Riding a motorcycle at high speed in a straight line is not hard; give me ten minutes and I can teach anyone who has ever ridden a bicycle to balance and accelerate. What is hard to develop is the ability to effectively read and ride curves and turns. A well trained rider can watch another rider take a curve or turn and tell whether that rider is a novice, a weekend warrior, or an experienced biker.
Like all skill sets, there is a standard taught by MSF courses, referred to as Outside-Inside-Outside, which simply means that as you approach say, a left hand curve, you enter the curve from an apex on the right side of the lane (outside), move towards the left side of the lane (inside) as you round the curve, and then accelerate towards the right side of the lane (outside) again. This process allows the rider to keep the machine in an upright a position as possible, which is the safest means to take a curve. While it may look cool to stay in the center of the lane at a constant lean, by so doing one reduces the contact patch of the tire on the road and is riding with less traction. And traction is what keeps us in control!
That having been said, as with all teaching this one comes with a caveat: You can't always maximize Outside-Inside-Outside and thus have to adapt. For example, what happens if there is gravel or a pothole somewhere on your perfvect line of travel? Do you stick with Outside-Inside-Outside and just run through the gravel or pothole? Of course not, for if you do you risk sliding, blowing a tire, losing control, and all the possible injuries that come from such events! The purpose of Outside-Inside-Outside is to keep the rider safe, but when adhering to the letter of the law could result in greater danger, you have to remember the spirit of the law and adjust. That adjustment might include not only picking a different line, but slowing down so as to maximize the safe entry as well.
Much of life is like that; we have general rules for living but at times we must adapt to new or unexpected circumstances. To adhere to one way of thinking is to create an idol, seeking to cram a universal concept into a specific circumstance, and that just does not always work. As the old proverb goes, "The tongue is soft and remains while the teeth are hard and fall out."
Like all skill sets, there is a standard taught by MSF courses, referred to as Outside-Inside-Outside, which simply means that as you approach say, a left hand curve, you enter the curve from an apex on the right side of the lane (outside), move towards the left side of the lane (inside) as you round the curve, and then accelerate towards the right side of the lane (outside) again. This process allows the rider to keep the machine in an upright a position as possible, which is the safest means to take a curve. While it may look cool to stay in the center of the lane at a constant lean, by so doing one reduces the contact patch of the tire on the road and is riding with less traction. And traction is what keeps us in control!
That having been said, as with all teaching this one comes with a caveat: You can't always maximize Outside-Inside-Outside and thus have to adapt. For example, what happens if there is gravel or a pothole somewhere on your perfvect line of travel? Do you stick with Outside-Inside-Outside and just run through the gravel or pothole? Of course not, for if you do you risk sliding, blowing a tire, losing control, and all the possible injuries that come from such events! The purpose of Outside-Inside-Outside is to keep the rider safe, but when adhering to the letter of the law could result in greater danger, you have to remember the spirit of the law and adjust. That adjustment might include not only picking a different line, but slowing down so as to maximize the safe entry as well.
Much of life is like that; we have general rules for living but at times we must adapt to new or unexpected circumstances. To adhere to one way of thinking is to create an idol, seeking to cram a universal concept into a specific circumstance, and that just does not always work. As the old proverb goes, "The tongue is soft and remains while the teeth are hard and fall out."
