Crash Course in Crashin

[CC Cowboy]

Track Road And Lines - Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Code Break
By Keith Code
Photography by Adam "Hollywood" Campbell


Riders crash on both road and track. Often it is a single-vehicle accident explained as "loss of control." That means the rider concocted his very own set of circumstances that led to the crash. From a technical perspective, citing "loss of control" is about as useful as teats on a bull. There is always an inciting cause for the incident and it isn't always obvious.

Since you can't put yourself in the rider's place to know which of the eight Survival Reactions (fear-induced panic responses) were at work, it is necessary to analyze the accident and discover what can be known. The most obvious component of riding is the space the rider used to negotiate the bend-in common speak, his line.

While there are many choices in lines both for safety and for speed, not everyone who rides is adept in the fine art of choosing a line. And it is an art. Compared to the street, track riding is more forgiving. A racetrack may be 40 feet wide, whereas your slice of a two-lane road could be as little as 8 feet. That means an error in line judgment on the road is roughly five times more critical than on a track; i.e. a 1-foot error on the road is equivalent to a 5-foot error on the track.

Thus your turn-entry position, mid-corner and exit all must be five times more precise. One more point: If you couldn't hit your lines under control on a track, it would be hopeless to think you could do so on the road. From a coaching perspective, seeing someone make 5- or 10-foot errors on a track...well, you wonder how they survived this long.



A case can be drawn for any one of the above three elements to be the key in cornering. Get your exit right and all is well. Get your mid-corner (or apex) spot on the money and you're golden. It can also be argued that a right choice on turn entry influences the others. All are true, to a degree. But which one do riders struggle with the most? Their turn-entry position, and there are a number of pressing reasons for it.

Consider a corner's three main divisions: entry, middle and exit. Which of them seems the busiest to you? In my surveying of thousands of riders, entry wins hands-down. Having the corner's entry under control generally gives riders a breath of confidence. Getting entries wrong tends to start one off on high alert, induces panic and is a definite distraction, mainly because the moment to correct the line passes too quickly. Choices in line are rapidly eliminated; what apex and exit lines can be achieved past that point is more luck than skill.

Control inputs, too, become haphazard and often misguided, like an untimely grab of the brake or throttle chop and steering corrections-possibly all three in a really dire circumstance.

Are there solutions to perfecting lines? Many will tell you it's all about visual skills like picking reference points and looking ahead; that it can't be done on unfamiliar roads; that you have to be smooth or just slow down. This is good advice, and when I began training riders 34 years ago that's all there was. Now experience tells me you may have other problems that good advice won't cure. Oddly enough, over those 34 years I've come up with 34 technical riding skills, drills and correction points, and each of them has some bearing on lines. Which one will solve lines for you?

Once again, here is my pitch: Get out to the track and make your mistakes; get coached; get trained. Whatever speed you go is irrelevant. Once you are running consistent lines, within 1 to 3 feet, you will be doing way more right than wrong. And your chances of surviving spirited street rides will soar.


Crashin sux, but if you feel you have to, do it on the track.

[optikal]

Thank you! That is helpful.
Now I have a question: How to take a fall, if you are going to?

It may sound awkward, but being a newbie, I feel entitled to ask dumb questions . The thing is, when you learn, say skiing or ice-skating, the instructor always tells you how to take the fall. For example, get your elbows out of the way, don't use your wrists etc. I understand that each fall from motorcycle could be very different, but are their any general guidelines or body parts that you try to protect the most (based on how well protected they are by the gear), or the way you would rather land on ground?

[Alex]

Unless you're a club racer and expect to be pushing the very limits of your bike on each lap, going over them at times and falling a couple times of year, I hate to say it but there's really no good answer to your question that would make a difference.

For most of us, it's kind of like asking "how should I take a gunshot wound?" I'd guess the answer to that question would be "in the foot or in an ass cheek", but I'd be trying awfully hard to not get shot in the first place.

Same goes for riding a motorcycle. Don't crash. If you do? Not much you can do to prepare for a street crash other than hope you don't hit anything hard and immovable as you're sliding. It's much more luck of the draw at that point other than anything you can really control by keeping your arms in, keeping your arms out, tucking your head. not tucking your head, balling your fists, not balling your fists, etc...

[CC Cowboy]

It depends on the fall. I, personally, would try to stay on top of the bike and let it take the punishment (if possible), or get away from the bike (if it is flipping and rolling), but remain calm and relax (your body does better in a relaxed state). One last thing, don't try to get up until you know you have stopped.

Watch out for other vehicles. It would suck to get through a crash and then get hit by someone else.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

I, personally, would try to stay on top of the bike and let it take the punishment (if possible),

CC - I don't understand this part. If you're still on top of the bike, you haven't crashed yet and still have a chance to save it, right?

[CC Cowboy]

NO, I mean if you're slide down the road, try to stay on top of the bike and let it take the abuse. Don't ask me how I know.

[Alex]

So you're recommending bike surfing as a method to avoid road rash?

[Elfling]

Originally Posted by Alex

Unless you're a club racer and expect to be pushing the very limits of your bike on each lap, going over them at times and falling a couple times of year, I hate to say it but there's really no good answer to your question that would make a difference.

For most of us, it's kind of like asking "how should I take a gunshot wound?" I'd guess the answer to that question would be "in the foot or in an ass cheek", but I'd be trying awfully hard to not get shot in the first place.

Same goes for riding a motorcycle. Don't crash. If you do? Not much you can do to prepare for a street crash other than hope you don't hit anything hard and immovable as you're sliding. It's much more luck of the draw at that point other than anything you can really control by keeping your arms in, keeping your arms out, tucking your head. not tucking your head, balling your fists, not balling your fists, etc...

Yep. It happens soo fast when it does happen, even at low speeds- you really don't have a lot of time to think about it.

[Nickds7]

Originally Posted by CC Cowboy

One last thing, don't try to get up until you know you have stopped.
.

Just wanted the emphasize that this is a big deal. It can result in a head injury by trying the stand up while you are still going.