Scanning the Instruments (or more gps safety)

[Albert]

I didn't want to hijack the gps saftey thread so I started this one (obviously ). Something came to mind when reading the responses there that seems relevent to the discussion about information feedback becoming a distraction.

 

When I was learning to fly back in the dark ages (no we rarely had to crank the prop by hand), one of things we were taught early on about instruments, when flying VFR, was to scan them rather than read them. The idea is you bring your eyes into the cockpit long enough to scan the instruments but do not process the information. After you've returned vision outside the cockpit you mentally process what you've just seen.

 

Now this sound like an extremely convoluted way to read the instruments but it's surprising how well it works with practice. Your brain takes a very minimal amount of time to register visually what it sees, it's the processing of the information that takes the time.

 

This becomes a particularly useful tool when combined with processing expected feedback. Most people who ever take a peek into a cockpit on even a simple aircraft are taken aback by the seemingly endless array of instrumentation. While it's true there's lots of dials and guages, pilots know there's a subset that are used at different points during a flight. If you scan the instruments, and your brain is trained to recognize the "normal" readings, when one is out of bounds it sets off mental alarms (gee the number 4 engine has quit, or my feul level is dangerously low, etc.).

 

To apply this to a motorcycle think of what's critical feedback and what's strictly informational. If I'm approaching a known speed trap area then scanning the speedometer takes precedent over how much feul I have remaining. If I'm approaching an exit on an unfamiliar interstate maybe the gps is more important than my current oil temperature, and so on. If I'm setting up for a turn then the most important feedback control is not on the dash panel at all. The point is I can scan the gauges, quickly return my eyes to what's around me, and then process the data. As I said, it may sound ridiculously complicated but it's really not and it's amazingly effective at returning your attention where it needs to be.

[philbytx]

GPS? We don't need no stinkin' GPS !

 

IMHE, flying and riding are quite different....

On the bike, I find I have no need for a GPS. The route is firstly in my head, secondly on a sequential trip sheet and thirdly, if I find myself needing to re-route or even get lost , I simply check the map. So, in my case when riding, I simply concentrate on the road/situational awareness and only occasionally glance down at the primary "instruments" speedo/tach and RID/dash which, basically, only has idiot lights on it anyway. Actually, I can pretty much guesstimate my road speed by feel and gear. Oh! And whenever I approach an off ramp, especially in busy traffic, the last thing I would want to glance at is a GPS

 

Flying is really quite different from riding.....and within THAT "quite different" you have the "sub-quite differents" of VFR and IFR.

 

IMHE, the situational awareness required riding a motorcycle is way different than that of, say, flying IFR. You really don't depend upon the instruments on a motorcycle...really it is only the controls and control inputs.

[Albert]

I guess I didn't do such a good job in my comments. I wasn't advocating gps for anyone in any situation. Yes IFR and VFR flying both differ from motorcycling and again that wasn't my point. We all glean how ever much, or little, information we want from whatever the available source. My point was there's techniques to enhance the extraction by minimizing the distraction.

 

Now, let me tell you about my analogy between boats and lawn tractors . . .

[Paul Mihalka]

When riding the bike, I'm operating continously (I hope) by IFR. I Follow Roads... And that's how I flew 50 years ago...

[tallman]

Albert,

Scanning is a good technique.

However, I feel flying and riding are quite different.

Consequences are very immediate on the motorcycle.

In a plane, there is more time to realize you've screwed the pooch and

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[W8NONU]

Momentary Hijack in progress

 

Hey now, I like my GPS, but being an Anal Retentive planner, I have the route I'm taking in my head. I will at times write the connecting highways on my tank bag map case and I even have a map or two in the tank bag. I like the GPS for when I may want to re-route. In a few seconds I have the information available. It also provides the tracking of my route. When I get to where I am going I can easily locate hotels with phone numbers, restaurants, etc and just push "route to it" and the little gizmo will take me right to it. The GPS is also very handy for sharing routes of good roads with others across the country. I have gotten some files from locals in areas I will be traveling through and get to see some sites or fun roads I would not have known were there otherwise. No doubt it can all be done with maps, but the GPS has some advantages even for the anal guys like me.

[AviP]

To apply this to a motorcycle think of what's critical feedback and what's strictly informational. If I'm approaching a known speed trap area then scanning the speedometer takes precedent over how much feul I have remaining. If I'm approaching an exit on an unfamiliar interstate maybe the gps is more important than my current oil temperature, and so on. If I'm setting up for a turn then the most important feedback control is not on the dash panel at all. The point is I can scan the gauges, quickly return my eyes to what's around me, and then process the data. As I said, it may sound ridiculously complicated but it's really not and it's amazingly effective at returning your attention where it needs to be.

I agree with Albert on the scan v/s read issue. But a bike having 3 primary guages (speedo, temp, fuel) and only 2 planes of motion, it's so much easier than a plane with 9 primary guages (airspeed, horizon, altimeter, vertical speed, attitude, heading, fuel, oil pressure, rpm) and 3 planes of motion.

