Gotta tell you Jerry, your training and my practice has honestly saved my life at least once. I was in the right lane of a street with 2 lanes in each direction and turn lane in the center. Saw a fella coming to the intersection ahead of me to my right, my street had the green light. He wasnt going fast but as I watched him something told me he wasn't going to stop. I rolled off the throttle and shifted down, now going about 30 mph I watch him cruise through the red light and turn right but not in one lane, he was mostly in the right lane and only partially in the left one. I was already swerving right to go behind him when he picked the right lane, I pushed my left hand Forward and dipped to the left without hesitation while checking my mirror for the car that was beside me but he had already saw what was going on and had slowed down for me so I would have room. And It didn't really scare me because of my paying attention I gave myself some precious seconds to be able to switch directions to avoid that knucklehead. Additional props go to the car that was beside me, when he passed knucklehead. He honked, yelled and shot him the bird for both of us!!😂👍🔥 Just wanted to say THANKS. YOU ROCK SIR
@@ka124as target fixation. He should've taken a course. Slow speed riding is definitely a thing that can either make or break you and cost you $$$, like this guy just learned.
I took an MC course and after watching your videos I realize one trainer in particular didn't know what he was doing. He kept saying to "push down" on the bars which is not the same as pushing the bars. It bugs me that people being paid as professional MC instructors can be so ill-informed but really glad I got your CD's and feel like I got the real deal. Thanks Motorman
Yeah Scott this one instructor literally/ physically showed me to "push down" (towards the ground). There is another vid somewhere on youtube that shows "pushing down" does absolutely nothing. Plus I experimented on my own and learned the right way@@scottg4669
I encountered the same when taking my MSF Course. The instructor kept saying push down which I visualized as pushing vertically down. It was months of riding on my own before I realized what he actually meant and discovered how to counter steer properly.
Jerry your videos have been very helpful on my own motorcycle riding. I am a beginner myself 50yo. At the beginning of the day you need to take responsibility for yourself and you have to be dead honest with yourself if you can ride. This gentleman should have clearly known to have removed himself 5 times only take 1 to do some real damage to not only yourself but maybe someone else. Wrong type of road for this guy
I used to dodge the center strip on deserted roads. One day by accident i found out what your describing. From then on it was like the bike and i where one, and not me fighting the bike. Riding has been so much more enjoyable since that day. I wish you videos where out 35 years ago😂.
This is well worth it... these techniques are so important ... Just a few weeks ago I had an accident and these techniques saved my life. I came off out with a scratch and RIP the motorcycle
I believe the proper technique for that gentleman would be to come to a complete stop, shut off the motor, dismount and use the cellphone to call a taxi.
Look at what you DON'T want to hit, Look at he spaces between the obsticals...or just the road for goodness sake...where you want to go!!! This is one of the best examples of it I've had the bummer of watching.
Jerry I have to scratch my head when you say this is instinctive until you need it in an emergency. I must be some sort of freak because this has always been instinctive for me and even more so when I needed it most, ever since I taught myself to ride a bicycle. Keep encouraging new and old riders alike to refine their skills. ✌️
Always look in the direction you wish to go not the direction you wish to crash. Some people don't realise it but when riding a motorcycle and turning you need to casually lock paths to where you want to be.
Great video Motorman! I feel bad for the guy, but you have to keep your head on a swivel. Turn your head into the turn. I just got back from riding the Devil's Triangle, just west of Oak Ridge, TN. If you can't follow Motorman's advice, stay off this route, there are 180 degree switchbacks both uphill and downhill, and no guardrails! I had a blast and was never in any danger of crashing. Respect the road and the posted speed limits, and keep your head on a swivel!!! Works for me! Thanks for sharing!
Very good tip to practice counter steering and turning in a parking lot first before going out on the road. I also agree with you the guy on the bike who crashed probably didn't take a safety course. He would have known how to counter steer and look in the direction you wanted to go if he had.
Great video Jerry! I was watching at first and thinking "wow these roads look super familiar" and realized where the footage came from! We just did that same tour with Meg & Cameraman this past September! Thankfully no tragedies and when I first got back on a motorcycle - 4 years ago after NOT riding for almost 4 years I discovered your channel as a "refresher" and I told them how I used your channel to help with my skills and would make time to go to parking lots and practice and still do. Clearly your videos paid off! Cameraman was also super helpful in giving me real time feedback and tips too during our trip! Thanks for everything you do - it helped build my confidence from my 883 to my new Street Bob 114 and I did great on the WV twisties with them. I also started sending your videos to a few other friends who have recently been reacquainting themselves with their motorcycles also. We're in NY and I have a goal to eventually make it to FL to train with you in the future to enhance my skills.
