Target Fixation

[aussiebandit]

Notice that some wave back and others stare straight ahead, tightly gripping both grips, not daring to take a hand off.

There was a rider in our usual group that road like that even in a straight line.

Not only was it extremely frustrating but also dangerous.

This person would be in the middle of a 10 bike group and 5 riders in front of said person would make a left turn at an intersection, and said person would keep going straight ahead, meanwhile 3 of the 4 remaining bikes behind said person would turn left, and said person would keep going.  It was then up to 'tail end Charlie' to go and chase said person, get it's attention and almost force it to turn around.  On more than one occaison it was me who had to do the chasing (honestly it wasn't hard - I don't think they'd ever gone over 100km/h) and had to pull in front of it, progressively slow down and wave it to a stop.

It's response "I was wondering where everyone had gone".

The scary thing is that this person drove their Landcruiser the same way....

My ex brother-in-law (motorcycle cop) always said that he didn't trust a rider that didn't 'have a look at the scenery', it wasn't until I met the above person that I realised what he meant.....

[smooth operator]

I think it all comes down to seat time. Just being comfortable on the bike,weather it be a dirt bike or street bike.Knowing what the bike and tires are capable of. And what you can do with confedence.(leaving room on the steet for the unexpected of course.) The more you ride,the more you know the bike and what you can do on it.
  And riding with a good rider can help as well. I don't mean someone that has to show off and show you how fast he can go.Or push you above your limits of comfort. But someone that can show his/her lines and smoothness.

[aussiebandit]

I think it all comes down to seat time. Just being comfortable on the bike,weather it be a dirt bike or street bike.Knowing what the bike and tires are capable of. And what you can do with confedence.(leaving room on the steet for the unexpected of course.) The more you ride,the more you know the bike and what you can do on it.
  And riding with a good rider can help as well. I don't mean someone that has to show off and show you how fast he can go.Or push you above your limits of comfort. But someone that can show his/her lines and smoothness.

Totally agree - but there are still some people, regardless of how long they've been riding, that just shouldn't be on a bike, or the road for that matter.