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Safety Corner

East Coast H.O.G. VA, Inc.

Safety First

Safety Corner                    January 2008

Oh Crap!!!!!........ what now?

You have played by all the rules, your bike is maintained, you ride with all the gear all the time, you are licensed and you even have additional training yet, you still get cleaned out by some knucklehead! Where do you go from here?

First off, make sure you are in one piece, sounds like common sense but from personal experience I can relate that you tend to be, shall we say, a little wound up! It may not seem like much has happened but the body doesn’t react well to severe impact and tends to have things go a little haywire. When in doubt, go see the saw bones.

Now let’s get into the “legal� aspects. Bear in mind, I am neither a lawyer, insurance agent nor law enforcement official. At the scene don’t allow yourself to be pressured into giving a statement immediately, there is NO requirement that you do so, allow yourself time for the adrenaline to wear off and get your head straight first, a mistake now can come back and bite you, big time. Understand that in Virginia that if you are even partially at fault in an accident, making a claim can get interesting.

The minimum liability insurance level in Virginia is $25,000.00, you can presume that the individual that just splattered you and your bike is carrying the much (if you are lucky). Once again from personal experience, medical bills add up QUICK even from a relatively minor collision. What can we do to protect ourselves from potential financial ruin? Does the term uninsured motorist/under insured motorist ring a bell? Uninsured motorist also covers being a victim in a hit and run. Remember, this portion of your coverage is a premium that you are PAYING for above and beyond your base legal requirement, use it!

Virginia also has an interesting regulation that is referred to as “stacking�. This entails combining the coverage from your separate policies. In a nut shell, if your automobile is on a policy and your motorcycle on a separate, you can combine the coverage dollar amounts. Once again you run into the issue of contributing to the accident getting in the way.

This columns message is a simple one. Do an honest appraisal of your needs to maintain your family. Asses the impact on your lifestyle if you are injured and unable to work. Talk to the experts. Plan accordingly.

This will be my last official Safety Corner, thanks for all the good times.

Ride hard, Ride safe
Chuck

 

Fall 2007

Bits and Pieces

Fall is upon us and brings a variety of challenges. This column will address a few of them and my take on what steps we as riders need to take to continue to successfully navigate the rocks and shoals of northern Virginia traffic.

With the change of season the most obvious is the shortened days. Morning commutes are now during the hours of limited visibility and it won't be long until the return trips will be also. Dealing with the normal rushed inconsiderate commuters is bad enough, now we add in the visibility issue and our risk factor has risen considerably. What steps can we take to minimize these risks? Reflective garments, bright lights, modulators and other items to enhance our signature (i.e. distinctive mark we make against the background) are all well and good, as long as we place them in the other driver’s field of view. Lane position becomes even more critical during limited visibility rush hour due to all the clutter out there. We must ensure our headlights/taillights/brake lights don’t get lost in the mess. Position yourself so as to present a distinct image. Traffic situation will determine where is best, just remember, if you can’t see them, they can’t see you, and always be aware of what is behind you that can obscure YOUR signature.

Weather is soon to be a major consideration. It won’t be long until the temperatures are going to be low enough to present a serious risk to our safety and well being. Remember your wind-chill charts; long before the rest of the population is concerned we need to be. Exposure to cold over a surprisingly short period of time can lower the core body temperature enough to start those lovely effects of hyperthermia, confusion, lack of fine motor skills, judgment issues, about the same as being mildly intoxicated and we all know well the end results of riding under those conditions. Never allow yourself to get caught short where you end up cold and wet. Check your gear and always check the forecast.

Fall as its name reflects brings about another consideration, yeppers, those leaves. There is not much in this world that can be considered slicker than a patch of wet leaves on smooth asphalt, oh by the way, they tend to cluster in corners and curves, just the right place to have any loss of traction. Be alert, watch your roads, and don’t push it in unfamiliar areas. Remember, the patches of leaves in the shaded corners (our favorite riding areas) will retain their moisture long after the rest of the area is bone dry, an unpleasant surprise to say the least.

Once the nasty weather gets here the road salt/gravel will once again be waiting in the intersections and low corner to steal our traction. Not to mention the sandblaster effect of just riding. Protect your eyes at all costs styling is for fair weather. Remember where that stuff will be stacked up.

School is running at full steam, soon the kids will be getting holiday fever. Being as they are just that, kids, they haven’t much of a clue as to how to conduct themselves on the roads. Peak periods of before and after along with the rush to lunch adds another element of surprise to the rest of us on the roads. Not much we can do about it but acknowledge that they are out there and stay alert.

And of course, we can’t forget the wild life. Still a bit early but soon enough the deer will be kicking their mating season up and will be even more prevalent on the roads than they are currently (which is bad enough) as they move in search of “companyâ€�. Least once the leaves drop we will be able to see off the roads a bit better.

All said and done, fall is an excellent time to ride, scenery is at its best, the bikes like the cold air and to be honest, the chill is invigorating. Think it through and enjoy the ride.

