8 ms·

Invisibility Training for Motorcyclists [video]

103 points by dsego 3y ago

55555 3y ago
That was a very interesting and well made video!
somat 3y ago
incredulous tone: So you are telling me what may be the best written, presented, and shot show on youtube is a (scoffs) motorcycle channel. But really, fortnine is an amazingly well presented show, here are a few of my favorites. And I don't even own a motorcycle. Our best sidecar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v_S8i4KSfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v_S8i4KSfM Crossing Canada's only desert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2a-sUdaNJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2a-sUdaNJ8 The Killer Tricycle Banned by the US Government: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_C8z0rFnjk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_C8z0rFnjk
kybernetyk 3y ago
I don’t ride. I dont even have a motorcycle license. Yet I watch every Ryan F9 video :)
- whydoyoudoit 3y ago
  But why?
  - default_png 3y ago
    Same reason why people watch top gear, despite having no chance of getting in a hypercar. The production values are good, and are interesting.
  - whartung 3y ago
    Watch them and see. Its some of the best content on the internet. Mind, you have to appreciate his humor and delivery, but it's got outstanding production values, it's not the same thing over and over, and he has deep knowledge of the subjects. It's Kevin Cameron (Cameron is a famous technical columnist in the motorcycling community) combined with Bill Nye. I can't recommend any specific ones, they're all amazing.
imglorp 3y ago
Complimentary material about the SMIDSY problem (sorry, mate, I didn't see you) from someone else, including a visibility manoeuver f9 doesn't mention. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU
- wildrhythms 3y ago
  This maneuver can work, but I think in many scenarios drivers aren't looking up the road long enough to see it; drivers usually pull up to a junction and glance briefly in both directions, so there isn't enough time for the motorcyclist to start the maneuver and be spotted. The best advice I've seen for maximizing visibility is 1) have two headlights instead of one, 2) be mindful of your lane position, riding a little closer to the center line will maximize visibility at junctions. And of course, never rely on visibility to ride safe. Defensive riding is always the priority. You should see and prepare for the dangerous junctions long before a driver needs to see you approaching it. (Been riding for 8 years and no accidents)
taopai 3y ago
This video is great. Almost all my potential accidents that ended in a deep sight were in really familiar places. I have a side job delivering pizzas on a motorcycle. Recently I had an accident by myself, I slipped out of the road but not too fast, around 75kmh (50 mph). The falling was terrifying but I had luck to not have any really severe injury. This experience made me reflect on all the crazy things I did with the bike where I could easily had died. So I feel lucky. I'll try to go slower and be extra vigilant. What really terrifies me are people who don't know how to drive (I live in a touristic area) and you spot them immediately. Also phones, keep them down or hold them on a mount but don't hold them with your hands!
- albert_e 3y ago
  > but don't hold them with your hands! I invite you to Indian cities of today. A large fraction of riders is on a conversation on mobile phone -- either held up to ear by one hand or with the mobile pinched between ear and shoulder. How they manage to get home alive every day - I don't know.
  - ilyt 3y ago
    The answer is they don't https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/10-countries-with-the-highest-proportion-motorcycle-related-deaths/ https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/10-countries-with-the... near 100k fatalities per year. Granted it is well populated country but still.
    - abdullahkhalids 3y ago
      There are 21E7 motorbikes in India [1], so at 100k deaths/year, that is 4.8E-4 deaths/motorbike. The US has 8.6 million motorbikes [2] deaths and 5172 deaths [3]. That is 6E-4 deaths/motorbike. Now, the better metric would be deaths/kms. But at least on the above metric, India is doing fine. [1] https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/india-has-over-21-crore-two-wheelers-nearly-7-crore-four-wheelers-registered-41659615998470.html https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/india-has-over-21-... [2] https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/bibliography/2225 https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/bibliography/2225 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_fatality_rate_in_U....
shashurup 3y ago
I do drive and can confirm that "invisibilty" is the reason for many (if not the most) accidents. Actually, I have even changed my car driving habits to be more I would say preventive. And yes, I do recommend Ryan F9 videos, they are really outstanding.
- CalRobert 3y ago
  "I have even changed my car driving habits to be more I would say preventive." A great reason to have cycling and motorcycling sessions as part of the driver's test.
stef25 3y ago
Something I figured out after riding a 650 through town for a few years is "assume you're invisible, and nothing else". That driver hasn't seen you, the road won't be clear after cresting that hill / taking that turn, there may still be cars going through the red, etc. Crashing on a private track is one thing, crashing in the city where you can collide with walls, posts, sidewalks, cars (even parked ones), trees ... it's unforgiving even at low speeds. Pieces of debris lying around can make you go down hard. Brake with a wheel on a piece of cardboard and chances are you'll just slide. Same for an oil slick. The number of times I've seen shit flying out of or off of cars & trucks (a ladder, a large piece of wood, a rolling tire, a mattress) ... all that will put you in serious harm's way.
- gregoriol 3y ago
