The Good Rider

I believe that part of being a "Good Rider" is to be skillful at controlling a wide variety of motorcycles. I’m not suggesting that you should run out and buy some different machines, but I am encouraging you to gain some experience riding machines other than what you’ve been riding. If you’ve only ridden the street, you’ve missed a lot of lessons that can only be learned in the dirt. If you’ve only ridden on two wheels, you’ve missed out on what a three-wheeler can teach you. You don’t have to change your current machine, just expand your skills. It’s like the car driver who learns to ride a bike. It probably makes him a better driver, too.

So, my suggestion is to get in some seat time on a different type of motorcycle. If you’ve only been riding a big tourer or a high performance superbike, consider a smaller machine, perhaps a scooter. As Tom Mehren has suggested, the fun is not so much in going scary fast, but the feeling that you’re going fast. It’s handy to have big horsepower to pass creepers on a superslab upgrade against a headwind, but having all those ponies on tap can make you lazy. Small bikes have a way of encouraging you to become more skillful.

To put this another way, you might have more fun riding a 250 wide open than riding an 1800 at quarter throttle. So, think about borrowing a bike that magazine editors would derisively call an "entry level" machine. Maybe you’ll enjoy it so much you’ll end up adding a smaller bike to your stable.

One big lesson is that the greater the mass ("weight") of the machine, the more energy is required to get it around corners. A few years ago I was in the San Francisco area for a tour reunion. Since I was just recovering from a cold, I decided to transport the 350 in the back of my pickup truck, rather than ride down the coast on one of my roadburners.

During the reunion some local riders had been recruited to lead us through the countryside. One ride was into the Redwood forest south of San Francisco. Another was across the Golden Gate bridge into Marin County, where lots of twisty roads served as the playground for sport bikers and police on summer weekends. The ride leader was concerned about the speed and fuel range of the 350, but I assured him it would do the job. When we headed off toward the coast on some very twisty roads, I tucked in behind him, and we both ran off and left the rest of the group on their big rental machines.

The point is, a machine with much less mass is much easier to turn. Yes, it may take a bit of pedaling of the shift lever to keep the engine in the power band, but basically you can just screw on the throttle and push it through the curves. You don’t have to be concerned about corners that suddenly tighten up, or lean-over clearance, or avoiding rear wheel spin.

If you take the time to peruse racetrack times, you might be amazed that the 250 class is only slightly slower than the superbikes. But speed is only half the equation. The other half is fun. You have to work really hard to keep a fire-breathing superbike under control at full chat. Riding a 250 or a 400 can actually be more fun--without all the drama. Sure, you’ll be riding at slower speeds. Hey, if it's speed you want, take a jet.

I also encourage you to learn how to drive a three-wheeled motorcycle, preferably a sidecar rig. It may look and feel like a bike, but the dynamics are completely different. A sidecar combination forces you to learn many new techniques, such as steering into a corner without first having to lean the bike over, or simultaneously squeezing the front brake while rolling on the throttle. If you have so far limited your motorcycling experience to only two-wheelers, you might be reluctant to get anywhere near one of "those things" but sidecars and trikes are an extension of motorcycling, and I urge you to expand your knowledge and skills in that direction.

No, I’m not advising you to start looking for a sidecar to attach to your bike, or put the two-wheeler up for sale. But I am advising you to take the Sidecar/Trike course, where you can learn some basics on a training rig with coaching by a certified instructor.

S/TEP courses are administered nationwide by the Evergreen Safety Council in Seattle, (206) 382-4090 or (800) 521-0778. Three wheeler training was rolled into the state motorcycle safety program several years ago, and the S/TEP course fees are subsidized similar to the (two-wheeler) Basic Rider Course. So, you can get in some seat time on a sidecar rig or trike without having to spend a lot of money.

Be aware that Washington requires a special endorsement to operate a three-wheeler legally on public roads. If you’re interested, you can get your license endorsement upgraded to include three wheelers if you successfully pass the test at the conclusion of the S/TEP.

I realize that the motorcyclist whose experience has been limited to two-wheelers is likely to be prejudiced against three-wheelers. It’s similar to how a car driver is likely to be biased against a motorcycle. It’s natural to distrust and reject things that you don’t understand. What surprises so many riders who take a sidecar course is how much fun it is. A rigid sidecar rig doesn’t lean around corners, which requires the driver to do a lot of hanging off. Flying the car is not just a stunt—it’s a necessary skill for learning to manage roll. Once you’ve mastered it, you’ll very likely have a big grin on your face.

OK, I’ll admit that I have a lot of experience on sidecar outfits and trikes, but I’m not a three-wheeler snob. My "fleet" of motorcycles has often included both two-wheelers and three-wheelers. For a run into town, I’ve often decided on the sidecar rig instead of the bike. Wouldn’t I miss being able to lean into turns? Well, if the streets are covered with slippery wet leaves, I won’t miss leaning. What’s more, I get to drift the tires, hang off, and enjoy the tactics of controlling a hack. My point here is that there are times when riding a bike is more fun, and there are times when an outfit is more fun. You have my permission to own at least one of each.

