Rumblings

Understanding the effects of crowned roads on riding technique.

Crowned road design helps to efficiently shed water from the pavement. But it also influences the way we ride right and left curves.

Roads are engineered to disperse rainwater and minimize pooling on the road surface. The way those civil engineers achieve that is by designing roads with a crowned profile. The surface is higher in the middle (where the double – yellow is) and slopes downward to each side of the road –a bit like a pitched roof on a house. The cross slope design does much to make wet – weather riding safer. But motorcyclist should also consider how a crowned road comes into play even when the road is dry. We travel on the right side of the road here in America. On a crowned road, that means the pavement slopes from its highest point at the left side of our lane down to its lowest point on the right edge of the lane. Have you ever noticed that the left side of your bike’s tires wear more than the right? It is because your bike travels along a slanted plane for miles on end.
But here is a new slant; Think about how the crown effect comes into play when the pavement turns. In the right-hand corners, the cross slop of the road creates a banked turn within our lane, providing slightly more traction, ground clearance and more responsive steering as we lean into the curve.
Conversely, a left-hand curve has a reverse chamber as the pavement slopes away from the rider, slightly reducing traction and ground clearance and contributing to less responsive steering. This is one reason many riders find left-hand curves to be more challenging. A more conservative entry speed, combined with positioning your head and upper body toward the inside of the curve will reduce the bike’s lean angle and more than compensate for any compromise in ground clearance and traction due to the crowned road.  With a little practice, those crowned left-hand curves may become your crowning achievement!

Always keep it between the lines
Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

It’s the first place your mind goes. But it’s the last thing you should be thinking about.

I am approaching a blind left curve, as you see in the above picture. That there is a rock wall covered in green with tress on the outside edge of the road. This would attend to attract riders eyes. As you can see I set a slower entry speed into the curve with my eyes up and looking left through the curve toward the desired exit.
In this case the rock wall was like a guardrail.
I know you can’t help it. No matter how old you get, the moment your eyes spot an attractive,tight set of curves, your mind goes straight to the gutter. But be careful! There’s a good chance that’s going to get you in trouble one of these days.
I am talking about curving roads here. Left ones in particular. What is it about an obscured left – hand bend that makes it so intimidating? What is it that drawls a rider’s eyes to the edge of the road the gutter.
Often it is the concern we’ll inadvertently get our tires too close to the edge of the pavement and ride off onto the shoulder into the guardrail or wall. This is know as “edge fear”. It may may also be due to the sense we are carrying to much speed for a given corner and worrying that we will run wide off the outside of the curve. No matter the cause, the solution is the same; we must get our minds out of the gutter at the edge of the road and focus into the heart of the corner, gazing far through the curve to where the turn exit will ultimately reveal itself.
Having difficulty keeping your eyes trained on the exit? Try slowing more than usual for each corner. Don’t worry who is behind you. Entering a curve at a slower speed than you think the curve requires gives you more confidence and can remove the mid- corner anxiety common to left- hand bends.
The bottom line? Enter a corner at a conservative speed and focus your eyes and mind on where you want to go and not at the ditch where you fear you’ll go. Get your mind out of the gutter….and let pure thoughts of successfully executing that intimidating left – hander get you through safely.
Keep your contact patch between the ditches.

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain

Texas
S.B. 288 would allow motorcyclist to split lanes when traffic is congested on limited-access or controlled-access highways.The motorcyclist would be limited to traveling no more than 5 mph faster than traffic. And splitting would be permitted only when traffic is moving at 20 mph or slower.

H.B.2 would allow motorcyclists to ride on the shoulder of highway for the sole purpose of getting to the next exit when traffic is moving at 25 mph or less. The law would apply only to limited access multilane divided highways with speed limits of 50 mph or more. And the motorcyclist may not exceed 45 mph while on the shoulder.

Oregon
Senate President Peter Courtney, a member of Oregon’s Distracted Driver Task Force, supports amending state laws to create harsher penalties for driving while texting, using social media or talking on the phone. Courtney favors a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a $6,250 fine or both for first time distracted driving offenders. Multiple violations with in 10 years would increase the penalty to five years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

Michigan
P.A. 318 signed into law by Gov. Rick Syder, increases the penalties for riding a motorcycle without the proper license endorsement. Under the law, violators are guilty of a misdemeanor. The penalty for a first time violation is up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine or both. Subsequent violations carry up to a year in jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

Connecticut
H.B. 6048, H.B.6281 and H.B. 7055, introduced in the house of Representatives would require all riders in the state to wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle or motor scooter. Current state law allows riders 18 and older to choose whether to wear a helmet. These bills would eliminate that choice.

Florida
Two bills would attempt to address distracted driving in the state. H.B. 69 would change the stat’s ban on texting while driving from secondary enforcement to primary enforcement for drivers 18 or younger. The bill also would require that fines be deposited into the states Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund. H.B. 47 would revise penalties for violations of the ban on texting while driving to provide enhanced penalties for violations that occur in a school zone or school crossing. The bill also removes the requirement that texting while driving be enforced as secondary action by law enforcement agencies.

Utah
S.B. 159 would raise the legal age for riding motorcycles without a helmet from 18 to 21.

Idaho
H.123 would prohibit motorcyclist profiling by state or local law enforcement agencies. The bill defines profiling as “the arbitrary use of the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears motorcycle-related paraphernalia as a factor in deciding to stop and question, take enforcement action, arrest or search a person or vehicle.”

Michael Theodore
National Road Captain