CSI PHOENIX PART 3: Analyzing A Corner’s Fingerprint

Published: Posted on November 3, 2016February 5, 2021 by admin

Last Updated: February 5th, 2021

ANALYZING A CORNER’S “FINGERPRINT”

In last month’s segment, we determined there is a relationship between learning how to analyze fingerprints and learning how to ride a motorcycle.  This month, we want to specifically look at how experienced motorcyclists use data-rich points when cornering their motorcycles to obtain a positive outcome.

WHEN MOTORCYCLISTS ARE MOST VULNERABLE

It is helpful for us as motorcyclists to understand when our risks are greatest.  We can then plan where our attention needs to be focused.  Statistics show that running wide in corners is a primary cause in single vehicle (meaning, motorcycle and its rider only) crashes.  Statistics also show that riders are most vulnerable in the following conditions:

• First six months of riding a motorcycle
• First six months of riding a motorcycle new to them
• If having received training, three years and greater after having received that training (riding skills are perishable)

Putting these two key elements together (cornering and lack of experience/recent training), we conclude that it is extremely valuable to learn how to properly analyze a corner’s “fingerprint” and to practice analyzing a corner’s fingerprint in a training environment.  Just like it takes forensic scientists a minimum of two years to be considered competent at interpreting fingerprints, motorcyclists will require training and practice to master the skill of cornering their motorcycle.

ARE YOU RIDING IN FRONT OF OR BEHIND YOUR MOTORCYCLE?

If you watched the Nico Hulkenberg video in last month’s segment, you learned that Formula 1 drivers, like MotoGP racers and experienced road riders, use their vision to quickly identify key parts of a corner to help their brain instruct the body as to how to make precise machine inputs.  They are masters at excluding information that isn’t helpful all while quickly targeting information that is highly helpful.

Carl Speckels, Phoenix PD forensic scientist and motorcycle rider, sums it up for us:

How do the experts seem to corner so effortlessly? The answer: because they know exactly where to look for high-value information and cognitive feedback. The riders who know where to look for high-value data can process that data quicker and more accurately and then apply it to the decisions that follow. Quicker and more accurate decisions allow for more time to properly address the riding situation. When the trained rider processes information quickly and accurately, they put themselves in the proper frame of mind and body position to proactively attack the turn/curve. We see this from RiderCoaches when doing road course training. We see them do what we, as novices, feel like we should be able to do, but can’t. Why? Expert training and experience has finely tuned their cognitive processes to pick up and interpret necessary data enabling them to quickly assess and make proper decisions.

Let’s take for example, a situation where an expert and novice are approaching the same riding environment; for example, a chicane. In this example, they are both looking at the same general picture, they both see the set of curves ahead. However, the difference is that the expert very quickly focuses in on just the parts that matter most. The expert has narrowed their focus, interpreted the incoming data, and is now prepared to make critical decisions. And, since the trained rider was able to make these decisions well before having to act, they have ample time to properly set up and execute. RiderCoaches call this “riding in front of the bike”.  Limited external interference (focusing only on the necessary data points) allows for maximum input, with a majority of the focus on the data that is essential to the task.

The novice on the other hand approaches the same set of curves but has an undeveloped understanding of where to look and thus looks at everything with equal evaluative weight. Consequently, the novice cannot properly evaluate the critical data because it is jumbled in with unimportant data elements. The novice simply doesn’t have the necessary information to make a timely, accurate decision. The novice is literally distracted by extraneous information (non-critical data, uncertainty, fear, etc.), and with their attention overloaded by everything in their picture, they are preparing to fail.  In essence, they are “riding behind the bike”.

An additional point to make here is that as training and experience allows a rider to better place focus in the places that will provide them with the most information, they also become better equipped to manage the ancillary situations that can occur. For example, an expert rider that can quickly and accurately assess an upcoming turn now has auxiliary focus that can be diverted to a car that has drifted into their lane, thus aversion reaction times are quicker because they haven’t consumed their attention capacity on just the turning obstacle alone.

DATA-RICH POINTS FOR CORNERING

So what are the data-rich points that Carl Speckels suggest we intimately know?  Locating the following points are critical to a rider’s success when cornering:

• Turn (or Entry) Point (the point at which a rider initiates the turning process)
• Apex (the innermost point in the curve)
• Exit (the point at which the rider completes the corner)

We’ve talked about three very valuable points of interest for our vision when cornering in a couple previous articles:

• NUMBER ONE MISTAKE RIDERS MAKE
• AVOID GOING WIDE IN A CORNER

Like a scientist new to forensic analysis of fingerprints, riders new to motorcycling will fail to accurately and quickly identify these three valuable reference points.  We need to prepare for these failures.  Thus, training and practice are crucial to developing the skills to accurately and quickly identify key, data-rich points when cornering.  How important is it?  Our lives depend upon it.

BECOME A CORNERING MACHINE

In the meantime, what can you do to develop your cornering skills?

• Start locating Turn, Apex, and Exit points in an automobile
  • It may sound odd, but by having four wheels underneath us and safety devices around us, we can reduce our risk.  Mistakes we make in a car with our vision can have reduced consequences versus being on two wheels.
• Sign Up for Training
  • Yeah, coming to a TEAM Arizona Advanced Riding Techniques Course or Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic would be an obvious choice, but other training exists to enhance your vision while driving or riding a motorized vehicle.  Why not explore the options?
• Play Motorcycle Video Games
  • What a great way to limit your risk yet train your eyes to locate Turn, Apex, and Exit points.  Think it childish?  The fastest, most skilled riders in the world use video games to learn racetracks and identify these very points.
• Watch Videos
  • Bored some night?  Check out videos that show POV from riders going through mountain curves or riding on the Isle of Man.  See how the riders manage each corner.  Note where the three key points in the corner are located.  Maybe a nicely produced demonstration video may make its way into your suggestion feed.

Thus concludes our three part segment.  TEAM Arizona would like to thank Carl Speckels and Dr. Busey for their contributions to these segments.  We hope you found them as enlightening as we did when our collaboration took place.  Have fun…ride safe!

For the Entire TEAM Arizona Newsletter Content, CLICK HERE

Bill Seltzer has been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach since 2003 and a Total Control Advanced Riding Instructor since 2011.  He currently serves as the Marketing Director for TEAM Arizona and is a member of the Arizona Strategic Highway Safety Planning committee.  Have questions or comments about the article?  Email him: Bill@MotorcycleTraining.com