How to improve your riding skills

[PJFZ1]

My Contribution.... I belong to alot of forums, and have alot of experience, both years and miles. I'm by no means an expert, but I feel I've gotten pretty good at what I do.

 I thought that this might be a good spot to share one of the tips I give to riders who are trying to improve their riding, so here goes:

EVERY ride should be spent working on technique. You should read and study all you can (I recommend Keith Codes' Twist of the wrist II).
When you get on the bike you should have ONE technique in mind that you need to work on - Looking through the corner, keeping your head up, body position, scanning with your eyes, relaxing your grip on the bars, smooth throttle control, etc, etc..
Work on that technique for that ride, and as many rides as it takes to make it second nature, then shift to another technique till it's second nature, etc..
No matter how long you've ridden and how confident you feel, know what your weakest point is and be working on it for the next ride. A ride that you're not working on is a wasted ride.

Sometimes riders get caught up trying to ride someone else's ride, or trying to work on 4 different things at once, then get frustrated by lack of improvement, when all they really need to do is work on ONE technique at a time and they will find overall improvement and understanding through that one at a time method, and eventually find huge gains overall without getting themselves in too deep and while feeling the success of getting better.

Think in your mind right now about what single technique you'll work on with that next ride, and make a habit of it...

[goldFiSh]

great advice PJ, oh, and welcome! glad to see you here!

[ScottRNelson]

I finished rereading A Twist Of The Wrist II for the second time recently and I don't feel that it's the best book for street riding skills, especially if you haven't read any other books about riding.  Although ATOTW II is supposedly for the street, it's still mostly roadracing skills and much of it is to help you go faster, while the most important thing is to learn to ride safer.  Still, ATOTW II is good for teaching how to keep a bike balanced and not do anything to upset traction.

A much better book to use to practice various skills is Total Control by Lee Parks.  Many of the chapters have specific things to try when you go out riding, and the explanations and diagrams are much better than in the Keith Code books.

Other than choice of book, this is good advice.

[duc996]

+1 Every time i go out i try to apply things i've read from the total control book,i learned so much from that book that now i really enjoy all my rides.Long or short.

[spinned]

practice, practice, practice   

braking, countersteering, and hitting the apex

the more you practice, the more it comes naturally

[Xiphias]

A much better book to use to practice various skills is Total Control by Lee Parks. 

That is a great book - the illustrations and drills can be readily adapted to a large empty parking lot. I routinely practice the drills mentioned in the book.

[duc996]

That is a great book - the illustrations and drills can be readily adapted to large empty parking lot. I routinely practice the drills mentioned in the book.

+1 that's the one i have,easy read,good illustrations etc...

[LYD]

I was recently in a bad crash (shattered left femur 17 places) but I am back riding again and I am not at the confidence level I was.  So I have been practicing countersteering and such.  I ordered the total control book.  Any other ideas to help build the level back up??

[Xiphias]

I was recently in a bad crash (shattered left femur 17 places) but I am back riding again and I am not at the confidence level I was.  So I have been practicing countersteering and such.  I ordered the total control book.  Any other ideas to help build the level back up??

Sorry to hear about your crash. I can't begin to imagine what it was like.

Rob

[JoeV]

I really like the "Focus on one thing... on each ride"  Thanks

Sorry to hear about your crash LittleYellowDuc. Glad you're back on the road. I'm sure in time you'll regain your confidence.  [moto]

OK I'm not an expert so please take my 2 cents for what it worth...  uhm... 2 cents 

I think of motorcycle skills as being in 2 different categories:

• Bike Handling skills
• Street Survival skills

I have read quite a few different motorcycle skills books. I think some are better at teaching  bike handling and other are better at  teaching street survival skills.

I'll add another book to the 2 that have already been mentioned in this thread.

Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well
Author: David L. Hough


This book is the best Street Survival skills book I've ever read. There is a second book titled "More Proficient Motorcycling", which is also good, but I found the first one to be excelent 

[LYD]

Thanks

[Lance Goodthrust]

Thanks for the info. Just ordered Total Control from Amazon. 

[arai_speed]

How about this technique, "having fun" which is what bike riding is all about, not some chore or task that one has to "always" work on which otherwise results in a "wasted ride".

If I want to practice my skills I'll get out on the track.  If I want to go for a ride and "have fun" I'll cruise up and down the local canyons at a speed that's comfortable to me and my riding skills.

[Monsterlover]

^
+1

Track day is the best use of dollars to improve a rider.

[uclabiker06]

I recommend "Smooth Riding: The Pridmore Way" and "Ride Hard, Ride Smart"...very well written unlike Keith Code's TOTW series.  Also I just recently started doing something that I always avoided...riding downhill!  Man,  I don't know why but I felt that once I improved my downhill canyon skills my uphill skills improved exponentially!  RIDE DOWNHILL!!!!