Know your self & know your machine & know the limitations of both.
By doing the same thing over & over you build "muscle memory" & reaction times speed up.
Learn to trust instinct more than a set of "rules".
Explanations of why something happens are good info but you don't have time to review "the steps" when you realize you are in a curve with a decreasing radius, only experience will keep the shiny side up.
...
Absolutely.
Returning to motorcycling after twelve years away (due to physical disabilities, now taken care of), I found myself a bit terrified at first because I was trying to think through all the things I needed to do to make the bike go the way I wanted. Too slow, too many things happening too fast ... couldn't keep up. I was frustrated: I used to do this so easily and so well. Yet, I noted that when I stopped trying to think about it, my body simply did the right thing. Observing this happening was fascinating. I started riding with a different mindset: "Okay, my body has done this oh so many times before. I'll let it do what it does and observe what's going on as it does it." That's when riding started to be fluid and fun again. I went slowly at first, keeping an eye on what was going on and on what my body was doing. Now my mind and body are back together, working as one to make the bike work as I observe traffic, where I want to be, where I want to go, and sends those messages on to my hindbrain and muscles without thinking about "how" so much.
The rules are there in the back of my mind as guidelines, much like the rules of English grammar when I'm writing, or the rules of mathematical computation when I'm sitting down to frame a problem that requires calculation, or the rules of composition when I've taken out my camera and start to look at the world with the intent of making photographs. They are there as a framework upon which to build observations and teach my body what to do when it gets a particular input or stimulus. But they are fluid and slide around as conditions demand, as I adapt to different bikes, different roads, different tires, different conditions, etc.
This raises an interesting question: How do we train ourselves and new riders to learn how to do this thing in the first place? Re-learning how to ride was an interesting process because deep down under the 12 years of absence from riding, all that muscle memory and observational data was already there for me, built up by three decades of riding experience and training for road and track. I had studied hard way back when, reading books, going to classes, talking to more experienced riders, and testing, testing, testing by practicing how to make a motorcycle do what I wanted under every situation that presented itself to me. I made (and still make) many small mistakes ... everyone does ... and I use them to learn further. Now, how do we impart that knowledge for others eager to ride the first time, or how to improve their riding?
Well, the answer is
we have to use words to describe archetypal rules and basic practices that establish a norm around which the mind can frame the 'problem' and its possible solutions. And once they have that, they have to go out and see how it works in practice, by practice. Watching other good riders do it is very helpful, once enough of the basics are in the individual's musculature and mind so that they can see what those riders are actually doing. No amount of words—rules, advice, whatever—can replace the willingness to practice, practice, practice ... while observing objectively what works and what doesn't, and recognizing the difference.
I don't pretend to have specific answers for everyone or every situation. I'm more concerned with framing the problem in such a way that others can take that framework and put it to use in order to learn how to improve their riding.
There's risk involved, of course. In addition to being open to observing and practicing, you have to be courageous enough to engage a little risk, and wise enough to know when, and how much, is acceptable and non-lethal. It's a tricky thing...!
G
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If you're afraid to fall down, you'll never stand up.
