Shelf Life For Riding Skills

[PAULBACH]

A few weeks ago I talked with a Naval aviator who flies off the Abe Lincoln. He had two weeks of leave and then back to the squadron.

I asked how long an aviator has to be away from flying before one starts to lose the edge?

His answer was, two days.

Is there a similar time period for motorcycle driving? How long can you go without riding before one loses the edge, assuming skills are sharp to start with?

What is the best way to restore kills before heading out on the highways?

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

Never having been an aviator (except for the weekly rides in the back) I cannot be certain as to the level of intensity of flying a multi-million $ jet and the tactics for it, however if the tv portrayal is any guideline it is much worse/intense than bike riding.

I sometimes have to go weeks between rides due to other reasons, and when I get back on there is so much that is just second nature in terms of operation after so many years, although my awareness is somewhat heightened due to the amount of time I spend in a car during that time, and the resulting feel of exposure. A good stimuli for watching all around me.

It seems to take a good long ride before actions are becoming fluid once again. I think that wearing an orange suit and chanting "one with the bike ommmmm...one with the bike" may help...LOL

[BradfordBenn]

I know that one of the things that I see anecdotally is that there are more accidents in the spring time with riders. I am not sure if it is newer riders or just rusty riders. Either way, I figure for me it is about a week to start losing the "instinct".

By that I mean knowing and not thinking how to turn on the turn signal. On occassion I have tried to push the clutch lever up to signal a right turn...

[riderR1150GSAdv]

I think that a lot depends on how much prior experience a rider has. If one rides 25K in 7 months for years and is layed up because of seasons than that person is likely to be better off in the spring than let's say a rider who does 3k in the same period and than cranks up the bike in the spring.
Some folks can ride all year and some can't ,so like Brad said, the spring is the most dangerous time for most riders.

[PAULBACH]

Bet Brad would say the solution is obvious:

Ride Year Round

Wonder if one could save some of those half gallon paper milk cartons, fill them with water and set them in a parking lot for early riding practice. Maybe figure 8 patterns?

There must be a place on the web with diagrams for how to set the cartons like instructors do for motorcycle saving courses. Might make a good club activity as a first ride in the spring.

[Paul_F]

Wonder if one could save some of those half gallon paper milk cartons, fill them with water and set them in a parking lot for early riding practice. Maybe figure 8 patterns?

I setup a course in an empty parking lot with small orange cones from Toys R Us. The cost is about $ 6.00 for four cones. Small, cheap and easy to carry in the top box to the parking lot.

Being a newbie, I find that yes my skills get rusty if I am off the bike for a while; especially with U-turns. Of course the dumbest one was last Sunday. Hadn't ridden for a while. While in the driveway, I couldn't get the shifter to work. Finally I used the other shifter on the other side and the bike went into gear. Tell me I'm not the first to use the wrong shifter after being off the bike for a while.

[Mika]

Here is a link (http://www.msf-usa.org/index_new.cfm?pagename=RiderCoach%20Info&content=47B1FBEE-A0CC-53D5-645AD99FDBD901DA&referer=MSTS) to the MSF page where you are able to download coarse layouts.

[PacWestGS]

IMNSHO - I think it's anytime you are off the bike and at least the first six-minutes after you get back on. (EDIT: I'm speaking of daily riding here) And that again would depend on what your skill level was before you got off the last time. :dunno

I'm glad I get to ride year round but, you should see me screw up the controls and operation of two (or three) different motorcycles in the garage. :banghead

EDIT: As a military parchutist it didn't matter if you jumped yesterday or six-months ago you still went through refresher training before jumping out of an airplane. It also didn't matter if you had five or a thousand jumps before.

I would put less focus on the physical aspect of controlling the machine and more imphasis on conditioning the brain to be on the upper edge of perfection. And that is hard to do whether it's been a few hours, days or months away from riding.

[Mika]

I have come to think the best image of riding skills is a sine wave. If excellence is the base line running through it we all vacillate above and below the line at different times.

• Time away from the bike leads to below the baseline skills due to lack of practice.
• Ride on a daily basis and we can easily slip into complacency and the related errors that can result in.

Because of where I live I experience both in any given year. Frankly the latter scares me more than the former. When I am away from the bike for a period of time I am very aware that I need to pay attention to my mental riding checklist and riding skills. The familiarity breeds contempt side of the sine wave does not become apparent until you find yourself in a challenging situation.

[Harrington]

IMO it's my muscle memory. My actions are much get more accurate and deliberate as I ride more often. My muscle memory bank is fully replenished after 3 days in a row. My muscle memory and my confidence will have peaked and I'm able to enjoy the ride more.

[mthelmet]

I've been riding for the better part of 45 years. I still like to get on the bike in spring to start the riding season like it is the first time on the bike.
I sit on iot for about 5minutes and go over everything to freshen up the mind on what is where.
The first ride is always slow and easy for the first 10 to 15 miles. Then ride a little fast, when I have a good mind set then off to the super slab for the true test of mind over matter.
Alway ride like you are the bulls eye on everones target.

