New Rider advice - options available

[ZRX61]

I notice that everyone has ignored the #1 piece of advice for newbs:

Align the dick slot in your underoos with your fly BEFORE you leave the house so you don't end up pissing your drawers at the side of the road as you fumble for your tadger with frozen fingers...

[Horse]

Last time I did a feet up U turn on a bike Nope, no idea.

It's not 'doing a U turn' that's the important outcome, it's being able to ride easily through hairpin bends, mini-roundabouts, tight junctions, feet up filtering, parking spaces, etc.

Back when LAPD had KZ1000's they'd do circles with their feet up while dragging the footboard

On the Bimmers, they need to tilt the road

[Mr. Dazzle]

During your test you’ll have to do things like stopping at stop signs even if you can very clearly see that there isn’t anything coming. In real life if you keep doing that then someone in a Mondeo will run you down in rush hour.

Carrying on with this example though, training will also help you understand why you're doing certain things.

Lots of stop signs are there specifically because you can't see if its clear until you're right on the stop line. The classic example is an angled T junction.

I don't recall ever being taught that, I was just taught "stop signs mean stop" (duh!). Now that I know more about WHY they are placed where they are I always stop because I don't know what hidden sneaky problems there might be.

It's the same with anything that takes a reasonable level of skill to do. You can learn the basics and figure out alot for yourself but you can still be taught more, however just being taught doesn't lead to the info being cemented in your brain.

[DefTrap]

I agree with the practice makes permanent bit. Learnt to ride / drive in the UK. Have lived in France for last 15. I just can't get used to priority given to vehicles coming out of right hand sideroads, where there are no markers. I know the law, but it's stupid and counterintuitive, and my brain has learnt different, it's ingrained and I can't do it. Makes for exciting drives with the missus anyway ....

[Count Steer]

I suppose you need to cater to the lowest common denominator. There are actually people that are stupid enough not to figure it out on their own.

Not in Kathmandu, those guys are switched on, I’m talking about portly middle aged Brits doing DAS.

They need to be! Just had a look at the road accident stats. ~50% of them in Nepal are in the Kathmandu Valley and Nepal has a high figure to start with. The death rate from accidents outside the valley is higher as a lot of them include trucks at higher speeds. Kathmandu has most motorcycle accidents. Mainly males between 15 an 35.

[Horse]

Given that riders still have the same three main types of crash that they always have, and the same in many countries, I'd say both experience and typical training are not to be relied on.

[westers151]

Given that riders still have the same three main types of crash that they always have, and the same in many countries, I'd say both experience and typical training are not to be relied on.

What are the three main types of crash?

[Horse]

Given that riders still have the same three main types of crash that they always have, and the same in many countries, I'd say both experience and typical training are not to be relied on.

What are the three main types of crash?

SMIDSY
Loss of control in bends
Overtaking (inc filtering)

[Horse]

Don't know about Nepal, but:

Rider Training and Collision Avoidance in Thailand and Los Angeles Motorcycle Crashes
James V. Ouellet
Vira Kasantikul, M.D.


Abstract
Collision avoidance skills tend to focus on braking and swerving in response to a threat, yet it is difficult to show that these skills actually have the desired effect. The Hurt study reported that the great majority of riders in 900 crashes showed very poor avoidance skills. About one-third took no evasive action at all. Most of those who did take evasive action either chose the wrong action or executed their chosen action poorly, or both.

Rider training had no effect on collision avoidance performance. Similar findings were reported in Thailand, where only one rider had formal training. Half of all Thai riderstook no evasive action and 64% of those who did failed to choose the best action, while 60% failed to execute properly whatever evasive action they did choose. However, Thai riders were far less likely to lose control in a braking slide-out than riders in Los Angeles (20% vs. 40%). This suggests that, for some reason, Thai riders did a better job of collision avoidance than their American counterparts.

Both the Thailand and Hurt studies concur that the time from the precipitating event that begins the collision sequence to the impact itself is so short – less than three seconds in the great majority of cases – that even a well-chosen, well-executed evasive action is unlikely to be effective. This suggests that rider training should emphasize teaching riders the knowledge and skills needed to prevent a precipitating event from occurring, rather than how to react after it has already occurred.

[The Spin Doctor]

Last time I did a feet up U turn on a bike Nope, no idea.

It's not 'doing a U turn' that's the important outcome, it's being able to ride easily through hairpin bends, mini-roundabouts, tight junctions, feet up filtering, parking spaces, etc.

