How It Feels

How well we ride depends a lot on how loosened up we feel. A graceful line is scripted by a relaxed motorcyclist at the controls.  I’m riding my best when I feel  a complete presence of mind.  It is “being in the moment” and it is when my brain can easily and effortlessly process all the visual information as it flows toward my helmet visor.

Something magical happens.

To stay relaxed, regulate the flow of this visual information. You’ll want to either turn up or turn down the flow. If the flow is moving too quickly, you’ll be overwhelmed and won’t be able to process the visuals well. You’ll lose presence of mind. If the flow is moving too slowly, you’ll get distracted and lose presence of mind. You want to regulate your speed so that you are mentally satisfied processing the visuals but never overwhelmed or bored.  “Just the right speed” is key, and this requires a taut-running engine and the immediacy of horsepower.  So harness your engine’s horsepower by continuous gear shifting.

Instead of explaining the mechanics of gear shifting, I want you to the appreciate what a taut-running motorcycle engine feels like.  I want you to know what it feels like when you stop driving your motorcycle like it has an automatic transmission, and start riding the beast like it’s meant to be ridden.

The best thing to do is go out on an open road with your own motorcycle and rev up 2nd, then 3rd, and then 4th gear to maximum torque. An engine running at maximum torque is where an engine is most responsive. Immediacy is found there. The immediacy will feel  abrupt to an untrained hand. Spend quality time in each of these gears, hovering around maximum torque. Lock in a gear and just be there. Soon you’ll see that each gear has a personality in terms of the immediacy of power. Get real acquainted with this immediacy; it’s the very foundation of engine control. Feel and listen to this power. Get comfortable with it. Learn to work with it. With a small on-twist of the wrist, there will be an immediate surge of acceleration; roll off, and you’ll feel the physics of instant deceleration. Harness this power to your advantage. Your control will dramatically improve.

At maximum torque, the engine  will feel super buzzy, and sound loud and shrill. Riders often confuse the busyness of maximum torque with “beating up the engine.” Don’t worry, you are most definitely not.  All sport touring motorcycle engines are engineered for high performance. They are designed to and run best at high rpms. So busyness be damned, wring the gears’ neck!

Revving up 2nd gear will have an intense feel, a suddenness. Unless your roll on/off is practiced and in relatively small increments, the quality of your ride will be herky-jerky.   Herky-jerky throttle control can be emotionally upsetting because of the challenging riding conditions where 2nd gear is most used. 2nd gear is the preferred gear (unless of course, the rider is adept in 1st gear technical riding) for highly technical roads – sharply oscillating, twisty roads.   It can crush a rider’s confidence when an already demanding riding environment calling for a deft throttle hand is met instead with ham-handedness. You could become fearful and endanger yourself. So spend a lot of time gear-shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears. Learn to smooth out the transition between on and off. You won’t ever develop authentic motorcycling confidence without developing a smooth technique in 2nd gear. It takes practice.

Compared to 2nd gear, 3rd gear feels more settled. But to get the similar immediacy of 2nd gear, a rider must rev up to maximum torque and ride a wee bit faster. So ride down the road in 3rd gear at maximum torque and experience the throttle immediacy at higher speed.   You can be going one speed, and in an instant, you can be much faster, or much slower.  It’s a lot of fun to employ the immediacy of 3rd gear at higher speeds for your amusement and safety. It’s my favorite gear. But it absolutely requires ratcheting up your presence of mind to calmly process the visuals streaming toward you at 3rd gear’s higher speeds. It takes practice.

4th gear around maximum torque provides an opportunity to ride with immediacy, at yet again even faster speeds. 4th gear is a great high speed cruising gear for open, sweeping Invisible Roads.  Presence of mind now demands the ability to calmly process the visuals as they now come racing toward you. It takes more practice.

To ride well at relatively faster and faster speeds, you must have a calm presence of mind. To have a calm presence of mind, you must see well. To see well, it helps to have a methodology for seeing.

In the Workshop, I describe a methodology of seeing that I borrowed from instrument flying. This methodology of seeing is the pilot’s instrument scan. The instrument scan is a continuous procedure of systematically moving the eyes around the instrument panel (consisting of many dials and gauges) in an efficient way so as to extract the most information. With practice, the scan becomes very fast. The mind begins to effortlessly process the details as fast as the eyes can absorb them.  I discovered this piloting skill applies nicely to riding motorcycles. In fact airplane pilots and motorcycle “pilots” share the same mindset. While the machines are obviously different, the mindset to “fly” them well is the same. The result of seeing well is a confident sense of situational awareness whether it be through the sky or on the pavement.

