Proficient Motorcycling. David L. Hough
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Название: Proficient Motorcycling
Автор: David L. Hough
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Сделай Сам
isbn: 9781935484677
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This oft-repeated I-didn’t-see-you excuse has led some safety experts to believe that the problem is simply that motorcycles are inconspicuous in traffic. The solution, theoretically, is to be more conspicuous. The suggestions are to wear brightly colored riding gear, add a modulator that flashes the headlight, and maybe screw on a Yosemite Sam Back Off mud flap.
Most of the high-mileage riding friends I know roll their eyes at the conspicuity stuff. “Friends don’t let friends wear pink vests,” they would sneer. Perhaps the veterans have a more realistic understanding of the I-didn’t-see-you myth. Does the conspicuity stuff really work, or is it more of a magic talisman than a dependable safety device? (Magic talismans are supposed to ward off evil with no effort on the part of the wearer.) Conspicuity devices are based on the assumption that the other guy will get out of your way if he can only see you. The veterans know that avoiding collisions depends on being prepared to get out of the way of the other guy, whether he sees you or not.
Like it or not, there are some situations in which you have no escape path should another driver wander into your lane. It’s helpful to be conspicuous for the benefit of other drivers.
Inattentional Blindness
Psychology research has uncovered an interesting phenomenon that relates to the I-didn’t-see-you excuse. It seems that humans are subjected to so much incoming information that one part of the brain serves as sort of a subconscious mental “spam filter.” The filter passes on to the conscious part of the brain only information that corresponds to what the person is concerned about, or what the psychologists call attending to. If a driver is thinking about (attending to) buying a new car, the spam filter will pass along anything related to cars, including automobile dealerships and billboards with car ads. The flip side is that if the driver is not concerned about something (say, motorcycles), the spam filter may delete the image. So it really can be true that a driver looks right at you and sees you, but your image gets filtered out and never gets to the conscious part of the driver’s brain. That would explain how a driver might not comprehend a motorcyclist wearing a high-visibility jacket and the bike flashing its headlight—or, for that matter, a freight train with a flashing headlight and the air horns blaring.
Although this rider is highly skilled, he wears a conspicuity vest over his leathers to help capture the attention of other drivers. A retro-reflective conspicuity vest is especially useful for night riding, when the stripes light up brilliantly in the headlights of other vehicles.
In addition to the headlights, this motorcycle has amber clearance lights in the front of the mirror housings and extra driving lights in the fairing lowers. The array of lights really helps an oncoming driver comprehend the presence of the bike, and the width of the clearance lights provide a driver with clues to more accurately predict its approach speed.
Since we can’t control every situation, we often depend upon other motorists to not run us over, like it or not. Motorcycles are narrower and more difficult to see in traffic. Other motorists don’t always comprehend how rapidly a motorcycle is approaching because a single seven-inch diameter headlight doesn’t really give motorists a clue about your approach speed. So there is a case for motorcyclists to be a little more conspicuous for the benefit of those drivers on the road who are really trying to avoid collisions.
Most important, if you are still in the process of learning the tactics of traffic survival, you really are more dependent on other drivers to stay out of your way, and you should help them out by being as conspicuous as you can. Whatever your experience level, you’ll have to arrive at a level of conspicuousness that meets your needs and fits your limits of sensibility.
If you think it might help increase your conspicuity, here are some suggestions:
• Consider lighter-color riding gear such as a tan, silver, or bright blue. Add brightly colored vanity stripes to your darker-colored leathers, or wear a bright reflective vest over your jacket.
• Choose a helmet in a lighter, brighter color or a helmet design with bright stripes.
• When shopping for a new machine or repainting your faded bike, give priority to a bright paint scheme.
• Use amber running lights on the front, as widely spaced as practical.
• For nighttime rides, add reflective tape to the back end of your saddlebags, tour trunk, and helmet. Add multiple red taillights, preferably spaced wide apart.
CHAPTER 2
Motorcycle Dynamics
WHAT KEEPS IT BALANCED?
You can get down the road pretty well on your two-wheeler without having to know a lot of details. Once your bike is in motion, it’s relatively easy to keep it balanced in a more or less straight line. If the bike wanders a bit in the wrong direction, just lean it back toward your intended line. If you want to turn, all you have to do is lean the bike in the direction you want to go. Simple, huh? Well, maybe not so simple. There are a lot of riders around who demonstrate over and over that they are only half in control of their motorcycles.
Drifting Dan really wants his big tourer to make a nice crisp turn from a stop onto that narrow road, but as he nervously eases out the clutch, the bike seems to take command and swings wide over the centerline. Wandering Wanda wants her cruiser to just motor down the middle of the lane, but it sometimes creeps over toward the edge of the pavement, then back toward the centerline. Beemer Bob does fine at speed, but when he rolls into the parking lot for the breakfast meeting, his new sport tourer seems intent on wobbling over toward parked cars, and it’s a constant sweaty struggle to keep it between the lines.
One major reason Dan, Wanda, and Bob have difficulty getting their motorcycles to cooperate is that they don’t really understand how motorcycles balance and steer. Drifting Dan panics when his heavyweight touring bike swings wide, but when he attempts to muscle it back toward his lane, it just seems to go wider. Dan doesn’t realize he is actually steering the bars in the wrong direction. Wandering Wanda is paranoid about running wide, and she’s absolutely terrified of corners, but she is afraid to try that countersteering she’s heard about. Beemer Bob breaks out in a sweat when his shiny machine points itself toward car fenders, but he has yet to learn that it is primarily pushing on the grips that controls direction, not pressing his knees against the tank or pushing down on the foot pegs.
Dan, Wanda, and Bob have a common problem in their struggle to control their motorcycles. They all understand that you have to lean the bike to change direction. They just aren’t sure what really makes it happen. СКАЧАТЬ