Motorcycle etiquette

[Desolation Angel]

One vehicle in one space in one lane at a time. A motorcyclist should treat a bike in front of him as though it were a Greyhound bus. And you wouldn't ride next to or pass a bus in its own lane, right? Well, I mean, unless you're a dumb@ss like Ghost Rider or something.

Everybody stay AWAY from each other, please! :-D

[Hap Call]

Hey hap I'm not sure if you understand the term etiquette so here is a definition from the dictionary. Note the first definition.

et-i-quette [et-i-kit, -ket]
–noun
1.
conventional requirements as to social behavior; proprieties of conduct as established in any class or community or for any occasion.

2.
a prescribed or accepted code of usage in matters of ceremony, as at a court or in official or other formal observances.

3.
the code of ethical behavior regarding professional practice or action among the members of a profession in their dealings with each other: medical etiquette.

Yeah, actually I really do understand that and have for a while...it was a joke...ya know what I mean?:-D

Hap

[Desolation Angel]

Yeah, actually I really do understand that and have for a while...it was a joke...ya know what I mean?:-D

Hap

Ah, a joke! I get it now! :-D

[Pyloff]

Yeah, actually I really do understand that and have for a while...it was a joke...ya know what I mean?:-D

Hap

Sorry bro. I was thinking too fast and not reading enough. Good riding to ya.

[Hap Call]

Sorry bro. I was thinking too fast and not reading enough. Good riding to ya.

No problem and great riding to you!:-D

[Cruzr]

As a barely even started to ride rider, I think that might unnerve me a little too much! It seems that there should be a "personal space" around a rider that other riders just don't enter unless invited (like the wave through). And, not knowing the experience level of the rider (nor the temperament), I wouldn't do what that guy did - he had no idea how y'all were going to react!

[themess]

When I see two motorcycles abreast in the same lane, taking a corner, the one towards the center almost always has his head over the centerline, directly in the path of oncoming traffic.

It's not merely bad etiquette to put someone in such a position, it is also illegal and most important, unsafe.

[NATEO]

when Dave and I had just gotten off 101 on the way to Milford this past weekend, we stopped at a red light, side by side, and a guy on a harley pulls up behind us. we nodded to him, expressed our dislike of the cold, and the light turned green. I gunned it, as Im trying to work in smooth, quick take-offs, and dave sorta fell into a staggered position. well, I pretty much leveled off, and I see the guy on the harley roaring up on my left, throttle wide open, weaving through Dave and I to get out in front.... I just had to laugh because my 750 took off faster than him.:-\"

but it didnt upset me. I had seen him coming up in my mirror, and he had a sweet bike, so alls good

[Eli69]

dude i love beating harleys off the line, always have. spanked a vrod at the drags last week. shiniest bike i ever saw. as far as riding side by side on the highway - i do it with my seventeen year old son and a friend that i've ridden with for more than 25 years, nobody else. definitely keeps ya on your toes.

in practice though we usually stagger out on twisties or at high speeds.

[graymulligan]

People who decide to lane share and pass within a lane are making the dangerous assumption that the people they're passing are of the same skill level they are, and that they see them coming. I mean, that's flat out annoying. Its my space, and you shouldn't be in it.

Now, swap that situation with someone who's on their first ride alone with a new bike they aren't comfortable with, and a mirror that isn't adjusted correctly, and that situation goes from slightly annoying to downright lethal. God knows what that person is going to do when that second bike comes up next to them. The wrong panicky correction is going to take out both riders. Scary.

And I've had this one a lot this year. I commute in traffic home around 6 p.m. or so, and it seems like every squid on a sportbike thinks that me doing 65 in a 55 is an invitation to go by me in my lane at 80-90 mph. The thing that sucks is you can't really hear em over the wind/traffic, and with the way that some of these guys weave through traffic, half the time you don't catch them in your mirror until they're on top of you.

[Pete Logan]

I ride two lane roads, and there is definitely an 'etiquette'.

If another rider comes up behind me I expect that he will give me time to see him. I expect that he will fall in about 50 yards behind and wait. I give him a hand signal to say I have seen him, and stay in the center of the lane.

When I see a reasonable passing opportunity for him, I will pull over to the right and give him a hand signal to pass.

I expect that he will give me room when he does. He may or may may not cross the white line. As long as I have seen and signalled him, it's OK by me if he doesn't. Sometimes I will signal a rider to pass when there is oncoming traffic, and he will lane split to get past me.

Around here we get a lot of crotch rocket riders who just blast straight through. That is not a good idea. I always keep an eye out for them at the next stop :-D

If you are the rider behind, then always make sure the slower rider in front has seen you and has given you the go ahead to pass. If he's cool with splitting the lane, then go ahead and do it.

Communicate with your fellow riders. Never, ever pass another rider unless you are stone cold certain that he knows you are there, and knows that you are going to pass.

Never, ever accept any other behavior from other riders. If another rider passes you when you are not comfortable with the pass and have communicated that to him, then he is wrong, and needs to be 'corrected'.

If you pass with contempt, then it would be best not to stop for awhile. Otherwise I might catch up with you on my slow, fat, lazy old shovelhead, and then I will buy you a cup of coffee while we discuss road etiquette

We are at enough risk from other road users. We don't need to be taking each other out.

[omaharj]

To answer the question, I believe the guy was a bit over zealous, probably fairly new and not socialized enough with experienced, safe riders. It was no big deal, he didn't hurt anyone.



~Squidward

I'd bet that was it exactly. Guy bought a bike. Nobody that knows him want's to ride with him(being a new rider and socially clumsy.) Poor guy probably just wants to be one of the guys. Being as there's all kinds of people who ride,he is.:-D Hopefully he'll be safe until he learns some rules,written and unwritten.