| California Sunblazers® |
| Safety Articles |
CROSS-WINDS By John Del Santo
“What you can’t see won’t hurt you”. Anyone who believes that old saying, never rode a motorcycle across Oklahoma!
…. But you can be riding in any part of the country and run into treacherous winds… Cross-winds can be meaner than
a scorned lover. Actually, when you are going down the highway tipped over at a 45-degree angle, you already KNOW
that conditions are dangerous, and you will be less likely to be surprised by another change in the air flow. As you are
moving up to pass a truck, keep a healthy open space next to you. The crosswind will increase or decrease as you get
next to the truck, (depending on whether you are upwind or downwind) and this will probably cause you to shift closer
to the truck… be ready for that! Fall now, and you’re History…. And when you finish your pass and come out the other
end, be ready to get hit with the crosswind again. Big vehicles create their own turbulence… Hundreds of thousands of
foot-pounds of force, punching a big fat hole in the air, creating a vacuum that rushes to fill itself in with buffeting,
swirling air. And that’s all in addition to any crosswind. Passing a big truck, bus, or van in either direction, creates about
the same conditions as trying to drive your little outboard fishing boat close to a tugboat and barge out in the harbor.
Be aware and be ready for any changes!
When the wind is not really radical, we still need to keep an open eye for sudden changes in the wind. Mountains and
Canyons or rolling hills…. Coming up on bridges and overpasses or out of tunnels… we’ll watch for blowing dust or
trees or grasses being bent over. Watch the vehicles running in front of you, especially campers or vans or other
bikes, making sudden little shifts or wig-wags in their lane.
Even clothing can make a difference to the comfort of your ride. The more skin that you have showing, the more the
wind will dry you out.... causing the need for more to drink at your next stop. The rim of a DOT half-helmet creates a
hazard in heavy cross-winds… the wind will spend the whole day catching that rim, trying to rip your neck off! Talk
about your Excedrin headache! Better to choose another type of headgear. Clothing that is tighter gives the wind less
to grab onto, therefore giving you a smoother ride, burning less of your energy, and leaving you in better shape at the
end of the day.
So blow winds, blow… but the prepared rider will be ready for you. You can huff and you can puff, but you’re not gonna
blow this rider down! Ride Safe !
“What you can’t see won’t hurt you”. Anyone who believes that old saying, never rode a motorcycle across Oklahoma!
…. But you can be riding in any part of the country and run into treacherous winds… Cross-winds can be meaner than
a scorned lover. Actually, when you are going down the highway tipped over at a 45-degree angle, you already KNOW
that conditions are dangerous, and you will be less likely to be surprised by another change in the air flow. As you are
moving up to pass a truck, keep a healthy open space next to you. The crosswind will increase or decrease as you get
next to the truck, (depending on whether you are upwind or downwind) and this will probably cause you to shift closer
to the truck… be ready for that! Fall now, and you’re History…. And when you finish your pass and come out the other
end, be ready to get hit with the crosswind again. Big vehicles create their own turbulence… Hundreds of thousands of
foot-pounds of force, punching a big fat hole in the air, creating a vacuum that rushes to fill itself in with buffeting,
swirling air. And that’s all in addition to any crosswind. Passing a big truck, bus, or van in either direction, creates about
the same conditions as trying to drive your little outboard fishing boat close to a tugboat and barge out in the harbor.
Be aware and be ready for any changes!
When the wind is not really radical, we still need to keep an open eye for sudden changes in the wind. Mountains and
Canyons or rolling hills…. Coming up on bridges and overpasses or out of tunnels… we’ll watch for blowing dust or
trees or grasses being bent over. Watch the vehicles running in front of you, especially campers or vans or other
bikes, making sudden little shifts or wig-wags in their lane.
Even clothing can make a difference to the comfort of your ride. The more skin that you have showing, the more the
wind will dry you out.... causing the need for more to drink at your next stop. The rim of a DOT half-helmet creates a
hazard in heavy cross-winds… the wind will spend the whole day catching that rim, trying to rip your neck off! Talk
about your Excedrin headache! Better to choose another type of headgear. Clothing that is tighter gives the wind less
to grab onto, therefore giving you a smoother ride, burning less of your energy, and leaving you in better shape at the
end of the day.
So blow winds, blow… but the prepared rider will be ready for you. You can huff and you can puff, but you’re not gonna
blow this rider down! Ride Safe !