  You are right! This video should be shown at driving schools to remind everyone that shit can happen at _any_ time and hit _hard_: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOosn78WsMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOosn78WsMg
  - GLGirty 3y ago
    I checked the source and confirmed no one in the car was seriously hurt. So I will say it: The way the tire shows up again after the mega damage: just slowly rolling up into the accident; was a pretty good comic beat.
- euroderf 3y ago
  > Brake with a wheel on a piece of cardboard and chances are you'll just slide. Same for an oil slick. Also autumn leaves. Like sheets of graphene. It's worth remembering that a car will always brake faster and turn more sharply than a motorbike. It's also worth remembering that after every rain, the road is slick for a half hour or so while all the oily crap and rubbery crap washes off.
  - i_am_proteus 3y ago
    Cars always brake faster, except when the car is behind you, in which case it will brake slower than you in a straight line (and you'll get rear-ended if you stop too quickly). If I ever need to stop very quickly, I try to end up in the "lane split" position, stopped in between two stopped vehicles. This has saved me from some nasty rear-end collisions a few times.
magic_hamster 3y ago
This sounds very, very wrong or at least scientifically inaccurate. Human vision does not compromise of a slideshow where the brain fills in missing frames. We don't see in frames at all. We get a constant stream of information and our light sensitive receptors have a buildup and decay effect. This is why you can still see the last thing you looked at for a moment when you close your eyes quickly. I don't know what this video is based on but it's a great example for not taking anything on YouTube as ground truth. For this video, I would ask the creator supply some serious materials backing up the claims being made.
- B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
  > where the brain fills in missing frames. The optical data rate is much lower than required, the brain makes stuff up almost all the time. (ChatGPT is just trying to catch up.)
- ninkendo 3y ago
  He's talking about saccadic eye movement, using the slideshow as a metaphor to explain how our eyes discard information during the saccade, which is pretty accurate as far as I know. The phrasing was confusing but I don't think he meant to imply that we see a slideshow all the time, just when our eyes are moving/scanning a scene.
- treyfitty 3y ago
  The guy did his best to present facts he knows to be true. Your comment comes off as entitled, as if he owes you more. He wasn’t the first person to say what he said in the video, so if you want sources, you can Google it yourself.
- informatimago 3y ago
  But it does. There's a famous experiment, where we display on a screen successive dots (with gaps in between). People see one dot in motion. Now, if half of the dots are red, and the following half are green, and if we ask people to show where the dot change color from red to green, they show the position right in the middle between the last red dot, and the first green dot. This goes to show that brain fills in missing frames, not only in space, but also in time, inventing a time in the past where the color of the dot changed.
post_break 3y ago
I sold my motorcycle recently but picked up a Miata. It's a little safer but I have to drive like I'm riding a motorcycle. Trucks and people on their phones don't see objects that don't fit the truck suv box.
bambax 3y ago
This is a good video, but in reality there isn't much you can do, as a rider, to become visible. You need to assume nobody sees you, and you have to see for everyone else. You also have to guess where people will be going before they know it themselves. It sounds a little magic and impossible, but after a while it becomes second nature. Just don't count on other drivers seeing you, because 1/ they don't 2/ many hate you, and think it's fun to make your life difficult. Don't let them.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- u801e 3y ago
  > You need to assume nobody sees you, and you have to see for everyone else. This really is only applicable when going through intersections where paths can cross. A motorcyclist on the road right in front of a motorist will be seen because they're right in the center of their field of vision.
- whartung 3y ago
  > but in reality there isn't much you can do, as a rider, to become visible. But there's one distinct thing you can do that will help you in one of the most dangerous circumstances motorcyclists are likely to encounter. Colloquially known as the SMIDSY weave. SMIDSY is "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You", and the most significantly manifest as someone making a left turn (in the US) in front of a rider. This exact situation killed actor Treat Williams just the other day. The SMIDSY weave is when you approach an intersection with someone waiting to turn, weave the bike across the lane. A simply swerve. This makes the bike stand out against the background clutter. Combined with the headlight, that swerve makes you look more dangerous than you were before so the drivers brain will highlight you. Going from one side of the lane to the other makes you "suddenly" appear someplace you weren't before. It honestly takes a lot of concentration to do this, being aware of where you are, that there is a driver waiting to turn, and actually making the maneuver. Seems simple, but riders are in this situation more than you think. But it is a simple technique that can reduce one of the most dangerous situations modern riders frequently encounter.
motohagiography 3y ago
Great and succinct video. The old but good, "Twist of the Wrist" was a lifesaver video for me as well, where it shows similarly how committing to curves to leverage the additional traction is safer. I was just working from a motorcycle cafe at the forks of some twisties this morning, and while there are so many philosophical analogies to be made about riding, when I meet other motorcyclists, the most interesting thing is the diversity of people who are each capable of the courage it takes to ride one.
carabiner 3y ago
