When we ride there are quite a few things that we have to do that are counter intuitive. Anyone that has ridden a two wheeled vehicle more than a couple feet quickly learned to counter steer, even if they never realized they were doing it. It's something that is ingrained in us from our first moments of riding bicycles, to the point that many people do it without even knowing what it is or how it works.
Instinctive counter steering is wonderful when everything is going right, but it can present a problem when things go wrong. Without understanding counter steering, swerving becomes virtually impossible.
Leaning in turns is the second thing that we tend to overcome very quickly. For many people the idea of leaning into a turn with the bike is very frightening at first, and many new riders have a tendency to try and stay above the bike, or lean in opposition to it through turns.
Generally this problem either goes away, or continues to the point that the new rider finds motorcycles too intimidating and gives up on the world of two wheels. It's not common to see someone with many years under their belt trying to lean away from a turn.
The most common, and in my mind, the biggest mental issue that we as riders have to deal with is target fixation. This is the big thing that seems to rear its ugly head quite often, no matter how much riding experience a person has. It is human nature to look at something when it startles us, it's too easy for us to get trapped into looking at something that is a threat to us, whether it be a deer, a truck, a guard rail, or a pot hole.
We have to look where we want to go, because we WILL go where we are looking.
Occasionally something may grab your attention to the point where you have to actually remind yourself to look away from it. Sometimes in stressful situations we don't have the time, or ability to remind ourselves to look away from a threat if it has already trapped our eyes.
There is no doubt in my mind that target fixation is the main cause of many single vehicle motorcycle accidents.
Failure to negotiate a turn could have many compounding issues leading up to the accident, but if you get into trouble and don't keep focused on where you want to be, everything else you do to save your turn is pointless. Ride safe.
This article was contributed by Jeremy of Vancouver Island Motorcycle School
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