The Upper Half of the Motorcycle: On the Unity of Rider and Machine

Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
FOREWORD
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
PART 1 IT’S A MIRACLE THAT MOTORCYCLING WORKS AT ALL!
	Beginnings
		Our cerebrum, an “aftermarket accessory”
	Systems and Subsystems
		Is humankind really too dumb?
		Our “built-in” speed
		When two people do the same thing
	Foresight
		What he doesn’t know can’t frighten him
		Maintaining a safe following distance
		Our world
		Clueless but full of hope
		Knowledge and action
	Adaptation
		From a young engineer’s report about his participation in a crash test
		On the “center line”
		The first liberated creatures
		Can’t do without them: programs that control actions
		Man, the chameleon
		Mixed programs
		The great opportunity: acquired programs
		Specialists at birth or with practice
		Use it or lose it
	Action Programs for Motorcycling
		Why nothing feels right when changing motorcycles
		Balancing act
	Some History
		The Physics of Riding 1: How the running bike became a riding bike
		The amazing foray into single-track
		Was the penny-farthing really such a foolish idea?
	Man-Machine Systems
		The development and fine-tuning of action programs
		Two subsystems meld into a new system
		The man-machine system: a complicated matrix-patrix relationship
		Greater than the sum of the parts
		Hand training
	Inborn Programs
		Flawless actions without conscious “how-to” knowledge
		The immovable handlebar
		The usefulness of handlebars
		The Physics of Riding 2: Motorcycles and children’s scooters, the “skibob” and the “velogemel”
		The proof is in the arm muscles
		The usefulness of throttles
	What Do We Trust?
		The power of insight . . . and its uselessness
PART 2 MIND AND GUT
	The Workings of the Brain
		Ancient, but not obsolete
		The nitty-gritty on parts of the brain and their functions
		A wonderful latecomer
		The pros and cons of redundancy
		When things get crowded in your head: limited channel capacity—in sensory perception and in actions
		Cerebrum and spontaneous action
		The conscious self and the subconscious self
		Close to, and further from, the self
		Depth dimensions of the subconscious self: feelings and moods
		The ball toss as a key example
		The parable of the centipede
		Complex precision movements and successful movement plans
	Brain Activities “Translated” into Actions
		No movement complex without the movement plan
		The ideal line: the razor-sharp divide between confidence and terror
		The Nürburgring Nordschleife controversy
		Acceleration capabilities and the ideal line
		The turn-in point
		A postscript on the ideal line: the “racing line” and the “fighting line”
		Late turn-ins and the ideal line: a prime example
		The actions of the movement plan and their execution
		The coaster experiment
		Why it’s a good idea to look far ahead
		Throwing a ball and riding a motorcycle: closed and open action programs in movement plans
		“Decoupling” one’s gaze from a focus on the road
		Trigger movement and response movement
		Thoughts are forces
		Mirror Neurons
	Dangers and Risks
		Paying attention without getting involved
		Example of a threat that’s hard to visualize
		As if riding in a trance
		Lying to ourselves: the risk composite
	Trust in the Subconscious Self
		Riding from memory
		A window to the unknown
		Self-observation as a disturbance
		Attention and conscious awareness as disadvantages
		Self-awareness and verbalization as hindrances
		The influence of an audience on self-observation
		The Arlberg method
		Zen in the Art of Archery
		Disturbance by self-conscious awareness—does this make any sense?
		Case study: the raised beam
	The Price We Have to Pay
		Creeping blockades
PART 3 THE QUESTION OF KARL V
	The Concept of Integration
		A new unit with a higher level of integration
		More than just words and sayings
		On merging driver and vehicle
		Are tools the exclusive province of human beings?
	The motorcycle as tool
		Tool or equipment?
		A specified purpose or an end in itself
		And the motorcycle?
	Man, Objects, and Environment
		Not environment and not object
		But what then?
