I?ve ridden bikes for 38 years. That?s included an XT500 from London to Australia, racing MZs, road testing at MCN, a bit of trials and enduro and a fair few track days. Here are 10 lessons I?ve learnt.
Those are my 10. Yours?
- Breathe. It?s kinda important you know. I realised how apprehension at best and sheer terror at worst resulted in very shallow, fast breathing or even no breathing. I now force myself to remember to breathe properly, taking big, lardy gulps of air. Hat-tip to the Yamaha tutors at the Nurburgring many years ago who wouldn?t let a bunch of testosteroned-fuelled bike journalists out until they?d brought their heart-rate down to near-cryogenics levels.
- Track. Only when I spent some proper time on track days and with track tuition did I learn to ride properly. The 20-years before that was a relative waste of time and I learnt little. If I could re-run my life again I?d have gone off for some track training straight after passing my test. Oh, and be John Bonham. That?s why I love three or four day track events in Spain, Brno, etc. It?s only on the last two days that it comes together.
- Remove. No, not centre stands and all that clutter but distractions. Again, track time taught me that. A good friend who rides on the road at modest pace was completely at sea on a track until we took his mirrors off, told him to do clutchless upshifts and never to look behind. He rode 20-times better, enjoyed it more and learnt more. I ride doing only two things these days. Breathing and looking. Everything else is a distant third or more.
- Prep. To achieve point three ? the removal of as many distractions as possible ? I won?t ride with a loose chain, tyres whose pressure I haven?t checked, luggage not strapped properly, throttle cables (where applicable) not oiled, levers not lubed. It isn?t that I?m a perfectionist. It?s that they?ll play on my mind otherwise. And I?m simply not smart enough to multitask with all that stuff going on in my head.
- Rebound. Suspension is the ultimate Venn Diagram. Everything you fiddle with has a consequence somewhere else. This makes it a field ripe for those with half-knowledge or no-knowledge. I fall into the former category. With that caveat in mind, I?m now clear on what matters (leaving aside the bleedin? obvious like tyre pressures or a bent chassis). Sag first, then rebound. I attribute this to YouTube guru Dave Moss and my own experience. Everything else is secondary. Yes, including compression damping.
- Front. Get over it. The front, I mean. I can?t ride fast with confidence if I?m not over the front, pulled forward in the seat, head down. It?s why I sold my S1000 XR, which doesn?t let you do that.
- Throttle. Steer with it. Ye Gods, it?s taken me near four decades to learn this. Revs high most, if not all, of the time, ease off the throttle to tighten the corner, ease it open to widen it. Yeah, yeah, I know lots of you super-quick track boys and girls know this but most mortals don?t. It?s a revelation and feeds through into the speeds you approach corners, the use (or lack-of-use) of the brakes and more. Why didn?t someone tell me that in 1979? (Answer: ?Cos your Honda SS50 on the Isle of Wight was outpaced by local red squirrels and even flora?). A provocation: If you?re in the business of riding fast then the throttle is either on or off. Anything in between is wasting time. Discuss.
- Panic. Don?t. In the past two years I?ve lost the front twice (on my former and immaculate Honda SP-2 and my current shonker GSX-R1000 K1 track bike). The latter actually fell hard at Rockingham. Both times I picked the bike back up with my knee. I?m no riding God. The trick? I didn?t throttle off and I didn?t touch the brakes (it helps I?ve got big knees too?). Bikes can be amazingly forgiving. Except when they?re not. Then they hurt. (An aside on the two incidents above. I replayed what happened to learn from it. On the SP-2 I was dragging the front brakes into the r/h corner at the end of the start-finish straight at Almeria. On the GSX-R I peeled in too early and hit the frictionless r/h kerb at heavy lean.)
- Listen. It?s hard to believe there are people in this world who know more than I do. It makes me wretch to think this is true. However, the odd California Superbike School instructor, Rupert Paul (ex-Performance Bikes editor) and Simon Crafar all appear to know their RR from their elbow. I must stifle the urge to ?mansplain?, shut my fat trap and hang on every word from my superiors.
- Learn. From mistakes. Honestly, this is the hardest bloody lesson. The C-spanner that didn?t fit the rear shock and mashed the adjuster up last time does exactly the same this time, FFS; but why aren?t fairing screws best stored loosely on a gravel drive rather than in a pot?; I know it seems like there is, but honestly, Doctor, there is no connection between riding in flip flops and coming off a bike.
Those are my 10. Yours?
