About « Better Motorcycling

About

Officer Ruben Torres

Ruben Torres is a 20 year veteran police officer, a crash specialist and a member of the motor unit.

Officer Torres became an aggressive advocate for highway safety regrettably after his father was killed in an auto collision.

He formerly served as the departments’ traffic services coordinator, which included duties such as developing location specific strategies for highway safety programs; crash analysis; traffic studies; investigation and reconstruction of serious injury and fatal crashes.

Motorcycling became an instant passion from the minute he road his first motorcycle in 1985. Although he has been riding for years, he did not have any formal rider training until basic police training. This led to a constant pursuit of better motorcycling and a desire to share important information to help every rider.

One of his passions is to help reduce the number and severity of avoidable crashes. Through his research and job duties, he has come to realize that most of the carnage on our roads are preventable.

Our only request…if you have benefited from anything on this blog, please pass it on to others or refer them to this blog. Knowledge is the key and a smart rider is the best program for better motorcycling.

Our objective: to present information briefly, clearly and concisely for riders (or future riders) to ponder and hopefully apply. If one crash has been avoided, then the time and effort has all been worth it.

Ride safe and God bless!

6 Comments

6 responses so far ↓

kitchencabinet100 // 12/19/2008 at 7:50 am

Greetings from African Long Distance Off Road Riding academy, South Africa. Enjoyed your blog and applaud your content, efforts and passion.
Jay Green // 03/11/2009 at 7:12 pm

I also applaude your effort, thank you.
Wilson Roque // 05/04/2009 at 6:59 pm

Enjoyed very much. Lived in Florida for 10 years and got back to my home country, Brazil, 3 years ago. Good job. God Bless you!
four bits // 05/13/2009 at 12:38 am

Always great content. I tell everyone I talk to about motorcycling to check it out.
Thanks.
Kevin Brehmer // 09/05/2009 at 11:45 pm

Wish all cops were this passionate for safety. Thanks for posting.
Mike Simmons // 10/05/2009 at 12:15 am

Thank you very much. Great blog with life-saving information. God bless!

Myth Exposed: “Avoid Using the Front Brakes Because it Will Throw You Over the Handlebars”

Myth: Avoid using the front brakes because it will throw the rider over the handlebars. ***** Comment: In reality, the front brake is responsible for 60 to 70 percent of the bike's stopping power and should be used. In emergency braking situations, the effective center of mass of the bike shifts forward toward the front wheel and tire, which creates a higher adhesion value to the front tire that tends to prevent the front wheel from locking unless the brake torque is extremely high. Another consequence is that the traction force in the rear wheel and tire is reduced, allowing the rear wheel to lock up and slide. With braking action on the front wheel, the rear wheel, even if locked, will not move from side to side and the bike will continue straight. *****

Myths Exposed: “Accelerate Around a Turn to Regain Control”

Myths: Accelerate around a turn to regain control. ***** Comment: The safest way to approach a turn on a curve is to slow down before entering it. Acceleration should be undertaken only near the end of the curve. Rapidly applying the throttle in the turn, when the bike is in a lean could result in the rear tire breaking traction and the bike going into a slide. The same effect may occur with substantial rear-brake application. *****

Myths Exposed: “Speed up when bike Weaves or Wobbles”

Myth: Accelerate to recover from high speed instability (wobble or weave). ***** Comment: In actuality the rider should gently ease off the throttle, place his upper body on the gas tank to effectively change the center of gravity and graduall slow down. Initially accelerating may slow the wobble or weave until the next oscillation occurs, but then the result will be a much more pronounced instability. Hard braking will alter the suspension characteristics and may likewise cause a crash. *****