Target Fixation

Coming upon an unexpected car in his path, this rider goes wide to avoid it, effectively turning this into a decreasing radius, downhill, right hand turn. He has almost completed the turn when he gets nervous and pegs the rear brake, sliding out of his lane to the opposite shoulder.
He made a series of mistakes, compounded by fatigue and an unfamiliar bike. He should have used both brakes to slow to a speed he was comfortable with before getting in the corner. He would have felt more stable and confident had he shifted his weight to the inside of the turn. Again, this should be done before entering the corner. He should have stayed off the rear brake once in the turn, relying on the front brake to control his speed. And he should have looked through the corner towards his intended path of travel. Instead he fixated on the opposite shoulder and he went directly there. The fact that the bike didn't slew around and the skid mark is relatively straight suggests that he actually was steering towards the curb when he locked the brake.
This is probably the most common scenario for serious accidents involving sidecars: going wide in a right hand corner. Turning towards the sidecar tends to cause the sidecar to come up. Even when the sidecar wheel stays on the ground, this can be very unnerving for a novice rider. Combined with the fact that you do not countersteer a sidecar, this gets many riders in trouble, especially those with lots of 2 wheeled experience but little experience on 3 wheels. That is why we have the S/TEP classes. Even with the classes it takes lots of practice and saddle time to ingrain the reactions needed to avoid this type of mishap.
Sidecar instruction is available through Adventure Sidecar
adventuresidecar.com

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Adventure Sidecar
• sidecar
• motorcycle
• S/TEP
• Ural
• KLR
• Kawasaki
• Hood River
• Oregon

[mamiferuD]

do you countersteer when having a sidecar the same way you counterteer a bike without sidecar?

[mamiferuD]

do you countersteer when having a sidecar the same way you counterteer a bike without sidecar?