Ride hard, ride safe,
Chuck

June 07

Use Your Bean, Not Your Pump (or other bits of anatomy)

Back at the keyboard again, yes I have been negligent in my duties as the safety officer, life sometimes gets in the way. The title may be a little misleading, but you will get the gist soon enough. I hark over and over again that riding is a combination of skills, attitude and just plane feel, that came home to me personally once again at this years Rolling Thunder. I was fresh back from work related travel which had resulted in my bike time being zilch for the last three months. Did I forget the knowledge of how to ride, did my skills just up and abandon me, and did I loose my feel for the road? The short answer is, no. but, I knew my timing was off, my judgment of speed over distance wasn’t as accurate as it could be and my coordination skills to operate all four hands and feet independent of each other wasn’t as fast or as sure as it could be. Okay, so where is this all going to? Simple, at the staging for the ride on DC, I was asked to carry a passenger, a service member. My heart said “my privilege”, my brains said, “wait a minute knucklehead, you haven’t ridden in three months, bikes are wandering all over the place, and you are actually thinking of putting someone on the back who will be jumping around hooten’ n hollerin’!” Common sense won out, I wasn’t happy with the decision but the potential for catastrophe was just too high. I know I am a competent rider, I intend to be an old one too.

Okay, another rant. This one stems from over hearing a couple of conversations over the course of the weeks that I have been back. First one was an example of too much testosterone; a neophyte rider was discussing her tentativeness in climbing on board and riding, her concerns about getting the controls functions down and following her instructions from her earlier training course. Her friend’s suggestion was, “don’t worry about that, just go to a parking lot and ride until you get the hang of it”. Far be it from me to stem someone wishing to experience the joy of riding but get a clue! There is a reason the left foot goes down first, why we squeeze the brake with all four fingers and why we look lean and roll. Unless you are more qualified to develop a training program than the professionals (all politics aside in this matter), have a little faith. A lot of thought and research was put into designing the training courses, give them a chance. The second comment, one I hear quit often is in reference to our beloved Sportsters. A beginner bike? Hello, that is 1200cc’s, the heritage of that rascal is racing. Commonsense people, just because it doesn’t weigh 800 pounds with a five gallon gas tank doesn’t mean it isn’t a full size bike. Remember, big twin was originally the 1200s. if you are basing this off the comparison to your lead sled, go ride what is actually considered a beginner bike, lighter and easier on the power, you will see what I mean. Start smart.

Enough babbling and ranting

Ride hard, Ride safe

Chuck

January 2007

"Strategy, staying the course for 07"

As we begin this year, let us always remember, motorcycle riding is an inherently a risky undertaking. There is no way to avoid the fact that two wheels are less stable than four, denim and leather provide less protection than steel and airbags and that our rides are considerably less visible than other road users (curse those daytime running lights). It falls upon us, the riders, to do everything within our abilities to minimize the risk.

Motorcycling is a mental as well as physical game. Allowing your mind to wander from the task at hand can have unpleasant results. There is a time and place for everything, rolling down the back roads enjoying the scenery is measurably less risky then doing the same on the beltway at “highway” speeds. When speed increases and traffic density rises, the potential for conflict also goes up and can occur in a much shorter span of time. Fatigue, emotions and chemicals (either medicinal or recreational) all have an effect on the mental processes necessary for properly controlling all the factors involved in riding. Take these things in consideration before throwing a leg over the saddle.

Physical skills are motorcycle riding. The mere act of starting a motorcycle from a stop requires the use of both hands and both feet, plus the body core just to remain upright. Are you ready and able to undertake the actions needed to wrestle 700-plus pounds just sitting still? I don’t know about y’all, there are times (even being the young sprout I am) when I just don’t feel confident that my knees are up to the task of holding up my Ultra. We’ve all been there, come to a stop, set your foot down and find a little sand under your heel or the nasty slime puked out by some cage, it doesn’t take much and your foot slides a bit, the angle changes and hello, those bikes ARE heavy. And it isn’t just the knees, necks get so we cant swivel our heads fast, arms and shoulders loose strength and mobility, and even backs get to the point where the act of sitting upright unsupported becomes work. Well, you are now distracted from the act of riding. No I am not saying those of us with “issues” shouldn’t ride, what I am saying is that when the factors multiply beyond a reasonable level, perhaps we should re-consider the transportation for the day.

Weather is a motorcyclist’s constant nemesis. We have chosen a wide open means of transportation placing us in direct conflict with what Mother Nature has to throw at us, minute by minute. Properly attired neither temperature nor precipitation is that much of a distraction from the pleasures of the road, but, a combination can have a disastrous effect. If not properly attired, ending up in wet clothing, when the temperature is dropping and the wind chill kicks in from the road speed, hypothermia is a likely probability. That is a real bad thing. Besides the physical discomfort, the slowing down of the mental processing can and probably will result in a failure of the skills needed to operate your machine safely. Do I mean you will crash and burn? Nope, it isn’t that cut and dried, kinda like the persons that choose to drive after knocking back a few, they don’t all wreck or get caught, but, they are limited in their functions, if the circumstances were to come together requiring a high enough level of performance… don’t be sitting on the back seat. Rain just makes the road wet, true at intersections where vehicles sit at idle the oil and slime builds up over time, avoid the center of the lane in these areas, the main roads are not so affected. Ice and snow on the other hand, are not your friends when on two wheels. There is NO way to maintain a motorcycle upright on an ice or snow covered road. Staying in a wheel track does work; just don’t get in a situation where you actually might have to ride the bike. Enough said on that.

Bottom line, before you climb on your ride, it is up to you to evaluate all the conditions. Acknowledge the risks involved, mitigate those you can and make a conscious decision.

Ride hard, ride safe
Chuck