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Superstituions, rituals phsyco babble & gut feelings


r1limited

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OK, I have a few superstitions and have learned to listen to my inner rider.  I do not race anymore and when I did I learned early on that its not worth a $6 trophy so here it is
 
From time to time not very often I will gear down and just cage it, no real reason other than I feel a tad off center and things are not right in my head.  Those are just gut instincts IMO and I listen to them all.  Some I say dude it is the burrito eat some imodium it will go away, while others are very apparent and head is not in the blue grove.  When I am angry I do not ride, I mean steaming angry being pissed no problem the curves straighten all that out.
 
Superstitions? Ya plenty, I wont watch crash videos or read crash stories.  I never laugh, critique or otherwise remark at another misfortune and get offs no matter how funny it may be, well unless its a bike thief then I say KARMA IS A FICKLE BIATCH.  I simply do not want that crap in my head so I don't watch or read.
 
Rituals?  Ya to me it is called foreplay it is a way of zen ting and yang, putting your head in the right place.  This is why I am an advocate of personal maintenance of your bike, you get to know it, you are in fact placing your life in the hands of it and I want it to know we are one.  Yes I talk to my bikes and i have names, the R1 is the Yeller Beast, the FZ is not really named, just called sweety
 
Physo Babble? well I guess all the above is Physco babble because you either get it or you think me nutz
 
Well that is it, I look at the bikes I have as an extension of me, I treat them with extreme respect as they let me play rough and they like it :)   Above all things riding has been therapy for me, it brings me to center when everything around me is falling down and apart.
 

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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I cannot agree with not watching crash videos or reading crash stories. I do not watch them for the carnage (I do not like that part) but I try to see what I would have done differently, and try to learn from other people mistakes so I do not make them.

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Read the PoPo report then. I leanr nothing from a video and nothing from reading. Crashes happen and you cant fix stupid, stay alert, stay aware ride like you are invisble and remember the street is not yor race track. Live to Ride another day :)
 
Thanks for the opinion

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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Hm. I actively try not to form rituals or habits. It is a way to mess with the brain and limit life. At least for me. Valentino Rossi has a ton of rituals, it puts him in a mode to perform. Used that way, it can be a way to focus, but there is the risk that if something upset the ritual, you will be upset and not be able to perform well or concentrate as you should because all you can think of is the ritual that went wrong. Franco Morbidelli is the exact opposite of Rossi; is is conscious about not getting stuck in habits or rituals. Seems both ways can work, though.
 
As to superstition... Over the years, I often encountered potentially dangerous situations on the road whenever I was riding slow, but very rarely when riding like an idiot. You know, come around a corner and find the road blocked or a car coming towards you in your lane or someone driving straight out in front of you when you have the right of way. Never gave it much thought, just figured I was lucky I wasn't going hard at the time. Not that I have always been lucky - I have 50+ broken bones and permanent soft tissue and nerve damage to prove it - but considering the amount of risk I have taken, I should have been dead many times over.
 
Then all of a sudden at the beginning of the 2015 season, I got this feeling quite often that I needed to take it easy when riding. Really easy. And we - our youngest son usually ride along on his Honda - encountered tons of potentially fatal stuff. Lots of near-misses due to other people's mistakes, episodes of just about every kind imaginable. It could be 5-10 incidents over a single 200-mile riding day. A rate I had never before experienced by far. WTF was going on? Of course, had we ridden fast, we would not have been at the scene when most of these things happened, but some - like a huge bulldozer cleaning up the road behind a blind corner without any warnings - was permanent enough that we would not have escaped.
 
On one particular piece of swervery where we tend to keep a good clip, I suddenly got this sensation I had to slow down. A lot. My son came over the radio and wanted to know why the hell I was riding like a granny. Literally around the next corner we met an old lady in a big SUV cutting the corner like was she on a race track. Only because we were going that slow, she had time to pull back just enough for us to squeeze past on the shoulder without being hit.
 