It's handy that HN content is tracking millennials' life progression. We are all just rounding our mid life crises, so motorcycle safety, and perhaps Porsche maintenance, make a lot of sense.
- guhidalg 3y ago
  I haven't seen any sailboat related content. Where are my mid-life crisis sailors at? You can get Starlink anywhere now, so you can leave land behind and go work from a big cruising sailboat probably for cheaper than owning a home.
  - ccozan 3y ago
    Hello dear friend! I am sailing :) , but last years...not so much : founded a new company and that takes all the time! But: I love to sail! For now , just the Croatian coast, marvellous. I also worked from a boat, the internet works also between islands, slower, but works. Starlink would be a nice addition. As for the price, a 100k would bring you a nice 50 feet yacht, but the port costs would eat up a lot on top. But you can also anchor in a small gulf if you do not need supplies.
  - roughly 3y ago
    I think our cohort bought into boats younger than previous generations - they got the house and then the boat; we never got the house, but the boat was comparatively cheap.
0xfaded 3y ago
With FSD one of the first things I noticed was that the car would randomly hug one side of the lane and then I'd notice the car had moved over for motorcycle lane-splitting (which I'm entirely okay with). I'm a car hater who hates car centric infrastructure and rules. As a cyclist I do have a beef with motorcyclists who use noise to make themselves present. Cars are freaking well sound insulated these days but my helmet isn't.
latchkey 3y ago
I hear a lot of "assume you're invisible, and nothing else". I take it one step further, "assume they actively want to kill you." 15,000km+ all over vietnam, cambodia, laos over 4 years and 8 years in California. Zero vehicle accidents, but many many close calls. In SE Asia, you really have to watch for collateral damage, where another accident happens and then bounces into you.
Ostrogoth 3y ago
I was lucky to learn how to ride from someone with decades of experience. Was taught early on to always prepare for the worst to happen, and one of the best ways to avoid an accident was to avoid it altogether (i.e. taking the longer/safer route around a congested city, don’t ride after dark (avoid wildlife), etc.). Its important recognize “normalization of risk” bias. Because the natural consequences of failure on a motorcycle can be so severe, its not adequate to use personal failure as a metric for riding behavior. You can always push the limits a bit further…until you cant anymore. I only crashed once…lowsided on a routine evening ride where road construction crew had left a 3” tall 90° angle curb between 2 uneven lanes. Didn’t see it in time while switching lanes. Should have been easily avoidable. A rider is fully responsible for their ride profile, no matter the conditions. Just a few lessons learned from years of riding over thousands of miles across North America. I now live in a city that I consider to be too dangerous to ride in (high speeds and driving culture has a reckless disregard for traffic laws). Thinking of picking up off-road riding again, since it fits better with my current lifestyle and hobbies.
kotaKat 3y ago
Literally JUST passed my MSF Basic RiderCourse this weekend to get my motorcycle license -- this is a nice video to add, thanks!
sankyo 3y ago
This old psychology video comes to mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo Also, in San Francisco a lot of the "paint" in the crosswalks is little plastic pellets melted. I have had my rear wheel slide out going over the thick white crosswalk bars. Best to keep off the throttle and roll over them. Same for the giant metal plates they use to cover up ongoing construction projects. They can be very slippery.
gilad 3y ago
In general, FortNine's channel[0] is incredibly informative and entertaining; many comments on his videos suggest people watch without even riding a motorcycle. See his educational, elaborate explanations of the physics of riding, market/business aspects (esp. interesting is relationship between motorcycle dealerships and manufacturers), reviews, and much more. Well worth exploring. [0] https://www.youtube.com/@FortNine https://www.youtube.com/@FortNine
gregors 3y ago
I highly recommend the book: Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well https://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding-ebook/dp/B08T6K5KY3/ https://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guid...
owenmarshall 3y ago
I don’t ride a motorcycle but want to try to make it safer for those who do. One trick I heard someone suggest & that I’ve been doing for a while is to use the pointing and calling method[0]: when I see someone on the road not in a car I point to them and call them out, as well as what they’re doing right now. “Pedestrian crossing”, or “bicycle turning” or the like. Does it work? I’m not sure - and of course it relies on me noticing them the first time. But research does indicate it increases attentiveness, so I’m hoping it does something. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling
- throwaway22032 3y ago
  The issue is generally in noticing them the first time. As a motorcyclist SMIDSY accidents are my worst nightmare - that is, right angle turn, car pulls out in front of the bike. Bikes aren't super visible from a long distance and the benefit of parallax from spaced headlights is greatly reduced.
pwpw 3y ago
The best thing I did to improve my car driving around motorcycles was getting my motorcycle license, which I don’t actually use. It was a fun 3 days learning how to ride a motorcycle, and it was highly beneficial to learn what motorcyclists are taught to watch out for. I believe a lot of what I learned should have been taught in driver’s ed. I think it would help avoid many accidents if everyone was aware of other vehicles on the road.
ljsocal 3y ago
After a 40 year hiatus, I’m giving careful consideration to riding again. While doing so I derive considerable joy from vicarious riding along with Naraly, the Netherlands greatest contribution to adventure motorcycling! https://youtube.com/@ItchyBoots https://youtube.com/@ItchyBoots

