Practice riding not reading.

[FROSTY:Me]

I've noticed a growing trend amongst newer riders on this site.
Grabbing information and advice willy nilly from various publications.
Trouble is theres a tendancy to jump to the complicated stuff and missing out the basic steps along the way.
Its kinda like building a house from the second story window up and randomly building bits.
You need to build on the basic foundation of head knowledge and then go out and apply it.
Only once you have mastered that knowledge in the real world ---RIDING should ya move onto the next stage.
You'll see that principle being applied at the california superbike schools.
You cant move onto level two untill you've mastered level 1

[CRF119]

Well siad! Alot of people probobly do spend more time on here talking shit then they do actualy riding.

[CookMySock]

Nah, I learned a massive amount just filtering information on KB. I don't think its like "building a house from the second story window up and randomly building bits" at all. It is interesting to read ahead beyond our expertise level and include a bit of the complex stuff, and also it's just fun to talk about biking stuff amongst a group of like-minded people. Also, you have no idea "how much people ride."

What would you rather they did?

Steve

[Jonathan]

Practice riding not reading.

Well siad! Alot of people probobly do spend more time on here talking shit then they do actualy riding.

Judging from the state of your spelling you are clearly not guilty of this, heheheh

[FROSTY:Me]

In that case you know all about the pie or $1.00 principle then steve?
Just in case you don't remember it. the principle is that your attention is like a $1.00 bill If too much of that $1.00 is being spent on doing something well beyond your skill/experience level that leaves very little money left for the other stuff needed for survival.
A perfect example has to be the discussion about lane positioning on the road.
For a new rider I reccomend staying in the right hand wheel track on the road.
Why? because MOST of the time its the safest place to be
without hesitation I could think of 10 reasons not to and several other options.
Thats great for someone with experience but applying the $1.00 principle will place a novice in danger byt the simple fact they don't know wheres safe.

[tigertim20]

Nah, I learned a massive amount just filtering information on KB. I don't think its like "building a house from the second story window up and randomly building bits" at all. It is interesting to read ahead beyond our expertise level and include a bit of the complex stuff, and also it's just fun to talk about biking stuff amongst a group of like-minded people. Also, you have no idea "how much people ride."

What would you rather they did?

Steve

what frosty is talking is the diversity of answers you may receive on here when you ask a simple question. e.g what do I do when i am being tailgated? answers vary from pull to the left and let the car past, to 'open the throtle and get ahead. now either COULD be a great solution, but it depends on the rider, the bike, the weather, the situation. Frosty (I think, correct me if I am wrong here) is concerned with people receiving black and white answers, coming to the conclusion that there is only one right and one wrong answer, which can be dangerous. Frosty gave the example of riding in the right lane being USUALLY the safest option, but states he can provide many reasons not to also. and the example I just gave of tailgating. you cannot always respond exatly the same way, because everytime a similar occurance occurs, there will be different details in play. reacting the same way as last time might get you killed, when last time it was a wise move.

as for advanced riding techniques, break it down!! advanced riding techniques can often be broken down into being based off a number of more basic techniques. say you are a newbie, and you want to practice stopping from 100km/hour. if you try to emergency stop the first time, you are probably going to endo the bike, or drop it. of course you practice stopping NORMALLY from 40km first, then 50, 80, 100. THEN you practice emergency stopping. Frosty is talking about developing a basic skil properly first, before using that basic skill to aid you in the learning of a greater or more difficult skill.

There are plenty of people around that can TELL you how to wheelie. or do a stoppie. hell I can TELL you how to do a stoppie, but fucked if I can actually DO one myself. its about book smart vs street smart. the difference between knowing the theory, and actuallly being able to apply it correctly and safely.

[pc220]

Crawl, Walk, Run. You need to get each stage right before moving to the next. (im still crawling). Very timely thread FROSTY.

[pzkpfw]

I think I know what Frosty is on about.

I once noticed I was kind of "awkward" on slow speed tight turns, like little roundabouts in residential areas.

I realised I'd read about (and practiced) counter-steering so much I was sort of trying to counter-steer everything. So in these tight slow speed turns I was fighting the bike instead of letting it do it's natural thing.

Managed to fix the issue with more actual riding.

(Probably makes me sound like an un-co dork, but anyway...)

[Malcolm]

Crawl, Walk, Run. You need to get each stage right before moving to the next. (im still crawling). Very timely thread FROSTY.

I was walking before I learned to crawl...?

[pc220]

There is always a gifted exception to the theory.

[CookMySock]

Give people some credit though. You talk about them like you are here to save them, where the reality is more like they have a brain and can read peoples' opinions and sort and categorise suggestions for themselves. Cap-fits-wear? YMMV? Whatever spanks your monkey?

Perhaps you would rather that opinions were sanctioned, sanitised, and approved? Perhaps by you?

Steve

[CRF119]

Judging from the state of your spelling you are clearly not guilty of this, heheheh

Yea i didnt take english at school did a extra PE insted. Has KB got spell cheek?

[tigertim20]

Give people some credit though. You talk about them like you are here to save them, where the reality is more like they have a brain and can read peoples' opinions and sort and categorise suggestions for themselves. Cap-fits-wear? YMMV? Whatever spanks your monkey?

Perhaps you would rather that opinions were sanctioned, sanitised, and approved? Perhaps by you?

Steve

you are referring to who? if youre talking to me, I have made no secret of the fact that if I had my way, you would be banned from giving anyone any advice at all, but hey, thats just my opinion. Id wager there'd be alot more support for me on that than you think, but thats OT isnt it.

Hey, you want to read books and 'filter info off KB" thats sweet. I will stick to actually learning skills thoroughly. good day!

[FROSTY:Me]

Give people some credit though. You talk about them like you are here to save them, where the reality is more like they have a brain and can read peoples' opinions and sort and categorise suggestions for themselves. Cap-fits-wear? YMMV? Whatever spanks your monkey?

Perhaps you would rather that opinions were sanctioned, sanitised, and approved? Perhaps by you?

Steve

If you're talking to me then no definitely not. I gave up claim to any god like knowledge a long time ago.
But ya know one thing I have picked up along the way is that if I see something that worries me to speak up.
Maybee all reading this are riding gods that defy what I've seen over the years but then again maybee one person reads it and goes --Hey thats me I do that

Wouldn't I feel like a right A#$#$# if I diddn't at least try and someone crashed ?

[avgas]

Personally I do not understand why people read about riding in the first place.
If your having to read about it - your doing it wrong.