Introduction to Advanced Motorcycle Riding Strategies

Riding a motorcycle safely requires both physical and mental skills. You need physical skills to operate the bike smoothly and to perform evasive maneuvers like swerving and stopping. You need mental skills to safely interact with other traffic and to avoid hazards. But which is more important? How much of riding is physical, and how much is mental?

While the amounts vary depending on the bike, the rider, and the situation, experts believe that riding a motorcycle on the street is 90% mental and 10% physical. Beginning riders probably focus as much on the physical side as the mental side, maybe 50/50, while experienced riders probably focus almost entirely on the mental side: maybe 95/5!  

Mental Skills - Analogy  
 A good example of how this works is that of tying your shoes: when you first learned to tie your shoes, it wasn’t easy. It was a new skill, and there was a lot to remember. (Which hand does what? Which lace goes over, and which goes under? How do you make that loop again?) You didn’t always get it on the first try. But as you got older, you tied your shoes more, you got better and better at it, and eventually it came naturally - you didn’t even have to think about it anymore. Your hands knew what to do. This is called "muscle memory", and the same principal applies to riding a motorcycle. 

Once you’ve mastered the basic physical skills, you can afford to pay more attention to your surroundings. Your hands and feet know what to do, which frees your mind up for its most important job: detecting and avoiding hazards.

This Advanced Riding Strategies section of the MMSC Web page contains 44 pages of information meant to help you develop your own riding strategy, or to enhance and hone your current riding strategy. We hope that, after viewing this material, you will:

• 
  
  Understand the importance of using a riding strategy.
• 
  
  Understand the three parts of a riding strategy.
• 
  
  Successfully use the riding strategy to increase your safety.
• 
  
  Be particularly skilled at dealing with intersections, freeway traffic, and mountain riding.
   

Motorcycles and Passengers

The Passenger's Job

A motorcycle passenger can't contribute much to the stability of the motorcycle, because any bike is easier to ride without a passenger. This is true no matter how skilled the passenger. Motorcycles are, by their basic principles, a single-person vehicle. Even the giant road bikes are safer, more stable, and more comfortable without a passenger.

So, the passenger's primary job is to destabilize the vehicle as little as possible. The best way to do that is to mirror the actions of the rider as smoothly as possible. The easiest way to do what the rider does is to be attached to the rider. Women riding with men seem to automatically know this and keep a firm hold on the rider's waist or hips.

The secondary job of a rider is to act as a second set of eyes and ears connected to a second brain. If two minds are better than one anywhere, it's even more true on a motorcycle. There are obstacles and hazards coming toward you from every direction on a motorcycle. A good rider can cover about 180 degrees of hazard observation. A good rider with a good passenger can almost double that.

Motorcycles are poor places for daydreaming, even as a passenger. You should be watching, listening, and smelling for hazards and changes in the riding environment any time the vehicle is in motion. If you keep in mind that you're traveling on a "life-support mechanism" that needs constant attention, you may save your own life.

Before you go into motion, you should have a basic communication system in place. Don't count on being able to talk over the wind noise, unless you have a headset communication system. Headsets fail and you may need to quickly get the rider's attention in an emergency, so, you still need a basic manual system. If an intercom is not used, the co-rider and rider need to establish communication signals. Suggested signals could be:

• Right turn - squeeze or tap the right arm
• Left turn - squeeze or tap the left arm
• Stop or slow down - squeeze or tap with both arms
• Other (bathroom break, I’m hungry/thirsty, cut that out!, etc.)
• For rider-to-co-rider signals, it’s easier to tap the right or left leg for turns and to lean back slightly as a signal for stopping or slowing.

With all of these precautions in place, we go riding.

Quick Tips for Carrying Passengers

1. Equip and adjust your motorcycle to carry passengers:

• 
  
  A proper seat—large enough to hold both of you without crowding. You (rider) should not sit any farther forward than you usually do.
• 
  
  Footpegs for the passenger are required by law in Minnesota. A firm footing prevents your passenger from falling off and pulling you off, too.
• 
  
  Adjust the suspension to handle the additional weight. Add a few pounds of pressure to the tires if necessary (check your owner’s manual.)
• 
  
  While your passenger sits on the bike with you, adjust the mirrors according to the change in the motorcycle’s angle.

2. Even if your passenger is a motorcycle rider, provide complete instructions before you start. The passenger should:

• 
  
  Mount the motorcycle after you have started the engine and have the bike pointed in the right direction.
• 
  
  Squeeze the front brake while the passenger mounts and dismounts.
• 
  
  Sit as far forward as possible without crowding you.
• 
  
  Hold firmly to your waist, hips, or belt.
• 
  
  Keep both feet on the pegs at all times, even when stopped.
• 
  
  Keep legs away from the muffler(s).
• 
  
  Remain directly behind you, looking over your shoulder in turns.
• 
  
  Avoid unnecessary talk or movements when the bike is in motion.

3. Tell your passenger to tighten his or her hold when you:

• 
  
  Approach surface problems.
• 
  
  Are about to start from a stop.
• 
  
  Warn him or her that you are going to make a sudden move.

4. Your motorcycle will respond differently with a passenger on board. The more weight you carry, the more effort it will take to slow down, speed up, or turn—especially on a lighter bike.

• 
  
  Ride at a slower pace, especially when taking curves, corners, or bumps.
• 
  
  Maintain a larger cushion of space from other vehicles.
• 
  
  Wait for larger gaps to cross, enter, or merge into traffic.
• 
  
  Take time to practice braking, accelerating, and turning with a passenger on board to develop the different skills you'll need at the controls.

5. Other tips:

• 
  
  Start the engine before your passenger gets on the bike. Squeeze the front brake while the passenger mounts or dismounts.
• 
  
  Don’t try to impress your passenger with your skills or daring. For a new passenger, the best experience will be a smooth, relaxed ride with few surprises.