COMING UP NEXT? By John Del Santo
What's right around the next bend in the road? Life is full of surprises, which is a good thing! Life would be awfully
boring with out them. Constant Surface Appraisal. That's a necessity. If we train to use our eyes like airplane pilots do,
it will keep us aware of all our surroundings and changing situations: Keep you eyes moving; never more than a
second in any one place: scan the next 50 feet in front of your bike, the "immediate area"; scan the next tree line, (the
parked cars and lawns in town); look out to infinity: check the mirrors; back to the immediate area; No surprises. We're
looking for anything that could go wrong; looking for the fuzzy look of gravel in the next curve; The shiny look of
anything wet; Motion: Any color that doesn't belong.
There are 100,000 reported collisions with deer every year, and they don't wear reflectors at night… be ready. After
dusk, if something small, fury, and fast shoots across the road in front of you, is ready for something large, furry and
fast chasing it.
Good tire tread and proper inflation can help keep you upright. A good pair of boots can save your ankle if you don't
stay upright. If there is anything unexpected in the road, and if you look at it for a second too long, (you know, target
fixation) then that can lead you into other mistakes. It you miss seeing that patch of gravel in the curve, and enter the
curve a bit wide or fast, then … "Physics Rules" … You want to turn more into the curve, but your bike wants to keep
going straight. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion." You know, all the "Newton" stuff. As riders, the one Newton
rule we would rather not experience is "Gravity Sucks". If you are surprised, and need to stop abruptly, if you lock your
rear wheel… then leave it locked! A high side crash can be deadly.
Once you experience a close call, a "near miss", or a "near hit", then think about it: What did I do Right? What did I do
wrong? What could have been done differently? Doing this will improve your chances of getting through the next one
with the shiny side up. Read The Road, and … Ride Safe!
What's right around the next bend in the road? Life is full of surprises, which is a good thing! Life would be awfully
boring with out them. Constant Surface Appraisal. That's a necessity. If we train to use our eyes like airplane pilots do,
it will keep us aware of all our surroundings and changing situations: Keep you eyes moving; never more than a
second in any one place: scan the next 50 feet in front of your bike, the "immediate area"; scan the next tree line, (the
parked cars and lawns in town); look out to infinity: check the mirrors; back to the immediate area; No surprises. We're
looking for anything that could go wrong; looking for the fuzzy look of gravel in the next curve; The shiny look of
anything wet; Motion: Any color that doesn't belong.
There are 100,000 reported collisions with deer every year, and they don't wear reflectors at night… be ready. After
dusk, if something small, fury, and fast shoots across the road in front of you, is ready for something large, furry and
fast chasing it.
Good tire tread and proper inflation can help keep you upright. A good pair of boots can save your ankle if you don't
stay upright. If there is anything unexpected in the road, and if you look at it for a second too long, (you know, target
fixation) then that can lead you into other mistakes. It you miss seeing that patch of gravel in the curve, and enter the
curve a bit wide or fast, then … "Physics Rules" … You want to turn more into the curve, but your bike wants to keep
going straight. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion." You know, all the "Newton" stuff. As riders, the one Newton
rule we would rather not experience is "Gravity Sucks". If you are surprised, and need to stop abruptly, if you lock your
rear wheel… then leave it locked! A high side crash can be deadly.
Once you experience a close call, a "near miss", or a "near hit", then think about it: What did I do Right? What did I do
wrong? What could have been done differently? Doing this will improve your chances of getting through the next one
with the shiny side up. Read The Road, and … Ride Safe!
BIG WHEELS ROLLING by John Del Santo
Sharing the road with big trucks can be an advantage because most truckers are better trained and more experienced
than the other drivers around us. A large percentage of truckers are also motorcycle riders, and are more conscious
and considerate of bikes around them in traffic. To keep from becoming a hood ornament on a Peterbilt though, we
need to show the proper respect for the vehicles length, width, and weight.
A Semi, bus, or RV traveling at any speed is creating big changes in the air around it….the vehicle is pushing a wave
of pressurized air out in front of it, like a bow-wave in front of a boat; there is accelerated air lifting along the sides
(the same effect that causes lift on an airplane wing); and there is a vacuum swirling and filling behind it. When you
pass a Semi going in the opposite direction at highway speeds, there will be a big rush of tumbling air following the
truck about two seconds behind it. If there are heavy crosswinds blowing, the crosswind will be blocked by a passing
truck and will hit you again at the other end…be ready for it.
Size creates an optical illusion that distorts sense of speed and distance…Expect that truck coming at you to be
moving faster than it appears, and expect the one you are approaching from the rear to be going slower. Don’t
attempt sharing a lane with a vehicle that already fills the whole lane.
