Two from Four – Advanced Motorcycling from a 4 wheel perspective
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'SMIDSY' "Sorry Mate I Didn't See You" - Why are so many road accidents caused by road users failing to see one another?

Why Motorcycles Appear To be Invisible!

Road Safety Campaign - "'Give motorcyclists a second thought" - Another TV campaign that warns drivers of the dangerous 'optical effect' that can lead to collisions with motorcyclists

Take longer to look for bikes! - The unforgettable TV ad made for the UK DOT Think! campaign to encourage drivers / motorists to THINK! bike

Please look twice! - What do we have to do to get noticed?! 3 humerous videos with a serious message
 

Two from Four – Advanced Motorcycling from a 4 wheel perspective
An extract from CVAM member Eddy Lambah-Stoate’s book "My Little Green Book of Advanced Motorcycling"

'You may think you are good, but a really good rider/driver is
the one who admits that they can never afford to stop learning.' Suzi Perry

The choice of first chapter for my book was a difficult one. In the end I was persuaded that, not everyone picking up the book will be an advanced rider but nearly all will be a car driver so...

In 2007 I was asked by an IAM car group if I would address their members on how car drivers might better understand what motorcyclists are doing and how car drivers might help reduce conflict between the two. This is an edited, but virtually as-delivered version of what I said.

Motorcycling can be dangerous, it can also be great fun. The best way to survive is to stay in control. I have called this talk Two from Four as I’ll be talking about what two-wheeled motorcyclists may get up to but with fourwheeled car drivers in mind.

I'ma chartered surveyor; I was brought up on a farm andplayed with old cars and bikes from a very young age. Austin 7s, an old 1950's Ford Prefect, BSA Bantams, BSA 250's the C10 and C11 and a James Captain with the 197 Villiers 2 stroke engine that powered the famous Greaves trials bike.....

A friend suggested I attend the police run 'Ride to Arrive' course, and so I was seduced into 'The System'. The System, as Advanced motorcyclists know, provides us with a way of approaching and negotiating hazards……that is methodical, safe, and leaves nothing to chance. Since that course I've ridden about 85,000 miles on 2 Pan Europeans, passed the IAM test, become an IAM Observer, passed the RoSPA test at gold level and also passed with distinction the RoSPA diploma for instructing advanced level motorcycling.

I'mgoing to talk through some advantages to motorcycle riding, some danger areas and some hints of how car drivers might appreciate the motorcyclist's position and vulnerability, and also our superiority in some situations; so: Lets start with some advantages:

• We're often higher off the ground (depending on the bike ridden of course) than car drivers and have pretty good all round vision. We can see over the top of most cars, over many hedges too. Some bikes have excellent mirrors some don't……particularly sports bikes in the latter category. I've one such and all you can be sure of is that you have 2 arms and that the road you have just ridden over has a kerb each side.
• We can make good use of more senses that can car drivers. For example, we're closely connected to the road surface condition. We can use our sense of feel, sense of smell and sense of hearing to excellent effect
  - Freshly cut grass =?
  - Fresh animal dung=?
  - Tractors working in fields alongside the road=?
    And so on
• We're very nimble andmanoeuvrable.We're a slender object that can move, not only from kerb to centre line to collect excellent information about what's going on orwhatmight be developing around us, but can also move out to the off-side kerb to extend our view and thereby do overtakes that to a car driver in a queue of traffic may seem foolhardy.
• We have grand prix car performance in terms of acceleration and similarly can decelerate quite sharply as compared with a car…… by simply rolling off the throttle – particularly if we're clever enough, by matching engine speed with road speed, to've selected a lower gear early enough. Car drivers may be caught out if we don't give a flash of brake light when necessary.

We do take on board some disadvantages however:

• If we crash it hurts – a lot. We've no SIP panels. So the wise rider rides intelligently and uses proper kit. [anecdote]
• We're more susceptible to poor road surfaces – including the Teflon finish – inspection covers, tar banding and white road paint in wet weather.
• Only one in 100 vehicles on the road's a motorcycle so we're not part of the expected traffic and're therefore 'invisible' or not understood by many drivers.
• The weather affects us more than it does drivers. We've no heater, no sun visor, windscreen wipers etc.

The advanced rider, however, will compensate for these disadvantages in many ways including:

• Concentrating VERY hard all the time

And let's remind ourselves of the definition of concentration, it's 'The complete application of mind and body to a particular endeavour and the exclusion of everything not connected with that endeavour.'

