Riding against your Instincts

[Hillclimb#42]

  After discussing riding skills with other riders, some experts, some serious newbies, my gf included, I realized that alot of the real riding secerets are the ones that are totally against your natural instincts. Just for example, in many situations hitting the gas when your instincts tell you to let off or even nail the brakes. I thought it may be basic for you vets, maybe helpful to new guys, and maybe everybody chimes in and I learn a bunch too.
  First, real rough sections, whoops, puddles, drop-offs, cross-ups and many other near crash situations can be saved by a little throttle. Your brain says "freeze up" or "brakes"
  Second, same thing during a mild wipe-out your instincts may tell you to bail, but I have found 99.9% of the time to keep driving through the wreck and have made many miracle saves. Bails can cause the bike to slam you when it catches back up.
  Third, You can turn with alot of control by turning the bars the opposite direction you intend on going. Which is really awkward at first. Although not a fool-proof trick for every turn.
  Fourth, many guys  are being fast in harescrambles or whatever, by accelerating down hills, instead of the natural coasting/braking. Throwing out the roost off of each berm turn, instead of waitng for the straight away.
  Last one is wide open to suggestions, hitting jumps and getting some real air, teaches us alot about ourselves and our bike's suspension. Anyway, freak out and let off the gas on the face of a jump and you wind up landing on your head like one of those yard darts. Panic and hit the gas too hard, and you may do a real painful crash. Also the big air time makes you want to lock up, when in reality there are many things that you may need to do to control you and your bike to get a smooth landing.
  Basically, some skills are easy. Especially if it is avoid an obstacle, or hit the gas on the flat straight parts. Fast peple are constanly going fast by doing things against the normal safe riding of the slower guys. I'd love to hear your take on this concept.

[KXcam22]

Hillclimber,
  I have to agree with everything you have said.  It's hard to teach that stuff to new riders....you have to experience it.  One decent way to teach this is on whoops.  Basically, the faster you go the easier (and faster) it is..but at some time the student has to throw caution to the wind, step outside of the comfort (fear) zone and hit them far faster than is comfortable.  Thats when the realization hits that what they just did works.  Its funny that, when I was a kid, I knew that holding the throttle WFO would save you from almost any situation, and now after 7 years of university I know mathematically why it works,  but it still works the same (haha).  I can cite two personal situations, one dirt and one street where I was thrown completely off the side of the bike with nothing but one arm over the seat, both toes dragging behind on the ground BUT one hand on the throttle pegged WFO.  In both cases I saved it solely due to the throttle. Cam.

[Hillclimb#42]

 I have 2 more cents to add, if noone else will. I found that for me personally it helped my pace to always be in say 3rd opposed to 2nd, if I was on a down hill run. I mean to say that, instead of  using the motor to slow me to a comfort zone, click it up a gear to use less rolling drag. Spooky and against instincts a little at first. Its actually safer to keep your wheels rolling, because if you lock your wheels up it doesn't let you turn.  If you're on a steep downhill, and need to turn, do not let the steepness convince you to lock up the brake. If you can't get stopped you may actually need to let off brake, and gas it, to avoid obstacles on an incline.
  Also, I agree whoops are a good spot to learn the throttle control trick. Each bobble kinda freaks you out and the only thing that seems to help is that you were going too fast to wreck it. I learned one on small puddles. I kept getting soaked and then would freeze. I was told, if i got the front wheel over the puddle, that I would not get wet. Sure enough, i started burpin the throttle and I stayed dry. Eventually using bigger burps for bigger puddles and then transferred that to obstacles of many kinds, especially ones that would abruptly stop the front tire. Little tricks apply to many conditions. Whoops riding applies to rocky sections, Puddle burp works on a small drop off, ect...
  I know you guys have more, but they only really come back to mind when you are teaching a riding rookie. Its hard to teach someone to clutch, when it has become automatic reactions, but thats what it does, make you explain actions and movements that are subliminal, kind of.

[Dutch-K5 Fan]

I have been to a mx training camp. five years and one week each time.
Even the last time I still learned stuff. Some times it's just small things.
When outcoming from a conner, you don't have to full trottle. Just turn it a bit and keep
turning. The big thing is :NEVER shut it of. Keep open as it is.

When turning left, sit in front of the bike and put your foot (toes) under your (right) brake pedal.
when turning right, also sit in front and put your foot (toes) under your shift lever.

On hard track you can use with eas the front brake to make tighter turns. The bike tilts over to
the front and creating a steeper steering angle.

Some tips'i've lurned for them.


Dutchie

[kwakman]

Doing sumthing your not comfortable with usually seems like a bad idea, but 7 times in 10 it is only your minds' limits' that stops you.Not yours' or the bikes' physical limit. Everything in my riding career has been a steady progression, from wheelieing mountain bikes for miles, rolling stoppies, to jumping;They were all quite daunting to start with but once caution goes windward you realise the only thing in the way was confidence. So ultimately, we can all take ourselves to our limits if we want to, conquering the initial fear is the only barrier until you reach your own physical limit.And then you crash.
                                 HOW FAST DO YA WANNA GO?