When Bombardier ("Bom-bard-ee-yay") introduced the Can Am Spyder, there was a groundswell of grumbles from motorcyclists in general. "It’s not a motorcycle" was a typical cry. What gives me a chuckle is that today’s motorcyclists often fail to realize that historically three-wheelers have been more popular than two-wheelers. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, something like 80% of motorcycles had sidecars attached.

So, is the Can Am Spyder a "motorcycle"? Well, vehicles are defined not by a vote of motorcyclists, but by state laws. Yes, "motorcycle" includes three-wheelers in Washington. Without belaboring the point, three-wheelers fall under the definition of "motorcycle."

In case you’re wondering, trikes are typically easier to drive than a sidecar rig, because a sidecar outfit is not symmetrical. Left turns are different from right turns, and the power is way over on one side. Trikes are relatively stable, whether the "1 front-2 rear" variety such as the Gold Wing Lehman conversions, or the "2 front-1 rear" variety such as the Can Am Spyder. In terms of handling, the 2 front variety are much more stable in turns, and the factory exotics like the Spyder have power steering, ABS, roll control, and in some models, paddle shifting. 

If you’d like something a bit different, consider the Ace Cycle Car by Liberty in Seattle. It’s a modern interpretation of a 2F 1R Morgan, powered by a Harley Davidson motor, with a sports car transmission and shaft drive. Be forewarned that it’s pricey, but very high quality.

Let’s dig a little deeper into why driving a hack or trike might be good for a "biker." Once in a while it’s good to question your habits. As you accumulate experience riding a two-wheeled motorcycle, you are likely to fall into habits. After a few years—or maybe 100,000 miles—you probably have lots of habits that allow you to ride almost automatically. You’ve learned "muscle memory" that allows your subconscious to take action without you having to think deeply about what you’re doing.

"Muscle memory" can be a good thing, say when an oncoming car suddenly turns left across your path and your right hand squeezes the lever immediately without you needing to consciously think "brake!" But muscle memory can also trip you up, as when you attempt to roll the bike farther to negotiate a decreasing-radius turn, and it won’t lean any farther. It’s a matter of your subconscious learning limits such as roll rate and maximum lean angle. "What’s this got to do with driving a hack?" you’re probably wondering.

Well, learning to control a three-wheeler requires you to think consciously about what you’re doing. You have to rethink things such as traction, roll, and tire slip. For instance, have you wondered whether it’s better to keep the tires rotating during a quick stop, or just jam on the brakes and slide to a stop? Theory is one thing. Have you tested your theories? I wouldn’t encourage you to experiment on a bike, because locking the brake can quickly dump you on your padding. One California cornering school has a specially modified bike with outriggers to allow you to experiment with overbraking…but wait a minute! You can try it safely on a three-wheeler because a sliding tire won’t cause the rig to fall over.

The lesson, if you’re wondering, is that a tire that is still rotating has much more traction than a tire that is sliding, and a sliding tire loses directional control. You may have read that somewhere, and agree intellectually, but thinking about it and doing it are two different animals. I’m encouraging you to experience it on a three-wheeler.

There are dozens of such lessons to be learned—lessons that apply to bikes as well as to trikes. How does rolling on the gas in curves affect tire slip angles? Is it really important to transition between brake and throttle? If you slide the front tire, is it important how you let off on the brake to regain traction?

While we’re thinking about alternate motorcycles, let’s not limit ourselves to tiddlers and trikes. If you really like to ride fast, the best place to do that is on a closed track. There are track schools that introduce you to racing, others that coach you on cornering control, and others that simply give you track time. It’s smarter to do your fast riding on the track rather than on public roads. The track is a much safer environment, with clean pavement, few surface hazards, and perhaps an ambulance standing by in case anyone really screws up. If you choose to go fast on public roads, you need to get really good at reading the situation and changing speed quickly to match your sight distance. It’s not the speed that kills you, it’s the stop.

There are other forms of motorcycle competition, including flat track, scrambles, motocross, and hillclimbs. If you think you’d be interested, find some races and go see for yourself. There are also books available, including Driving A Sidecar Outfit (800) 736-1117. Mastering The Ride (D. Hough) addresses such things as muscle memory and throttle/brake transitions. Sport Riding Techniques (N. Ienatsch) is a great primer on fast bike riding.

Whatever you do, I encourage you to expand your motorcycling one way or the other, as part of the journey to becoming a "Good Rider."

David L. Hough is a veteran road rider and moto-journalist, living near Port Angeles at the far northwest corner of Washington State. He has traveled extensively on several continents on both two-wheeled and three-wheeled motorcycles. Dave has contributed skills columns to various motorcycle magazines for many years, including Motorcycle Consumer News, Friction Zone, BMWMOA Owners News, and Sound RIDER!. He has received considerable recognition for his work, including two awards from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and induction into the AMA Motorcycling Hall of Fame. He is the author of several motorcycling books, including Proficient Motorcycling, Street Strategies, and Driving A Sidecar Outfit. Hough is a retired MSF motorcycle safety instructor and past Chief Instructor of the Sidecar Safety Program.