• He'll position himself very deliberately to maximise his – Safety – Stability, and: – View
• He'll invest in good quality riding gear – perhaps heated handle bar grips, electrically heated body and foot warmers because…….cold and discomfort lead to fatigue….. fatigue leads to lack of concentration…….lack of concentration leads to disaster…..and lastly
• He'll ride to his own competency levels. [Anecdote]

So much for generalisations, I want now to look at some specific manoeuvres that you may see a motorcyclist doing, some of which may cause you to wince – but maybe they’ve been planned very carefully and ’ve been executedmore safely than you had imagined.

Positioning:
To the uninitiated, the motorcyclist may appear to be 'all over the road'.On the open road you may look in your mirror and see him sat on the crown of the road observing the 2 second rule, you look again and he'll be in the kerb, then he'll be right up behind you on the crown of the road again…. and you'll be thinking what
on earth's going on here? Well firstly the rider is gathering information (hazards are anything that causes you to consider altering your road position or speed so, you are a hazard).The average driver's information may be limited to not much more than the nodding dog on the back shelf of the car in front. From that information our rider's developing a plan….. now…following his visit to the kerb, from where he could see up the inside of the line of cars, he'll have determined that there is a gentle left hand curve up ahead. He's now considering an overtake……. you're thinking mad bugger. He'll move out to the off-side perhaps to the off-side kerb, but there's no indicator flashing and your interest may be rising – but in fact……. He's taking a view up the road, he's not yet committed. He nowsees all's safe, and on goes his indicator, the signal being a sign of intention NOT achievement…….and he's off.

What you probably won't have been able to see is that 4 cars up, a car's also overtaking the same line. Our rider's used the overtaking car as part of his safety zone and extended view. Now that's not the same as following a vehicle into the overtake. The distance between the car ahead and our rider is sufficient to make the manoeuvre perfectly safe and responsible.

There's further technique that he may employ....rather than riding close and parallel to the vehicles he's overtaking hemay be further to the off-side. Upon re-entry he'll present not a headon aspect to oncoming traffic but an oblique one. The on-coming vehicle can judge much more accurately the closing speed and this.... will reduce anxiety – flashing headlights – levels considerably.

Here we are in an urban street:
Our rider's about a metre inside the centre line and you are thinking 'just how much road does he need?!….If he would only tuck in I could slide past'. Well, advanced motorcyclists are acutely aware of positioning for safety and we never sacrifice that for any other advantage. In an urban environment speeds're low – so we don't need to see… miles ahead, we are…. however vulnerable to being 'T-boned' by cars exiting from junctions, turning across our path or being headed off by pedestrians stepping out unawares, so we develop the concept of a safety bubble around us – say 5 meters – and we try to be visible and at the same time protect
that zone.

On the nearside there may be a risk of a conflict from emerging vehicles, the offside presents risks from oncoming and crossing vehicles, the centre position's generally likely to be the safest but this'll change according to the riding plan of the moment – so don't be surprised to see the rider moving about a fair bit.

These're but 2 examples of why motorcyclists may appear to be all over the road.

I want now to move on to some overtaking manoeuvres that again might seem risky but which are…….. if properly planned and executed perfectly 'in bounds'.
The first of these relates to overtaking in what may appear to be less than ideal circumstances.

The open road right hander (fig 1): Here we are on an A road, national speed limit in a line of 2 cars behind a 4x4 towing a horsebox. You are the last car in the line. You see a single bright light in your mirror – a motorcycle. The rider will have judged your speed – about 58 mph on the straight. He'll have observed the centre lines ahead changing to hazard markings and the road sign indicating a right hand bend ahead. He'll probably have changed down one or even two gears, his rev range'll be in the middle third and he will be moving towards the nearside kerb. Using his superior vision, over the roofs of the cars and his position at the kerb he'll be able to see round the bend far earlier than will the average driver. Furthermore....the horsebox is slowing for the bend and the cars are now probably closing on each other. Our rider sees the opposite carriageway is clear and as if by magic…but in fact by using the bike's superior vision and manoeuvrability….. he has straightened out the bend and is alongside the car in front of you now. Fromthis position he can see there's no hazard in front of the horsebox and proceeds to overtake thewhole line – safely andwell within the speed limit. The car drivers may be left thinking bloody hell or worse…….but was it safe or not? Other road users are hazards our rider has cleared the lot and is actually in a safer position than before……and all within the speed limit.