		Using tools to perfection
	Interface Displacement
		Artificial and functional organs
		Technology of tools
		Things we can put down or swap
		Tools as organ replacements
		The division between function fulfillment and the control of that function
	Integration and Super-ordinate Systems
		Artificial organs and integrated artificial organs
		Just like using a prosthesis
		Interface is not the same as point of contact
		Classic craftsman’s tools
		The dangers of dis-integration
		Orchestras, flocks, and fish
		Sensing without sensors?
		How vision works
		Transfer to the tactile
		Dis-integration in racing
		Separation of the experienced interface from the physical interface
		Rainey’s constant reminder (and two other witnesses)
		Hass’s concepts: supplemental organs; extra-physical organs
		Dilution of the “integration” concept
	Integration in Motorcycling
		Static friction and sliding friction
		Distinct evidence experiences
		The protective nature of evidence experiences
		The impossibility of riding a motorcycle fast without interface displacement
		The limits of slide
		Kamm’s Circle
		Bowl and marble: a model
	The Transition to Integration
		An equestrian example
		Getting into the ride
		The influence of mental preparation on reaction time
		“Slipping in,” all the way to the edges of the vehicle
		Reaction time in territorial animals
		Taking surroundings into account
		The phenomenon of “mysterious message” transmission
	The Effects of the Deep, Subconscious Self on Integration
		Training progress and hitting the plateau
		A different kind of judgment
		Minimally fatiguing riding
		Flow, simultaneously helper and enemy
		“Built-in” parts and self-observation
PART 4 WHAT’S LEFT FOR THE HEAD TO DO?
	Tasks for the Conscious Self
		A very long list!
		Defense against external dangers: forming hypotheses
	Self-Perception
		Realistic perception of oneself, required
		Market psychology and buyer perception
		The lean angle and its limits
		Hanging off
		Parts and attendant dangers
		Monitoring the self-image
		Monitoring the attitude toward risk
		Monitoring flow
		Everything that relates to planning
		Training, oriented toward the future
		Training as correction
		The danger of relapse
		Training intent
		Monitoring of hypothesis construction
		Objective self-criticism and object criticism
		The farmer’s swim trunks
		Becoming able to be self-critical
	Training Aids
	Mental Training
		A caveat
		Basic goals of mental training
		“Mental” in the context of motorcycle training
		Motivation and attitude
		“Over-relaxation”: a case in point
		Relaxation “chains”
		Vagotonal economy and the parasympathetic system
		A disinterested spectator or an actively involved participant
		Mental simulation: “dry run” training
	Specific Acts of Mental Training
		Interface displacement
		Mental preparation of complete action programs
		Watching for possible escape routes
		Sensitization
		Finding the gaps!
		Mentally preparing to evade an accident
		Keeping action programs at the ready: escapes offroad
		Figure-ground reversible images
		Mentally preparing to increase the lean angle
		The limitations of training in real situations
		Combating the enemy: fear
		“Tension release in seconds” method
	Conceptual Aids
		Preparatory and accompanying conceptual aids
		Examples of conceptual aids
		Plateaus and leaps forward
		Developing your own conceptual aids
	Training Objectives
		Keeping objectives at the forefront
		Objectives in the form of preemptive corrections: reminder stickers
		Use of reminder stickers in training courses
		Overcoming ingrained behaviors and actions that are undesirable
		Refreshing one’s objectives
		Calling up a complicated objective using keywords
PART 5 OBJECTIVES: GIVE THEM A TRY
	Looseness
		The “play face”
		When it rains: rules for wet, slippery conditions
	Rider and Road
		Hard-packed snow slipperiness
		The inborn hindrance to looking far ahead
	Riding Posture
		Rolling resistance and stabilization gas
	Objectives for Practice
		Applying the front brake hard and briefly until the wheel locks (maximum: 0.1 second)
	General Practice
		Escape offroad
EPILOGUE THE FASCINATION OF MOTORCYCLING
GLOSSARY
REFERENCES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR