I just missed seeing a guy go down hard today.

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chuck c

chuck c

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I hit the scene only a minute or so after a guy slid his Harley off the road and down a bank. No emergency personal were there yet. He was wearing a helmet but had some blood on his face. He complained about his shoulder. From the way it looked it was either broken or dislocated. There's a reason I'm telling this story. He told us what happened. He was looking up to enjoy the view (he's right, it's a very picturesque spot) and didn't see how sharp the curve was, drove off the road. Luckily it was a grass covered hillside and he was only going 25. So what did he do wrong?

1. allowed himself to be distracted by the view on an unfamiliar road for too long (I'm guilty of that too)
2. probably did not even try to apply more countersteer to get it around the curve
3. made the classic mistake of fixating on the trouble rather than the escape route

I think he could have made it after #1 if he had focused on the road and countersteered as if his life depended on making that curve. He got lucky there was only grass. He was airborn for at least a few feet. I think had I been there and knew I couldn't make the turn I would have straightened up and gone off upright. There was a very good chance of making a good landing and riding back out of the field with no more than a great story and maybe slightly soiled underwear.
 

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He didn't use his best safety device. That lump in his helmet. Glad it wasn't worse and yes I'm guilty of enjoying the view at times too.
 
Object fixation. Looking at where he didn't want to go instead of powering on to where he should of been going. Thousands of u tube videos showing this common mistake. :(
 
The Google Street View cam distorts the world a bit because it's such a wide field of view. The curve really is a bit sharper than it looks in those pics, and it doesn't show the very steep drop from the road at all. I guess 10 feet from the white line it's at least 4 feet lower than the road at the worst spot. Where he went ofy isn't quite that steep but it was still 2 or 3. He got some air for sure.
 
I taught 2 of my stepdaughters and wife to ride before they took the MSF course. One thing I drilled into them is to break fixation on the problem and fix on the escape route. It's hardwired human instinct to fix on the oncoming danger and very difficult to break that in the space of a second but those that learn to live longer.

It's also good general life advice.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=174089#p174089:17b2xfff said:
ekvh » Sun May 29, 2016 8:34 am[/url]":17b2xfff]
Can't tell, but the pic makes it appear the roadway slopes toward the ditch he ended up in. If true, that compounded the situation.
Click to expand...

Naa, that's an illusion caused by the 360 camera. The road is normal. If I happen by there this weekend I might stop and take an undistorted pic.
 
The hardest thing to do in any situation is to break from what you know. No matter how long you have been riding, you revert to what you were taught (muscle memory - auto pilot), and the subconscious kicks in. Most of us drive a car/truck more than our MCs, and when something unexpected crops up, we revert to a car/truck driving auto response scenario, it's just the way it is.

The best way to break any habit is to try to reprogram yourself, and this generally requires a course or two. It is hard to change a habit by yourself, takes practice and determination, whereas if you get new information from a course, you may be more inclined to practice what you were taught.

In golf, it takes 500 to a thousand swings to make one small change in your swing. The same applies to changing how one rides.

I take an advanced riding course each year, and have started to include a track day as well. Even though I ride all year round in Victoria, I do loose expertise as the riding year goes on, and need a refresh each year. I feel this money is a better way to spend my money than buying insurance; however, insurance is something I have to have.

The other issue is to practice. The last course I was on, the instructor said 15 minutes of practice a week is better than 1 hour a month.

Just a few thoughts on the issue.

Cheers
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=174095#p174095:12a8cjww said:
Rednaxs60 » Mon May 30, 2016 1:38 am[/url]":12a8cjww]
The hardest thing to do in any situation is to break from what you know. No matter how long you have been riding, you revert to what you were taught (muscle memory - auto pilot), and the subconscious kicks in. Most of us drive a car/truck more than our MCs, and when something unexpected crops up, we revert to a car/truck driving auto response scenario, it's just the way it is.

The best way to break any habit is to try to reprogram yourself, and this generally requires a course or two. It is hard to change a habit by yourself, takes practice and determination, whereas if you get new information from a course, you may be more inclined to practice what you were taught.

In golf, it takes 500 to a thousand swings to make one small change in your swing. The same applies to changing how one rides.

I take an advanced riding course each year, and have started to include a track day as well. Even though I ride all year round in Victoria, I do loose expertise as the riding year goes on, and need a refresh each year. I feel this money is a better way to spend my money than buying insurance; however, insurance is something I have to have.

The other issue is to practice. The last course I was on, the instructor said 15 minutes of practice a week is better than 1 hour a month.

Just a few thoughts on the issue.

Cheers
Click to expand...
:good:
 

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