Now lets look at … Roundabouts (fig 2): These also are an overtaking opportunity for motorcyclists. The motorcyclist will position for safety stability and view– a motorcycle is most stable in an upright position, don't be too surprised therefore if rather than following round the clock face of the roundabout our rider rides from kerb to kerb to centre line at exit – nearside kerb to roundabout kerb to exit road centre line. His first overtake may be entering the roundabout itself and the second as he exits. This should be achieved by looking for gaps on entry riding alongside gaps going through – i.e. not riding yard by yard alongside a vehicle, using safety checks and signals on exit. It's achieved without noise and flamboyance simply once again….. using the manoeuvrability, acceleration and flexibility of the machine. Let me say that I’ve ridden behind many good riders and ’ve seen this accomplished with amazement to start with, but with careful planning the technique is not hard to absorb or perform. There's a slightly different rhythm, the rider will slow up slightly more before entry, so that he can judge traffic flows and gaps, have some control over following traffic and proceed with confidence.

The third example's….Right hand Turns:
By that I mean right turns off a major road. Without wishing to over labour the point these manoeuvres are also legitimate and safe overtaking opportunities if properly planned and executed. Our rider's positioned behind a stationery car signalling to turn right off a major road; our rider’s left a comfortable gap between
the bike and the rear bumper in front. He can see over the car in front, along the opposite carriageway and up the junction that he's to turn into. He knows when the car in front is likely to move off…. as it does so he has the space and acceleration to pass the car on the inside of its turn as it crosses the opposing carriageway, and move smoothly up the right turn. As in all manoeuvres I've been describing this requires planning. We haven't got children arguing on the back seat, nor (usually) a radio on, interfering with our concentration…..but we do have excellent vision, manoeuvrability and acceleration.

So much then for the open road situations – Lets look at one or two urban examples:

Filtering: Filtering's in fact is just another form of overtaking, but carried out at slow speed….So I'll touch upon 3 types of filtering: At traffic lights Here the courteous ridermay filter along the line of traffic, the first ones moving slowly then gradually becoming stationery for the red light ahead. Our courtesy code encourages him to stop short of coming to a halt bang in front of the leading car….. rather he'll halt alongside the passenger rear door. The lead driver's happy; he's still the leader. The lights change the rider engages 1st gear and's ahead of the lead car in a matter of yards. If the lead car wants to burn away then that's fine….. because shortly he'll be behind the next queue and our rider'll have quietly filtered on again. In slow moving traffic (fig 3): A line of cars is also a line of gaps separated by cars. If the gaps are large enough to accommodate a motorcycle it's also large enough to accommodate a car emerging from a side road. Drivers emerging from such a gap invariably look left for moving traffic on the other side of the road, not a motorcyclist bearing down from the right. Avoiding a collision is down to the motorcyclist. Being in the right doesn't help one jot. The message is clear for drivers, we know we are a minority on the road but please build into your driving plan the possibility that we may be around somewhere.

Dual carriageways and motorways
Again filtering’s a formof overtake. The advanced rider can continue to make progress whilst cars and lorries're stationary or just rolling along. The trick's to engage a low gear and keep the speed differential between the bike and the traffic low. Mostly vehicles will move over to make the rider's progress easier and an acknowledgement wave works wonders in this regard. Please bear in mind that if you're in a car on the right side of the rider and pull over to the right, it may be
difficult for the rider to acknowledge as he needs the right hand on the bar to control the throttle.

As an extension to this manoeuvre I'll mention that the hatched road markings, edged by a broken white line are not out of bounds to vehicles, they're hazard advice. They're often too narrow to be useful for cars and lorries to use, but are a handy environment for motor cyclists – always remembering that white paint is slippery in the wet and that these areas are a harbour for jetsam and flotsam. So there's a few manoeuvres that may help you understand the whys and whats that our motorcyclist is doing.

I'd like to turn now to a couple of matters that are probably motorcycle specific. Nevertheless your knowledge of them will assist your understanding of the motorcyclist. The first of these is the use of space:
I've touched upon this earlier when I spoke about positioning for safety, stability and view. View can be taken as seeing and being seen; hence the proud position normally taken up in urban areas. What I want to consider now is the use of space. It might seem natural to leave as much space around one as possible, however, there're instances where this might not be the safest option. Now they say….. there're 2 types of rider:

• Those who regard the road as clear, unless they can see an obstruction; and
• Those who regard the road as obstructed or likely to be obstructed unless they know it's clear.