Construction trucks drive off the paved road and can pick up rocks in their tires. When they get back up to speed on
the highway, those rocks can shoot loose and zero in on you like a duck in a shooting gallery. Don’t hang out behind
open-topped rigs…Full or empty, the high speed airflow will sweep almost anything out in your direction. If you’re
following a truck and a small piece of tire tread seems to fly out from the wheels….Back Off ! There’s more and
bigger pieces on the way !
Keep an eye on their turn signals. Tractor Trailers need a lot of room to make a turn; The back of the truck will cut in
closer to the curb, and the driver cannot see the area by the back wheels in the mirror. There are many blind spots
around a Semi. The worst are… a blind spot a hundred feet long behind the truck, and another big one just off the
right-front side…..If you can’t see the drivers face in the mirror…….The driver can’t see you ! ! !
The massive weight and velocity of a truck creates the need for the driver to keep a HUGE following distance. If the
driver loses his or her following distance, and is forced to lock up the brakes, the rig can jackknife across four lanes
of traffic…..So if I cut in front of a truck and steal their following distance, I am digging my own grave.
So let’s share the road properly with the Big Rigs. The old ( and incorrect ) saying is “those airbrakes can stop on a
dime.” We need to Ride Smart so the dime they stop on is NOT the one in the pocket of our jeans.
Sharing the road with big trucks can be an advantage because most truckers are better trained and more experienced
than the other drivers around us. A large percentage of truckers are also motorcycle riders, and are more conscious
and considerate of bikes around them in traffic. To keep from becoming a hood ornament on a Peterbilt though, we
need to show the proper respect for the vehicles length, width, and weight.
A Semi, bus, or RV traveling at any speed is creating big changes in the air around it….the vehicle is pushing a wave
of pressurized air out in front of it, like a bow-wave in front of a boat; there is accelerated air lifting along the sides
(the same effect that causes lift on an airplane wing); and there is a vacuum swirling and filling behind it. When you
pass a Semi going in the opposite direction at highway speeds, there will be a big rush of tumbling air following the
truck about two seconds behind it. If there are heavy crosswinds blowing, the crosswind will be blocked by a passing
truck and will hit you again at the other end…be ready for it.
Size creates an optical illusion that distorts sense of speed and distance…Expect that truck coming at you to be
moving faster than it appears, and expect the one you are approaching from the rear to be going slower. Don’t
attempt sharing a lane with a vehicle that already fills the whole lane.
Construction trucks drive off the paved road and can pick up rocks in their tires. When they get back up to speed on
the highway, those rocks can shoot loose and zero in on you like a duck in a shooting gallery. Don’t hang out behind
open-topped rigs…Full or empty, the high speed airflow will sweep almost anything out in your direction. If you’re
following a truck and a small piece of tire tread seems to fly out from the wheels….Back Off ! There’s more and
bigger pieces on the way !
Keep an eye on their turn signals. Tractor Trailers need a lot of room to make a turn; The back of the truck will cut in
closer to the curb, and the driver cannot see the area by the back wheels in the mirror. There are many blind spots
around a Semi. The worst are… a blind spot a hundred feet long behind the truck, and another big one just off the
right-front side…..If you can’t see the drivers face in the mirror…….The driver can’t see you ! ! !
The massive weight and velocity of a truck creates the need for the driver to keep a HUGE following distance. If the
driver loses his or her following distance, and is forced to lock up the brakes, the rig can jackknife across four lanes
of traffic…..So if I cut in front of a truck and steal their following distance, I am digging my own grave.
So let’s share the road properly with the Big Rigs. The old ( and incorrect ) saying is “those airbrakes can stop on a
dime.” We need to Ride Smart so the dime they stop on is NOT the one in the pocket of our jeans.
Wheel Traps by James R. Davis
As agile as we know our motorcycles are there are times when two wheels simply are not up to the tasks we present to
them - unless we know HOW.
For example, assume you are riding along and notice that there is a trough in the middle of the road extending for as
far as the eye can see. It also just happens to be about four inches wide and about one inch deep. Like a magnet, that
trough sucks your front wheel into it, the rear wheel obligingly joins it and suddenly your wheels are trapped. You
cannot steer out of it.
OK, OK, I can hear it now: 'Get real!'
Fine, so it's not down the center of the road. It's along side and some people would call it a rain gutter.
Or it is down the middle of the road, but it only has one side - they resurfaced the road, one lane higher than the one
next to it.
Or you eased off the pavement and there was about a one inch drop to the apron beyond.
Or you are on a surface street and pull over to the curb and your front tire slides right up against the curb, parallel to
it.
