Do Less?
- Thread starter Misti
- Start date
Misti
Active member
You sound like a philosophy professor, asking what we think YOU mean when you say something. Why don't you tell US what you mean by what you say
That being said, my guess is that you mean to allow your bike to do what it wants, and to not spend energy "fighting" your bike. Loosey goosey not tighty whitey!!
I ask the question to get a great discussion like this started
Some good stuff here and yes part of "doing less" on your bike includes not spending energy fighting your bike. I've never used "loosey goosey not tighty whitey" but that is good 
I really like what you said about only using the amount of energy needed. It's perfectly stated when you say, if you don't need to do it then don't. The bike would really prefer that the rider wasn't even on the bike so the best way to ride would be as if you were hardly there. If you have ever taken a passenger on the back of your bike you know that the best ones are the ones that simply do nothing. They don't lean away from the bike, they don't move around, they don't put their feet down or wiggle.
Another example is when riders try to hang off too much or too often. They hang way off on the left side, then haul themselves across the bike to the right side then sit in the middle, then move again. They are moving around much more than needed and wasting energy.
+1
There isn't really one single answer to this, I wanted to start a great discussion and get people thinking about how they ride and talking about how they might be able to do less, or work less on the bike. Simple. And the reason why I haven't logged in since asking the question is because I have two little kids, 3 and 1 and my oldest has been screaming in the nights because of an ear infection and bad cold so I've been up all night, home all day, and chatting on the forums wasn't my top priority.
I know exactly why I tell my students things and when I use the example that they should "do less" it could be for multiple different reasons, hence my question.
A rider could be strangling the handlebars and pushing forcefully DOWN on them instead of forward, he could be moving his body too much, hanging off too far, he could be trying to do too many things at once, making multiple steering corrections, shifting too often, it depends on each individual person.
Let's say that a rider is riding tense and not relaxed enough, they are working too hard on their bike. You could simply tell them to relax which may work, or you could go further and give them concrete things that they could DO in order to help them stay relaxed. What kinds of things can a rider do to help stay relaxed and not grip the handlebars so tightly?
Grip heaters on high.
Speaking as a complete noob here, you might find this interesting and amusing given your experience level, but the main reason I failed my M1 exit test at the safety course the first time was because I was too slow. And part of that was because I was afraid of losing control and tipping over. This probably meant I was tight on both the brake and clutch.
After that, I researched and learned that if you're going at least 10 mph/16 kmph you can't tip over under normal road conditions due to centripetal force.
Because I can't hear without hearing aids I asked the instructor if the videos they showed in class without subtitles mentioned that you won't tip over? He said no, and that they don't like to discuss tipping over to new riders. I understand the reason, although people who are like me would have benefited from being told not to worry because of physics.
I passed my M1X test after that.
To answer your question, using the example I gave, that the rider should consider that what they may be experiencing is a fear reaction, and if so, is it justified and based on logic?
Misti
Active member
Tensing up on the motorcycle is often the result of a fear reaction. Keith Code calls it a survival reaction.
Sometimes riders simply need to remind themselves to relax on the handlebars, or make a few adjustments in their body position in order to help them stay relaxed. For example, if the rider locked onto the bike with his lower body and squeezed the tank then he wouldn't have to grip the bars so tightly, or if he worked on pressing the bars forward instead of down, then he wouldn't have to work so hard.
However, If a rider is constantly tense on the bike or constantly tensing up in particular situations and no amount of trying to "relax" solves the problem then there is probably something else causing the issue. Is the rider entering corners with too much entry speed and tensing up because of fear, is he running wide at the exit of the turn and tensing up? Sometimes it takes a little digging to find the root cause of the problem.
