Motorcycle Skills Diminishing? Use it or Lose it!
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- A couple of years ago, I developed a fear of riding my motorcycle for no reason. I had not been involved in any close calls at all. Every time there was a chance for me to ride, I found an excuse not to. I worried about things like, what if a deranged driver intentionally crosses the center line just to mess with me? Or what if a student driver doesn’t see me and makes a left into my lane? Or it just takes too long to gear up for the ride. Hearing motorcycle fatalities in the news also didn’t help put my butt on the bike.
It became a negative feedback loop: The less seat time I had, the worse my riding skills got, and the more afraid I became to go for a ride.
I used to live in Michigan and I know the feeling of "We only have good riding weather for less than half the year, but I still don't want to ride". It takes time to get used to, and to make time to ride. I would revisit my first ever "long" trip once a year, a 250+ mile day trip to a city up north of me. And by mentally telling myself I was doing a trip, I would also get myself to think about prepping for the trip like "Well, I better change the air filter and check the valves" and then "Well, I should get some parking lot practice in so I don't drop the bike downtown". It was a small act, but it helped me mentally to have a bigger picture reason other than just riding to ride or riding to avoid rust. Might work for you, it might not.
I did move to Texas recently and while a few days have been a bit too hot, I have definitely enjoyed the warmer weather and I have certainly been riding a lot more than before.
I like this approach. I've been mentally preparing for a longer than normal ride before the end of the month and have plans to get some parking lot exercises soon. Thanks for the input.
I’m trying to figure out how to move to Texas so I can enjoy riding all year. I live in southern Ontario like BrownBrady. It’s utterly depressing how short this riding season is. You only live once! No time to waste being indoors over half the year lol
Wow ! Thanks for the mention in the video. This video I hope is one of many to come ! The sincerity, back history and down to earth commentary are truly valued. I an telling other Bikers to watch BrownBrady.
Glad you liked it. Thanks for commenting and ride safe, brother.
Really happy to see you back making videos!
More to come!
Nice to see you back BrownBrady! I'd say it is pretty normal to experience skills diminish after time. Heck, even after each long cold winter here in the Upper Midwest USA, I still feel a little rusty every spring. Everything starts to come back pretty quick with all of the fun riding ahead of me each year though! At the end of the day, practice makes perfect and it helps alleviate some of the worries that come with riding a motorcycle.
Leaves will be turning before we know it so I'll be practicing as much as I can. Well said.
I believe that we can definitely get rusty the less we ride. Your skills would diminish to an extent. However, muscle memory would ramp up rather quickly. You would get back into the swing much faster than simply starting from scratch again. Thanks for the video. I hope you can get though the anxiety and ride comfortably again. The trick is to not become complacent and not become overly anxious. An in-between. Either of those ends of the spectrum can get you into trouble. A nice healthy fear of the machine is good. You do what feels best and hopefully you won’t have to stop riding ever. If you do stop, that’s going to ultimately be your call.
Thanks for the advice. I can't wait to start practicing again once the weather improves.
IMO given the level of skill it takes to ride a bike, I would say that you don't necessarily lose the skill if you don't ride often but instead you lose the CONFIDENCE needed to ride safely. Here in Wisconsin and similar to CAN, our riding weather is very limited. The first few rides of the year I usually head out to some of the back roads to re-familiarize myself with my bikes character. And since my CBR250R isn't the heaviest of bikes, it usually takes me a bit to get used to it's handling in windy weather since the Wind Gods live in WI. Over the years, I've added some additional equipment to help it stay grounded in windy weather (higher windshield, top case on the tail) since it's no fun having your bike shoved around by the wind when you're riding at 60mph (96kmh). Thanks for the candid video, BrownBrady and glad to have you back.
There sure is no substitute for saddle time. Thanks for watching.
I find my 800 dual sport real easy to get back into, "like riding a bike" I don't really forget skills. It's a perfect fit for me, and never feel intimidated by it after not being on it for a long time. My heavy and big as heck 1200 ADV though, it takes me a while to get back into. I rode it a couple years ago on a 3000 mile adventure through the mountains and was super comfortable by the time the trip was over, maybe even too comfortable. Hopping back on it after a few months I feel lost and not comfortable and timid in certain situations. Perhaps the best way to retain skills is to have a bike that just "fits" you like a glove like my 800.
That would be my 250 which was a great fit. I'll try to adjust the handlebars on the M50 first to see if it will fit me a little better. Holy moly 3,000 miles is like from Toronto to Vancouver which is almost coast to coast.
@@Brownbrady Did it in 2 weeks. From Chicago to Great Smoky mountains and rode the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way north past Roanoke VA, back to TN, and spent a week tooling around some of the best motorcycle roads in the country around Cherohala Skyway/Tail of the Dragon and many routes in the area. Beautiful scenery and roads motorcyclists dream of. Then back to Chicago. Loved it so much I have plans of moving out there. Haven't been to Canada, and can't go they won't let me in anymore.
I have a CBR250RR that's sitting in Vietnam waiting for COVID to blow over.
Here in Europe my ride is a BMW R1250GS. Boy, are those bikes different. But on either bike, when in country, I ride every day. Currently, in Europe I put 3-400 km on the BMW every week. And I hone my skills on every ride.
You don't lose your skills, it's muscle memory, but you do get rusty, if you don't use them
That's a healthy amount of k's and that's a nice bike. Thanks for sharing.
Being 46 yrs old and brand new to riding, I never had it. LOL I have a 21 MT03. I only ride during the week and usually around 1am because its much less cars. Its scary out there. Until I gain confidence, I'll switch to day time but not anytime soon. Thanks for the honesty in ur reviews!
I still ride at night for this reason. I’m glad you liked the video.
Good to see you back on the bike. If it brings you joy, do it. If not, no worries letting it go. I went from a CBR250R to a Ninja 400 and then to a Ninja 1000. Loved them all but miss the 400 the most. I sold the bikes to make room for a second car (that inherited). Probably won’t get another bike until I move away from the big city. Too many careless distracted drivers to deal with to find much joy in riding.
Yeah I found I lost it too after a year without riding, but it comes back really quick.
It sure does.
I have 6 different motorcycles of different styles (sportbike, adventure bike, classic bike, dual sport, supernaked, etc). Each time I get on a bike, it feels new to me because they are all so different. It takes a few minutes to get re-acquainted with them. lol
It must be so much fun having such a selection.
@@Brownbrady yea, but maintenance can be overwhelming on 6 bikes....even just preventive maintenance becomes quite a chore. lol
Thanks for very thoughtful, helpful video... On the question of do you lose riding skills if you don't ride for long time --- In my experience of not riding for almost 40 years and starting up again last May 2021, it was like starting over. Big part is losing the skills, the other is I was 40 years older and less cocky and confident swinging my leg over a bike again. But little by little I did it and kept at it and am now having a blast, almost getting cocky again.