The same thing continued last season. This year, there have been much fewer of them, but they are still there. And I continue to listen to my inner voice. Plus I constantly keep far more in reserve than I used to between 1980 and 2015. Because I quite enjoy life and the thrill of speed is no longer worth the risk.
 
 
 
 

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For what it's worth, the gut feeling thing has a bit of scientific validity to it.
 
Although the enteric nervous system doesn't form conscious thoughts or aid in decision making, the 100 million or so nerve endings do a tad more than digest and move food along.
 
In other words, it is good to listen to your gut and also treat it well.
 
 

Everything went braap.

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I've got a few rituals myself but i guess in a way its more to make sure ive done everything i need to do. Helmet done up, jacket, gloves, boots and disc lock off. I dont need to check pants, if i leave home without those i have bigger problems than road rash.....
 
My biggest thing is treating my helmets with respect so when it comes time to 'using' them i can be sure its never fallen off a bench, got kicked while it was on the floor etc. Its on a shelf in the house or on my head.
 
I definitely think of my bike as a friend rather than just a thing. I share my best moments with it and its always there when i need to unwind ? sounds weird i know, but it is what it is

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Those gut feelings are the most common "inexplicable" event I encounter. That random tug at the back of your mind to remind you that you're a mortal and something scary might be around the corner. I find that the overwhelming majority of the time I get that sensation it was warranted, and I'm not sure how to reconcile that. It doesn't make sense when I'm riding like I stole it >95% of the time and I happen to tone it down just in the nick of time to avoid horrible danger.

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I've got a few rituals myself but i guess in a way its more to make sure ive done everything i need to do. Helmet done up, jacket, gloves, boots and disc lock off. I dont need to check pants, if i leave home without those i have bigger problems than road rash..... 
My biggest thing is treating my helmets with respect so when it comes time to 'using' them i can be sure its never fallen off a bench, got kicked while it was on the floor etc. Its on a shelf in the house or on my head.
 
I definitely think of my bike as a friend rather than just a thing. I share my best moments with it and its always there when i need to unwind ? sounds weird i know, but it is what it is
It's only a ritual when you must check everything along the same pattern, if you feel disturbed if you check your disc lock before the helmet, for instance. Having sensible routines is good, I think. It's when you need exact rituals for things to feel right that I tend to get a bit uneasy - it's getting close to compulsive acts. Or maybe it's just me  P-)
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I don't have rituals or superstitions but there have been a number of times just before or right when I got on the bike that I've felt a little off balance and questioned whether I should ride or not but I've always shaken it off with some confidence. Told myself it was just a feeling and ignored it. A wheelie for a shot of adrenaline usually makes everything right again. 

Beemer

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USMCFieldMP
I cannot agree with not watching crash videos or reading crash stories. I do not watch them for the carnage (I do not like that part) but I try to see what I would have done differently, and try to learn from other people mistakes so I do not make them.
 
I tend to agree with this. I don't watch them often, but there are things to be learned. Human nature and human tendencies is the main one. I usually watch the other cars in the video to see if I can pick the one that's going to cause the accident... see if they gave any hints that should have been picked up, etc.
 
I think Snowcat's crash video is one that I can immediately recall making a mental note on. He's on a six-lane divided road about 100 yards or so behind a car... just the two of them, no one else. After passing an intersection, the car starts to slow down, so Snowcat goes to pass him. As he's passing on the left, the car hits the brakes and swings over to get into a turn lane, hitting Snowcat in the process. The takeaway, imo... is that when someone starts acting lost or slowing down for no reason, not to just pass them... especially not without significantly slowing down. It's easy to analyze the video and figure out what could have been done differently - and I think that's what we need to do - but watching the video and imagining myself in the same situation (before making the mental note), I doubt I'd have done anything differently. Just another lost idiot driving slowly. It's important to remember that lost idiots make irrational decisions in the heat of the moment... especially when their GPS refreshes and tells them to make an immediate u-turn.
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Just watched the video. I see that kind of idiot behaviour almost daily. People just switching lane without indicating, without even checking there is room for them. They just seem to think "oh, I want to be where they are" and turn the wheel. So often cars in the lane they drive into must stand on their brakes to prevent an accident. So the important bit is to expect the unexpected. Just be honest about mistakes you've made yourself over the years, where you were saved by someone else that paid attention, or because nothing was there. If you made them, so could somebody else. Plus a ton more. People are imperfect and make mistakes. To survive in the long run, it is best to anticipate as many of them as possible and act accordingly.