You get the picture. There are all kinds of traps out there that we don't normally have to deal with but that can be
encountered at any time, and you will have no choice but to deal with them.
In every case I described above the problem is that you must either ride up and over one side of the obstacle or you
must turn away from that obstacle - both of which turn out to be more difficult than first expected.
The problem, of course, is that you often simply cannot turn your wheel because it *IS* trapped. An effort to turn away
from the curb that your front tire is hugging finds that the rear edge of the tire must push against the curb in order for
the front edge to turn away from it. A mere one inch of height is sufficient to stop you cold - your bike will fall over
before you can turn the wheel.
In this particular case you have no choice but to stop completely, lean the bike away from the trap, and walk the bike
free.
Never get within 6" of a raised surface that runs parallel to the direction you are moving!
If the surface is only 1" high you can ride over it without much concern so long as you approach it at any meaningful
angle. (Greater than 20 degrees.)
Anything higher than about 1" and you must put as great an angle of attack to it as possible. Ideally you want to cross
over it with a 90 degree (perpendicular) angle.
Always approach a trap that you must cross over with more than a 20 degree attack angle.
It is not so much that you should fear that your front tire will fail to get over the trap, it is that you must be concerned
about getting your rear tire over it. What happens if your attack angle is low is that you instinctively turn your front
wheel into the trap to get over it, so it does, but your rear tire, having a lower attack angle, slides along the trap rather
than going over it. This immediately twists your bike into the turn and presents an ever increasing attack angle for that
rear tire. At some point (quickly) the attack angle will be sufficient and the rear tire will grab and ride over the obstacle.
Unfortunately, while it was sliding along you and your bike turned the front wheel in the direction of the slide. Thus,
when that rear tire grabs it is analogous to the classic conditions of a high-side. About 2/3s of a second later you will hit
the ground.
Before trying to ride over a trap that is relatively close to you, turn away from it and then towards it in order to build the
largest attack angle possible. About 1/2 second before your front tire hits the obstacle, accelerate. That unloads your
front shocks. At the same time shift your weight to your pegs and lift your butt off the seat. When the rear tire hits the
trap the rear-end of the bike will get quite a vertical jolt - possibly enough to throw you off the seat and cause you to
have to fight for control if you have not already raised that derriere. Copyright © 1992-2001 by The Master Strategy
Group, all rights reserved
As agile as we know our motorcycles are there are times when two wheels simply are not up to the tasks we present to
them - unless we know HOW.
For example, assume you are riding along and notice that there is a trough in the middle of the road extending for as
far as the eye can see. It also just happens to be about four inches wide and about one inch deep. Like a magnet, that
trough sucks your front wheel into it, the rear wheel obligingly joins it and suddenly your wheels are trapped. You
cannot steer out of it.
OK, OK, I can hear it now: 'Get real!'
Fine, so it's not down the center of the road. It's along side and some people would call it a rain gutter.
Or it is down the middle of the road, but it only has one side - they resurfaced the road, one lane higher than the one
next to it.
Or you eased off the pavement and there was about a one inch drop to the apron beyond.
Or you are on a surface street and pull over to the curb and your front tire slides right up against the curb, parallel to
it.
You get the picture. There are all kinds of traps out there that we don't normally have to deal with but that can be
encountered at any time, and you will have no choice but to deal with them.
In every case I described above the problem is that you must either ride up and over one side of the obstacle or you
must turn away from that obstacle - both of which turn out to be more difficult than first expected.
The problem, of course, is that you often simply cannot turn your wheel because it *IS* trapped. An effort to turn away
from the curb that your front tire is hugging finds that the rear edge of the tire must push against the curb in order for
the front edge to turn away from it. A mere one inch of height is sufficient to stop you cold - your bike will fall over
before you can turn the wheel.
In this particular case you have no choice but to stop completely, lean the bike away from the trap, and walk the bike
free.
Never get within 6" of a raised surface that runs parallel to the direction you are moving!
If the surface is only 1" high you can ride over it without much concern so long as you approach it at any meaningful
angle. (Greater than 20 degrees.)
Anything higher than about 1" and you must put as great an angle of attack to it as possible. Ideally you want to cross
over it with a 90 degree (perpendicular) angle.
Always approach a trap that you must cross over with more than a 20 degree attack angle.
It is not so much that you should fear that your front tire will fail to get over the trap, it is that you must be concerned
about getting your rear tire over it. What happens if your attack angle is low is that you instinctively turn your front
wheel into the trap to get over it, so it does, but your rear tire, having a lower attack angle, slides along the trap rather
than going over it. This immediately twists your bike into the turn and presents an ever increasing attack angle for that
rear tire. At some point (quickly) the attack angle will be sufficient and the rear tire will grab and ride over the obstacle.