The number of riders who don't make that connection between u-turn TECHNIQUE and real world riding is scary...

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's like "reversing around a corner".

They don't expect you to regularly drive backwards around a corner, but they also want to check you can drive backwards in general.

[Horse]

It's like "reversing around a corner".

They don't expect you to regularly drive backwards around a corner, but they also want to check you can drive backwards in general.

How often do people say "I can't parallel park"?

Fairly sure that they would have been taught the easy basic principles. But they "can't ".

[Yorick]

Given that riders still have the same three main types of crash that they always have, and the same in many countries, I'd say both experience and typical training are not to be relied on.

What are the three main types of crash?

Being a twat.
Being a twat.
Being a twat

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's like "reversing around a corner".

They don't expect you to regularly drive backwards around a corner, but they also want to check you can drive backwards in general.

How often do people say "I can't parallel park"?

Fairly sure that they would have been taught the easy basic principles. But they "can't ".

Guilty, as charged

Use it or lose it, innit? There're very few parallel parking spaced in MK! Back when I lived in a street of Victorian Terraces I could parallel park in a space slightly shorter than the car

[Horse]

Given that riders still have the same three main types of crash that they always have, and the same in many countries, I'd say both experience and typical training are not to be relied on.

Being a twat.
Being a twat.
Being a twat

You're almost there

1. Joining in with someone else's crash is not mandatory
2. Basic skills and principles trump optimism and blind faith
3. 'Farmer Brown' test: if it looks stupid, it probably is, don't do it

eg
1. If there's a car there, do what you can to attract the driver's attention - but be ready anyway
2. If you're riding beyond the stopping distance, or can't tighten your line, then you're stacking the odds against yourself
3. Be sure that no-one else will want to share 'your' space, eg at junctions

All boring stuff. But true.

[Count Steer]

It's like "reversing around a corner".

They don't expect you to regularly drive backwards around a corner, but they also want to check you can drive backwards in general.

How often do people say "I can't parallel park"?

Fairly sure that they would have been taught the easy basic principles. But they "can't ".

I suppose it's partly because how steering works and some people don't have a mental image of what's going on but every time my missus reverses her car she seems surprised that you turn the steering wheel thataway in order to get the car to go thataway...just like going forwards.

PS Anyone tried these cars that 'parallel park themselves'?

[Horse]

It's like "reversing around a corner".

They don't expect you to regularly drive backwards around a corner, but they also want to check you can drive backwards in general.

How often do people say "I can't parallel park"?

Fairly sure that they would have been taught the easy basic principles. But they "can't ".

I suppose it's partly because how steering works and some people don't have a mental image of what's going on but every time my missus reverses her car she seems surprised that you turn the steering wheel thataway in order to get the car to go thataway...just like going forwards.

I nearly put a 25ft boat up onto Hayling Island beach because I got the tiller wrong way around. "Go right ... bit more right .... ooh ... more right OH FUCK LEFT LEFT LEFT!"

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's like "reversing around a corner".

They don't expect you to regularly drive backwards around a corner, but they also want to check you can drive backwards in general.

How often do people say "I can't parallel park"?

Fairly sure that they would have been taught the easy basic principles. But they "can't ".

I suppose it's partly because how steering works and some people don't have a mental image of what's going on but every time my missus reverses her car she seems surprised that you turn the steering wheel thataway in order to get the car to go thataway...just like going forwards.

PS Anyone tried these cars that 'parallel park themselves'?

I've watched my Dad reverse a caravan/car rig into a space loads of times.

I'm still none the wiser on how you do it. I asked him once, he doesn't know either. He just does it.

My car is meant to have the self park feature but doesn't because of *mumble mumble suppliers issues chip shortages*

[Count Steer]

PS Anyone tried these cars that 'parallel park themselves'?

My car is meant to have the self park feature but doesn't because of *mumble mumble suppliers issues chip shortages*

I've seen it on car programmes and my car manual explains it (if fitted to your model). Seems like voodoo but no doubt will soon be common, if not mandatory. People talk about AI deskilling us but cars have already! Not that long ago car manuals told you how to adjust the valves, now they tell you not to drink the contents of the battery.

[Horse]

I've watched my Dad reverse a caravan/car rig into a space loads of times.

I'm still none the wiser on how you do it. I asked him once, he doesn't know either. He just does it.

Easy.

Little jink opposite to get the trailer turned, then go with it.

Not that I can make it happen ..