Recover from a Skid !

                           What's the best way not to get into a skid? Avoid it in the first place! One of the best ways to avoid trouble on the road (not just skids) is to drive smoothly. True professionals drive so seamlessly that you do not feel anything when they shift, turn, or brake. Plan ahead, watch carefully, and slow down, especially if you are unfamiliar with the road. Skids almost always happen because the vehicle was running too fast for conditions. 

     Be careful when conditions might be slippery, as this is when most skids occur. But no matter what the road's surface condition is, skids are caused by driver error. Try to turn too sharply, enter a turn too quickly, or use excessive acceleration or braking, and you'll get the chance to practice skids! Keep your brakes maintained and properly adjusted, because a lateral imbalance in your brakes can cause or aggravate a skid.

            There are two common types of skids. "Over steer" (or fishtailing) occurs when your front wheels are taking a shorter path than desired and the rear-end breaks loose and fishtails. This is the result of power and side forces causing loss of traction on the rear wheels; there is too much power applied for the existing steering input and the resulting side forces cause the rear wheels to break free, often as a result of trying to accelerate out of a turn. "Under steer" (or plowing) occurs when you have too much steering input for the power you are applying (too sharp an angle between the tires and the direction of motion), and the front wheels skid ahead as a result. 

Professional driving instructors advise a new way of teaching skid recovery, instead of the old rule, which was, "Turn into the skid." They say this "new" way is more understandable to non-professionals, but either way, they adamantly say the result is the same. This change was made because many folks didn't clearly understand what "turn into the skid" means.

If you find yourself in an over-steer skid, first thing to do is get off the gas, keep your foot off the brakes, or smoothly release brake pressure if already applied, and if you are driving a standard shift vehicle, disengage the clutch. Quickly turn the steering wheel in the direction you want the front of the car to go (down the road). Specifically, this means align your tires with the direction of your intended travel. As your vehicle turns back in the correct direction, you must then counter steer in time to stop the turning and stay on your desired path. If you do not do this promptly, the vehicle will continue to turn past your intended direction, and you may then skid in that direction. You may have to counter-steer more than once to get things under control.

              There are two situations where the previous techniques could actually make the skid recovery more difficult. When you are driving either a front-wheel drive vehicle or a rear-wheel drive with the four-wheel drive engaged, a quick reduction on the accelerator can cause a result in a loss of control that mimics what happens when the brake pedal is depressed -- namely, the front wheels are slowed faster than the rear wheels increasing the over-steer skid problem. What is generally recommended is to place the vehicle into neutral (or depress the clutch) to allow the front wheels to coast as the vehicle is turned in the direction described above. My own experience is that control is much easier to reacquire by applying a steady pressure on the gas pedal as one "drives" out of the skid, but this assumes that the driver was traveling an appropriately slow speed to begin with.

          For an under-steer skid, slightly reduce your steering input while slowing (without heavy braking) so you'll regain your directional control as the tires again grip the road surface. In this skid, the critical issue is to reduce speed so that you can regain a grip on the road and complete your turn. Even just a slight decrease in steering input, combined with the reduction in speed, may be enough to stop the skid from progressing.

          These techniques are something you need to practice. If there are any high performance driving schools in your area, take advantage of the "safety" course they offer and you'll get the opportunity to practice skid recovery under safe, controlled conditions. You'll have a better idea of what to do, and a better idea of your own capabilities behind the wheel. I guarantee you will be a safer driver. 

Keep the shiny side up!

Motorcyclist—Protect yourself! in New year

Talk about helmets always incites vehement disagreement between folks that believe in their value and those that don't. My opinion? I haven't heard any arguments from the no-helmet crowd that make any sense, and my personal experience tells me differently.

At about age 16, I was thrown off a motorcycle at 45 mph and, after an absolutely graceful, parabolic trajectory, I landed on my head. I had a good helmet on and I was able to limp away (gashed leg, and I had back pain for ten years).

An acquaintance of mine, "Eric", was sitting in his driveway, on his shiny new Harley, polishing the gas tank. He lost his balance, fell over, and hit his head on the cement driveway (no helmet, as he wasn't going anywhere). He died 3 or 4 days later. You can suffer fatal head injuries in an impact as low as 4 mph. 

A helmet is not a cure-all—no safety device is. I know that in any collision with a four-wheeler, I on my motorcycle am going to be the loser. What would be a "fender bender" for an auto is often death for a biker. We can easily lose a leg, have our organs destroyed, and/or suffer paralysis. We slide across asphalt grinding rocks, glass and who-knows-what-else into our flesh, all of which must then be scraped out by a big strong medical professional who uses sharp pointy objects and no anesthesia to dull the pain.