[Motor31]

This is a factor that resides in the experiance base of the rider.

In the case of a new rider they will lose a higher percentage of their skills if they drop away from riding for a while than will a very seasoned rider will in the same period. Some of it is due to muscle imprinting but a very large part of it is due to brain imprinting. Thye skills may be a bit tarnished but they will polish far faster in the older experianced rider than they will in the new green inexperianced rider.

The older rider will remember what has happened in the preceding times they were not riding then came back. They can realize the limitations and loss because of that experiance where the new rider won't notice it.

Another factor is that the older rider has also experianced it every time they jump on a different style of bike, even though they are current on their skills. In my career I noticed the difference between the bike assigned to me and any spare I rode when mine was in the shop. They may have been the exact same model and year, maintained by the same shop but each one had a different feel to it. It was enough to make me a bit uncomfortable riding the spare until MY bike came back.

Street survival tactics also come back to the experianced rider faster than the newbie. Just because of the experiance base gained in driving many years / miles that the older rider has that the "noob" has not been able to get.

Summation, get experiance. Ride a lot. The more you have behind you the less you lose on a time away from the bike and the faster it will come back to you. For all of us older riders, remember it DOES tarnish so polish the skills with thoughtfull attention.

[basketcase]

I've been off of a BMW for a while (more on that in a moment) but have some thoughts on this topic due to recent experience.

For four months (June - September) I was off the bike. Then when I got back on it the first thing I noticed was that my "memory" had faded of the location of certain controls. Even a bone-stock Gold Wing has a lot of knobs, buttons, and gizmos...

I also experienced a bit of nervousness coming up to stops. The steering of a GL1500 has an inherent tendency to "waggle" just before stopping (say, 3 mph and down). It took me a dozen stops at traffic signals before I got past the willies.

This is not the first time I've been to this experience. So my typical drill after the winter break, or after an extended period off the bike, has been to take a ride through a local supermarket parking lot doing figure eights in and out of the rows and lines. Additionally, I do the same thing each time new tires are installed on the bike just to tweak my sense of the balance and the handling.

So what is the shelf life of riding skills? I'm sure the time depends somewhat on the experience and skill level of the rider before laying off, and I think it is influenced by various other factors. For some it might be the style or handling of their bike; for others it might even be changes in local roads. But whatever the certainities and uncertainties, a shelf life is very definitely real.

[dancogan]

If I've been off the bike for a while, a week or several weeks, I'll use mental visualization to sharpen my skills. I'll try to drive the cage like I'm on the bike. Or I'll just sit and think about riding the bike and mentally go through the motions. It helps when I finally get on and ride away.

I also like mthelmet's ideas. :doh

[PGlaves]

We ride steadily enough most of the year - but in Kansas there has been that month or two when we rode very little. Springtime skill sharpening drills for me include weaving and sharply swerving, as well as hard braking practice.

It doesn't take a lot of practice but does take some to get a feel for limits and back to "sharp" again.

[jtwining]

police have to qualify every 30 days. I took the police course and would not wanta go much longer and still try to be sharpe enough to pass that test. Highly recommend the course to anyone wanting to polish their ability

[Friedle]

I usually answer this question by asking people who ask me for my opinion if they tune up their bike in the spring before riding? If they answer yes, then I ask them why don't they consider also tuning up their brain and riding skills at the same time by taking an experienced rider MSF course?

For a number of years I have organized springtime MSF ERCs for BMW riders in the mid Hudson Valley region of New York.

Friedle
MSF Instructor/RC, amongst other things

[Motor31]

police have to qualify every 30 days. I took the police course and would not wanta go much longer and still try to be sharpe enough to pass that test. Highly recommend the course to anyone wanting to polish their ability


Interesting post. Can you expand on this, where, when and how much it cost?

[The_Veg]

Sometimes I notice deficiencies after being off the bike for a while, but I recently had an interesting version of this. Semi-long story what led up to this, but I wound up riding a friend's R1200C for about ten days. That of course took some adjustment after three years on an R100R, but after ten miles or so I felt semi-comfy with the bike. I think over the ten days I put about 170 miles on the bike in a variety of settings from suburban traffic to fun backroads.
Then I returned the C and got back on The BatBike. WHOA NELLY! The smaller, lighter, taller, less-lengthy bike felt dangerous under me! I couldn't believe that ten days of riding another bike could have affected my mental settings so radically. Of course it only took another ten miles to feel re-adjusted, but I'm still amazed.

[GlobalRider]

I asked how long an aviator has to be away from flying before one starts to lose the edge?

His answer was, two days.

I don't buy that. If that is the case, he's in the wrong profession.