103 points by dsego 3y ago

That was a very interesting and well made video!

incredulous tone: So you are telling me what may be the best written, presented, and shot show on youtube is a (scoffs) motorcycle channel. But really, fortnine is an amazingly well presented show, here are a few of my favorites. And I don't even own a motorcycle. Our best sidecar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v_S8i4KSfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v_S8i4KSfM Crossing Canada's only desert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2a-sUdaNJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2a-sUdaNJ8 The Killer Tricycle Banned by the US Government: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_C8z0rFnjk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_C8z0rFnjk

kybernetyk 3y ago

I don’t ride. I dont even have a motorcycle license. Yet I watch every Ryan F9 video :)

whydoyoudoit 3y ago
But why?
- default_png 3y ago
  Same reason why people watch top gear, despite having no chance of getting in a hypercar. The production values are good, and are interesting.
- whartung 3y ago
  Watch them and see. Its some of the best content on the internet. Mind, you have to appreciate his humor and delivery, but it's got outstanding production values, it's not the same thing over and over, and he has deep knowledge of the subjects. It's Kevin Cameron (Cameron is a famous technical columnist in the motorcycling community) combined with Bill Nye. I can't recommend any specific ones, they're all amazing.

imglorp 3y ago

Complimentary material about the SMIDSY problem (sorry, mate, I didn't see you) from someone else, including a visibility manoeuver f9 doesn't mention. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU

wildrhythms 3y ago
This maneuver can work, but I think in many scenarios drivers aren't looking up the road long enough to see it; drivers usually pull up to a junction and glance briefly in both directions, so there isn't enough time for the motorcyclist to start the maneuver and be spotted. The best advice I've seen for maximizing visibility is 1) have two headlights instead of one, 2) be mindful of your lane position, riding a little closer to the center line will maximize visibility at junctions. And of course, never rely on visibility to ride safe. Defensive riding is always the priority. You should see and prepare for the dangerous junctions long before a driver needs to see you approaching it. (Been riding for 8 years and no accidents)

taopai 3y ago

This video is great. Almost all my potential accidents that ended in a deep sight were in really familiar places. I have a side job delivering pizzas on a motorcycle. Recently I had an accident by myself, I slipped out of the road but not too fast, around 75kmh (50 mph). The falling was terrifying but I had luck to not have any really severe injury. This experience made me reflect on all the crazy things I did with the bike where I could easily had died. So I feel lucky. I'll try to go slower and be extra vigilant. What really terrifies me are people who don't know how to drive (I live in a touristic area) and you spot them immediately. Also phones, keep them down or hold them on a mount but don't hold them with your hands!

