We all know about target fixation and have seen plenty of you tube videos of hapless souls staring down the immovable object they are about to clobber. However, I was thinking that there may be another type of target fixation that may be just as insidious. Let's call it Mental Target Fixation or MTF.

MTF is that voice in your head that brings up mental "targets" that keep you focused on the wrong thing while riding. For example, you know that you have trouble leaning around right hand corners and every time you come up to one you get a little freaked out. Your mind fixates on the thing that scares you well before the turn and sharpens your focus to the point where you think of nothing else. Your MTF has started the ball rolling toward full blown target fixation where you stare down that right turn instead of keeping your head up and riding your motorcycle.

I think MTF is one of the reasons that riding a motorcycle is most dangerous for new riders and riders that think they have it all figured out (that 36 month phase where accidents come at a higher rate). When you are just learning there is way to much going on in your mind just trying to ride the bike and work the controls properly. Down the road a couple of years, when you think you have it all figured out, you start to let your mind wander away from the task at hand.

Besides scary right turns and newbie skills, MTF can also arise from a bad day at the office, that final exam you have at school tomorrow, or other things that plague your mind. Clearing your mind of these mental targets before you ride is important. If you cannot, one day, you will be focusing at a mental target and will not see the brake lights of the car in front of you or left turner moving into your path. Some days it might be better to drive your car instead of throwing a leg over your bike.

I make it a habit of getting rid of MTF when I suit up. This act becomes a ritual of sorts. When I throw on boots, pants and jacket in the house my mind is starting to get in sync with the process of riding my bike. Outside I lay out my gloves and helmet on saddle in the same location every time. I put my ear plugs in and listen to the outside noises go mute. I slip on my helmet then gloves and focus as I thread the straps of my helmet through the D rings. The instant I shut my visor, my thought process becomes clear. That is the key instant where, for me, any MTF gets pushed out of my head and my business becomes riding my motorcycle.

I think that getting rid of Mental Target Fixation and riding with a wider mental picture can have benefits other than keeping you safe and off the asphalt. I think that getting rid of this mental trap can lead to a Zen like riding experience where the bike disappears beneath you, your mind becomes very clear, and the ride slows down even when you are hustling down a canyon full of twisties:).

Get rid of mental and visual target fixation and your ride will become safer and dare I say it, a great experience.

Discuss :D

Jeff, I completely agree with your ritual, I do very much the same thing, to achieve a calm state of mind before one rides to achieve the greatest amount of safety and pleasure.

However, I am confused in how your defining the term. MTF is something that plagues me occasionally, when I think about one thing so much it blocks out everything else that I should ALSO be thinking about while on the road.... However, I suffer from wandering thoughts more than MTF. I guess I'm in the second group of long-time riders who tend to take their skills for granted, and sometimes forget to give the moto as much thought and respect as one should?

So, if this is what you meant, could we split this up into "MTF" and "wandering thoughts". It was easier for me to understand it that way, and it might be for other. If I'm just weird and nobody else sees this, just tell me to shut up....

Interesting point though, Jeff! Where is the balance for proper riding? I've found that being ultimately focused on riding is safe, but within that focus, it should include everything one needs to think about to manipulate the bike in the way one chooses - controls, traffic, weather, road conditions, etc.....

But I've also found if I distract myself a bit, things tend to go smoother, if i think too much about the above mentioned areas my movements and judgement become "snap", overly quick and abrupt. Kind of like dancing. If you focus on moving with the person, as opposed to moving them, that Zen-like state you speak of happens, for me, but if I focus too much on the music, the rhythm, where my feet are, how hard my hands need to press here and there, it all goes out the window.... For me, on the bike, the best way I've found to enter into this state, is to have 1, and only 1 alcoholic drink before a ride. Now I know, "Don't drink and drive", "a sober driver is the safest driver", etc, etc, and you guys can flame away and knock me for it all you want. I also DO NOT encourage other riders to do this, and am not preaching it as a fix, I've simply found, with ADHD, that alcohol calms me down, and 1 (1.5oz whiskey or 1 glass of whine or 1 beer), is just enough to keep me from MTF, and keep me out of "wandering thoughts". I certainly hopes that makes sense, I don't mean to be inflamatory here...

I'm interested to hear how others deal with this as well...

I see wandering thoughts and my defination of MTF as the same thing. If I think about a bad day at the office, that is a mental target I'm looking at. Wandering thoughts, to me, are just multiple mental targets.

Next season I'll be entering my third year of riding...and I'm finding that riding around with a "lazy" mind can be horribly dangerous. Now when I say lazy mind, I mean when I can't focus on one specific thing, and, as a result, swing too far the other way and begin focusing too much on other things (ie: target fixation or mental target fixation during turns). I had a bad case of this on friday and had a terrible ride home from work. Fatigue is the biggest contributor to this.

