Head Checks - Thanks to Gord

[BobFV1]

I did not want to hijack Gord's marvelous M2 exam thread, so I am starting a new one on an issue brought up over there.

Head checks.

In close to 30 years and hundreds of thousands of miles of riding, head checks have saved my ass several times. ABS never has.

Head checks - 1

ABS - O

I am so glad I get to teach my BRC students to do head checks. I can tell stories about how they have saved my ass.....

[TorqueMonsterMT-01]

I can tell stories about how they have saved my ass.....

I couldn't. There is no way I could remember them all.

Unless you trust fellow drivers completely, head checks are necessary.

[DJ Down Under]

Head checks save lives...both cars and bikes.

DJ

[Gord]

I am an active head checker when changing lanes, merging into traffic, etc. Where I fell down in my M2 was in consistently head-checking when making a turn. What I wasn't doing was checking over my right shoulder when making a right turn to make sure some cager wasn't trying to turn inside me (I always checked my mirrors though!). The rationale for the head check being that when in the left of the right (i.e. in the blocking position for the right lane), some a-hole might be tempted to take the space between you and the curb/shoulder. Similar situation for the left turn (only this time you are in the right of the left blocking position). It is one of the reasons that I tend to angle my bike across the lane when making a turn. I present a larger obstacle which hopefully would dissuade someone from thinking they can squeeze up beside me.

So to keep yourself safe during a turn:


Ensure you are in the proper blocking position for your lane
If at a full stop, angle your bike in the direction of the turn to present a bigger, more visible obstacle to traffic coming up behind you
Constantly scan the traffic (left-right-left) in the traffic flow you are turning into. And watch your mirrors for people coming up behind you
Head check before accelerating into the turn


I don't think there is anything here that you don't already know. But it is easy to take for granted doing these things.

[Tipstall]

If at a full stop, angle your bike in the direction of the turn to present a bigger, more visible obstacle to traffic coming up behind you

I don't think there is anything here that you don't already know. But it is easy to take for granted doing these things.

I think that is a good idea. Thanks for sharing.

Ken

[Bones]

Head checks have definately saved my hide more than a few times. I have found myself thinking "Whoa, where did THAT car come from all of a sudden?" on more than one occasion.

I am glad you brought this up, because it has forced me to think about some "rules" I might have for when to perform the head check. I realized I don't really have any formal rules on it. But I probably should develop some.

For example, I do have some "rules" I use for myself that have become second nature and that have saved my hide. One example would be riding with two fingers covering the clutch and brake levers whenever I am riding in an area that has ANY cross streets or near any traffic or if I think there is any possiblity of deer being around. Another is to flash a look to both rear view mirrors 100% of the time when I am slowing down to make a stop to make sure that any vehicle behind me is keeping safe distance and to make sure they won't plow into me. And I always leave more than a car length between me and the car in front of me at a stop so I can quickly dash to the side if someone comes careening up behind me at a stop.

I will have to give some thought the the head check "protocol" for myself, as I think it would be good to have one. Thanks!

Jeff

[Cheesedick]

All good stuff.

Another benefit of headchecks is they serve as sort of a "signal" to cagers.
"I am here", "See me!", "Don't Tread On Me!", that sort of thing.
When meeting a cage at an intersection if he has any chance at all of hitting me, accidentally or on purpose (Yes, somethimes they do that too), I make an exagerated, very pronounced head movement looking STRAIGHT at him. Sort of an "intimidation move" like cops are so fond of.
Particularly effective on soccer moms in mini vans. Unless they are on the cell, then you are screwed and must quickly shift from offense to defense.

Or you can rely on the no-head-check-biker-scowl approach our HD Bros are so fond of. Great intimidation factor. Must work too, you never hear of any of them getting hit.

Cheesedick

[Deans BMW]

Cheesedick, welcome to the Cafe, have a cup o and enjoy.

Please fill out your profile, improves the blend.

[socalrob]

Not to hijack this thread, but when on a freeway & wanting to change lanes, how many headchecks. In traffic I normally look for the hole, signal, head check, front check, head check, & then change lanes. I just feel better with the second head check as I figure a bad lane change on an LA freeway is potential disaster - ie - death. OTOH, every head check carries some risk of running into something, like debris that suddenly appears, while doing the head check.

Regarding right hand turns, good advice. Seems like most roads here in LA have curbs as opposed to sholders, so its pretty easy to not leave enough room for a car to get between the bike & the curb.

A month or two back riding to work I was filtering along a freeway transition ramp, 2 lanes wide, I'm splitting between the 2 lanes, cage in the right lane was blocking me so I went to move over to their right, plenty of room between the car & the fog line, was about to take it, when out of nowhere a MC rider came flying up the fog line at about 50 mph. I only see another bike on that ramp about one every other week.

Sometimes its hard for me to remember the head check when I'm in creeping traffic & I THINK I know where everything is. I guess thats the point.

[Gord]

My instructor stated that the following is a minimum when doing a lane change:


Do at least a mirror check to ensure that a lane change is even feasible
If feasible, turn indicator on
Head check to make sure there is nothing in the blind spot
Execute the lane change and establish lane position
Mirror check to understand the new world that exists behind you in your new lane


A double head check is not a bad thing as long as it does not take you forever. The longer you run with an indicator blinking with no merge will just lead some cager to think "there is an old guy riding a bike" driving with his indicator on forever. So timing and decisiveness are a good thing, along with a head check.