In a nutshell, around every curve and over every rise, reference the vanishing point and size up the view corridor. If you can’t process these visuals calmly and thoroughly enough, roll on or off the throttle just enough so that you can.

Exploiting your motorcycle’s horsepower by harnessing the engine, and learning an effective method of perceiving our environment, are the “meat and potato” skills. They are the “parts” of The Rider’s Workshop.

The “whole” is how it feels when you put it all together. You feel free like never before! You are free of anxiety, fear, and stress because while you’re riding faster, you are riding with a real sense of calm, confidence and control.

As you familiarize yourself with this intense/effortless motorcycle control, you’ll see that you’re in a “dance” with your machine. As you apply the subtlest control inputs, the bike willingly dances with you as you whirl around your favorite twisting road.

As your confidence soars, as you feel joy, you might experience a transcendence. The mythical centaur is not an exaggeration. Your motorcycle may even disappear out from underneath you and now it’s only your mind galloping down the road.

Is it any wonder we ride?

Ride as many top quality miles as you choose, in the least amount of time, with the least amount of effort, burning the least amount of gas, while enjoying the widest smiles per spin of the wheel.

With Christmas Holidays fast approaching, I would like to share an experience with you about drinking and driving. I hope it helps.

As you well know, some of us have been known to have had brushes with the authorities on our way home from crazy fun parties over the years.

Well, I did something about it on our last venture out.

A couple of nights ago, Annie and I were out for pre-Christmas drinks with some friends. I especially had a few too many bourbons as well as some Sauvigon Blanc and some rather nice Cabernet.

Knowing full well I was probably over the limit, we did something we’ve never done before – we took the bus home!

We arrived back home without incident which was a real surprise because I had never driven a bus before and am not even sure where we got this one.

Have the Merriest Holiday!

 The Downshifting Sequence

The process of slowing a motorcycle to a complete stop is such an everyday occurrence that we rarely analyze it. We just do it. Roll off the throttle, downshift, apply brakes. Repeat as necessary. Stop. Most any clod can do it.

In fact stopping a motorcycle can be far more challenging and satisfying when done the following way.

I call it the Downshifting Sequence. With a series of downshifts, the goal is stopping without using brakes – at all.

Developing skill using the Downshifting Sequence is going to ramp up your overall sensitivity to being seamlessly smooth while operating your motorcycle. So practice it a lot.

Start by getting your mind processing information far ahead of the motorcycle. The sooner you make your decision to stop, the better it is. You have more time and distance to get the job done.

Once you have determined to bring your motorcycle to a stop, immediately begin the downshifting sequence. So downshift, and simultaneously chop the throttle. Feel the bike’s rate of de-acceleration. Judge your distance to the stopping point.

Downshift again. Chop the throttle. Make sure as you downshift, especially into the lower gears, that these shifts are smooth. Remember the shift, the clutch pull, and throttle-roll are all done simultaneously.

Downshift again.

Leave ample distance for 2nd gear. This is the most effective slowing down gear from just north of 35-40 mph.

Work 2nd gear. You’ve got enough torque in 2nd gear that you can modulate the throttle. Roll on some throttle if you’re slowing too quickly. Rolling on checks your rate of slow-down. 2nd is an abrupt gear, so be smooth on the roll on/roll off.

This little exercise will make you to think about your rate of slow-down.

Within roughly 50 feet of the stop point, downshift into 1st gear, and gently release the clutch. Now, within yards of coming to a stop, pull in the clutch for the last time and coast to a complete stop. Viola! No brakes. A+

If you decide to use the brake within the final feet of stopping, simply make application so light that you experience zero abruptness when the wheels stop rolling. A-

If you’re not perfect, no worries; you’re like everybody else with plenty of opportunity ahead.

See you in third gear.

What? Me Worry?

Jim Ford

Here’s hoping some of you folks rode your motorcycles to your favorite motorcycle store this weekend and bought yourself a set of electrics. You will have done yourself some good.  Now seal the deal.

This morning I went for a ride. I left the house about 7. It was a frosty with temps in the low 30s. As usual I wait about a half hour before I twist the knob. I like to wait until my self – generated wind chill chills me. As soon as I feel those chilly fingers begin to creep down my spine, I twist the rheostat and within moments a warm wash surrounds me. It is so very nice!