I can't really speak to spooph's examples of wandering thoughts on a bike, as I don't think I've been riding long enough to be able to relate to an example where I'm riding relatively well but my mind will be wandering around...but I can relate to this from my experience as a driver. I've had plenty of moments where I'll be driving and my mind will suddenly get tangled up in some inner monologue that I'll have with myself. It can be distracting as hell too.

But my theory is that for relatively new riders the above mentioned "mental target fixation" and "wandering thoughts" will basically be the same thing. For the more experienced riders, where most of the mechanical motions of riding will be committed to muscle memory, the difference between the two can be a little more obvious. That said I think some of my best rides to date have been where I've been solely focused on riding, but my mind was focused on nothing. Not in the sense that it wasn't paying attention, but that it wasn't getting tangled up in unnecessary details. The "mind of no mind" as it were....something I was exposed to a lot during my martial arts days. For newer riders, riding without mentally getting hung up on details requires a substantial amount of energy.

I now exactly what you are talking about. I hate making a very sharp right hand turn from a stop at a hill so whenever I am approaching one I get anxious, and obsess over it, its very annoying. To deal with it I have actually started seeking out situations like them just so I can do it over and over again until I am 100% comfortable with it.

I also never ride fatigued and If I start getting fatigued mid ride I pull over at a gas station and get a granola bar or something to feel more refreshed.

Excellent post, and I hope those who need to read it carefully. Unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me last week and I ended up totaling my new FZ6R. Luckily I was able to walk away with only some colorful bruises and 2 broken ribs.

Spooph, my mid-20's son has ADHD, and I know exactly what you are talking about.

Unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me last week and I ended up totaling my new FZ6R. Luckily I was able to walk away with only some colorful bruises and 2 broken ribs.

Youch! Sorry to hear about your get-off...

50sgirl, glad you walked away with just bruises. Where was this at? We still need to get a ride in. Sorry for the thread jack..

I've found just being on the bike tends to clear my mine of day-to-day woes. The only thing I might ever think about is a more powerful bike :P .

Where was this at? We still need to get a ride in. Sorry for the thread jack..

Just south of Nederland, in the first turns. Still doing the speed limit, just got distracted and looked up. You better believe I won't be doing that again.

Just south of Nederland, in the first turns. Still doing the speed limit, just got distracted and looked up. You better believe I won't be doing that again.

Yup, those S's have scared me a couple of times as well. Glad to know you're OK, I'll catch you on the CSC.

Excellent post, and I hope those who need to read it carefully. Unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me last week and I ended up totaling my new FZ6R. Luckily I was able to walk away with only some colorful bruises and 2 broken ribs.

Thanks 50'sGrl, glad you did not get hurt too bad. Can you relate how my idea applied to your accident?

What you talk about makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately i am not able to concentrate hard enough to get rid of it all on certain days. I kind of just feel it, the moment i wake up i know its going to be a bad day for a ride (regardless of the weather :)). When those days come i just do my regular work-home route and ride slow and try to concentrate as good as i can.

On the other hand, some days are just perfect. And most of it happens completely subconsciously, you watch the road, see everything, react appropriately. And when i get home after a ride i noticed i dont remember quite clearly how i did. Kind of as i just woke up. I just know it was great.
There is a thing that startles me on the road though, when i hear my pegs scrape. Thats like totally bad for my mental state. In that instant i get thoughts like "holy crap did i go that fast?? omg im going to kill myself!" etc etc... When that happens i usually stop for a while and rest, to cool down. Though its usually never as good as it was...

This is one reason why I don't ride with iPod buds stuck in my ears. Music=distraction.

I find it useful to actively engage in the technique of looking down the road that they teach in the MSF class…. look five or ten seconds ahead. That takes the mind off the mechanics of riding the bike while keeping focused on the act of riding.

This is one reason why I don't ride with iPod buds stuck in my ears. Music=distraction.


I find that this varies, actually. Some days having an ipod in my ears helps me maintain focus, other days it just gives me a headache. Unfortunately, by the time I know which type of day it is, I'm already riding with ear buds jammed in my ears. :(

I find that this varies, actually. Some days having an ipod in my ears helps me maintain focus, other days it just gives me a headache. Unfortunately, by the time I know which type of day it is, I'm already riding with ear buds jammed in my ears. :(

oh flashmonkey you hit it spot on.. ive learned to somewhat be able to block out everything else to focus and pay attention without music but there are times were i just cant do without it.. music just clears my brain and lets me stay more aware of my surroundings. even if im cruisin on my bike and you see me dancin or moving my head to the beat lol. i always Always am able to tell where everything is around me lol.. alot of people say how could you possibly do that well.. when im moving my head around to the beat im always using it as an excuse to look around me to make sure nothings changed since the last 3 secs i looked :p

although i do hear of alot of people using earplugs.. i find that kind of odd as ive never felt the need to have them even without music in my ears.. it just doesnt bother me lol... i guess that'd the 5%redneck in me :rofl: