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"RIGHT" turns vs. "LEFT" turns: Golden Rule for Staying Alive!

i would post a movie clip of WHY you shouldn't lean over the middle line, but my bandwidth on my site is already pretty damned high....jsut take my word for it, i've SEEN why you don't lean oever the happy yellow double in the middle.

also... for all you lefties out there like me, be careful when taking a right sweeper if you're following someone, cause all them righties out there can't make a right turn worth a shit. i've almost piled a couple people that are good riders cause they get iffy in right hand turns. i've since learned to drop WAY back...



okay, fine, i couldn't resist.. it's the movie titled "bikeandbus.wmv" http://www.com3designs.org/dotcom

don't mind the flash movie in there ;D
 
Good advice Gary. I have run wide on Right-handers once, and that was more than enough to scare the shit out of me. For people in right hand-drive countries (yeah you know who you are:UK, Japan, Hong Kong, India, etc) you must reverse this.

And Gary, I have your book without connecting it with you. Now it all comes together why you give such great riding advice. Thx.
 
Slow and steady wins this race of life. Fast and Furious ends it quickm or typecasts you for mindless brute rolls in upcoming hollywood b-action movies... seriously, I lost a friend last fall on HWY 1 who crossed the line. He was the best street rider I'd ever ridden with, but he pushed too far.

Mind your P's and Q's...
 
Word!

Words to live by guys and gals. I too find myself picking the wrong line a lot of times and ending up on the divider which can be really bad if the roadway is wet. Rarely do I go on group rides but I can tell you that Im always going to set my own pace, and not one faster than the road conditions allow. Also taking into acount the golden rule.

Thanks for the advice and just for being damn cool. I will buying these books and some leathers promptly!
 
Re: AWSOME

navy8ret said:
:flag :flag
Thanks Gary J :thumbup :thumbup :thumbup
Click to expand...
You're welcome Navy8ret. I'm glad to see that a number of BARF members have found this golden rule concept, that I've learned the hard way from real world experience, to be a valuable reminder.

Gary J
 
there is definitely some logic behind that... thanks for advice i'll keep that in mind for sure
 
I live where there are nothing BUT twisties to go anywhere, and all the guys with big trucks and SUVs are always crossing the lines all the damn time, where they are almost riding thier differential on the yellows...you gotta watch for those assholes too.
 
Just to be the devils advocate, I'll point out a couple pitfalls of lefthanders.

Oncoming cars, when slightly out of control, tend to go wide on corners. That puts them squarely in your path on a lefthander. On mountain roads, that will frequently leave your only out a sheer drop down the mountainside. on a right hand corner, if you cut in hard and go off road, it'll usually be into a ditch or trees. That , to me, is a better alternative to falling off a mountain or colliding with 2 tons of out of control steel.

If you lowside on a right, the approching traffic will likely be going wide and give you more room to slide and probably avoid crashing into an oncoming vehicle.

Taking both points of view into consideration, I think it would be wise to never exceed 80% on the street PERIOD. On a race track the odds of colliding with oncoming traffic or falling off the mountain are pretty damned slim so going at 100% is fine. In the real world, there's just too many variables and they're all tryin' ta kill ya. Most death and serious injury on bikes are not a result of the initial bike crash but the impact with whatever object they collide with which is usually a car.

Whether it's the fault of the cager (it usually is) or not, they should be given a wide berth. If you're riding at full tilt, you will be in their less than perfect path. Ride how ever it takes to avoid cars. Just because you are skilled, confident, and in total control of your vehicle, you can't for even one second assume anyone else on the road is anything more than a blithering, brain dead, idiot.
 
Just as I was getting over my right handed anxieties! JK...good stuff Gary:ken5150
 
Slow in, fast out.

Great advice by David Hough. I too have crossed the centerline. Serious pucker factor.

Once behind Moraga near Canyon. Tough set of tight rights and lefts, sign says 10 mph. I was going faster and was OK until there was a bad dip in the pavement. Hit my centerstand as I bottomed the suspension on a tight left and it stood me up. I wobbled across the line. Cars are very rare there, so no damage, but scared the bejesus out of me.

I now try to follow David's advice too.
 
Hey being from Florida and not use to the twisties, I am sure the information is going to help out a lot.

But being from the flat lands of Fl. i want to add...that no matter how good you think you are on your bike, you disrepect it, thats when it will kill you. OH YEAH and watch out for the ppl rolling around in cages...they are dangerous too.
 
positive mojo bead given to origional post


great rule of thumb!
 
Thanks for the advice. I ride the twisties in So Cal and now moved up to the bay area so im still getting used to the roads and their little imperfections. It's a good reminder and you forget things like that when you start riding unfamiliar roads again.

Ride safe everyone.

Cheers!
 
Great advice- And now I have an other excuse for wearing out the left side of my tires first (other than the ex-flat tracker line: Gas it and turn left!)


:flame
 
By the way, pilots deal with this term a lot, and I think it's important to mention here:
CLOSING SPEED.

I'm sure to most of you its obvious, but here we go:

You're going 50mph, and drifted over the line in a right-hander... the guy you're about to hit is going 50mph. The impact will be just like hitting a standing still vehicle at 100mph.

Closing speed puts an exponential emphasis on the subject.
Vinnie on American Chopper put it best when they had that nasty problem inside the engine on the Commanche Bike...
"I can not stress how much you can not do that!"

=)
ciao

p.s. I ran wide in a right a looooong time ago on my old ass cafe racer... the guy in the oncoming lane (yes it just happened to be nearly the worst-case scenario) was A PIMP and knew how to jerk the living shit out of his bronco II and not hit me, or go off the cliff. I made my move to get out of his way, but HIS move kept me alive... AND, kept him and his family alive. (Yes they we're in the car at the time, wife and two kids.) Now, blowing it for yourself and getting wiped out is one thing, but scaring a whole family off a cliff while you're out getting your jollies is some pretty harsh karma to deal with.
The guy gave me a dirty look and flipped me off, which I gladly accepted and went on my way. Thanking him in my helmet for being so aware, and such a good driver all the way down the hill... I figured out the 80% thing in my head, and figured that'd be a good rule of thumb to live by. LIVE BY... for real. Might keep other people alive too.
 
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