[USMC 500]

I'll add something that I have taught friends while riding dirt as well as on the road race course......TARGET FIXATION!  Without making it sound more complicated than it is target fixation is basically when you lock up and stare at something that you don't wanna hit or stare in a direction you don't wanna go.  If you see a rock or a rut on a trail and say "OH SNAP, I DON'T WANNA HIT THAT!".........chances are you are gonna hit it dead on.  If you see a cliff and say "CRAP, I DON'T WANNA GO THAT WAY!"........chances are you're going for a short flight.  If you force yourself not to target fixate and look PAST the object, or look in the direction that you DO wanna go then the bike will follow.  Its funny but believe me, the bike will go in the direction that you look.  A good example would be my buddie last Saturday on a trial ride.......I made it up this technical uphill that had a large root going across the trail......my buddie target fixated on that same root and ended up hitting it and getting stuck there.  I told him that if he would have focused forward past the root and kept up momentum that he would have made it.  Another example would be another buddie of mine at the road race track.....he went into a turn to hot and target fixated on the dirt area off the pavement and slid off the track.  If he would have LOOKED further down the track there is a good chance that the bike would have came around and stayed on the track.  Looking forward and where you wanna go will also make your cornering smoother and faster.  Trust me it works.

[gray hair]

 I agree on the target fixation concept completely. You go where you look. In any stressful situation, you have to force yourself to look a little wider so you can see your "out". In addition, your bike no matter what or where you ride is much more capable than you think, and speed overcomes most obstacles. You won't know these things till you go out and try um, so go ride! But take a buddy for when you find your limits.

[turtle22]

i have been riding for over 20 yrs. all but a this last 6 month have been on the street and the last 10 on a harley. i have had to UNprogram myself to alot of stuff. never would a take a 700lbs bike and hammer it sideways throught the dirt corner like im learning to do on my k5. the list goes on and on. jumping(on a harley,yah right). but i will tell u this i LOVE my k5. and im becoming a better ride each time i go out and push myself.
i will not lie,i put that bike throu it. i wreck(alot)sometimes when i pushing it hard. and some times i wonder if its my mind telling myself that i did to much(as im going down)that causes me to wreck. or if it is my mind reliezing that i have passed the threashold of my ability and nothing i do can save the inevatable. then the flipside is sometimes i do see it coming and more gas,quick reflexes(& GOD) save me from a good one.
all i know is i have a long where to go in my riding ability and i look forward to the trip!!!

[k5abuser]

i was street riding the curves and ran it up to 120 mph in the rain hit the brakes was fine then the back broke loose wiggeled and i let off the brakes got it under control and back on the binders  looked where i needed to go but last second looked for the safest way out . sign and a BIG tree . thur the center was fine then i saw about 50 feet frome me the 1/2 mile drop off ( now is when you do what you are trained to do ) i choose to slide  the 490lbs zx750r ninja sideways and flat tracked it and layed it down easy . i broke about 5 inches off the upper faring windscreen mount and bent the pipe a little . rode the rest of the trip . the joe rocket jacket saved my arm . covered in rocks ,wet grass and mud . not a sore on me . now i am glad i learned from others by listing and thinking fast . .

[BDI]

Anymore my instinct is to pin it and never let go until excessive cartwheeling rips my hands from the grips. 

[jfabmotorsports.com]

Anymore my instinct is to pin it and never let go until excessive cartwheeling rips my hands from the grips. 

I sorta did that this weekend. I will post the X rays as soon as I can! 

[Hillclimb#42]

A couple more, that really helped improve my riding skills. First, standing and riding. I went from standing only in bumpy sections or jumps, to standing almost all of the time. When you start riding, it seems unstable to stand, and the center of gravity being higher would make you think its gonna throw you down more than while sitting. In reality, you develop way better bike control. It forces you to weight the pegs correctly in turns, and develops body position control. Also, I think it is easier on your body and that helps you ride longer more comfortably and safer. It also reduced the "Shakin Baby Syndrome" headache that I used to nurse on the way home from a long ride. It has given me alot of control of the power and sudden wheelies too. The only trade off that I have noticed is, I developed a blister on my clutch hand from the extra pressure and torque. "Ive got blistahs on my fingahs!" (just one)
 The other one that has given me alot of riding enjoyment is what I call, "No Dab." No matter what condition, how tight the trail, how slick or rutted or how off camber the turn is, I put alot of effort into not dabbing. Dabbing, by the way, is using your foot and the ground to gain control. Its totaly just for fun, but is very challenging, even when riding with rookies. It doesn't apply too much to wide open sand dunes, but anywhere thats tight, its pretty fun. You can tell that the skills you end up calling on, are the origins of trials skills. Very, very basic trials skills, but very good for bike control development. I even went as far as to not put my feet down for breaks. The other guys stop for a break, I pull up next to a tree. Clutch, brake, lean against the tree with the grip. Of course, it caused me problems at first and I have dabbed whenever I had to, but I just try to recover quickly and go on. You can even come to a complete stop hang for a few seconds and clutch out of it, without getting dangerous. I don't know how practical the skill is, but these skills do seem to help my overall riding skills and abilities.
  I' ve done that trick too, BDI and JFAB. That one also teaches a valuble lesson.

[KXcam22]

BDI,
  The physics of motorcycle stability say that you are right. It has always worked for me (except the cartwheeling part - I never got used to that part). Cam.

[jfabmotorsports.com]

I read years ago in Dirt Bike Mag that someone big like Roger DeCoster...I'm sure I butcherd his name, Stewart and I talked about our spelling last night. Anyway, maybe not Roger. The guy said not to let go of the bars untill you could read the front number plate. I was about 12 and from that day on I tryed to do just that. There has been many times where I think that has saved me from being beat to death by a flaling bike. You might not have to restart the engine if you can hang onto the clutch while you are at it! 

[havoc raceing]

ya my modo is when in doubt gas it and it seems to mork out most of the time