But you gotta seal the deal. The fact is, we lose a most our body heat through our “chimneys,” so sealing off our neck is a must do, and when it’s frigid (like it wasn’t this morning,) our scalp.

My buddy, Mike, introduced me to Ibex merino wool, New Zealand’s best shot. There’s all manner of wool products to choose; it’s all good. I purchased a merino wool neck tube, like a neck gasket. Wearing the tube does an excellent job sealing my neck off from chilly intrusion. The soft wool doesn’t chafe my skin either. It’s cozy.

The other seal is a balaclava. A balaclava is like a scuba dive hood. It’s made of thin elastic material that covers your whole head. Wear a balaclava underneath your helmet with it’s real cold and you’ll seal in most all your body warmth.

Have a great ride. 

See you in third gear.

We’re entering into one of the most underappreciated seasons for motorcycling: Winter. Of course it’s cold outside, and sure, there are days when it is icy or too snowy to ride. But there are also plenty of days in most parts of the country when the roads are dry and beckoning.

Invest in electric riding gear – with a rheostat – for the obvious reason that manufactured warmth will keep you warmer than age-old body heat. Remember even at the cool temperature of 40 degrees, riding a road at 50 miles per hour creates a wind chill factor of 26 degree. This is a chill by any standard, and by the last hour of a good ride, most your body heat will have been sucked right out and you’re good for nothing.

But there is another important reason for electrics. Great riders astride their ride, stay relaxed at all times. Manufactured and regulated warmth inside your winter riding jacket, gloves, socks, (and pants if you go whole hog) will do this job – guaranteed.

It’s the best investment in enabling you to ride your motorcycle 12 months a year. When you feel the glow, it’s like riding in a hot shower. Ahhh!

Here’s how I have set up my electrics.

I discreetly stuck a piece of elephant Velcro on the left side of my gas tank. When I’m going to use my electrics, I Velcro my rheostat on the bike. From underneath the seat, I pull out the power cord that is permanently hard-wired to the battery and plug it into the rheostat. The other end(s) of the rheostat plugs into the jacket jack(s.)

While riding, I can reach down with my left hand and dial in just the right amount of snuggly for the conditions without taking my eyes of the road.

When I no longer want the heat, I turn the heat off. Simple.

When I am finished using the heat, I unplug the rheostat, pull it off the Velcro, and stow the cord back under my seat using a small, thick rubber band. The rheostat goes in the tank bag. Simple again.

If you want to ride 12 months a year, invest. You’re worth it.

The Rider’s Workshop LLC

 I thought I would use Facebook as a commons where folks can read the narrative I discuss in TRW. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or provide insight to what I am trying to put forward. But please, no politics, and no funnies.

There are many motorcycling forums on which most everything is discussed. Certainly there is much chatter about riding gear. There is discussion about all the great places to ride, whether it be in our United States, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. There is discussion about heavy-duty long distance riding like the Iron Butt and similar events; there is discussion about riding on the track. There are track days and there are plenty of track schools. And finally there are a host of parking lot schools all over the country.

Through TRW and Facebook I’d like to put forward a discussion of rider skills to employ while Appalachian mountain riding. Appalachian Mountain (or most any other mountain range) riding is unlike any other form of motorcycling because mountains demand as much or more skill from the rider than any other form of motorcycling.

Think of mountain riding like being on a motorized, two-wheeled snow ski. I think of the Appalachian Range as a huge “ski” resort. If you follow my drift (pun intended,) the roads I “ski” are mostly “blue” intermediates or “black” expert roads where, unfortunately, the uneducated often crash. These roads offer varying pavement conditions, and a wide assortment of hills and curves to navigate that extend from north central Pennsylvania, down to the Smokey Mountains, and west to the Ohio River. Weather is often an issue.

Not to blow my own horn, but over the past 20 years, I have ridden over 400,000 miles. Roughly 95% of these miles have been in the Appalachians so I have always been a mountain rider. In the past 15 years, I have dedicated myself to learning most all the great motorcycling routes through these mountains and have formulated a cool technique for riding these roads safely and with a very high degree of skill.

Over the next few months I would like to share these skills with you. If you think this is a good idea and will participate in the discussion, please “like” The Rider’s Workshop LLC on Facebook. That way you’ll get notice when I’ve posted Riding Tip # 1.

We’ll begin there.