Brakes Part II

The Rear Brake: Later, we’ll think about the ‘control brake’ use of the brake on the back. For now, let’s consider rear-brake basics in minimum-distance stopping situations. We’ve considered that the front brake is capable of supplying anywhere from 70% to 100% of stopping power;

Brakes Part I

Stopping your motorcycle, on command, safely and precisely, under a wide variety of conditions, is clearly one of the competencies that responsible riders must have well in hand in order to reduce overall risk while riding. However, a core principle of safer riding involves continually and actively using the brain and eyes to identify risk-factors that might call for emergency braking early, while they are still well away from the rider.

Mentor a Novice Rider

FOREWORD:

You're a veteran rider, with many miles, many years and a great deal of practical riding experience.  In the passage of time to come, you may well have opportunity to shepherd and mentor a novice rider, perhaps a spouse or other significant person in your life, maybe your daughter or son, maybe a neighbor, friend, or co-worker.  Perhaps your Novice Rider has taken your state or province’s safety course, or undergone rider training from a commercial school – or maybe they rolled a motorcycle out into the parking lot at the local dealership and ‘taught themselves’ how to ride.  Many of us ‘Boomers did just exactly that, and a goodly number of us survived and prospered – but an unacceptable percentage of us did not!  So, now you’ve become mentor to a Novice.  Could you use some guidelines, some pointers, perhaps some direction for both you and your Novice?

Risk

A story is told of a wealthy, mature German industrialist; late in life, he was given a son. His only heir, so loved by the industrialist, received the finest education available, was cosseted, protected and sheltered – all within the confines of the elder gent’s Bavarian castle. That’s right – the son was sheltered from the risks of the world by keeping him inside a ‘safe’ environment during his childhood. But when the son achieved his majority, he was finally permitted to venture into the world for the first time in his life…

Left? or Right?

Well, the votes are in! Forty-seven members replied to the question in the July 2009 MotoSafe column, “Left? or Right? Tell MotoSafe” and we find that the majority of respondents believe they are weaker, less confident and proficient, when cornering to the right. The numbers? 57% report more trouble cornering to the right, versus 28% who feel less competent cornering to the left; 15% report they are equally confident and competent turning and cornering either way. So, by a raw two-to-one margin, weak-righties outnumber weak-lefties. Let’s see what we all can learn from this survey, and mostly, from one another. WHY do we believe we prefer one cornering direction over the opposite?

Riding Posture

Remember when your Granny admonished you at the dinner table to, “Sit up straight and eat your broccoli!”? Granny had your welfare in mind, and perhaps we can learn a riding-lesson from her. So, let’s think about good riding posture, both in a straight path, and while cornering.

‘Dangerous Five’ Driving Sins

The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) (http://www.trafficsafety.org) is a coalition of private employers and government traffic-safety experts who focus on reducing the human and economic impact of traffic crashes suffered by workers. The theme of the organization’s annual ‘Drive Safety Work Week 2007’ campaign is what their research indicates to be the top five driving sins;