Interesting quotes from author David L. Hough

[Motofool]

Caveat: His advices are directed to street riders only; many techniques and approaches need to be different for track riding and racing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_L._Hough

Copied from:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quot....David_L_Hough

“For whatever reason, speed enforcement in the U.S. is a bigger deal than elsewhere in the world. In Europe, police seem to be more concerned about preventing accidents and less consumed with the passion to write speeding tickets.”

“Squeeze the clutch during a quick stop, so you can concentrate on the brakes and keep the engine from locking up the rear wheel.”

“A skilled rider should be able to operate the throttle and front brake simultaneously.”

“If Doc can’t let it go, you can always remind him that statistically a human is more likely to die from a hospital error than from a motorcycle ride.”

“Motorcyclists, like pilots, put the priority on avoiding accidents rather than attempting to survive accidents. The energy is focused on doing everything right, rather than on surviving the crash. That’s a significant difference that motor vehicle safety experts in the U.S. seem unable to grasp. The NHTSA approach has always focused on crash padding, rather than on driver skill.”

“Less experienced riders look closer to the bike with a more fixed gaze, while skillful riders look farther ahead and frequently change their focus.”

“12 seconds represents about as far ahead as you can see details. If you’re not in the habit of looking that far ahead, then you should be working on that important technique.”

“Point your nose—rather than just swivel your eyes—in the direction that you want to go. For whatever physical or psychological reasons, the act of turning your head helps aim the motorcycle in that direction.”

“The problem with riding over your head is that the laws of physics are self-enforcing.”

“It does seem to help to lean your torso toward the curve. You don’t have to shift your butt to the inside of the saddle, just lean your torso forward and toward the curve. Some riders use the mirror as a reference point, leaning toward the inside and lining up the mirror with their cornering line. That happens to work nicely with countersteering, as you’ll tend to pull the grips toward the curve as you lean your torso.”

“Scary as it seems, the best tactic for swerving is to stay off the brakes and hold the throttle steady, conserving all of the available traction for steering.”

“Sage advice about curves is go in slow, go out fast.”

“Countersteer and look where you want to go.”

“The delayed apex line maximizes traction, helps guide you away from potential collisions, and gives you a better view around blind turns. If you like those priorities, consider adopting the trendy delayed apex line yourself.”



“1. Anticipate what’s going to happen.”

“Two ways to increase your anticipation time are looking farther ahead and reducing speed in busy situations.”

“Contrary to those pseudo-serious Loud Pipes Save Lives stickers, noise basically annoys people and demonstrates that you are impolite and self-centered.”

“The system is a drill, or set of steps, that is accomplished in sequence when approaching any hazard:
1. Select course
2. Look behind, signal, adjust speed
3. Change gear
4. Look behind again and signal again
5. Use your horn 6. Look behind again
7. Maneuver and accelerate.”

“The obvious tactic for avoiding alcohol-precipitated crashes is to avoid riding after drinking. And that’s a decision you have to make before your judgment is impaired.”

“The edge of the speed envelope should be dictated by the view ahead, not by memory or prediction. As the view expands, speed can increase. But when the view contracts, immediately reduce speed so that you can always come to a complete stop within the roadway you can see ahead. The more you must predict what the road is doing beyond your view, the greater the risk.”

“The System of Motorcycle Control (the British System) is the basis for what is called roadcraft, the science of becoming an accomplished motorcyclist. The implication is that motorcycling is a craft worthy of mastering, not simply a fun thing you attempt by bump and feel.”

“In autumn, treat fallen leaves with respect.”

“The human brain has a deceptive habit of filling in missing information and ignoring new information that doesn’t fit the expectation.”

“It’s not only a matter of controlling the motorcycle you’re riding but also controlling the situation around you.”

“In order to help you remember that, here’s a little ditty you can recite to yourself before you ease out the clutch: “He was right, dead right, as he sped along. But he’s just as dead as if he’d been wrong.”

“Rider training instructors often suggest that a rider should be looking twelve seconds ahead, or the distance he or she will be covering over the next twelve seconds. That doesn’t mean you should be focused only on what’s happening at a point twelve seconds ahead. Instead, you should focus on everything that’s going on within that twelve-second zone.”

“Being in combat is a pretty accurate description of riding a motorcycle in traffic.”

“It’s pretty obvious that when bikes and cars try to occupy the same space at the same time, the motorcyclist gets hurt a lot more seriously and more often than the driver. And when bikes and trucks collide, motorcyclists are often injured fatally.”

“It is more difficult to judge the distance of lights in the red spectrum.”

“It’s critical for motorcyclists to understand how motorists prioritize what they see around them and how much they have to prioritize. Drivers handle this huge task by prioritizing into these categories: 1. potential threats 2. strong emotions 3. personal relevance 4. everything else (e.g., shopping list, text message, GPS, radio).”

“His or her brain is conditioned to not see a motorcycle so his or her subconscious may ignore it, focusing on what it does expect to see (cars, trucks). This phenomenon is called inattentional blindness. In other words, if someone is not thinking about (attending to) something, he or she can see it but not comprehend that it’s there. A bike may appear as just a foggy blur. It’s not only that the driver’s eyes don’t see the bike but also that the driver’s brain is programmed to ignore motorcycles as nothing of importance.”

“Research is showing that so-called multitasking is a myth. The human brain cannot perform two different tasks at the same time.”

“The most dangerous hours to be on the road are between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., especially on weekends. Those are the hours when the drinkers are heading home from the taverns. Your risks double during these hours.”

“A driver who has no interest in motorcycles, and isn’t expecting to see one, may not comprehend a motorcycle regardless of how conspicuous it is.”

[crazymadbastard]

Good stuff!

[Brother Michigan]

“It is more difficult to judge the distance of lights in the red spectrum.”

Ehh, I'm going to go ahead an call shenanigans on that one. If anyone knows of any remotely scholarly source that suggests it's true, could you provide a link? A quick google search turned up nothing.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Brother Michigan

Ehh, I'm going to go ahead an call shenanigans on that one. If anyone knows of any remotely scholarly source that suggests it's true, could you provide a link? A quick google search turned up nothing.

He may refer to the Blue Advancing/Red Receding Effect or Chromostereopsis.

Copied from
http://www.lawofficer.com/articles/p...ing-light.html

At night, the human eye perceives a blue light as moving towards it, while a red light seems to be moving away, even when both lights are mounted side-by-side and illuminated together in darkness. This effect explains why drivers misjudge red tail lights at night as being farther away than they really are.

Copied from
http://www.scn.org/autistics/driving.html

The blue advancing-red receding effect skews the ability to determine the true state of a parked or moving vehicle. Particularly in a dark environment, it could be difficult to determine whether the vehicle is actually parked or moving. At night or under darkened conditions, one's eyes will perceive that a lamp emitting a higher frequency, shorter wavelength of light (violet or blue) will appear to be moving closer, while a lamp with a lower frequency, longer wavelength of light (red) will appear to be moving away.

Please see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromostereopsis

[Brother Michigan]

I saw that, but that seems to be a two-color effect and doesn't seem particularly applicable to motorcycle riding.

[cadd]

He is probably my favorite author for "motorcycle books". His books are extremely easy to read and easy to understand for the everyday commuter.

[Motofool]

Six Secrets to Surviving Traffic - By David L. Hough

http://www.soundrider.com/archive/sa...g_traffic.aspx