When I stopped flying as a commercial pilot/flight instructor to go back to school, I might only be able to afford to get up every two months. To get the most out of my hour, I would go out and do approaches under the hood and also do some visual stuff. Strongest crosswind, I'd still maintain the centerline and keep it rolling down the runway on one wheel during touch 'n goes (good practice for coordination).

Is there a similar time period for motorcycle driving? How long can you go without riding before one loses the edge, assuming skills are sharp to start with?

Up here, I park the bike in November for the winter and quite often, due to spring clean-up around the house and other chores, I don't hit the road till I get to Europe in June. Thats seven months off and then full bore twisties in the Alps for a month. I never seem to have trouble or have to ease myself into the groove.

It like riding a bicycle...you never forget.

[Fritzc]

A few weeks ago I talked with a Naval aviator who flies off the Abe Lincoln. He had two weeks of leave and then back to the squadron.I asked how long an aviator has to be away from flying before one starts to lose the edge?
His answer was, two days.

Everyone knows George W. Bush landed a plane on the Abe Lincoln and he had not flown a plane in years.


(Tongue firmly planted in cheek!) :usa

[Fritzc]

Interesting post. Can you expand on this, where, when and how much it cost?

Department of Public Safety, Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI
I have the motor officer's card somewhere and will try to look it up if you
are serious.

[pmdave]

Novice riders typically assume that the "skills" needed to operate a motorcycle are the physical control skills--steering, balancing, clutch, throttle, brakes, shifting etc.

But I believe that the most important motorcycling skills are mental--looking ahead, understanding what hazards look like, adjusting timing to avoid converging with hazards, understanding the typical traffic "plays" that lead to motorcycle collisions, having a good grasp of surface hazards, etc.

While the physical control skills are obviously needed, I believe that the mental skills are degraded more quickly. It's not just a matter of NOT riding, but operating other vehicles in the interim. When faced with an impending crisis, we tend to respond based on habits. So, if I've been driving a truck all winter, my mental skills have become "truck" skills.

For instance, when driving a truck, you tend to fall into the mental habit of assuming that other drivers see you and will stay out of your way. Sure, some drivers will make a quick left turn in front of huge vehicles, freight trains, fire engines, etc. But the point is, you learn habits based on the vehicle you're operating.

So, when you hop back on a motorcycle, you very likely will have partially forgotten the need to read the surface, or to be prepared to avoid left-turning cars at intersections, or where to position yourself in traffic to improve the view.

Although I appreciate the efforts of fellow riders to offer training courses (such as the MSF ERC Suite) I suggest that what's important is for riders to do some mental practice early in the season. In the airplane industry, the operations manual is provided to help a pilot maintain mental proficiency between training. There are a number of books available on motorcycling, and my suggestion is to obtain several and read them through every spring before you get back into traffic.

And, to help you hone your physical control skills, you should practice different maneuvers. There is a cornering range in More Proficient Motorcycling, page 121 that you might find useful. According to my antique hard drive, it was published in ON a year or two ago, but I can't remember the details.

pmdave

[HexST]

The Navy is extra cautious on flying onto a Carrier you need to do two touch and goes in a two week period then a landing will be allowed. To land at night you must make a day landing within a 24hr period.If the PIC has not met these requirements they will not be allowed to enter the pattern.

[rinty]

Paul:

As I'm sure you know, naval aviation is in a class of its own; it's the GP of flying.

I think bike riding skill drop off probably differs from person to person.

Rinty

[PAULBACH]

Agreed.

The concept here is most applicable to riders who are out of the saddle for several months.

[Daver90s]

I went out for a ride yesterday and boy, did I suck. The bike was running great and there wasn't too much traffic - It's been just a matter of weeks - but I felt like I was not riding smooth, shifting badly and making dumb mistakes - In the spring it usually takes me about a week to get my "bike legs" back.

[Motor31]

Department of Public Safety, Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI
I have the motor officer's card somewhere and will try to look it up if you
are serious.


Unfortunately no, sigh. Wrong side of the country for this next years travels. Thanks much anyhow.

[BradfordBenn]

I went out for a ride yesterday and boy, did I suck. The bike was running great and there wasn't too much traffic - It's been just a matter of weeks - but I felt like I was not riding smooth, shifting badly and making dumb mistakes - In the spring it usually takes me about a week to get my "bike legs" back.

I went for a ride today on the RT and felt the same way. So I made it a short ride, only 20 miles. I was not feeling confident in my skills. I have been off the bike too long (about six weeks) due to some work and family commitments.

[pmdave]

I don't think there is a "shelf life" of motorcycle skills in the same terms as say, the shelf life of milk.

Rather, skills (both physical and mental) are either improving or degrading, more like a battery. Your skills are either getting charged, or discharging.

It might seem that just riding the bike recharges your skills, but what's really important is to practice the right skills. There are some riders who say they have 10 years' experience, but they may have 1 year's experience repeated 10 times.

pmdave