Why You Should Play In Traffic

[flatolive]

hey liking the videos in grey London, were you riding down E Baseline in Tempe there ??

[AtlasRider]

@flatolive I think I was on Rio Salad. Close though. Tempe :)

[AtlasRider]

@flatolive Yea I think so. Close to it.

[69Polie69]

are you in Scottsdale/Phoenix?

[MattNE1]

I agree with you AtlasRider.....We are trained in the military to "Train as you fight" This applies to riding also.....Great video.

[breethwithme]

thats weird i pick up the empty shells to reload them at the fireing range. if im shooting like a 22 and going threw 500 rounds i sweep them up and put them in a bucket cause the range takes the brass in for scrap metal and gets money out of them

[rgunn99]

Ok I saw the Alero deciding to switch the lane. That is one of those situations when you have no where to go except speed up. A lot of riders would prob do the same thing. You want to make it home safe and sound. The practice you do off street comes in handy on the street. Thats why motorcycle cops practice a lot. There is one who shows up in the alley way behind my house. He makes his turns with brakes and with out. Practice.  Then put it into use.

[kriegdouch]

@rgunn99 agree alero was in the middle of an intersection, far as i know switching lanes in the middle of intersections are illegal

[JustBrowsingMeng]

That wasn't a very smart move @ 5:04.

That Alero (or whatever it is) was slowing down to turn into your lane, and the car to his left sees the Alero + was also about to merge into the lane you sped into.

I bet you're the type to yell at young kids for speeding around/changing lanes the same way you are.

"NO YOU'RE NOT" -- until his 3,000lb car is putting you to sleep.

[AtlasRider]

@JustBrowsingMeng Ok

[DRCsyntax]

@JustBrowsingMeng I watched the video a few times, and you sir; are wrong. He was in the Alero's blind spot; by speeding up, he not only made himself seen, but he safely allowed the Alero to enter his lane. If you pay attention to the spot you're talking about you see the other car not merging into the Alero's lane, but merging into the far left lane. That car was practically hugging the yellow line.

Also do some fact searching, bikes are safest going faster than normal traffic.

[Verge513]

@JustBrowsingMeng i didnt see another car merging...what he did was smart.. i do that all the time.. you have to act like they are out to get you..so u have to drive aggresive.. if he would of slowed down that car could of possiably cut him off.. or another car not of seen him wile slowing down.. but theres so many diffrent things that come at you...so most the time its best to get out of the area of trouble..

[02Brutal]

"No you're not!" Love it. =)

[snooter28]

no your not! VROOOOOMMM

[motorcycle0766]

You Can practice all day, the trick is Proper Technique. If you practice bad technique you will use bad technique in an emergency.

Make sure the correct technique is being used for all situations including just cruising...

[Quagmire88]

lol pocket full of shells, Rage Against the Machine song :D

[YODAANDGINGER]

I would have to agree with you AtlasRider, and in fact my MSF coach would too. He had mentioned that it would be a good habit to practice techniques on the street when it's safe to do so to keep reflexes and skills sharp, however, he did say jokingly not to quote him on that. I think the main reason you don't hear riders advocating that is just a guilt issue if something bad were to happen as a result of saying that.

[FlegDesigns]

Hahaha:

"No your not."

Cool Tip. I do it driving.

[FitManToday]

Well said and thought out. People like to talk big about braking and turning; but the most important 'skill' is ROAD AWARENESS. Always alive and alert.

One Must Remain Eternally Vigilant to Stay Mentally Alert. Keep the good stuff comin.

[JacktheSmack]

I do practice for fun, I'll look in my mirrors and sides and when nobody's around I'll practice. This saved my ass a couple nights ago when a truck pulled in front of me while speeding and because I had trained on the street I did it correctly and came within a meter of hitting that truck.

[btoney1990]

nice vid

[purenrg2]

You are so correct. All the research shows that you will perform how you have practiced. Where you are dead wrong is suggesting that riders practice emergency breaking in traffic. Again, you will react how you have practiced, so what's the argument for emergency breaking in traffic? If you train right you'll do the right thing when the time comes. Also It looks unsafe to others, and riders have a bad enough rep already.

[AtlasRider]

I recommend emergency braking on the road only when there isn't traffic behind or around you. If i hadn't explicitly said that, it was because I figured it was common sense.

[tytanowy13]

Yes You are right. I often train on the parking zone-> U-turns,harsh braking.now after watching your video I realized that U-turns didn't come as easy as they came on the parking slot.kerbs,fealling there can be a car coming bihind the bend while im doing U turn.this type of things make diffrent sense of emotion when on the parking zone. thanks a lot :) defenetly will do more of responsible training in the"real world".

[AtlasRider]

Glad it helped! Ride safe.