This looks like the backroads leaving New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville WV. If you can’t negotiate turns, you better practice before going there! Love your videos Jerry!
It was the You Tuber of the original video is Meg's Motorcycle Journey. I was up in that area last July and after that video came out I was like I have to ride that road so we swung by and rode it. I will say that curve where he crashed turning to the right will sneak up on you. Video doesn't do it justice.
Not sure. Here in Austria, where I live, guard rail are a major cause for very serious biker injuries on our twisty mountain roads, because they are mainly designed to keep cars out of trouble not bikers.
@@FTStratLPExactly, same here in Australia - terrible injuries from the posts carrying the guard rail. But authorities have been made aware of the problem, and in some places have started installing flat metal sheeting along the gap below the rail to prevent bikers coming into contact with the posts. Cheers from Oz. 👍👍🇦🇺
Almost did that years and years ago -- way overloaded with a passenger, rain-slick switchbacks and a sudden brain-cramp after a 3-4 hundred mile day in the saddle... fortunately I was able to save it after hitting the gravel shoulder and staying off the guardrail; solution was to find a motel and decompress for the evening... can happen even to riders with many thousands of miles behind them if you lose concentration and (as noted here) focus on the wrong thing...
I learned in the MSF course that you go where you look and if you look at a pothole you will hit it or if you look at the guardrail you will hit it. Then one day I came into a turn too hot and was looking at the guardrail thinking I'm going to hit it. Then I remembered to look where I wanted to go. It took every fiber in me to look away from that guardrail, but when I did I felt the bike lean more even though I thought I was leaning as far as I could and I made it through the turn without hitting the guardrail. That course paid for itself that day.
Thats what the all say in the MSF course. But I have never come close to doing that and I look at a lot of stuff while riding but I don't steer toward it, I will also say that at least approaching turns and in them, I focus on the curve and nothing else. Why would I look at a guard rail or anything else in a turn. Thats just stupid.
@@spartanx169x For me I was coming into the turn to fast and I saw the guardrail getting closer and closer. Thinking I was about to hit it I couldn't help but look at it, then I remembered what I learned. The whole situation lasted about three seconds. I don't normally go through a turn looking at the guardrail. When you are about to hit it then it's a different thing.
What bothers me is that there are 10K+ views on this but only 800+ 👍….. videos like this saves some live guaranteed and ppl can’t be nice enough to take less then a second to give a thumbs up.
I'm sold. I need more practice a lot more so I just brought the experience book download, which is great as I am in Australia, and I don't think you post to here.
Motorman, I love your videos. I’ve purchased the training set and I’m practicing to be a better rider. But I cannot wrap my brain around the “Push right, go right. Push left, go left.” In my head, if I push on the right grip, I’m going left. And if I push on the left grip, I’m going right. Do you have a video that explains this technique? I know that your techniques save lives and help make the riding experience more enjoyable. Thank you for all of your help!
To under stand how it works, get on your motorcycle or bicycle, get up to 20 mph (the faster you go the more you'll understand push steering) and push forward on one of the grips and see what happens. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QpqdNFltG4A.html
Great advice as always officer Palladino but that rider in this video should either take one of your classes or find another hobby before he gets hurt or even worse. Keep the videos coming ❤😊
I believe when the rider got close to the guardrail he tried turning the handlebars like the steering wheel in a car..... which caused the motorcycle to go exactly the opposite way he wanted it to go..... target fixation does that to a person
The simplest thing you can do to avoid these crashes is to remember to turn your head. I'm still very much a beginner, so I'm not great. Sometimes I'm in the middle of a bend and I realise I'm going too wide, and I have to slow down. But when I remember to turn my head, those bends are so much easier. But of course without countersteering it won't help much.
I can’t believe his friends kept letting him back on the bike, it’s like when you have too much to drink and your friends take your keys away! Shame on his friends for continuing to allow this to happen! Also can’t believe the bike was still rideable!
@@motorman857 Based on the guys response after falling, it seems he was very new to riding and fully expected to wreck. He had no business being on that curvy road. You have talked about these old guys with no experience going and get a big Harley I would bet money this is one of those guys. I bet he had less than 20 hrs of being on any motorcycle, but was too arrogant to think he needed any training, classes or practice.
@@motorman857But being good friend they shouldn’t have brought him on the trip and should help him to learn first and when he is prepared then they could go on a trip. They will understand when he is ready. Time for him to check the skill and friends as well.
I think what happens is that they think they have to balance the bike. They don't realize that the bike balances itself. So when they lean, they feel like they are falling, so they straighten up again, and crash. You have to get used to the feeling of leaning, and being relaxed while leaning. You can actively practice relaxing.
