Periscope? 😳

[gschuld]

I?m struggling to see how someone could see clearly enough through a periscope on a vibrating 50 year old engined Triumph at 200mph.

Tom Mellor?s record setting vintage Triumph

George

[Speed Limit 1000]

" Clear forward vision is way overrated "

[gschuld]

And then there is this one. 

Using the dark side of the force I guess.

George

[gowing]

^  cool pic !

[Stainless1]

If there is a center or side line to see and you can stay close to it why would you need to look where you are going.... there is nothing out there to hit.... The rules don't say you have to keep your head up... they just say you have to keep your hands on the bars... somewhere....

[desotoman]

If there is a center or side line to see and you can stay close to it why would you need to look where you are going.... there is nothing out there to hit....

Stainless, as I recall SSS would disagree with you on that statement. 

Tom G.   

[ronnieroadster]

In any rookie orientation I ever attended the driver/rider was always told eyes out ahead not in the car or on bike!   

[Seldom Seen Slim]

More realistically (than when I hit the mile marker) - - when riding the naked bike there was, indeed, one heck of a breeze in my face at speed, so I tried looking to the side to watch the black line (this was a few years ago) so I could get my helmet more outa the breeze.

I found it difficult to aim the bike properly - - I'd wander back and forth, side to side.  I'll guess it was me oversteering.  I never did get comfy with that style of looking where I was going.

[Stan Back]

It's very apparent he was just checking for oil leaks.

[speedrattle]

i ride a vibrating old triumph as well, naked class, on concrete. to get my head down i put it behind the left fork tube, so one eye looks to the left side and the other through the middle.

about halfway the vibration gets strong enough that i see two runways, so i generally close one eye so as not to overwhelm my brainpower.

[Doc B.]

Dammit now I am going to spend the whole evening thinking about a VR display in my helmet.

[Stainless1]

More realistically (than when I hit the mile marker) - - when riding the naked bike there was, indeed, one heck of a breeze in my face at speed, so I tried looking to the side to watch the black line (this was a few years ago) so I could get my helmet more outa the breeze.

I found it difficult to aim the bike properly - - I'd wander back and forth, side to side.  I'll guess it was me oversteering.  I never did get comfy with that style of looking where I was going.

Jon, your brain is trained to look where you are going... most folks can't "not look" but a lot of successful record holders can and have.  Smaller is faster...

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Yep - I understand (sorta) the "trained brain" stuff of which you talk.  I was attempting to learn to look to the side but never got very good at it.  If I remember -- the guy that offered the side-looking idea (he was a racer that had managed to set a record or two and probably could be counted as successful) was Steve Guthrie (or was his name Sam, or maybe it was Scott).

[Koncretekid]

I?m struggling to see how someone could see clearly enough through a periscope on a vibrating 50 year old engined Triumph at 200mph.

Tom Mellor?s record setting vintage Triumph

George

I think Tom Mellor abandoned the periscope idea. He has, as I have, gone around the wrong side of the sideline markers in the past.  I have a run ticket that shows I was doing 145 mph in the timed mile, but I got no kpm number, if you can figure that out.

As Wobblywalrus advised me, the best idea is to memorize the horizon before you leave the starting line, or at AMA as you are approaching the early sideline markers. Floating mountain in the distance has distinctive features so you pick the point or valley that is lined up with the course and keep your eyes on it.  Of course, if you exceed the record at AMA, you will have to make a return run in the opposite direction and there ain't nothing to memorize going back. Worry about that after you have successfully exceeded the down run record!

Tom

Tom

[Tonerjockey]

I had a buddy that tried a periscope on his Streamliner motorcycle. Jack told me it worked OK until it broke at speed.
I've abandoned that idea and use the "hidey hidey... look at the line look at the line... hidey hidey" process.

Alex