Excellent figure 8

[beginner]

One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on drills and exercises is to condition my motor/balance system. I found this short description on a website for balance boards. The system is ancient and sophisticated, it can have a mind of it's own and it did not evolve with motorcycles in mind. I know from previous life experiences that it can take a considerable amount of time to condition that system to respond appropriately to hazardous situations. With motorcycles the safe place to spend the early conditioning time is in a parking lot rather than in traffic. I think that riders should understand this system similar to understanding the mechanics and physics of bikes.

The Human Balance System consists of three parts. The Visual (depth, velocity and motion perception), the Vestibular System (inner ear), and the Somatic Sensory or Somatosensory System (proprioception and exteroception).

Vestibular System (inner ear) - The most important part of human balance is the inner ear which contains three canals. In simple terms, the three canals contain a gel-like liquid called endolymph and tiny hair cells. When both inner ears are working properly they give the brain information through the central nervous system about linear and angular positions of the body with respect to gravity.

Visual (depth, velocity and motion perception) - Visual input from the eyes send the brain information about the position of the body relative to other objects, their depth, velocity and motion. The eyes and the ears compliment each other not only to maintain balance, but also to maintain clear vision during movement. The inner ear sends impulses that continuously adjust your eyes in coordination to even the smallest movement of the body such as your heartbeat or breathing.

Somatic Sensory or Somatosensory System (proprioception and exteroception) - The Somatosensory System provides the brain two valuable pieces of internal and external spatial information to maintain balance. One comes from internal sensors within the body called propriceptors. Proprioceptors give the central nervous system information about the movement of body parts in relation to other parts of the body. This is called the sense of proprioception. Without the sense of proprioception, you would not be able to put food in your mouth without visually watching your hand moving to your mouth. A common test for loss of proprioception is walking the line during a sobriety test by police officers.

The other Somatosensory information the brain uses comes from external body sensors called exteroceptors. Exteroceptors are pressure sensors located in your feet and hands that provide external spatial information about the topography of the ground or support surface. Exteroception also helps in your overall balance system by relaying information about ground movement. An example would be the difference between standing on solid ground and sinking into mud.

A lot of what this system does is subconscious. In certain situations it can interfere with what your conscious mind wants to do. Sometimes it's interferences are correct and promote survival. On a motorcycle it can interfere in ways that are counter productive. Freezing at the controls would be an example.

[CaptCrashIdaho]

One of the things to remember here is that practice is important. We should all in a constant state of practice, both on and off the bike. beginners quest, unfortunately, is to find that thing, that behaviour, that talisman that will make him safe. Which will never happen, because true safety is not attainable.

The attacks on the MSF, which are proven wholesale false, are designed to help him fix in his on mind that HE and only HE knows the secret of safety.

Several times you'll see him quote the "Monash" reports which speak to the fact that in Australia (where Monash U is) training as a safety aid is unproven. HOWEVER, the same University PRAISES California for lowering accident and fatality rates BY IMPLEMENTING TRAINING FOR MOTORCYCLISTS. Clearly, and Monash states this, Training makes a difference. Especially in the first 6 months--the most dangerous time.

Can you teach yourself to ride? Yup. I did. Got on my first bike, my friends showed me where the clutch, brake and shifter were, they said "follow us, do what we do!" And I'm still alive, have never ridden in a ambulance or been to the emergency room...even though I earned the title "Capt. Crash" the old fashinoned way; by crashing dirt bikes alot.

IMHO the best way to learn is recieve professional training, practice both on the street and in the lot, continue to research riding, and get into situations where you can get good, qualified feedback.

My advice to beginner is the same it would be for anyone:

1. Take a course.
2. Get a license.
3. Be insured.
4. Find other riders to learn from.
5. Practice.
6. Take an intermediate or advanced course.
7. Read. Watch. Learn.

There may be other ways to get the job done...but this seems to me to be the best path forward.

[beginner]

I've tried to find a kinesiology study of motorcycle riding. no luck so far. Perhaps a motor/balance study has been done with bicycles. I've looked for that too without success yet. If anyone has seen that I'd appreciate a link.