albert_e 3y ago
> but don't hold them with your hands! I invite you to Indian cities of today. A large fraction of riders is on a conversation on mobile phone -- either held up to ear by one hand or with the mobile pinched between ear and shoulder. How they manage to get home alive every day - I don't know.
- ilyt 3y ago
  The answer is they don't https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/10-countries-with-the-highest-proportion-motorcycle-related-deaths/ https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/10-countries-with-the... near 100k fatalities per year. Granted it is well populated country but still.
  - abdullahkhalids 3y ago
    There are 21E7 motorbikes in India [1], so at 100k deaths/year, that is 4.8E-4 deaths/motorbike. The US has 8.6 million motorbikes [2] deaths and 5172 deaths [3]. That is 6E-4 deaths/motorbike. Now, the better metric would be deaths/kms. But at least on the above metric, India is doing fine. [1] https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/india-has-over-21-crore-two-wheelers-nearly-7-crore-four-wheelers-registered-41659615998470.html https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/india-has-over-21-... [2] https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/bibliography/2225 https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/bibliography/2225 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_fatality_rate_in_U....

shashurup 3y ago

I do drive and can confirm that "invisibilty" is the reason for many (if not the most) accidents. Actually, I have even changed my car driving habits to be more I would say preventive. And yes, I do recommend Ryan F9 videos, they are really outstanding.

CalRobert 3y ago
"I have even changed my car driving habits to be more I would say preventive." A great reason to have cycling and motorcycling sessions as part of the driver's test.

stef25 3y ago

Something I figured out after riding a 650 through town for a few years is "assume you're invisible, and nothing else". That driver hasn't seen you, the road won't be clear after cresting that hill / taking that turn, there may still be cars going through the red, etc. Crashing on a private track is one thing, crashing in the city where you can collide with walls, posts, sidewalks, cars (even parked ones), trees ... it's unforgiving even at low speeds. Pieces of debris lying around can make you go down hard. Brake with a wheel on a piece of cardboard and chances are you'll just slide. Same for an oil slick. The number of times I've seen shit flying out of or off of cars & trucks (a ladder, a large piece of wood, a rolling tire, a mattress) ... all that will put you in serious harm's way.

gregoriol 3y ago
You are right! This video should be shown at driving schools to remind everyone that shit can happen at _any_ time and hit _hard_: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOosn78WsMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOosn78WsMg
- GLGirty 3y ago
  I checked the source and confirmed no one in the car was seriously hurt. So I will say it: The way the tire shows up again after the mega damage: just slowly rolling up into the accident; was a pretty good comic beat.
euroderf 3y ago
> Brake with a wheel on a piece of cardboard and chances are you'll just slide. Same for an oil slick. Also autumn leaves. Like sheets of graphene. It's worth remembering that a car will always brake faster and turn more sharply than a motorbike. It's also worth remembering that after every rain, the road is slick for a half hour or so while all the oily crap and rubbery crap washes off.
- i_am_proteus 3y ago
  Cars always brake faster, except when the car is behind you, in which case it will brake slower than you in a straight line (and you'll get rear-ended if you stop too quickly). If I ever need to stop very quickly, I try to end up in the "lane split" position, stopped in between two stopped vehicles. This has saved me from some nasty rear-end collisions a few times.

magic_hamster 3y ago

This sounds very, very wrong or at least scientifically inaccurate. Human vision does not compromise of a slideshow where the brain fills in missing frames. We don't see in frames at all. We get a constant stream of information and our light sensitive receptors have a buildup and decay effect. This is why you can still see the last thing you looked at for a moment when you close your eyes quickly. I don't know what this video is based on but it's a great example for not taking anything on YouTube as ground truth. For this video, I would ask the creator supply some serious materials backing up the claims being made.

