In the computer science field, there is a concept called Garbage in, Garbage out or GIGO, which basically says that the quality of output is determined by the quality of input. In the same way, if a new shitty 'rider A' takes advise from another shitty 'rider B' then be assured that both shitty riders will continue to remain a shitty rider. So, be careful when another rider praises your riding style or gives you advise. If you take tips from a stupid rider, you won't grow as a rider.
I have personally noticed this in a past group. One 60-plus-year-old rider B compliments another 30-year-old rider A on his amazing leaning skills, drawing comparisons to MotoGP. And here we are talking about riding in regular city traffic. When I heard this, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. Let me tell you more.
To give you a background, the young rider A is a self-proclaimed biker who has only done about 6000-7000 km in 4 years, half of which is done by his father and friends. He would barely show up for rides, maybe 5-6 times in a year and out of those 5-6 times, he would crash his bike at least once each year. After every accident, he would get scared and quit motorcycling for sometime.
Interestingly, one of rider A's crashes involves leaning into a curve and then losing balance to end up in a slide. So much so for MotoGP skills. Even on the very first day he came to ride with us on his father's motorcycle, he went into a car from the left side and broke his bike's foot lever. But, for the 60-plus-year-old rider B, the rider A has amazing leaning skills. That's because the old rider B himself is not skilled enough to know what good motor skills should look like.
Our mind is a very powerful creative organ. I can imagine myself to be Mike Tyson but to actually possess the skills needed to even face his one punch is at another level. Due to poor self awareness, most people are unable to properly assess where they stand in the real world. Now, let me tell you more about the old rider B.
In the last decade or so, he purchased a few high-capacity motorcycles including a naked super bike. But, he barely rides for the love of motorcycling or even cares for it. There is barely any enthusiasm for regular riding but lots of interest in discussing MotoGP. Talk about all the coolest stuff and recent trends in the motorcyling world.
The only reason for his superbike ownership and being part of the fraternity is his past association with motorcycle brands in a professional capacity and the allure of the biker image that comes standard with superbike ownership in countries like India. That's what my understanding is. But he loves to talk about MotoGP all the time and boast about his track racing knowledge. Somehow, that is supposed to make him an amazing rider and judge too.
But, when it comes to his own super bike, he never services it. All of his bike's indicators are broken and hanging for years, but he wouldn't fix them. Instead, he has put a tape around all four of them so they don't fall off. When he rides, they all hang and shake like a rubber dildo.
He has relatively slow reflexes and poor motor coordination. He turns, dodges and navigates through traffic in a jerky fashion. He would abruptly change his lane and get in front of a car without keeping enough distance. So many times I have seen vehicles applying brake to avoid hitting him from the back as he changes lane and suddenly drops in front of a car with very little distance to spare.
I pointed this out to him on multiple occasions but he would casually dismiss me and reply that he is keeping enough gap. But, he is totally clueless of what's happening behind him. It is perfectly fine for him to ride the way his heart desires. But then he goes around judging others and distributing free advises, espeically to newbie riders who are in their learning phase.
Now, he has praised the 30-year-old rider A many a time, complimenting on his leaning skills. So, you see, the rider A's ego was being stoked by this rider B who himself has poor self-awareness and rides poorly at times. How do you expect the 30-year-old rider A to learn and become a better rider by getting influenced by rider B?
There is another aspect to receiving critical feedbacks. Most people in today's modern world are extremely politically correct. They have no backbone to tell someone on the face that he or she is wrong in something. So, they only say sweet things and give vague worthless feedback to not offend. Therefore, it is difficult to get expert and accurate advise from people today. Hence, evaluate the feedbacks you receive keeping all of the above factors.
While taking inputs on riding, be clear who you are listening to. You will not fly on an airplane with an inexperienced pilot who boasts plenty but his skill and experience don't match his big words. You would prefer an experienced pilot with a good track record because you want to reach your destination alive. When you want to get a surgery done, you don't go to just any other inexperienced doctor. You look for a knowledgeable, experienced and skilled surgeon. One wrong consultation could be a deciding factor between life and death or a permanent injury. Likewise, motorcycling is a dangerous sport and in countries like India, every single day, riders die because of lack understanding of motorcycling risks, required riding abilities and other general awareness. A reality check from other skilled riders can help a biker avoid unfortunate incidents.
The lesson to learn here: Before you take advise from someone on your riding skill or motorcycling, step back for a moment and think whether that person is in a position to give advise. As many of you would know (especially Indians) that others are always ready to give free advises whether they know about the subject fully or not. But their confidence is at full 100%. So, before you take a fellow biker's opinion, ask the following:
Is the rider among the best riders you know?
Is the rider an expert or at least has good riding abilities?
Does the rider have a good (practical) understanding of motorcycling in a specific terrain or region?
Has the rider traveled far and wide enough to form accurate opinions?
Does the rider have good self-awareness? Self-awareness is essential in knowing one's own realistic strengths and weaknesses. Without self-awareness, a rider will not improve over pre-existing skill level and cannot give you relevant riding tips.
Can the rider clearly communicate and pass on the knowledge and wisdom effectively? If not, you may miss or misunderstand critical information.
Is the rider giving realistic advises from his actual riding experiences (and not from his theoretical knowledge-bank)? It is always easy to read something online or on WhatsApp forward and become an expert on it.
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