Thoughts on looking where you want to go

[Berries]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTsKlVTftO8

Classic. That should be posted in the 'why do people use cameras' thread. That truck was so close.


Not.

[awa355]

I always look where I want to go,

[Bison]

Target fixation.....always look for the solution and NOT at the problem. Push steering is one way to avoid the problem as you steer towards the solution. The bike will go where you look. I tell my new students to assume that their eyes are connected to the front axle. Wherever their eyes go, so goeth the bike. As a retired career Traffic Copper (who has attended thousands of crashes over 28 years) I can tell you that most crashes where the rider was at fault, it was because of improper braking, cornering and swerving. The Hurt Report found the same thing. Looking away from the problem takes a determined effort for the new rider, but the results are worth that effort.

[BoristheBiter]

But the accepted technique on dirt bikes is to follow the ruts, so you dont need the same amount of turn anyway.

Also on dirt bikes, you actually try to break the back away, to use the rotation of the wheels to counter the centripetal forces, rather than the traction of the wheels on the dirt.

Try that on a dirt bike and you'll be on your arse, you never want to ride in ruts.

[george formby]

Oy tink all this talk of counter steering & bike dynamics as a consequence of looking where you want to go is over complicating things. Take bikes out of the discussion & no matter what our motivation we go where we look, skiing, running, rollerskating, sat in the car etc. It's a by product of being tall, forward looking hunters. When we engage our brains & eyes on the same task our bodies react to make that task happen. Take your eye off the task & you wobble.
The same process applies to throwing a spear, rock or firing an arrow or bullet. The eyes supply the info, the brain processes it & the body makes it happen.
Being savvy, educated bikers we understand bike dynamics & apply suitable control but when the shit is about to hit the fan it's still faster & more accurate just to look for the safe exit & let our evolution take care of it. The few times I've been in a situation where my eyeballs are pressed against the visor & my mouth is hanging open I've only had time to move my eyes to the escape route. At that point everything else is coming into play, not consciously either.
Practicing bike control just makes this natural process more effective & prevents an over reaction.

Just my half baked take on it all.

[bogan]

Try that on a dirt bike and you'll be on your arse, you never want to ride in ruts.

Actually in many situations you really do, compensating for lean through ruts (which are essentially like riding on rails) takes some practice, but when done right it handles like it's on rails!

[SuperMac]

Oy tink all this talk of counter steering & bike dynamics as a consequence of looking where you want to go is over complicating things. Take bikes out of the discussion & no matter what our motivation we go where we look, skiing, running, rollerskating, sat in the car etc. It's a by product of being tall, forward looking hunters. When we engage our brains & eyes on the same task our bodies react to make that task happen. Take your eye off the task & you wobble.

At that point everything else is coming into play, not consciously either.
Practicing bike control just makes this natural process more effective & prevents an over reaction.

Yes but No but . . .

Trouble is, if someone has been a car driver for years, their instinctive reaction won't be to counter-steer when, f'rinstance, a corner tightens, it'll be to 'steer into' the corner - with obvious potentially catastrophic results.

Are you actually suggesting that no rider should eve be taught how to steer accurately?

[BMWST?]

Yes but No but . . .

Trouble is, if someone has been a car driver for years, their instinctive reaction won't be to counter-steer when, f'rinstance, a corner tightens, it'll be to 'steer into' the corner - with obvious potentially catastrophic results.

Are you actually suggesting that no rider should eve be taught how to steer accurately?

it doesnt matter.If you look where you want to go you have a much much better chance of going there,the body knows how if the brain lets it

[george formby]

Yes but No but . . .


Are you actually suggesting that no rider should eve be taught how to steer accurately?

Awwww yeah na yeah. Na. Just the opposite, the more you learn about controlling a bike, the more effective your reaction when an instant decision is required.

[BoristheBiter]

Actually in many situations you really do, compensating for lean through ruts (which are essentially like riding on rails) takes some practice, but when done right it handles like it's on rails!

Well you carry on riding in ruts i will steer clear of them.

[unstuck]

Ruts are good.

[BoristheBiter]

Ruts are good.

OK go try and ride one.

Mind you i guess a few have been ridden by a rut.
Gives a new meaning to a rooted rut.

[unstuck]

There are some ruts on the western side of the dome at mossburn that if a bike and rider fall in you cannot see them. only little ridges to ride on and going up the side of a dirty big hill. If you fall in, it is a long way back to where you can get out again. Makes picking a line alongside the ruts fun.

[BoristheBiter]

There are some ruts on the western side of the dome at mossburn that if a bike and rider fall in you cannot see them. only little ridges to ride on and going up the side of a dirty big hill. If you fall in, it is a long way back to where you can get out again. Makes picking a line alongside the ruts fun.

There is a few like that in Riverhead. the gap between the ruts isn't flat and in the wet you always seem to end up with the front in one and back in another.

[unstuck]

There is a few like that in Riverhead. the gap between the ruts isn't flat and in the wet you always seem to end up with the front in one and back in another.

Im hearin ya, been a few times I have put my foot on thin air and ended up in an untidy heap, should be fun at the dome tomorrow though cos now it is all under a half meter or more of snow, so we wont be able to see the ruts until were in em. we never made it last year due to snow but this year I have a cunning plan.