The Safety Series - Handling Common Motorcycle Road Hazards

If life were perfect every road would be limited to a 100 yards of straight pavement before a curve, there would be no cars, let alone traffic, and all roads would be gravel repellent. But life isn’t perfect and every road has its hazards. As a motorcyclist you have to watch the road as much as you watch the scenery. Here are a few tips on how to handle common motorcycle road hazards.

SIPDE Strategy.

If you’ve ever taken a riding course, or if you’ve been on a bike for more than a year, you’ve probably heard someone talking about SIPDE. If you haven’t heard of it, chances are you are practicing it without knowing.  

Scan - Identify - Predict - Decide - Execute

It’s a simple strategy that is pretty self explanatory. You have to read your situation, identify the problem, weigh the different outcomes, decide on an action, then act. The key to using SIPDE effectively is to always be scanning. The quicker that you can identify a problem, the easier it will be to avoid.

But sometimes a veteran scanner is going to let something slip by. It happens to everyone, and if it hasn’t happened to you, it will. Here are some common motorcycle hazards, and what you can do to handle them safely.

Curves

Curves are the reason that we ride and the reason why we fall. You need to slow down going into curves. No, you don’t have to stop, and no you don’t have to make your turn standing up, but you have to remember that you aren’t on a race track. If you drift into the other lane, you could run into some serious problems.

You need to find your rhythm when riding on windy roads. Too slow and it isn’t fun, too fast and it really isn’t fun. Remember the basics of riding, your bike is going to go where you look. You need to look through the turn to a point where you bike can find a straight line again. Don’t get distracted by passing cars or scenery. Concentrate on the point just beyond the curve.

Ideally, you should take your curves toward the center of the road, while staying within your lane. This way, if there is an obstacle, like a tree branch or gravel, you can swerve back inside your lane, instead of into oncoming traffic or off the road.

Slippery Stuff  

The world is full of slippery stuff. The paint on the road is slippery to begin with, but it can feel like ice after a good rain. The same goes for manhole covers, oil on the road, and just regular old pavement.

The key to handling any slippery surface, or any motorcycle hazard in general, is prevention. If you know that you are going to have to cross a slippery surface you need to be prepared. One of the biggest reasons people fall on motorcycles is that they get caught by surprise. If your bike slips and you panic, you are going to go down.

When riding over a slippery surface, stay calm. Your motorcycle is going to stay upright if you let it. Stay relaxed, stay calm, and stay straight. Don’t try to turn or your motorcycle will slip. Think of it like running on ice. Have you ever tried to change directions on ice? In boots? It doesn’t work.

Trust your bike, and make any adjustments that you have to make after your bike has left the slippery surface. When you regain traction, find a new path that has less hazards.

Grated bridges, grooved pavement, and gravel.

No one likes riding over a grated bridge. The first time that you do can be terrifying. It feels like you have no control over your bike. Your bike will weave left, fall right, straighten out, then lean right. This is another situation where less is more. Trying to correct every little thing that goes wrong with your balance while riding over a grated surface is going to make things worse.
Slow down before you ride onto these surfaces, and try to maintain a constant speed. Accelerating quickly or stopping quickly could make you lose traction. Maintain your speed and relax your muscles. Don’t strangle your handlebars, your bike needs to move. Try to ride in the center of your lane so you can give yourself the most room to teeter while crossing one of these surfaces.

If you hit gravel in a curve, the best thing for you to do is to let the bike ride it out. Gravel on country roads is a temporary problem. The bike will slip for a second, but it should catch itself. When your bike hits gravel, just wait for it to regain traction. Also, if gravel on the road is unavoidable, it probably means that you are driving too fast.

Bumps, cracks, and potholes

The road is full of bumps.  The best thing for you to do when approaching a bump is to see if you can avoid it. A bump in the road might require you to move a little bit to the right or left, other bumps might require you to take them head on. If you are going to hit a bump, you want your bike to be as close to perpendicular as possible. This means that your bike is perpendicular to the street, but that it is also perpendicular to the bump. You want to hit it straight on.

You also want to hit it in the center. A speed bump, for instance, is going to slant down at the end. If you take a speed bump toward the end, you run the risk of glancing off of the side. If you take the speed bump in the middle, you’ll get a little jolt but that’s all. .

Railroad tracks

Railroad tracks are usually the only bump that you do not want to take at a 90 degree angle. The reason is that railroad tracks are usually slanted across the road, and if you turn to make a 90 degree angle, you are going to be driving into oncoming traffic. It’s a compromise between two hazards. You don’t want to be riding parallel to railroad tracks, but you don’t want to make your angle so extreme to bring you into oncoming traffic.

The best thing to do is to not think too much about it. Most streets are laid out so that they are going to cross the tracks at a  45 degree angle. This should be fine for you to get across safely. But remember, a track at any angle is going to be a series of bumps. So prepare yourself for the coming hazard.

Animals

These moving hazards can pop up just about anywhere, and you can’t trust those animal crossing signs because animals never cross where they are supposed to. So how to you watch out for animals entering the road when you have no idea where they will be? Well that’s the trick, you always have to be ready. You should be especially alert if you see a deer, or other wild animal. Animals usually travel in packs, and where the is one, there are usually others.

Also, many drivers have problems with animals at night. Why? Because they can’t see them. If you are driving at night, you need to have a solid headlight. You also need to slow down. Slowing down will give you time to see, identify, predict, decide, and execute.

If you see an animal on the side of the road ahead of you. Don’t think that you can just speed by them. Animals are quicker than you think and might decide to make their move across the road as you are making your move to pass them.

The art of the swerve

Of course, the best way to handle a hazard is to avoid it altogether. The sooner you can identify a problem, the more time you will have to get away from it. But sometimes, you are going to encounter a problem and your only option is going to be to swerve. Maybe you weren’t paying attention, maybe you were riding to fast, or maybe that damn deer just came out of nowhere. Here are a few quick tips on mastering the swerve.

A swerve is essentially two quick turns. One to get you out of harms way, the other to bring you back on a straight path. These turns are extremely quick, and you aren’t going to have the time, or the grace, to lean. You need to stay calm and focused. When you push with your right hand, the bike will move right. Push with the left, and you move left. This counter steering is going to feel unnatural for a new rider so it is highly recommended that you practice.

Take the bike to a parking lot and set up a cone to practice swerving.

The key to motorcycle safety is comfort. You have to be comfortable with yourself, with the bike, and with the road conditions. The more you ride, the more comfortable you will get. But do not mistake comfort for invincibility. We are all susceptible to the cracks in the road.