motorcycle good throttle control while cornering improves your stability on the bike, and how tight you can make your cornering line (or rather, affects your ability to vary the corner line and make it tighter).
- Car drivers don't need to plan out cornering lines in advance to the extent motorcycle riders do. Most times a car can simply come up to a corner, set their entry speed, and their done.
When your on a motorcycle, especially if there are two or more corners in a row, you really need to be looking ahead to plan out where you want to be on each corner (entry, during and exit).- Riding a motorcycle creates more intense feelings of fear when things start going wrong which make new riders want to instinctively do the wrong thing. For example, if you start going wide in a corner throttling off, engaging the front brake and looking at the corner is completely the wrong thing to do. It requires time to learn the skills to override these fear responses and do the right thing.
- There is no such thing as counter-steering in a car. This is a fundamental skill required for cornering on a motorcycle.
- In a car you can effectively emergency brake by pushing down hard and stabbing the front brake pedal. Most cars have ABS and will take care of the braking process for you. On a motorcycle emergency braking requires more steps that have to be carefully executed to avoid an off, and the majority of motorcycles on the road have no ABS or assisted braking systems.
- In a car you rarely need to co-ordinate the use of all four of your limbs at the same time. Most of the time your two hands are on the steering wheel and one of your feet is resting on the floor. Blipping the throttle while braking, engaging the clutch and changing down requires a lot more co-ordination.
There are also many dangers on a motorcycle that need to be planned for while riding that can be largely ignored when driving a car.
- Gravel on the outside or inside of a corner. Doesn't affect most car drivers. Can be very difficult for a motorcycle.
- Cars are more visible than motorcycles, simply because of their size. So when your on a motorcycle your more likely to be hit because of this.
- If another car runs into you, and comparing the case of you being the driver in the car that gets hit and a rider on a motorbike that gets hit - your probably going to come off worse on a motorcycle.
- You can't come "off" a car while driving. If you come off riding a motorcycle your likely to go for a slide, or worse, hit some road furniture. Car drivers don't have to plan or be concerned with abrasion resistance or impact resistance for their clothing.
- It's not possible to go around a corner in a car staying in your lane while still putting your body at risk. You can go around a right hand corner on a motorcycle, have the motorcycle completely in the left lane, yet have your body exposed to impact by leaning sufficiently to be substantially in the oncoming lane. It's a risk car drivers never have to consider.