Re: Best Statement on this list so far...

["Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: "Bruno Valeri" <bvaleri@xxxxxxxxxxxx>


>> But I am talking about somewhat different things:
>
> That's what I was referring to.
>
>> The facet of this conversation that you are overlooking is that
>> Unconscious Competency can be applied to many different tasks
>
> Au contraire. That's the facet that I was specifically
> highlighting.
> That it's not a rarified atmosphere where only the elite tread ie
> fighter pilots.
> Everyone does it. You develop what you need to develop and then
> you don't think about it much.

I believe you oversimplify by comparing the state of Unconscious Competence 
attained by a fighter pilot to that attained by some who can walk and chew 
gum at the same time. It like comparing the writings of Shakespeare to 
saying "we all do it" because all of us on this list write words via email. 
On some level, what you say is true, but it's not what I'm talking about.



> Re: panic braking, you can develop that too if you practice
> regularly.

Not so quickly, Grasshopper :-) What I hope you are NOT saying is that if a 
rider practices long and hard enough, they will become a "Braking God." That 
would imply that knowledge is attained through practice. I think we both 
know that people can learn from a variety of sources: self-discovered trial 
and error (which may occur during practice), reading, taking courses, taking 
classes, one-on-one instruction, and so on. Stats show that "self-learned" 
riders do a little better than "taught by a friend or relative" riders in 
the rate of incidents they experience, but they do considerably worse than 
those who are taught by classes such as MSF. This shows us that people 
really can't become Brake Gods unless they make a *serious* investment to 
first learn, and then practice, and even then, many will fall well short of 
being Brake Gods.

Back to my point that ABS on a bike is a Good Thing(TM) for most riders in 
most situations. Brake Gods excepted.





> Don't need to be a fighter pilot or elite person.
> Just have the desire to develop a skill and devote some
> consistent practice time.
> You'd be surprised how your skill level improves.

Nope, I'm not surprised at all by how my skill level improves. Been there, 
done that, studied the field. Decades of study, introspection, coaching and 
mentoring (on the giving and receiving side) have shown me that even though 
skill levels improve, people typically fall short of peak performance. 
That's just human nature. That's why so few of us can hold a candle to a 
Rossi or a Fogerty. And it's not for lack of "desire to develop a skill" or 
for lack of devoting "some consistent practice time."

Again, back to my point that few of us two-wheelers can ever be genuinely 
called Brake Gods, in spite of riding for decades without an incident, or 
practicing.




>> So I would not  typify what I'm talking about as "We are only
>> talking of simple things here."
>
> In essence we are.
> Pick a skill and practice. You'll get better.
> You won't become a Rossi, but you'll get to the point that you
> can do it without thinking much about it.

As I said, virtually all of us on this list can safely bring their 
motorcycle to a stop most of the time. That's the level that you are talking 
about where a rider is able to apply his brakes without thinking about it 
(unconscious competent) and not crash. Few of us two wheelers can 
consistently and spontaneously apply and hold brakes at the limits of 
adhesion without locking up. And that's where ABS is a Good Idea(TM) on a 
motorcycle. Riders who can do this are rare. And those rare birds don't 
*need* ABS. Not *wanting* ABS on a bike is a different matter.



> Don't ask me how I know.
> I just know that I know   :-)))))

Do a little research on what potentially lies beyond being an Unconscious 
Competent, and compare it to your sentence above. You may decide to discuss 
this with me offline.

- -Steve Makohin
 '01 R1100S/ABS
 Oakville, Ontario, Canada 

------------------------------