Just to add, speaking from experience, the older you get the harder it gets mentally to trust leaning. But also the older you get the more you lose your sense of balance which amplifies the distrust of leaning. When I was a teen I could ride a skateboard as good as anybody. I'm now in my 50s and can't ride one. I simply don't have the balance I had when I was younger. A old age but new rider has to fight all of that and trust the physics of counter steering. For some it appears it can be really hard. Guy in the video had no business being on a curvy mountain road with that big ass bike.
I'm 77 and have no problem scraping the floorboards on my 06 Road Glide. As long as you have learned the skills and practice on a regular basis you will be OK.@@spartanx169x
A few yrs ago I was riding with a group in Baja Mexica area. One fella was falling behind and tried to catch up with the group. He went around a blind corner to fast and ended up scraping the guardrail. Bike was totaled and he lost his leg. Of course, it didn't help that the "ambulance" took about an hour to get to the accident site.
Practice makes perfect. It comes easily for most of us but if you need to learn do it. I would practice in a parking lot first. The guard rail is not something I want to touch. And laying a bike down scares me too because that engine is hot.
Hello Jerry there must be something wrong with my Bike , When i Push forward on the Left bar the Bike goes to the right when i push forward on the Right bar the bike goes to the Left , Do you mean Push Down not forward ?
You are wrong. it's not the bike, it's you. Push forward on the left grip and the bike will lean left and go left, and visa versa. Pushing down on the bars does nothing. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QpqdNFltG4A.html and this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JWuTcJcqAng.html
What is wrong with todays kids? At 16 yrs old, my first vehicle ever, an RD 350 , 2 stroke Yamaha, rode the mountains of N.C. , Asheville, and all around, drove drunk, stoned, tripping on acid. No" riding courses". Never had a problem. Maybe 1973 had something to do with it.
I think it's what Jerry said about it being obvious the guy has never taken any courses in his life. In my beginner MSF course, there were two older fellows who have claim to have been riding for a couple decades. It was amazing to see them almost send the bikes through the fence, have no idea about leaning/counter-steering, push steering, and so on. With one of them, it was painfully obvious he was scared to lean the bike. On the following day, neither one showed up. They quit after the first day. If you're wondering if they were endorsed. Yes, they were.......somehow.
This may be a case of a new rider buying too large a bike before he actually knows how to ride. A lot of guys have the Harley bagger dream and want to jump right into it. The motorcycle license process in the U.S. is pretty screwy. A bit of home study, a night of lecture with a test and 2 days of skill drills in a parking lot, never getting past 3rd gear and voila - you have a class M license to buy and ride any bike you want. This guy might have been better off getting a Rebel 300 or 500 and spending a year or two on it before buying his dream bagger. Sorry for him, sorry for his bike.
Push forward on the left grip, the bike will lean to the left and go to the left. Push forward on the right grip and the bike leans right and goes right. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QpqdNFltG4A.html and this one ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8VqXBA-sGHA.html
I BEEN RIDING SINCE I WAS 4 YEARS OLD MY HONDA QA 50 THEN SL 70 IT'S DIFFERENT THEN A TRAIL 70 i never push i kean in the curves drag foot pegs i need to trust the push
Hey motorman have you seen the video you go where you look ? bad one on the tail of the dragon fixated on a sports car and boom straight into it ,you gonna get in trouble for that comment with donna hahaha .
For some reason, counter steering has been made into a huge ordeal. I remember when I was learning how to ride, that’s all anyone talked about. While obviously crucial, it’s not anything new. No one had to tell you to counter steer your bicycle as a kid, you just did it.
Everybody counter steers until an emergency happens and the rider HAS TO counter steer quickly as seen in this video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GKbmBYKu6ow.html He was counter steering just fine until! The most common motorcycle crash that involves just the rider is, failure to negotiate a curve. Thats because most rider don't understand the concept, and that's why it's a big deal.
He knew better, he doesn't ride a lot and got into the trap of target fixation the bike went exactly where he was looking. You don't need a damn class if your an infrequent rider, you need experience riding to develop your skills of always look where you want the bike to go. Additionally, go to parking lots and practice low speed maneuvers, and turning, avoidance maneuvers and especially emergency stopping.
1:30 -- I don't think it's one way, there are signs (including what looks like a stop sign) facing the opposite direction. That puts this guy either on or OVER the centerline when he hits the T, and he STILL can't make the turn.
Maybe put the Harley in the garage, get a 300 and learn to ride and handle it well, then go get used to the big bike again. Crashing that much, a full-face or modular helmet might be a good idea, too.
I seriously can’t understand how someone could be that stupid. He’s a danger to himself and everyone else on the road. It’s a miracle no one was hurt or killed.
Dude had the money to buy a Harley and his lil vest. But had no business on the road without training and practicing. What if that was a 2 lane mountain road? With oncoming traffic?
