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SOUTHERN CRUISERS RIDING CLUB

EAGLE RESCUE PROGRAM

GUIDELINES

The purpose of the Eagle Rescue Program is to provide a coordinated effort for assistance in case of an emergency while a Southern Cruiser is on the road. Each Cruiser that wants to use the Eagle Rescue Program will be able to contact his First Officer for contact information for the Chapters on the planned route. Then, should the need arise, a phone call to the appropriate Eagle Rescue volunteer will bring the needed help. In addition, a quick e-mail to the First Officers or Eagle Rescue volunteers along the route will give them a "heads-up" that a Cruiser will be passing through on a specific or expected date.

Each First Officer will need to set up the program in accordance the availability of volunteers (try to keep the numbers to 4-5) and equipment in his/her chapter. A list of Eagle Rescue volunteers, with their phone numbers and e-mail, city, state residing in and any Cruiser nicknames should be sent to the Eagle Rescue Coordinator. This list should be kept current and updated with Eagle Rescue Coordinator every 6 months or so to keep confusion to a minimum.

In cases where the First Officer has plenty of work already, an Eagle Rescue volunteer may be asked to handle the program at the chapter level. The Eagle Rescue Chapter Coordinator for the Port City 162 is Shorty Boswell, Shorty can be reached at 910-200-3717 with any questions referring to the Eagle Rescue Program.

This is an ever evolving program and can be changed as needs dictate.

Remember, this program is for Southern Cruisers. All we are trying to do is coordinate the "Goodwill" already present in the Southern Cruisers and make it more effective.

Back to the Basics

     The first thing you must master is head and eyes.  What this means exactly, is that wherever you look, that's where the bike will go.  The reason the phrase head and eyes is used is that if you turn your head to the right, but your eyes look straight ahead, the technique WILL NOT work.  Both your head and eyes must turn in the direction you want the bike to go.  Never look down unless you want to go down.  Head and eyes does take practice to become second nature.  The good news is that you can practice this technique every time you are on your motorcycle.  Simply pulling out of your driveway, for instance, if you are turning to the right, turn your head and eyes to the right, look down the road where you want the motorcycle to go and you'll immediately notice you will be making a much tighter turn than normal.  When you stop at a stop sign and are about to make a left hand turn, turn your head and eyes to the left, avoid looking at the curb or the center line of the road and focus on where you want the bike to end up and you will find you will never drift towards the curb or the center line of the road.  You can even practice this technique on a bicycle by making U-turns on the street in front of your own home.        

      The second technique you must learn is how to use the friction zone.  The friction zone is the area on the clutch between fully open and fully closed.  In other words, as you let the clutch out and the bike starts to move, you're entering the friction zone.  An easy way to become accustomed to riding the bike in the friction zone is to practice the slow race.  That is simply going as slow as you possibly can without releasing the clutch completely

    The third technique is the proper use of the rear or controlling brake.  With the motorcycle in the friction zone, keep your foot on the rear brake and feather it as the bike starts to move.  By doing this you are making the motorcycle think it's going faster than it is.  When you apply power and keep your foot on the rear brake, it keeps the motorcycle  from falling over at low speeds which is where most people have a problem.  I've never heard of anyone having problems balancing their motorcycle at 50 or 60mph.  If you don't use these techniques at 5 or 10mph the motorcycle feels clumsy and wants to fall over on it's side.  AVOID using the front brake at all costs when riding at parking lot speeds, as applying the front brake at 5 or 10mph with  the handle bars turned even slightly, will pull you to the ground like a magnet.  Of course, once above parking lot speeds, you must use the front brake as well as the rear brake, as 70% of your braking power comes from the front brake. 
      Avoid dragging your feet along the ground as this tends to upset the balance of the motorcycle, and of course, if your feet are dragging on the ground you cannot have your foot on the brake.  As soon as you start to move your bike from a complete stop, both feet should automatically come up to the floor boards or pegs and your right foot should be feathering the rear brake.  Once you master these three simple techniques, you will be amazed at the tight maneuvers your bike can perform.  You'll know you've gotten it right when you can make full lock turns in both directions at 5mph with the pegs or boards scraping a perfect circle in the pavement.          

      Remember, all it takes is a little practice.  Good Luck!