B1FF_PSUVM 3y ago
> where the brain fills in missing frames. The optical data rate is much lower than required, the brain makes stuff up almost all the time. (ChatGPT is just trying to catch up.)
ninkendo 3y ago
He's talking about saccadic eye movement, using the slideshow as a metaphor to explain how our eyes discard information during the saccade, which is pretty accurate as far as I know. The phrasing was confusing but I don't think he meant to imply that we see a slideshow all the time, just when our eyes are moving/scanning a scene.
treyfitty 3y ago
The guy did his best to present facts he knows to be true. Your comment comes off as entitled, as if he owes you more. He wasn’t the first person to say what he said in the video, so if you want sources, you can Google it yourself.
informatimago 3y ago
But it does. There's a famous experiment, where we display on a screen successive dots (with gaps in between). People see one dot in motion. Now, if half of the dots are red, and the following half are green, and if we ask people to show where the dot change color from red to green, they show the position right in the middle between the last red dot, and the first green dot. This goes to show that brain fills in missing frames, not only in space, but also in time, inventing a time in the past where the color of the dot changed.

post_break 3y ago

I sold my motorcycle recently but picked up a Miata. It's a little safer but I have to drive like I'm riding a motorcycle. Trucks and people on their phones don't see objects that don't fit the truck suv box.

bambax 3y ago

This is a good video, but in reality there isn't much you can do, as a rider, to become visible. You need to assume nobody sees you, and you have to see for everyone else. You also have to guess where people will be going before they know it themselves. It sounds a little magic and impossible, but after a while it becomes second nature. Just don't count on other drivers seeing you, because 1/ they don't 2/ many hate you, and think it's fun to make your life difficult. Don't let them.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
u801e 3y ago
> You need to assume nobody sees you, and you have to see for everyone else. This really is only applicable when going through intersections where paths can cross. A motorcyclist on the road right in front of a motorist will be seen because they're right in the center of their field of vision.
whartung 3y ago
> but in reality there isn't much you can do, as a rider, to become visible. But there's one distinct thing you can do that will help you in one of the most dangerous circumstances motorcyclists are likely to encounter. Colloquially known as the SMIDSY weave. SMIDSY is "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You", and the most significantly manifest as someone making a left turn (in the US) in front of a rider. This exact situation killed actor Treat Williams just the other day. The SMIDSY weave is when you approach an intersection with someone waiting to turn, weave the bike across the lane. A simply swerve. This makes the bike stand out against the background clutter. Combined with the headlight, that swerve makes you look more dangerous than you were before so the drivers brain will highlight you. Going from one side of the lane to the other makes you "suddenly" appear someplace you weren't before. It honestly takes a lot of concentration to do this, being aware of where you are, that there is a driver waiting to turn, and actually making the maneuver. Seems simple, but riders are in this situation more than you think. But it is a simple technique that can reduce one of the most dangerous situations modern riders frequently encounter.

motohagiography 3y ago

Great and succinct video. The old but good, "Twist of the Wrist" was a lifesaver video for me as well, where it shows similarly how committing to curves to leverage the additional traction is safer. I was just working from a motorcycle cafe at the forks of some twisties this morning, and while there are so many philosophical analogies to be made about riding, when I meet other motorcyclists, the most interesting thing is the diversity of people who are each capable of the courage it takes to ride one.

carabiner 3y ago

It's handy that HN content is tracking millennials' life progression. We are all just rounding our mid life crises, so motorcycle safety, and perhaps Porsche maintenance, make a lot of sense.

guhidalg 3y ago
I haven't seen any sailboat related content. Where are my mid-life crisis sailors at? You can get Starlink anywhere now, so you can leave land behind and go work from a big cruising sailboat probably for cheaper than owning a home.
- ccozan 3y ago
  Hello dear friend! I am sailing :) , but last years...not so much : founded a new company and that takes all the time! But: I love to sail! For now , just the Croatian coast, marvellous. I also worked from a boat, the internet works also between islands, slower, but works. Starlink would be a nice addition. As for the price, a 100k would bring you a nice 50 feet yacht, but the port costs would eat up a lot on top. But you can also anchor in a small gulf if you do not need supplies.
- roughly 3y ago
  I think our cohort bought into boats younger than previous generations - they got the house and then the boat; we never got the house, but the boat was comparatively cheap.

