[molton]

As a new rider, I want to make sure this never happens, and this video footage of this crash is much better than I thought I would ever find. if you're on an actual computer you can move 1 frame at a time using the . and , buttons. You can see he locked the back wheel and then the bike goes down and he keeps on going.
Monster Highside into Guardrail !!!

 

[hogcowboy]

You might also notice that he looked right where he hit rather than where he wanted to go. Pure panic and target fixation.

 

[mike721]

yeah, he hit EXACTLY where he was looking the whole time, even without a bike he kept looking that way.
It didn't even look like he was going all that fast, just panicked.

 

[molton]

I'm trying to figure out this target fixation thing, is the idea that you almost subconciously control the bike and you'll inevitably go where you are fixating? That's kinda scary but makes sense. like someone with not enough confidence riding is gonna focus on the hazard and not the road and wind up riding right toward the hazard instead of where they wanted to go?

 

[mike721]

I'm trying to figure out this target fixation thing, is the idea that you almost subconciously control the bike and you'll inevitably go where you are fixating? That's kinda scary but makes sense. like someone with not enough confidence riding is gonna focus on the hazard and not the road and wind up riding right toward the hazard instead of where they wanted to go?

You have it exactly right.
You will go where you look, so train yourself to look away from the hazard and towards where you want to go, and you will magically end up there.
It's amazing, but true.

 

[RogerC60]

He locked up the rear wheel trying to dump speed after he had already gone into the turn. Panic. The correct response would have been to turn his head left to look through the turn and press harder on the left handlebar. It's amazing how well a modern motorcycle will respond to these inputs.

 

[pdcomm]

Just like in real life : Baseball ... keep your eye on the ball and you'll hit it .

 

[Goodman614]

Yeah, and it's not a new or inexperienced rider thing. Any level of training starts with the eyes. In the parking lot if you try to do a figure 8 or tight circle looking in front of you, you will struggle. If you look well into the circle you can do it much easier.

Decades of self taught riding before my first motorcycle course makes this still a hard habit to break for me. It's not natural even though it works naturally when you do it right.

Last year I did level 2 of California Superbike School and the whole day was spent on the eyes. Very helpful stuff. They say a human's eyes are made for hand to hand combat. A cat's eyes are made for motorcycling. We have to manage where we look to compensate. I try to practice this every time I ride.

Even so, I still can painfully remember times I've got distracted and target fixated. Fortunately all those are mental pains as I avoided the accidents, but some of these were with my wife on the back and I would never forgive myself for hurting her.

I remember doing Moki Dugway on our Goldwing in Utah and lost the battle with my nerves and started tensing up. I looked away from the steep drop-off and focused on the inside which was a gulley and I suddenly found myself an inch away from the gulley and almost dumped us.

 

[johnny42]

He might have been looking for the best place to slam his body into the guardrail.

 

[-Nate]

Yes, target fixation is a real thing, I make a point of making target changes as I ride for practice .

 

[Retired Guy]

Watch the first guy. He is focused and he can see where he wants to go. This is a great comparison of how to do and how not to do it.

 

[Crawsack]

It's also why slamming on the rear brake can be so dangerous, locking up the rear wheel is much more likely to send you into a highside.

 

[-Nate]

I thought releasing the skidding rear wheel is what causes high sides.....?

 

[Crawsack]

I thought releasing the skidding rear wheel is what causes high sides.....?

It's "released" in the sense that once the tire regains traction, it throws you over the bike into a highside. What usually starts that is locking up the rear wheel under braking. It's why I do 70-80% of my braking with the front wheel. It's where your braking power is (I ride a Ninja 1000, other bikes can be different somewhat in weight distribution.)

 

[-Nate]

Right, my point exactly ~ I've had the displeasure of getting an 820 pound Harley sideways both wheels sliding then managed to get up right again, God alone knows how, why I try to ride slower these days .

Some of my memories and experiences I'd rather forget.....

 

[Retired Guy]

Every bad experience taught me a lesson although some of the less painful ones, I had to do twice. Got lots of bad memories and experiences but the ones involving motorcycles are in the minority.

 

[-Nate]

Good to hear .

Good judgement comes from experience,

Experience comes from poor judgement .

I too learned slowly when I was a yoot .

Today I took my Sweet out for lunch and pointed out some damnfool riding an unregistered, no lights dirt bike on the boulevard at speed, two blocks from the Hawthorne police department, her comment was "you need to leave those Motocycles alone" ~ sorry honey, I tried and can't seem to yet .

 

[gunsmoker]

I'm trying to figure out this target fixation thing, is the idea that you almost subconciously control the bike and you'll inevitably go where you are fixating? That's kinda scary but makes sense. like someone with not enough confidence riding is gonna focus on the hazard and not the road and wind up riding right toward the hazard instead of where they wanted to go?

I had a mild case of target fixation this summer making a gentle sweeping left turn into my neighborhood--- I'm talking about a 45° angle not a 90° angle.

But when you enter this turn, for a second or two you're riding straight at a telephone pole!
As you continue turning you pass the telephone pole and miss it by a dozen feet.

Well I kept looking at the telephone pole and (therefore?) the bike wasn't turning anywhere near as quickly as I needed it to.
Fortunately I was going under the posted speed limit entering the curve, so I applied some brakes. And then, having slowed down some more, I had the confidence to look away from the pool, look towards the center line of the new road I was turning into, really push on that left handlebar grip, and turn my head and shoulders left, to sweep through that curve while still staying on the paved road.

I think that if I had merely glanced at the telephone pole and acknowledged its existence in that spot, and then immediately turned my head and shoulders left as I began my left turn/left curve, there wouldn't have been any near-trouble.

 

[DannoXYZ]

When I was racing bicycles decades ago and more recently moto on track, people who were next to me on course, would come over after race and ask, "Did you see that crash? I got stuck behind it!!!"... and I would be puzzled and reply, "huh??? what crash???".

Upon reviewing video, there WAS a crash. I just saw iffy moves ahead and looked for ways around it immediately. By time riders ahead of me collided or crashed, I'd already be on different path. Most I'd see is something abnormal like someone locking up tyres or hooking elbows, but I'd never see them hit ground.

 

[-Nate]

Gunsmoker :

Target Fixation is a real and dangerous thing, it's nearly gotten me over the decades .

Along with practicing rapid lane changes by using man hole covers I make a point of looking at something then forcing my gaze away .

You have to begin doing this at slow speeds but it really helps and has saved my bacon more than once .