Since I love to ride, and cannot quit, I have a responsibility to protect myself as much as possible—I wear a good helmet, eye protection, protective clothing, and good boots. Knowing what I know, not doing this just doesn't make sense.

Keep it between the fence-posts!

Dealing the Light Glare with mSatyam

Many of us have seen the old WWII submarine movies
(like "Run Silent, Run Deep") where the officers don dark goggles and the sub's interior lights are dimmed to red, in order to protect the night vision of the officers and "lookouts." This was a matter of life and death -- a few seconds on the ocean's surface without sharp eyes could be disastrous if there were enemy aircraft or surface ships around. When you are piloting a vehicle weighing a few thousand pounds down a highway at 90 or 100 feet per second, having sharp night vision is equally as important for you.
Headlights these days are brighter than ever. Many vehicles are equipped with halogen lights, or even the newer "blue" high intensity discharge lights, and these take an even greater toll on your eyes' ability to recover from nighttime light glare. As we get older, our ability to recover our night-vision after exposure to bright lights is one of the first of our visual functions to diminish (a phenomenon called nyctalopia). I can tell you from my own experience as a professional driver that light glare is one of the most fatiguing things I ever encountered on the highway -- a few hours on a highway at night in heavy traffic would often result in not only fatigue, but headaches as well.
First of all, if you are particularly susceptible to light glare recovery problems (if you are, you probably already know it), make sure you slow down at night as you are particularly vulnerable to out-driving your headlights. If you are faced with a driver whose lights are too bright, it is not a good practice to flash your brights at them -- although that is common practice and most people do it. Think about the results of this action; instead of having one visually handicapped driver, now we have two, and in a potential head-on situation!
It is also illegal to turn your bright lights on in the face of another driver, or approaching closely behind them, even for just a moment, and I have known highway patrolmen who cite drivers who do this to them. In my state of Arizona, the rules are that you must dim your brights within 500 feet of an approaching vehicle, and within 300 feet from behind. Your state has similar provisions.
Deal with light glare by averting your eyes slightly down and to the right. The right-side white stripe outlining the right edge of the usable roadway is called the "fog-line." One of its purposes is to provide drivers with a reference line to keep their vehicle aligned with the roadway in poor visibility situations -- and this is one such situation. Use it to keep your vehicle on the road, but keep aware of the approaching vehicle using your peripheral vision. If that vehicle starts to drift into your lane, you must be able to react quickly
As always, keep the shiny side up!

Maintain Your Vehicle's Tires

One element of driving defensively is driving to save money. Taking good care of your vehicle can pay cash dividends, and you'll be much less likely to get stranded out on the road where you'd be vulnerable to a variety of calamities. "The devil is in the details"—ever heard that phrase? Most often, what stops you cold is a simple thing. Before a road trip or once a week (or whatever interval you choose), spend some time maintaining your vehicle—like your TIRES, for example.

Your tires should have plenty of tread. If they don't, replace them. Use the "Lincoln Test." Insert the head of a penny into the tread of your tire—the top of Mr. Lincoln's head, first. (He won't mind, he's been dead for awhile.) At least part of the top of Honest Abe's head should disappear into the tread—if it doesn't, your tires likely need to be replaced. Not only does worn tread affect your vehicle's handling and increase your risk of hydroplaning, but worn tires pick up road hazard damage much easier than good tread. Worn tires equal more flats—that's the rule. Many newer tires have "wear bars" that show up when tread is worn, so watch for those as well.

Correct inflation is extremely important for a couple of reasons. Your automaker designed the suspension and handling of your vehicle for a particular size tire, inflated to a specific pressure. Unless you are an engineer who's adept at understanding the physics of whatever changes you make, don't do it. Tire pressures should be set to the pressure specified by the manufacturer, NOT the maximum pressure embossed on the side of the tire. A tire is made for any number of vehicles and different pressures (up to the maximum) are required for different applications. Set them to what the maker says is correct. They've designed your vehicle for that pressure, and that's where it will handle best.

Want to save a load of change? You can waste one third of the tread life of your tires by running with them 10% low on air. Take four tires at $130 each. If the correct pressure is 36 lbs., but you consistently run them 3.6 lbs. less than that, you stand to lose $43 worth of tire to excessive wear, each tire. That's $172 of your hard-earned cash you threw away for want of an air gauge and some initiative on a Saturday morning. Folks who know say most of us are running with lower pressure than we should be, often more than 10% low, because we don't check them often enough.