0xfaded 3y ago

With FSD one of the first things I noticed was that the car would randomly hug one side of the lane and then I'd notice the car had moved over for motorcycle lane-splitting (which I'm entirely okay with). I'm a car hater who hates car centric infrastructure and rules. As a cyclist I do have a beef with motorcyclists who use noise to make themselves present. Cars are freaking well sound insulated these days but my helmet isn't.

latchkey 3y ago

I hear a lot of "assume you're invisible, and nothing else". I take it one step further, "assume they actively want to kill you." 15,000km+ all over vietnam, cambodia, laos over 4 years and 8 years in California. Zero vehicle accidents, but many many close calls. In SE Asia, you really have to watch for collateral damage, where another accident happens and then bounces into you.

Ostrogoth 3y ago

I was lucky to learn how to ride from someone with decades of experience. Was taught early on to always prepare for the worst to happen, and one of the best ways to avoid an accident was to avoid it altogether (i.e. taking the longer/safer route around a congested city, don’t ride after dark (avoid wildlife), etc.). Its important recognize “normalization of risk” bias. Because the natural consequences of failure on a motorcycle can be so severe, its not adequate to use personal failure as a metric for riding behavior. You can always push the limits a bit further…until you cant anymore. I only crashed once…lowsided on a routine evening ride where road construction crew had left a 3” tall 90° angle curb between 2 uneven lanes. Didn’t see it in time while switching lanes. Should have been easily avoidable. A rider is fully responsible for their ride profile, no matter the conditions. Just a few lessons learned from years of riding over thousands of miles across North America. I now live in a city that I consider to be too dangerous to ride in (high speeds and driving culture has a reckless disregard for traffic laws). Thinking of picking up off-road riding again, since it fits better with my current lifestyle and hobbies.

kotaKat 3y ago

Literally JUST passed my MSF Basic RiderCourse this weekend to get my motorcycle license -- this is a nice video to add, thanks!

sankyo 3y ago

This old psychology video comes to mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo Also, in San Francisco a lot of the "paint" in the crosswalks is little plastic pellets melted. I have had my rear wheel slide out going over the thick white crosswalk bars. Best to keep off the throttle and roll over them. Same for the giant metal plates they use to cover up ongoing construction projects. They can be very slippery.

gilad 3y ago

In general, FortNine's channel[0] is incredibly informative and entertaining; many comments on his videos suggest people watch without even riding a motorcycle. See his educational, elaborate explanations of the physics of riding, market/business aspects (esp. interesting is relationship between motorcycle dealerships and manufacturers), reviews, and much more. Well worth exploring. [0] https://www.youtube.com/@FortNine https://www.youtube.com/@FortNine

gregors 3y ago

I highly recommend the book: Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well https://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guide-Riding-ebook/dp/B08T6K5KY3/ https://www.amazon.com/Proficient-Motorcycling-Ultimate-Guid...

owenmarshall 3y ago

I don’t ride a motorcycle but want to try to make it safer for those who do. One trick I heard someone suggest & that I’ve been doing for a while is to use the pointing and calling method[0]: when I see someone on the road not in a car I point to them and call them out, as well as what they’re doing right now. “Pedestrian crossing”, or “bicycle turning” or the like. Does it work? I’m not sure - and of course it relies on me noticing them the first time. But research does indicate it increases attentiveness, so I’m hoping it does something. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling

throwaway22032 3y ago
The issue is generally in noticing them the first time. As a motorcyclist SMIDSY accidents are my worst nightmare - that is, right angle turn, car pulls out in front of the bike. Bikes aren't super visible from a long distance and the benefit of parallax from spaced headlights is greatly reduced.

pwpw 3y ago

The best thing I did to improve my car driving around motorcycles was getting my motorcycle license, which I don’t actually use. It was a fun 3 days learning how to ride a motorcycle, and it was highly beneficial to learn what motorcyclists are taught to watch out for. I believe a lot of what I learned should have been taught in driver’s ed. I think it would help avoid many accidents if everyone was aware of other vehicles on the road.

ljsocal 3y ago

After a 40 year hiatus, I’m giving careful consideration to riding again. While doing so I derive considerable joy from vicarious riding along with Naraly, the Netherlands greatest contribution to adventure motorcycling! https://youtube.com/@ItchyBoots https://youtube.com/@ItchyBoots