[DJ Down Under]

I find myself doing the odd head check for no reason other to check what's around me...and not just for when I'm about to change lane.

DJ

[R4R&R]

I think head checks are an important part of driving ANYTHING - hell if most of the car drivers that almost ran me off the road did a head check, it would've been avoided. I remember on the old board, a fellow named Lance, said it was dangerous to takes your eyes off the road in front of you, and swore that having the fisheye mirrors were a necessity. It sounded like he NEVER did the head check thing.

I try to stay aware enough all the time to know whether a vehicle is in one of my blindspots and there have been a couple times a last second head check avoided an accident. I prefer to ride/drive without anything to each side of me - it's always good to have at least one escape route!

[Lance1150]

I don't like to look away from the road... it's scarry to be zooming ahead and looking someplace else... I SWEAR by my fish-eye mirrors, on my car, on my motorcycles... once you have them you'll be hard-pressed to drive/ride without them...

yes, a mirror that shows you your blind spot can keep your head looking ahead, with a quick eye glance to the mirror... I've tried doing these so called vital 'head checks' and you just can't see all that much, compared to a fish-eye mirror.

Some day, all cars and motorcycles will be required to have them, mirrors without are dangerous!

That's my two cents on head checks.

[BobFV1]

yes, a mirror that shows you your blind spot can keep your head looking ahead, with a quick eye glance to the mirror... I've tried doing these so called vital 'head checks' and you just can't see all that much, compared to a fish-eye mirror.

Lance -

I believe you are advocating using a mirror only and not doing head checks. If that is in fact what you are saying here, then I want to go on the record, for the sake of any less experienced riders who may actuallly come here for riding tips to take out on the road with them, that is the stupidest fucking thing I have ever heard.

If I misunderstood your post then I retract the statement.

[jamming]

Bob.........Ditto.

DJ, I do the same thing, I think of riding a bike like working on a flightline, if your head aint on a swivel you'll get dead...fast
Roger

[Deano]

I have caught myself glancing at where my mirrors should be and doing headchecks when walking down K street during lunch hour. Can't imagine not doing this when riding. I often find a stealth cab in my blind spot.

[DarthRider]

Welcome back Lance...where ya' been? We need a stir and a shake every now and then.
I was hoping though you had learned better than relying on those goofy little mirrors to do what your neck/head/eyeballs do better.
Welcome back anyway...at least until you piss *me* off! Usually takes a week or two.
Keep up the good work!

Dave

[Deans BMW]

I think that those of us with flight training and an accumulation of flight hours find that Head Checking is a natural extension of "Scanning" and it all becomes the inate increased awareness of all that is happining around you, both sight and sounds.

Lance, good to hear from you again.

[AZBMWRIDER]

I find myself doing the odd head check for no reason other to check what's around me...and not just for when I'm about to change lane.

DJ

Cross-Check + Interpretation + 360 Degree Awareness =

Coordinated Safe Control of your Motorcycle...

[geechie]

When I ride a bicycle, I attach a small mirror to the left leg of my glasses. The actual mirror is about an inch square and when in place is about 3 inches forward of my glasses. I can, with small movements of my head to either side, scan the road behind me for traffic, make sure the Pegster is still on my wheel, or check to see if someone is starting a sprint. On a bicycle, you really don't want to make big movements with any part of your body. You get a rep as a squirrely rider and nobody wants to ride with you.

On (or in) a more stable platform, head checks can be performed quickly and safely by almost any driver/rider. Like Bob, my ass has been saved many times by a timely head check. Who am I to argue with success?

George

[Lance1150]

A mirror is a tool, if there is nothing in the mirror then there are only invisible things there, and I don't mind hitting those.

Maybe 'what' a head check is is the problem... is it a little glance to the side? I do that, out of habit, even when I KNOW there's nothing there after looking in my mirrors (fish-eye). But I don't, swing my head way over my shoulder to 'try' to look behind me, I don't want to look away from the road enough not to have a peripherial vision view of what's coming, and I can see much better with my mirror (fish-eye).

Anyway, it's a preaching to the choir thing, if you'd put fish-eyes on your bike and use them you'd see what I mean.

:058:

[socalrob]

Lance,

What size (inches diameter?) are your fisheyes?

I've driven suburbans & pickups as work trucks for years, and often these have no vision out the back and limited out any windows behind driver. I am used to fully using mirrors on these vehicles.

Of course a mistake in these is unlikely to kill me, and if I know what I'm doing (plenty of turn signals, slow & deliberate lane changes) I'm unlikely to kill anyone else.

After truck mirrors I've been very disappointed in bike mirrors. Hard to see much of anything, I suspect thats why me (and others here) are reluctant to think we could actually see anything in a little fisheye.

But I'm open to new ideas, so maybe the time has come.

BTW, my headchecks are my best way of judging speed of things in lanes beside me prior to my lane change, I have a hard time judging closing speed in the mirrors. May be my bad.