drive

Learning the basics

BY MELISSA DUIS
July 06, 2014

The Twist of the Wrist DVD teaches a novice biker the basics so that a crash will be avoided. – Pic courtesy of Melissa Duis, July 6, 2014.I never meant for this facet of my life to be for public consumption. But when someone prudently suggested that it might empower lady bikers out there, those who, like me, are not comfortable with motorcycle riding yet adamantly want to master it, I thought why not.

Anything to support a fellow lady biker debilitated by fear, insecurity and cluelessness. And what better way to improve oneself than to begin with the next person?

Taking on a cause, so to speak, always exposes the champion or advocate to misconceptions from others. In fact, a thoughtful and curious fellow biker jokingly suggested that I might be a feminist for bolstering this quasi campaign for lady bikers.

As he was a male biker, I understood where he was coming from and only hinted at an answer before brushing it off with more questions on motorcycles.

I don’t think I am necessarily a feminist as much as someone who seeks solidarity from others who I share an affinity with. After all, situations are best managed by those who bear the same experiences.

However, my male biker friend proved to be useful when he recommended The Twist of The Wrist II books and videos by Keith Code. “They’re THE resource for every bike geek” he proclaimed.

I duly looked up the video and found that the content was akin to the dummies book list. Very new to riding, I stopped the video in its 15th minute when I found it to be thorough but rather overwhelming. Naturally, I googled its predecessor, Twist of The Wrist, instead.

True to my fellow biker’s every word: “It’ll help a lot with your confidence on a bike”, part 1 of the video was very much a lesson on the basics of riding; things any new rider would take for granted.

Banal factors like the shape of the road or types of turns, a rider’s focus, survival reactions (SR) and steering were all expounded on, confounding me like a kid new to school.

For car drivers, the steering wheel is a trusted extension of one’s hands, easily manoeuvred at will, but on a motorcycle, it takes a little bit more than one’s reflexes to avoid an untoward incident. For instance, the knowledge of counter steering opened my mind to an entirely new world as far as riding is concerned.

Well, not really, since I do ride a bicycle quite well. Still, Twist of The Wrist puts it into perspective quite nicely.

A motorcycle is a powerful machine on only two wheels instead of four so steering it to the left or right makes quite a difference. According to the video, steering, especially counter steering, should be the first thing one learns about riding if you want to avoid crashing.

Based on the principal of balance, when one wants to turn to the right, instead of immediately turning the handle right, counter steering is about turning the handle slightly to the left before the bike tilts accordingly, allowing the rider to make a more natural right swerve and voila, crash avoided!

Yes, practice makes perfect but there’s nothing like a structured set of guidelines to lessen the chances of pitfalls and for a new rider to be properly educated.

In the words of my male biker buddy: “Riding incompetence and accidents are the main causes of riding disasters and neither discriminates against gender”.

I get his point, but it takes a certain amount of oestrogen and a number of environmental factors to make up a woman’s universe.

Men and women are different yet equal and so are the events that affect them. I see that it helps to have a platform to discuss the matters which affect a lady biker; hence, my motivation to keep on sharing my experiences. – July 6, 2014.