Which takes more concentration, bike or car?

Rising is easy, so neeeer lol.

Thats my favorite color for the er6.

haha. thanks mine too. I wasn't gonna get one til I hunted that colour down! Makes all the difference for me.

Beabert, the margin for error is much smaller on a bike and consequences are far more severe even in what would be considered a minor incident for a car.
There are days that I will not even get on the bike regardless of commitments if I am not at my best.

Bike...

You can get away with so much more in a car. As to the original post, driving at 70mph and straying over white lines will dissapear after a while. You're probably thinking too much about the steering so basically zig zagging; soon enough you'll automatically make small adjustments without even thinking.

Originally Posted by TazDaz

Bike...

You can get away with so much more in a car. As to the original post, driving at 70mph and straying over white lines will dissapear after a while. You're probably thinking too much about the steering so basically zig zagging; soon enough you'll automatically make small adjustments without even thinking.

I dont really go over the lines just its harder to keep it central, went out on the bike today, i love it apart from the cold, so much easier to judge things.

Originally Posted by MattCollins

Beabert, the margin for error is much smaller on a bike and consequences are far more severe even in what would be considered a minor incident for a car.
There are days that I will not even get on the bike regardless of commitments if I am not at my best.

Its not a smaller margin in the scenario, road positioning is alot easier, you can ride a bike with no hands easily if you didnt need the accelorator hand, as steering very natural using body weight. Be interesting to see if i feel the same in 12 months though.

Remember we are not talking about which is more dangerous.

Another question, which did you all find harder to learn?

[Mej]

Originally Posted by MattCollins

There are days that I will not even get on the bike regardless of commitments if I am not at my best.

sadly this is true for me, i would not ride my bike if i felt fu*ked, but sometimes i will get in the cage if i have to go somewhere.

Beabert, I think you missed my point. Bikes are much less forgiving of lapses in concentration or errors in judgement... so requires an extra degree of vigilance.
It sounds to me like you are more relaxed and perhaps able to concentrate more easily (familiar environment) on the bike than in the car.

Originally Posted by beabert

when travelling at 70mph on a dual carraigeway i find i have to constantly make small corrections to the steering, it doesn't take much to stray over a while line or drift to the left, this pushes the concentration level way up.

Going right back to the original post...

If you're struggling holding a straight line, you will probably find that it's down to one of two things. Where you are looking or your grip on the wheel.

You'll know all about target fixation from riding and the effect is just the same in a car. Look further ahead and move your eyes around more (left, right, ahead, close and so on - don't just follow the car in front of you). As for your grip, it may be that you're holding the wheel a little tightly. Relax. Fingertips is all it really needs when following a straight path.

Of course, it may be something completely different but in my experience, these are the two most common reasons.

Originally Posted by MattCollins

Beabert, I think you missed my point. Bikes are much less forgiving of lapses in concentration or errors in judgement... so requires an extra degree of vigilance.
It sounds to me like you are more relaxed and perhaps able to concentrate more easily (familiar environment) on the bike than in the car.

In what way? less forgiving because the chance of hurting oneself makes you concentrate harder?

That does not work with me as im more worried about hurting others, and as a car is more likely to hurt others, i think my increased concentration is when driving. I dont for one minute think this is typical of others lol, i am very odd. I intend to return to this thread in the future so see if i feel the same once im more familiar with the car.

Originally Posted by Woz

Going right back to the original post...

If you're struggling holding a straight line, you will probably find that it's down to one of two things. Where you are looking or your grip on the wheel.

You'll know all about target fixation from riding and the effect is just the same in a car. Look further ahead and move your eyes around more (left, right, ahead, close and so on - don't just follow the car in front of you). As for your grip, it may be that you're holding the wheel a little tightly. Relax. Fingertips is all it really needs when following a straight path.

Of course, it may be something completely different but in my experience, these are the two most common reasons.

And woz, i see where you coming from, but i have never had an issue with target fixation even on the bike. I always look well ahead, to be fair im not bad at all, its mostly in the dark i really notice it lol, but its worse too on the bike at night.

Like others have said im new to this, so notice it more. It will be normal in a few months, and the corrections will be automatic and trivial. Its just something i never had to think about on the bike, even when i was learning, if only i could steer the car by leaning lol.

But you only have one set of brakes to worry about in a car. I know which vehicle I'd rather emergency stop in. And you don't have to worrry about slippery white lines/drain covers/pot holes.