One of the things that's come faster with practice is improvement in the ability to balance the bike in all situations. Figure 8s turned out to be the most productive way to speed up the process.

Over time my balance system notices lean sooner so the correction is sooner. One effect of that is fewer control inputs and more accurate steering. The progress is visible in practice videos.

A big lesson that came from practice at the end of the season was about rear wheel slip. My motor/balance system can detect it and will sometimes cause an involuntary physical reaction even when my consious mind is not aware of the slip. There have been times when my body stiffened for a moment on the bike but I couldn't identify the cause. Looking back I know now some of those were small slips in the rear. Once that was figured out I became more consiously aware of rear wheel slip. From that point I found ways to decrease or increase it.

Increasing rear wheel slip is so easy to do it can happen by an unintentional weight shift or a slight increase in power to the rear wheel or a combination of small inputs. I wasn't looking for this because I haven't seen it discussed anywhere. It was a useful discovery that came from practice.

[TEvo]

Steering with the rear is an advanced technique. Dirt riders learn this early on through a combination of proprioception and trial & error (aka the school of hard knocks).

Since the ratio of occupant (rider) mass to vehicle mass on a motorcycle is more biased towards the rider, certainly rider body position has a lot to do with traction and handling. Especially on a lighter weight motorcycle like a dual-sport.

Riding on loose surfaces or even better, dirt-based training curriculum (MSF DBS) or advanced dirt based training with an emphasis on sliding the bike (Danny Walker's Supercamp) is an ideal way to explore and the fine aspects of throttle-to-rear-wheel control.

As for the involuntary "survival" reaction response to sudden or unforeseen situations on the bike, Keith Code discusses this at length in "A Twist of the Wrist, Vol. 2". In terms of motorcycle handling, in numerous scenarios, the survival response is actually the incorrect response.

[beginner]

Steering with the rear is an advanced technique.

Sure, steering with the rear is a technique. Since I'm a beginner it can't be very advanced. In the mean time rear wheel slip is fundamental behavior of the bike regardless of technique. It needs to be understood by the rankest beginner on day one so they can learn to spot it when it happens, even if they are a long time from having the skills to control it expertly.

I discovered the rear wheel slip behavior of the bike on pavement, doing my 18by36 figure 8s. Once I learned how to feel it, it didn't take long to figure out how to increase or decrease it. I'm not controling it very effectively yet because it's brand new but just what I've learned so far has had a positive effect on all my turning maneuvers in practice and riding around.

[TEvo]

Increase your speed to typical road speeds (say... 40mph) and with a decent lean angle, break the rear loose and get back to me whether it's a novice or advanced technique.

[CaptCrashIdaho]

How fast are you going when this 'slip' happens?

[beginner]

Increase your speed to typical road speeds (say... 40mph) and with a decent lean angle, break the rear loose and get back to me whether it's a novice or advanced technique.

What's the point of that comment? Never the less here is an example of what you are talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KycZk1M7g24

I'm a beginner, there are all kinds of things I can't do or can't do very well. What I can do, a little, is influence rear wheel slip and that has been a reveleatioin. I might have caught on sooner but I did not find any discussion of the issue before discovering it by chance. Since rear wheel slip is a fundamental part of the motion of the bike and not intuitively obvious it's one of those things beginners need to know about early on so it's less likely to catch them by surprise.

How fast are you going when this 'slip' happens?

Slow. Always under 10 mph in a turn near the traction limits. I got to try it for a few session on grass, it's easier there than on pavement but the speeds are still under 10 mph.

[storysunfolding]

I never wanted to comment on that before but anyone see rear wheel slip?

[TEvo]

In the video? Yeah, Kiyonari is spinning up the rear. A lot.

Tends to happen when you are doing a superpole lap in the wet on a World Superbike-spec CBR1000RR with 200+bhp. Masterful bike control, particularly throttle control. He gained a lot of fans in the paddock after that race weekend.

Definitely not recommended for anyone less than a professional rider.