[Y81FlyinSparks]

no i dont think this is crazy, i mean sure theres a risk of it going wrong but there is always a risk whenever you ride, i do exactly the same in my car.. say its heavy rain, i know how much braking i have normally in the rain but i go one step further and try an emergency stop under trees in heavy rain because the whole car reacts differently (you slide alot further) and recently in the uk we have had alot of snow and most of the time iv been out trying different things on ice its good practice

[rebelsouljaz]

yeah you're crazy cuz you might screw up and "practice" at the wrong time and actually cause an accident in the process

[thytum]

i dont think so. people without pratice are far dangerous as people with.

usualy the accidents are caused from people WITHOUT.

so ..

[monstertrucker1]

2:12 xDDD he trains lawn forcement

my mower does this, too :P

(no, i`m not too dumb to recognize, that it meant "law entforcement"... just got it wrong^^)

[leafsfan9917]

I am involved in many different sports and a reocouring theme is "practice as you play" meaning if you were a certain peice of equipment in a game you should were it in practice so that it is exactly the same when you need to use the skill in an actual situation

[warezvz]

i do that "playing in trafic" also about twice per month. i do the emergancy braking, emergancy stearing and braking while im in a corner at high speed. its a must do for safe riding

[Leadmethere]

hahah no your not ! VROOM VROOM ... good stuff , stay safe

[orangeblood27]

Great advice, keep up the good work. (That was a great analogy)

[tommygunz666]

thanks for the feed bk gd stuf!

[Quentyn73]

Good piece of advice.

Thanks!

[tommygunz666]

wat do u do wn you going round a corner lening right over and some 1 pops there nose of there car out cuz braking hard u slid off and if u acselerated away to the whit line u can high side it so wat do u do?

[AtlasRider]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but you can tighten your turn to avoid the car, or if acceleration will get you out of the way then you want to shift your weight to the inside of the turn and "push the bike away" from you so that it is standing up more. Standing it up more will allow you more grip, and allow you to add more acceleration. You have to balance the amount of corner traction and acceleration/braking traction that you are applying to your tires.

[DaleCaliente]

I wanna see you in the curves and I wanna see you riding in Times Square during rush hour. Then we will see if you are fit to be teaching a "youtube" motorcycle safety class

[AtlasRider]

Way to take my thoughts an take them out of context. There are degrees of traffic and at higher levels they shouldn't be used for practice. My point is that there is a certain kind of "muscle memory" (like SpacedTime mentioned) that is developed when doing this.

[SpacedTime]

Good advice. What you are talking about is something similar to 'Muscle memory' like in hand to hand combat etc.

[IntolerantInLove]

Are you in Arizona???

[AtlasRider]

Yea

[IntolerantInLove]

Awesome. I finally looked at your profile and realized.

Well, I'm from here in the 'Zona as well. I travel high-way 60 a lot so I've been inspired to get into bikes early in life.

Also, thank you for the info you gave for my other comments. :)

[rpaull3]

i definitely do all my practicing in traffic, i want to try it in a parking lot someday but havent yet lol

[Kward107]

Same thing for rain. some people never go out in the rain because of the danger, and then when they are out and it starts to rain they don't know what to do.

[ManOfMeans]

Good point, AtlasRider. But practicing, even on the street, should be done in a safe manner lol. Glad I came across your vids - *Subscribed!*

[terrorwitha9mm]

lol McClintock RD! i lived in the apt. on the left @ 3:38 in the vid.

[theripmon81]

It's definitely good to practice it. As "Motorman" Pallandio said "it pays dividends". In one of his DVDs he recommended people do a few quick stops at varied speeds, 30pm, 55mph, and even highway speed, obviously making sure they can do it safely and not get hit in the rear. I agree with staplegunnr's comment on the swerving too, I'm going to practice that next season because break&swerve would pay off from avoiding the milk truckers around here :D

[kaboose15]

Oh, and i do agree with you.

[kaboose15]

Great vid

[staplegunnr]

To add to my previous comment.

A complex emergency skill, Emergency brake that ends with a swerve. In other words preventing your brain from locking up during an emergency.

I do agree with your comments.

Once again, great vids. keep them coming.

[staplegunnr]

About once a month I do basic riding drills. I do about 75% in a parking lot the other 25% is on the road but on varied surfaces. On road I train emergency stops and swerves in the full range of riding speeds. To be honest, I think a motorcycle operator needs to keep their skills sharp and needs to practice un-used / little used skills.

How many bikers do you know that can do a under 10 mph full steering lock U turn without putting their feet down and that is a basic skill.

Great Vids.

[AtlasRider]

How many bikers do I know that can do a 10 MPH full lock U Turn? Not many that wouldn't be able to fall down. I do them on a daily basis. Sometimes take a longer route to try out new/old techniques.

Varied surfaces is the key. I try do stuff on a variety of surfaces to get a feel for how the bike will react.

[urrrrrrz]

Hi atlas, love your vids. Keep em coming...

They keep me happy while I'm working from the office here in the UK :)

Can you tell me what camera you use & how you mount it?