How does low tire pressure affect vehicle handling? It's not a pretty picture! Low pressures adversely affect braking performance. Low pressures also can affect your ability to steer and corner. You can do yourself a huge favor by simply spending five or ten minutes each week with your tires. Remember that all tires lose air over time, and temperature affects the pressure. The colder the weather, the lower the pressure in your tires. Be sure to check them once every week or two. Use a good air gauge, and check them when they are cold—first thing in the morning when you haven't driven more than a mile or two.

Smart Driving Tips for New Drivers:

You're biggest risk of having a bad accident is within the first two years of you passing your driving test. Follow these hints and you can reduce this risk.

1. After passing your test it will be strange to find an empty front passenger seat. The first time you drive take someone with you for support. Think seriously about displaying a `P' plate. 

2. When you do have to drive completely alone, begin on roads that you know but remember to keep a road atlas in the car in case you get lost. 

3. When you get your confidence, drive like you own the car, not the road! 

4. You've learnt to drive and passed your test by sticking to the rules. Stay this way and you'll stay alive ! So will your passengers and others on the road.

5. Your quick reactions won't always stop you having an accident. Spotting and responding to problems ahead in plenty of time will. 

6. Drive in a way that suits your ability and the traffic conditions. It doesn't impress anybody if you drive fast in the wrong places and you could end up in a lot of trouble. 

7. Have plenty of sleep, especially before making a big journey and take plenty of rest breaks to restore your alertness. Listen to the radio for traffic reports and make sure you've enough fuel. 

8. Fiddling with the radio or a cassette when your driving can be distracting, so can playing your sound system so loud that you can't hear the sirens of an emergency vehicle.

9. Give your mates a lift, but remember you're the driver so you're in control. Don't succumb to peer pressure. If they give you hassle, drop them off at a bus stop! 

10. Keep your eyes moving but don't scare your passengers by turning your head away from the road ahead when talking to any of them! 

11. Take motorway tuition and seriously think about advanced driver training. Research shows that it makes better drivers.

12. Driving a four wheel drive motor doesn't suspend the laws of physics. You can still lose control if you ask too much of it.

13. Don't leave valuables in your car where they can be seen because this invites a break in.

14. Keep space from aggressive drivers. Don't get involved in trouble.

15. Be seen. Whenever you need to turn your windscreen wipers on switch your lights as well.

16. If you're driving on a slippery or loose surface use the foot controls very gently.

17. Taking drugs and driving, like drinking alcohol before driving is a definite `No'..

18. Before driving abroad you need professional advice.

19. Keep some tools in your car !

20. If you're driving alone, particularly if you're a woman you should:

a. Plan your journey properly and let somebody know your route.

b. Carry a pen, paper, maps, first aid kit, torch, small change, warm clothing/blanket and a fire extinguisher.

c. Carry a mobile phone (only for emergencies).

d. Carry a personal attack alarm.

e. Be sure that your car is in good order and join a recovery organization

21. If your vehicle breaks down, don't panic. There are far more friendly people on the roads than those who would wish to harm you.
• If you can, pull up where there are houses, street lighting and a telephone.
• If you are somewhere remote you are at less risk if you stay inside your car. Use your mobile phone. If you have to walk take your personal attack alarm with you.
If a stranger does offers assistance, note their car number, keep your doors locked, speak to them through a closed window and send them to get help.

Hand Strength-Keeping the Grip

Grip strength is integral for motorcycle riding as endurance is needed to maintain control and manipulate the clutch, throttle, and front wheel brake with sensitivity and precision.

Article:As with any activity, an overall conditioning program is a good idea to build core body strength and condition the muscles to handle stresses and be ready for the activity. For any sports specific conditioning program, consult your physician and a reputable personal trainer before beginning, as physical training,isometric exercise especially, raises blood pressure significantly and can cause injury.
Grip strength is integral for motorcycle riding as endurance is needed to maintain control and manipulate the clutch, throttle, and front wheel brake with sensitivity and precision. After about 2-3 hours of road time,your hands and arms get fatigued and maneuvering can become more difficult, not to mention your reaction time slows down.
Here are A few simple exercises for yours hands:
Get a tennis ball, or anything similar you can grip, and do 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions, 2 to 3 times a week to build hand strength. Or you can do fingertips dumbbell curls with a light weight dumbbell (try 2 ½ lbs. to start). Place it in the palm of your hand, and let it roll slowly to the ends of your fingers. Grip the dumbbell with your fingertips and curl the dumbbell back into your palm. Start with 2 sets of 15
repetitions, and increase weight and repetitions up to 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions after you are used to the weight.