Unfortunately, while it was sliding along you and your bike turned the front wheel in the direction of the slide. Thus,
when that rear tire grabs it is analogous to the classic conditions of a high-side. About 2/3s of a second later you will hit
the ground.
Before trying to ride over a trap that is relatively close to you, turn away from it and then towards it in order to build the
largest attack angle possible. About 1/2 second before your front tire hits the obstacle, accelerate. That unloads your
front shocks. At the same time shift your weight to your pegs and lift your butt off the seat. When the rear tire hits the
trap the rear-end of the bike will get quite a vertical jolt - possibly enough to throw you off the seat and cause you to
have to fight for control if you have not already raised that derriere. Copyright © 1992-2001 by The Master Strategy
Group, all rights reserved
SURPRISE ! SURPRISE ! By John Del Santo
What’s right around the next bend in the road? Life is full of surprises, which is a good thing! Life would be awfully
boring without them. As long as we expect surprises, we stand a better chance of surviving them.
Constant Surface Appraisal. That’s a necessity. If we train to use our eyes like airplane pilots do, it will keep us aware
of all our surroundings and changing situations: Keep your eyes moving; never more than a second in any one place;
scan the next 50 feet in front of your bike, the “immediate area”; scan the sides of the road, the treeline, (the parked
cars and lawns, in town); look out to infinity; check the mirrors; back to the immediate area; No surprises. We’re looking
for anything that could go wrong; looking for the fuzzy look of gravel in the next curve; The shiny look of anything wet;
Motion; Or any color that doesn’t belong.
There are 100,000 reported collisions with deer every year, and they don’t wear reflectors at night… be ready. After
dusk, if something small, furry, and fast shoots across the road in front of you, be ready next for something large, furry,
and fast chasing it.
Good tire tread and proper inflation can help keep you upright. A good pair of boots can save your ankle if you don’t
stay upright. If there is anything unexpected in the road, and if you look at it for a second too long, (you know, target
fixation) then that can lead you into other mistakes. If you miss seeing that patch of gravel in the curve, and enter the
curve a bit wide or fast, then …“Physics Rules”… You want to turn more into the curve, but your bike wants to keep
going straight. “A body in motion tends to stay in motion..” You know, all that “ Newton ” stuff. Keep turning !…If your
bike didn’t fall down yet…..you still have more turning left in it! As riders, the one Newton rule we would rather not
experience is “Gravity Sucks”.
Once you experience a close call, then think about it: What did I do Right ? What did I do Wrong ? What could have
been done differently ? Doing this will improve our chances of getting through the next one with the shiny side up.
What’s right around the next bend in the road? Life is full of surprises, which is a good thing! Life would be awfully
boring without them. As long as we expect surprises, we stand a better chance of surviving them.
Constant Surface Appraisal. That’s a necessity. If we train to use our eyes like airplane pilots do, it will keep us aware
of all our surroundings and changing situations: Keep your eyes moving; never more than a second in any one place;
scan the next 50 feet in front of your bike, the “immediate area”; scan the sides of the road, the treeline, (the parked
cars and lawns, in town); look out to infinity; check the mirrors; back to the immediate area; No surprises. We’re looking
for anything that could go wrong; looking for the fuzzy look of gravel in the next curve; The shiny look of anything wet;
Motion; Or any color that doesn’t belong.
There are 100,000 reported collisions with deer every year, and they don’t wear reflectors at night… be ready. After
dusk, if something small, furry, and fast shoots across the road in front of you, be ready next for something large, furry,
and fast chasing it.
Good tire tread and proper inflation can help keep you upright. A good pair of boots can save your ankle if you don’t
stay upright. If there is anything unexpected in the road, and if you look at it for a second too long, (you know, target
fixation) then that can lead you into other mistakes. If you miss seeing that patch of gravel in the curve, and enter the
curve a bit wide or fast, then …“Physics Rules”… You want to turn more into the curve, but your bike wants to keep
going straight. “A body in motion tends to stay in motion..” You know, all that “ Newton ” stuff. Keep turning !…If your
bike didn’t fall down yet…..you still have more turning left in it! As riders, the one Newton rule we would rather not
experience is “Gravity Sucks”.
Once you experience a close call, then think about it: What did I do Right ? What did I do Wrong ? What could have
been done differently ? Doing this will improve our chances of getting through the next one with the shiny side up.