This week on MCrider we will look at 3 common new motorcycle rider mistakes. Anyone who has coached new riders on a motorcycle have seen them make these same mistakes but with a little training and practice they can be overcome. This week we will look at 3 of the most common mistakes that new riders make and provide tips on how to overcome them.
If you are a new motorcycle rider I have a complete list of videos dedicated to helping new riders.
As a riding instructor it does not take long to notice patterns in the way people learn to ride. Very rarely does someone make a mistake that is totally unique to them.
Let's look at 3 very common mistakes that new riders make
Looking Down
This can turn into a habit and one that needs to be broken early.
First let’s look at why riders look down. One of the big reasons are all of the controls in front of them. The clutch, throttle, front brake, and handlebars are all new controls to them and directly in front of them just below their line of site.
So, as a new rider is slowly releasing the clutch, the natural tendency is to look directly at it.
They do this either by turning their head down to look at the controls or by moving their gaze down.
New riders will also often look down as a means of concentrating. So they are not thinking about everything that is going on around them but they are just really focussed on getting the controls right and their gaze comes down.
This bad habit causes a few problems. Probably the biggest is when they get out on the road it does not allow them to see hazards soon enough on the street. I call this riding in a bubble. All of their focus is on what is happening within a few feet of the motorcycle. But, if they kept their head and eyes up, they could see hazards sooner and they could adjust to them rather than reacting.
Also looking down causes some mental tricks with the brain. Have you ever looked down at the road or a guardrail in a car? It seems like the guard rail is just flying by but, if you look up, the sense of speed is greatly reduced and everything slows down. Looking up helps settle the mind and reduces the stress on the brain by slowing things down.
Looking up also greatly helps with your balance. You can see a new rider looking down because they are a little more wobbly on the motorcycle than if they are looking up and on the horizon.
One of the ways to help break this habit you can do in your own garage w/o ever having to start the motorcycle. Sit on the motorcycle in the garage and practice manipulating the controls w/o looking down at them. Just get in a good riding posture, head and eyes up, arms relaxed and nice relaxed hold on the grips and practice rolling on and off the throttle, manipulating the clutch and brakes.
Pretend you are riding down the road and simulate shifting up and down through the gears, coming to a stop, approaching a corner. Get all the steps right for each scenario and then practice that in the garage without looking down at the controls.
Poor grip on the throttle
While we are are on the subject of the gripping the throttle, let's talk about another very common mistake. The way new riders often put their hand on the throttle.
Many riders start with their wrist bent on the throttle. This becomes a problem as demonstrated in the video above when the rider eed to stop in an emergency because they are likely to roll back on the throttle as they reach for the brakes.
Remember, keep your wrist flat as you place your hand on the throttle and then roll on the throttle from that position.
Failure to use the friction zone
Another very common mistake is trying to control the motorcycle at slow speed with just the throttle. This is perhaps one of the most common mistakes that riders make when trying to do u-turns.
It is easy to make a u-turn when you have the simple techniques down to do so.
If you try to do the same u-turn just using the throttle it is much more difficult to accomplish will make the motorcycle lurch forward as you are on and off the throttle. Using the friction zone smooths things out.
Many riders learn to use the friction zone for u-turns but then forget the technique at other times on the road when slow speed maneuvering is required.
The friction zone is also important when moving in a straight line in stop and go traffic, when moving through a busy parking lot at slow speeds, when starting a motorcycle from a stop on a steep incline and a lot of other slow speed scenarios. Using the clutch in the friction zone is a skill that will help you in all kinds of scenarios on the road.
So there are 3 very common mistakes that new riders make and I bet there are a lot of pandemic learning riders making these mistakes right now due to the difficulty in finding training and there are many riders who have been through training but are still making these mistakes.
