OFF THE WIRE
MOTORCYCLING MYTHS
(BORROWED FROM The American Motorcyclist Magazine)
NEVER TOUCH THE FRONT BRAKE (On pavement) you might get thrown over the handlebars. FALSE Because you are moving forward, most of your braking power comes from the front wheel.
NEVER TOUCH THE FRONT BRAKE (In Dirt) FALSE In dirt, the front brake is even more effective than the rear which can break loose and slide easily, particularly in corners.
THE SAFEST PLACE ON THE ROAD IS IN THE LEFT WHEEL TRACK. Well sometimes this is true…and it’s not a bad default position, all else being equal. But smart riders think in terms of maximizing the cushion of space between them and potential dangers on the road.
“I HAD TO LAY IT DOWN” FALSE Often uttered by riders who are justifying a crash, this statement is frequently passed off as an inability to assess a bad traffic situation and deal with it appropriately by bailing off the bike. The truts is that the vast majority of such crashes (and some would say all of them) could have been avoided by more following distance, swerving, hard braking, or scanning far enough ahead to avoid the problem in the first place.
STEVE McQUEEN DID HIS FAMOUS JUMP WITH A BMW IN “THE GREAT ESCAPE False, on two counts. First, it wasn’t Steve McQueen who did that iconic Jump over barbed wire at the border, but the late Hall of Famer and Stuntman Bud Ekins. Second, It was a Triumph…. painted to look like the other German BMW’s used in the movie.