Next exercise: good bicep curls-standing or seated. Start with a weight you can do 3 sets of at least 10 reps with. Keep your elbows pressed against the sides of your waist, forearms straight out from elbows,lower the weights to just before your arm is straightened out, then slowly curl up until the weights are about 5" from your biceps. Do these reps slowly, the entire range of 1 rep should take about 5-7 sec.
This will work your biceps, forearms, and grip.
Last, but very good for your wrists:
Take a heavy duty rubber band-one of the thick ones than are about 1/4" wide, and put it over your left hand, resting above the thumb. Take your right hand, and slide it under the rubber band so your hands are now palm to palm in a "prayer position. Arch your hands so there's space between your palms. Press your fingers together, and arching your palms pull your wrists back about 2". This exercise is difficult to do at first-try to do 10 reps. Build up to 2 sets of 20 reps each. This strengthens and opens up the connective tissue in your wrists With any sport, practice makes you that much better, so another form of conditioning is building up your ride time. If you have not ridden longer than 15 minutes in the last 4 months, you will not have the stamina to go for a good cruise in the canyons. Start building up your ride time in increments. Don't overdo it, and remember to keep a relaxed grip on the handlebars. Hanging on with a death grip willfatigue your shoulders, and may cause you to ride in a leaned forward position, putting weight on yourarms. Instead, use your abdominals and legs to hold yourself up. This will prevent you from leaning onyour arms.

Trouble Shooting:
Do your hands feel strong, but you notice your wrists are sore after you get done riding?
You may need to adjust the angle of your levers to your clip-ons, or adjust your clip-on’s height. If you arenoticing a dull, numbing, carpal tunnel type pain, try rotating your clutch and brake down so your grip positioning is better. This will take about 5 minutes to do, and you will notice the difference the first time you ride.

Another problem can be your clip-on height. Try lowering or raising your clip-ons for a more comfortable position-about 1/4" lower or higher is often all the adjustment that is needed. However, if you are the type that likes adding gadgets to your bike, Helibar risers will raise your clip-ons, or you can just put on race
clip-ons-they're built for lower riding position. (One word of caution, riding with your clip-on position too low can cause pain under your shoulder blades or strain your traepezius muscle in your shoulders.) If you've adjusted your clip-on height and still feel like you're over reaching, try lowering your seat.
A Cure for gripping your handlebars too hard: relax. Take more frequent breaks with riding and get off the bike and stretch out a little bit, do some shoulder rotations and arm stretches. You can also get gel grips if you are tensing up while riding. If you feel as though you are "reaching" for the controls while riding, you can also try adjusting your seat height to keep you from leaning on your arms.
If you have done all these things and you find you are still experiencing pain-see a doctor. You may have stained muscles, or a more serious problem.

Ride Hard but Smartly becoz someone cares for you!

Summary:
On your motorcycle, your riding strategy, physical skills, and protective
gear—in that order—are what separate you from the ground. These are
the three degrees of separation.

Article:

On your motorcycle, your riding strategy, physical skills, and protective gear—in
that order—are what separate you from the ground. These are the three degrees
of separation. By themselves, each of the three degrees can save you.
Combined, they create a nearly impenetrable defense against the hazards
motorcyclists face every day.

Riding strategy is your first degree of separation, because mental skills, as you know, make up 90% of everyday riding. One hundred percent attention to your surroundings, accurate detection and perception of road hazards and risks, and sound judgment and decision making are the primary keys of a good riding strategy.

Attitude also plays a part. Taking responsibility for your own actions is easy, but because you, the motorcyclist, will more likely suffer bodily harm in the event of a crash, then you, the motorcyclist, must take responsibility for everyone else’s actions as well. This means being tuned into not only your self, your bike, and your environment, but also being aware of other drivers, correctly anticipating their behavior, and effectively avoiding hazards before they place you at risk. Ideally, a skilled rider avoids hazards before they even become hazards.

Physical skills are your second degree of separation. You acquire them through training and they require constant practice to keep them sharp. Though they make up only a small percentage of everyday riding, when you really need them, they instantly become 90% of your survival. When something breaks through your mental barrier (as any hazard worth its weight is prone to do), instinct, self-preservation, and adrenaline have to take over. At these moments, if your physical response isn’t the correct one, you’ll immediately need to rely on your third degree of separation: protective gear.

Protective riding gear is your backup in case your first two lines of defense crumble. When something finds its way past your first two barriers, what you’re wearing is all you have left. It’s technically a combination of the first and second degrees. Mentally, it falls under preparation. Physically, it protects you from the ravages of the pavement and the elements such as heat, wind, rain and cold that can affect your ability to (mentally, again) concentrate and operate the bike.

