For many people riding a bike is the ultimate escape from the normal world. It’s no surprise then that the majority of riders tend to ride the same roads when they get out on their bikes.
After all, we all have our favourite haunt. But what if we take the time to practice our riding instead of literally heading down our normal path every time? Could we gain a little more control that makes the next blat more fun?
Welcome to the slow world of the Motorcycle Carpark Olympics (MCO).
It's not the snappiest of titles perhaps, but it does everything it says on the tin. Win a gold at any event in the MCO and your whole riding experience will improve greatly.
The entry requirements are simple: all you need is youself, a bike, an empty space and a desire to be a better rider.
Even in the middle of a crowded city there’s a space waiting to help you ride your bike better. On any Sunday afternoon there’s a host of industrial estates with empty carparks. Go find one and start the self-help!
You only really need a space that you could park about six cars in. That imaginary box, even on the biggest of tourers, is you key to having an improved experience on every ride. It’s back-to-basics time. Some bikes will be easier to control in this enclosed area, but all bikes can be made to perform the following tasks. So the bike’s up for it -- are you?
Disclaimer time: if you drop your bike you will swear. If you drop your bike and get trapped underneath it, you’ll swear (and possibly cry), go a funny colour and scare children. My best advice is don’t drop your bike…
Righto, responsibility reinstated? Let’s go!
THE BIKE HOLD EVENT
Park the bike on its sidestand and (keeping all your riding kit on) get the bike upright (leave the stand down for added security) and to its balance point. This is where the bike feels most light (balanced) and requires the minimal effort to keep it there. Now hold the bike with two fingers. Easy, eh? Okay, now we have to walk a whole circle of the stationary bike only using two fingers on each hand to balance it -- but the skill is to only ever have one hand touching the bike at any one time. This means there will be a nano second between taking one hand off the bike before the other hand touches. Get it right and it’s pretty easy. Get it wrong and it’s pretty costly. By practising now in this 'clean' environment, you might just have a better chance of avoiding the dreaded drop out in the real world or in the garage.
THE STEERING LOCK EVENT
Get back on – or pick your bike back up – and start her up. This exercise involves riding the bike with the steering against the lock-stops in circles. Again, easy eh? First gear, steering fully turned, clutch out. Your natural instincts are to straighten the 'bars immediately -- but that doesn’t win you the gold here.
It’ll take time to find the right balance between throttle and clutch, position on the bike, field of view and brakes. By shifting your weight on the saddle (bum crack on the edge of the seat) you’ll keep your body upright and feel on top of the leant-over bike. Don’t use any front brake; instead use gentle back braking to bring the bike back on course.
Top of the dais if you can do five complete circles while scanning the horizon with the least amount of speed changes, keeping the throttle and clutch steady. Practise both sides. It’s a useful exercise next time you’re in traffic, preforming a u-turn or even parking the bike in the shed.
THE GO-FIGURE OF EIGHT EVENT
This is basically a continuation of the steering lock event, but on steroids. Whereas the above doesn’t need markers, this one does. Use two cones (or there’s always a shed-load of Maccy D burger boxes scattered about) to be the centre of your figure-of-eight course. Instead of using any front brake, rely on the rear only and feel how it anchors down the back of the bike and increases the turning effect.
By now your body will be sliding across the seat with the fluidity of a pole dancer paying the rent. Champions can go from one lock to the opposite without any straight ahead riding. How do you measure up in this event, which gives you better bike manoeuvrability? The slower the better.
THE BREAKING DOWN OF BRAKING EVENT
For this event, make sure the ground is dry and clean. Prop a thin piece of cardboard against something that will collapse easily if your front wheel hits it (I’ve used a discarded tissue box) and give yourself about 10m of run up. Start slowly, braking normally so you pull the bike up just before the cardboard marker.
Then repeat the exercise, accelerating harder each time and braking firmer. Use both brakes and feel what they’re doing. Is the back locking up? Is the front on the verge of sliding? Can you brake harder, safely? Or are you becoming a stoppie master?
This event helps overcome 'comfort' braking, where we never really use all the force available to us. Placing your bodyweight towards the front of the bike will find the back wheel going light or leaving the ground and rendering the rear brake useless. On the other hand, with your weight too far back there’s a chance the front will lock up -- you’ll have to wait for the next instalment to find out what to do with a sliding front wheel.
With improvement in tyres, suspension and brakes themselves, I’ll wager none of us use this new technology to our advantage. Take the time to understand what your bike will do before you find out in an emergency situation.
THE CLUTCH HOLD EVENT
After all the thought and concentration expelled in the above events, this one’s a good warm-down. Simply put, it’s all about using the clutch to ride your bike. Mark a course and try to ride it without using the throttle. From tick-over, let the clutch out and get the bike rolling. It’ll be as slow as an unicyclist in the Tour de France, but it’ll sharpen your balance and bike smarts.
The harder you make the course, the better you’ll be. Riding with just your left hand on the 'bars will avoid the temptation to wind the throttle on. Holding the rear bodywork with your right hand will bring balance into the equation and any heavy rear braking will muck up the balance, as there’s no acceleration to counter its effect.
From taking the time to perform the above events, I guarantee that everyone will learn something. And by learning, we become smarter, safer and more skilful riders. And that, my friends, is the basic building block to better riding…
NEXT TIME
We break down the act of braking. How to use them more effectively and what to do if the front locks.
BIO
It took 16 years for him to swing a lanky leg over a motorcycle but Martin ‘Wild’ Child’s been swinging a leg over ever since. After four UK club meets on a Kawasaki KR1, he quickly realised that his lofty ambition and lowly bank account were incompatible for his entry into MotoGP and so hebecame a professional stunt rider instead. He was spied at one of his shows and asked to do a spot of testing. This led to his gig as Road Test Editor on the UK’s No. 1 magazine, Bike, which in turn lead to him living the dream and sharing the track with Rossi and co (although in a support race on a BMW Boxer Cup bike).
He had one go at the Isle of Man TT races, lapping at 115mph on a bog-stock, 2000-spec FireBlade, and is still the fastest journalist around the 37.73-mile course. He also went to a little place called Australia and rode around a quaint track called Bathurst, partnering some bloke called Jamie Stauffer. Living in gridlocked Sydney, he chooses a bike over a car any day.
Throughout his career, he’s ridden hundreds of thousands of miles (and kilometres) over much of the globe on tarmac, dirt, snow and water. Not bad for someone just over 25!
RELATED ARTICLES