 

Now if you add GPS on your bike, YMMV.

[leikam]

My point was there's techniques to enhance the extraction by minimizing the distraction.

 

But isn't the distraction precisely during the processing phase? Whether you're looking at the pretty lights or the road, your mind is focused on the meaning and not the tow truck headed for you. Same results with driving while talking on a cell phone: you can be looking at what's ahead, but if you're doing it while your head is elsewhere, the quality of your attention is lacking.

 

As for the distinction between critical feedback and mere information, I'd say that anything on the dash is informational. Under normal conditions, what's critical to my next 1000 feet of travel is not on the dash. When I lose power at speed, I'll take whatever information I can get.

[Albert]

To each his own. Given the option, I'll take looking at the road and thinking elsewhere over looking and thinking elsewhere everytime.

[Quinn]

I take it that scanning is like looking at your watch. If someone asks you what time it is just after you've looked at your watch, you have to look again to tell them. On some level the information is processed in an okay or not okay framework, but the specific data doesn't register on an intrusive level.

 

Gas--okay. Temp--okay. speed--oh my God!

[DieselDave]

To each his own. Given the option, I'll take looking at the road and thinking elsewhere over looking and thinking elsewhere everytime.

 

You guys THINK while riding? Damn it! I have so much to learn...

[NoLongeraK1200RSRider]

THINK??!! What is this thing? I try to never do that .. especially while riding!

[mefly2]

Albert,

Scanning is a good technique.

However, I feel flying and riding are quite different.

Consequences are very immediate on the motorcycle.

In a plane, there is more time to realize you've screwed the pooch and

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Now, then I guess that would depend upon your type of flying and/or riding. At launch we figured that we had about 1.5 seconds ... and on recovery about 1 second before the command "eject, eject, eject" might be given. Combat might be excluded from the quote (and not offend military / pilots); otherwise it is a vast over simplification; keep the mach down & balls away from the wall!

 

Hmmmm ... the original post analogy between flying and riding the m/c was on the mark for me; scanning of instrumentation is a preferred method still taught in advanced driver classes as well as flying ... although I've never been taught it as a m/c rider.

[Couchrocket]

Scanning is good. Having a set sense of what "looks normal" w/o having to really "look" -- that's my scan.

 

I even have a small orange "pip" next to "5 bars" on my temp scale on the RID so that I have quick sense of engine temp. / per conditions.

 

Second nature.

 

For me GPS is similar. I have mine programmed to display distance to dest. and ETA at dest. very prominently. I have the map scale off of "auto" and set to a scale that is appropriate for a general glance at where I am relative to my surroundings.

 

Hunting for an address is completey different, IMO, and I use only the audio cues, and my own eyeballs on the outside world for that. Don't even look at the GPS screen, especially when "in the city."

[Paul Mihalka]

I have a new problem. You may have read that last Saturday I got two speeding tickets, close to home. I don't want any more. So I'm riding literally with one eye on the speedometer, trying to stay within 10 miles of the limit. 60 in 50 is easy. 50 in 40 is doable. 40 in 30 on a nice empty road among farms is almost impossible. Feels like putting my foot down. With so much attention looking for ever changing speed limit signs and watching my speedometer, I know I'm less safe than riding at my natural speed. Don't tell me about radar detectors. I'm considering it.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Paul,

I understand completely. My normal "scan" is a quick look down to see if there is a warning light, low fuel, FI, low oil, Bat or the like. The sweep does include the speedometer (digital in my case). I don't normally have my tank bag with the GPS, V1, XM package mounted for my daily commute. Really only have that stuff on when I'm on the road. Doing 55 in a 40 or 35 on the arterial streets around here will get you run over and 80 in a 65 on the freeway will have the same result.

 

Were I in your situation, with the more open secondary roads you get to travel, I'd look into one of those digital bicycle speedometers. Normally, I would say that a sweep hand gauge would be a better fast indicator but, with the small increments on the BMW speedo and the fact that 30 or 40 is so far down the span, I think it would probably be easier to scan a digital readout.

 

A really nice farkle to have would be a moderate sized LCD screen with a swing needle on it and a couple of buttons. Press the + or - button to change the center needle setpoint and have the needle position indicate Plus or Minus say 15 mph of center. Kinda like the old ammeters fitted to cars back when we were kids. Might even have a couple of programmable preset buttons so 25, 40, 65. Hmmmm, any electronics gurus out there?

[Lineareagle]

Of course scan is much preferred over fixate, and pulling over to do a real check is preferred to over scanning.

One of the things I really like about gps is the ability to do a quick scan when you are in traffic and see what the road is ahead. If it is twisties for many mile I might push or hang back. If it is straight up ahead I definitely hang back and wait for it to straighten out before going for the pass.

Onother piece of info, not the only piece.