In theory, your mental strategy can protect you from everything. For those times when your brain can’t save you, your physical skills and ability to control your motorcycle are your backup plan. What your mind and skills can’t protect you from, your riding gear has to. Each degree of separation can stand on its own, but each is far more potent when combined with the others.

Let’s look at an example of the three degrees of separation:

Meet Veemax Vince. Vince loves his bike. He uses it for commuting, transportation, traveling, and recreation. He likes the way he looks on his bike. He likes the way it makes him feel.

Unfortunately, Vince doesn’t use a riding strategy, has never taken rider training, doesn’t practice anything, and doesn’t wear protective gear. He just likes to ride, but genuinely thinks he knows how to handle his bike. Besides, he’s ridden for two years without an accident. He knows what he’s doing. Right?

One day, Vince is on his way home from work. It’s 4:30, summer, the sun’s shining, and the traffic is typical for rush-hour. He’s wearing penny loafers, slacks, a shirt and tie, and sunglasses. He’s riding down Last Chance Avenue, an urban four-laner that has no median, stop lights every four blocks, and a 30 mph speed limit. There’s no parking on either side of the street, and gas stations, liquor stores, motels, and apartment buildings are spaced evenly apart. Vince is five minutes from work and five minutes from home.

Vince approaches a four-way intersection. He’s got the green light and he’s in the left lane. His plan (if you could call it that) is cruising straight on through at 30 mph. On the far right corner of the intersection is a convenience store. In the right lane, in front of the convenience store, is a big delivery truck, parked illegally, with its flashers on. The truck is blocking Vince’s view of the store’s exit.

The truck is also blocking the view of Sherry Cavalier, the woman trying to turn left out of the convenience store, behind the truck. She takes a slug of her Coke, sets it down, looks left and right, doesn’t see anyone coming, and pulls out—right in front of Vince. Vince’s eyes grow as big as saucers, and he panics. He grabs a big handful of front brake and stomps on the rear. Sherry suddenly sees Vince, her eyes grow as big as saucers, and she panics. She slams on her brakes and stops directly in his path.

Vince’s ride is over. He slides, both tires locked and smoking, into Sherry’s left-front fender at about 20 mph. He is thrown from his bike, and he vaults over Sherry’s hood and lands on the blacktop on his head and forearms.

Twenty minutes later, Vince is on his way to the hospital, in a coma, with a fractured skull, broken hand, broken wrist, and snapped collar bone. He’s got multiple lacerations on his arms and chest, and a heapin’of road rash. His bike is bent in half and lying in a pool of gas and oil. Sherry, after giving her tearful statement to the police, drives home with a bent front wheel and crushed fender, sipping the Coke she bought forty minutes ago. It’s still cold.

Was there something Vince could’ve done to prevent this? Yes. There were a number of things he could’ve done:

If he’d been using a riding strategy, he would’ve been more cautious riding through the intersection. He would’ve known the most dangerous place for a motorcyclist is an intersection. He might have slowed down, and covered his brakes and clutch to reduce his reaction time. He may have noticed the big blind spot created by the delivery truck, and slowed even more or adjusted his position to accommodate it.

If he’d taken rider training, he’d have known how to use his brakes properly, and possibly been able to stop, or slow his bike enough to avoid the crash with a quick swerve.

If he’d been wearing a helmet, gloves, and a jacket, he might have gotten up, dusted himself off, and spent the next ten minutes yelling at Sherry. Then he would’ve spent the rest of the afternoon mourning the loss of his beautiful bike.

Any one of the three degrees of separation probably would’ve changed the outcome dramatically in Vince’s favor. Had Vince been using all of them simultaneously, this accident likely never would have happened.

If you already use the three degrees, great. If you don’t, it’s time to start: If you don’t have a riding strategy, create one. If you have never taken a safety course, take one. And if you don’t wear protective gear, get some—the best you can afford.

But once you’ve done all that, is there nothing left? Do you just “stop learning” once you have the three degrees mastered? Of course not. Is it okay to be a “pretty good” rider instead of an expert? No way. Is there more to riding than just the three degrees? You bet. There’s a lot more.

The three degrees cannot protect you from everything—but they can protect you 99 percent of the time.
For ideas on how to protect yourself from the one percenters, try Ride Hard, Ride Smart—Ultimate Street
Strategies for Advanced Motorcyclists. In RH, RS, I use the three degrees of separation as a starting point to explore more advanced riding strategies: dealing with other drivers, choosing the safest route, vision and visibility, when not to ride, intersections, risk and hazard hierarchy, speed differential, shadowing, the soft lane change, understanding traffic flow, and group riding, among other concepts. As a bonus, there is an in-depth look at the Hurt Study, and what it means today.