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There was a day where I let out a big sigh and didn't want to ride but my wife wanted to ride, and we rode, and she ended up dropping her bike for the first time.
 
Then there was a time I had a head cold and sighed and didn't want to ride, but it was the only sunny day in the forecast for the next 2 weeks, so I rode and when I was done I forgot to put the kickstand down, and nearly dropped the bike, hurt my back and shoulder but was able to keep it up and bring it up it before it fell.
 
From then on, whenever I prep my bike to ride and then I let out a big sigh, I turn back around and remove my gear and enjoy my day some other way. Oh yeah, I now also do not bother to ride when I have any type of cold symptoms or head stuffiness.

I visit here at least once a week.  Got any questions, ask and I will answer!

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Funny you mention this, I just had this talk with a co-worker the other day about it. If I'm planning to ride and I see a news story about a motorcycle crash on TV, I consider it bad juju and postpone my ride until I forget about it. The some goes if I see one of those damn lawyer ads asking if you've been injured in a motorcycle accident. Dumb, i know.

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I've got a few rituals myself but i guess in a way its more to make sure ive done everything i need to do. Helmet done up, jacket, gloves, boots and disc lock off. I dont need to check pants, if i leave home without those i have bigger problems than road rash..... 
My biggest thing is treating my helmets with respect so when it comes time to 'using' them i can be sure its never fallen off a bench, got kicked while it was on the floor etc. Its on a shelf in the house or on my head.
 
I definitely think of my bike as a friend rather than just a thing. I share my best moments with it and its always there when i need to unwind ? sounds weird i know, but it is what it is
It's only a ritual when you must check everything along the same pattern, if you feel disturbed if you check your disc lock before the helmet, for instance. Having sensible routines is good, I think. It's when you need exact rituals for things to feel right that I tend to get a bit uneasy - it's getting close to compulsive acts. Or maybe it's just me  P-)
 
 
Well then, label me compulsive haha. It all has to be in order or i just start again. Right side always before the left. I know its weird but it works for me to make sure everything is the same (or as close to) every time
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Always listen to your gut.
 
That "gut feeling" has helped us survive since the beginning of human life.

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Dont know why but have always thought it bad luck to give a vehicle a name.
Shhhhh! The boat guys will be pissed... 
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I look at websites that contain motorcycle post crash gore. It makes me drive safer. Kinda always got Jimeny Cricket on my shoulder because of it sayin "you fuck up and your legs coming off and that semi truck is gonna squish your guts into patè". Makes me ride somewhat safer and be very cognisant of what I need to keep my eyes on.
 
A lot of people don't know this but the eyes are connected also to the spinal cord , you don't see just using your eyes. Blind people can tell you which hand you have held up so there's a lot more to seeing that helps you avoid danger. Intuition I think is caliberated to that to some degree but intuition is also using sub-conscious for data ,so it's gathers information and imagination to project a notion of foresight.
 
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

With you on the "gut feelings". I usually say a prayer and act extra aware. I no longer ride when angry as I'm clouded.
 
My ritual since I got my first bike 10 years ago is tapping the tank 3 times after I start her up. Kinda like petting a horse before the journey.
 
Weird but oh well!

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I always pat and rub the tank and windscreen depending on what bike I leave behind saying sorry baby. Nothing weird about that

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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