The latter is or will become, a skilful rider. The former….Must've been born lucky!

So an example of when space may not be an advantage might be when on the major road and approaching a junction. Our rider may well close up on the car immediately ahead, for the reason that our rider must assume he's invisible to an emerging vehicle and he therefore shelters in the 'shadow' of a large visible object.

There's another use of space. We're all familiar with total stopping distances……. the concept of rolling distance is probably the preserve of 2-wheeled and heavy transport. In heavily trafficked areas – generally urban situations, the rider'll try to keep the machine rolling. The car driver tends to take off and drive with the line of traffic, stop when the car in front stops and then move off again. You may see the motorcyclist leaving quite a generous gap in front of him, planning to time his arrival with the lights changing or the vehicle ahead moving off. This provides the rider with greater control over his environment both behind and in front.

So that's a couple of examples of use of space. I want nowto look at tyre grip trade off…particularly as it applies to cornering on a motorcycle.

Tyre grip trade off’s easily explained; any tyre on any surface has a certain grip, the amount of grip depends upon a number of variables…including tread, road surface, weather conditions and so on, but we'll call the amount of grip X. Now…. if you're braking, X will be reduced by the energy employed in braking so there's less grip for cornering. Similarly if you're accelerating there is a deduction – up to point….. I say up to a point because we need a certain amount of acceleration to push us round the bend and….. acceleration causes the rear wheel to sit down on the road surface which increases grip. So we have to learn delicacy and balance in the throttle department. Failure in this regard results…. in pain.

In the case of cars the geometry's slightly different, excessive acceleration on a bend'll cause the inside wheels to lift and ultimately the outside ones to slide or the car to rollover.

Now thanks to camber, in general a left hand bend can be taken faster than a right hand one. But I'll stick my neck out here and say although most KSI's (killed or seriosly injured statistice aka KSI's) on corners happen on left handers it is not simply speed that’s the problem but selecting the right line and having proper control. Human nature's such that if the speed/line equation goes awry the common reaction is to brake or slow, that'll sit the bike upright and it'll go straight on….
potentially into the path of an oncoming vehicle. The better technique is to counter-steer quite positively; this'll cause the
bike to turn into the bendwith a better chance of survival. Some understanding of this bit of physics may help you to help a motorcyclist out of trouble.

The final area I want to look at is night time riding:
Whilst lights on modern high powered machines are powered by a 12 volt system and mostly efficient. Riders do have restrictions. The first of these is……

Dazzle:
Our eyes're high above the road and're therefore dazzled by oncoming lights earlier than car drivers. In the rain…. every drop on the helmet visor will form a star….. every scratch will multiply that effect – don't follow close behind a motorcyclist in these conditions – he is pretty well blind! DON'T FOLLOW CLOSE

Bends:
On a right hand bend the banking or leaning action of amotorcyclist's lights'll show the kerb very well but perhaps not the exit point. Furthermore if a vehicle's on the opposite carriageway its lights will further restrict his ability to see clearly. So…DON'T FOLLOW CLOSE...and lastly

Overriding our lights:
Our greatest enemy at night is the road surface particularly manhole covers and tar banding in wet weather. The textbook positioning for view on bends is of little use, as insufficient light = insufficient view. Following cars therefore beware……….. a motorcyclist may be making reasonable progress but may suddenly find himself wrestling for control – or worse……. his not having spotted a dead cat or piece of wood in his path. Perfect safety is only achievable at ridiculously slow speeds; anything more than about 22mph, after having passed a car on the opposite carriageway, probably means the rider's overriding his lights – and how often to you see those speeds in practice. So please...DON'T FOLLOW TOO CLOSE

Summary- Thank you for taking the time to read this article…. and to finish can I just say do 'think bike' and do appreciate that motorcycle riding's not simply
an extension of driving a car. The skills, geometry and physical requirements are measurably different!

The number of motorcycles on the road is steadily increasing due to congestion on our roads - car drivers switching
from cars to motorcycles and scooters to avoid the queues and the cost of motoring in general.
Of course motorcycles also have less impact on the environment than cars.

Motoring organisation the RAC says that more people switching to motorcycles could help the Government to achieve its Co2 targets.

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