“Thank you for your opinion. Could you state your sources please?” That’s Marine Corps Major Mark Thompson’s polite reply when he hears what might be bullshit. Thompson’s question applies perfectly to our sport. New riders, especially women and kids, are inundated with riding advice. Every rider with more experience wants to help newbies along their learning curve. At a trackday, anyone who runs a quicker lap time wants to help those who are slower. Click on any bike-site forum and there will be questions and perhaps even a section on riding techniques. It’s often an open forum, and you’ll find free advice given on almost every subject—even contradictory opinions on the same subject written by riders who ride the same model of bike. “Could you state your sources please?” Time in a sport does not necessarily qualify someone as an instructor. “I’ve ridden successfully for 35 years,” is certainly a qualifier, but until we know the pace at which they ride and what they mean by “successfully,” we can’t be sure if they are to be trusted. A 35-year riding veteran with only 35,000 miles on sunny days below the speed limit on roads he knows will not be a good source for trail-braking information. He’ll post: “Don’t trail brake. Set your entry speed early. This is what has made me a successful rider.” Unfortunately, this might be read by an aggressive young man who just bought a ZX-10. He will twist the throttle a bit too much, rush the entry of a corner, and try to live with the 35-year veteran’s advice. On the other side of the coin is the trackday rider who rides pretty quickly but runs off the track almost every session and crashes occasionally. His lack of consistency is overshadowed by his quickness, and he will tell a new trackday participant his insights to running a quick lap. “In turn two, grab the brakes at the ‘2’ board and flick it in right where the curb ends.” The new rider lifts weights at Gold’s Gym every night, and “grab” and “flick” mean something different to him—plus he’s on a slower bike. The verbs used, as well as the imprecision of the turn-in point, do this new rider a disservice. We riders want to know the silver bullet to great riding. That desire has us searching everywhere, asking everyone. But listen: Motorcycling is not a “majority rules” sport. You must learn to ask Major Thompson’s question, even if it’s quietly to yourself. You can learn a lot from watching the best riders in your discipline, whether it’s Iron Butt rallying or adventure riding. When you find a rider you admire, ask him or her about your challenges. My world is the sportbike side of our sport. It isn’t growing, despite increasing technology and great riders being able to carry an amazing pace with few mistakes. This has pushed me to write articles such as this, which I’ll end bluntly: Don’t ride like the majority rides. Ride like the best ride.Gadget Reviews: mamaktalk.com
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