Motorcycle etiquette

[8trackmind]

these guys did it all the time!!!

They were on a trailer.

Pet peave of mine. I hate it when guys try to use my lane . Flat out drives me up the wall. Like Earl says my lane is my lane, ALL of it.

D@mn right!

[Arkaloid]

They were on a trailer.

Jon and Ponch??? NEVER!!!! :shock:

[earlfor]

Yeah, probably neither of them ever rode a bike at all. eheheheh

Earl

They were on a trailer.


D@mn right!

[MissFabulous]

Friendly yet thoughtless... along the lines of strangers who walk up behind me and start touching my tattoos, except in that case, the only one they're putting in danger is themself... from my fist or scathing commentary...

Sadly, there are plenty of friendly blowhards out there who have no concept of personal space.

[earlfor]

I will venture to guess that the degree of scathing commentary is relative to the
location of the tattoo. :-) :-) WHAT are you doing she said. Uhhhh just checking to see if its real, he said. LMAO

Earl


[QUOTE=MissFabulous;497989]Friendly yet thoughtless... along the lines of strangers who walk up behind me and start touching my tattoos, except in that case, the only one they're putting in danger is themself... from my fist or scathing commentary...

[80GS1000]

these guys did it all the time!!!

...And they wore shirt sleeves. And shorts. Model riders.

[MissFabulous]

...And they wore shirt sleeves. And shorts. Model riders.

Wow... I never noticed how gay those knee-high boots look with shorts.

[NATEO]

Wow... I never noticed how gay those knee-high boots look with shorts.

Haha! I was thinking the same thing lol:-D

[Sandy]

I guess there is are no real hard fast rules when it comes to passing in a lane like that other than just don't pass unless invited to do so. It's not only poor etiquette but just plain dangerous unless everybody is on the same page. Having done lots of track time and ridden thousands of miles of some pretty bizare sport riding with a small close knit group of friends I got used to being passed in lots of weird places and kind of got used to it. Not the type of thing that you do with riders you don't know. We drive mostly on two lane roads with lots of double lines and sometimes it's nice to be able to get by slower riders quickly. I find if you hover behind them at safe distance and position yourself in their left mirror the other rider will usually let you by when they consider it safe. Never push your way through uninvited. Likewise if someone comes behind rather quickly (I don't ride like I used to) I'll just change my lane position and motion them through. And don't just doddle your way pass, pass like you would any other vehicle and get on with your ride.

[bwringer]

Riding in formation is an excellent way to get killed, but for some reason you see it all the time whenever two or more Hardleys are riding to the next beer stop.

Here's the warning I used at the Brown County rally, which summarizes my personal opinions about riding in your own space:

This is the time to form groups of three to six riders for the first leg of the ride. Riding in larger groups or riding in any kind of formation is EXTREMELY dangerous and is STRONGLY discouraged. These are mostly small, two-lane roads, often with hidden hazards and poor sightlines, so you MUST maintain the clearance to move left or right, accelerate, and brake as needed. Ride your own ride, ride single file, and leave plenty of space between riders. Remember that blocking or impeding traffic in any way is illegal.

When coming up on a slower rider I don't know, I normally hang back a bit to assess the squidliness factor. If it looks like the rider is aware of me and just prefers a slower pace, I'll pass and give a friendly wave at the next dotted line. I never use the same lane. If they have no idea I'm there, I'll creep up until they do see me and judge their reaction. Even on the rare occasions I am waved around, I use the other lane.

If the rider ahead starts acting all squidly or acts like he's going to try and block me, I'll turn off and wait a bit to let them get ahead. I have no desire to witness any more accidents.

A lot of riders are far too sensitive to any move from a passing rider that they see as "disrespectful", whatever that means. Groups of Hardleys are the worst -- even in easily passed bunches of two or three, they can get pretty angry and do some really stupid things if passed closely at warp speed. I definitely try to avoid surprising anyone or inspiring any competitive spirit.

With all the above said, I do have to admit that I often play by slightly different rules on Deals Gap and other isolated twisty roads. The whole road is marked double yellow for miles, but there are lot of places where a sporting motorcyclist has plenty of room and can see far enough ahead to make a perfectly safe pass in the left lane. In these situations, I definitely make sure I'm not surprising anyone, and I do understand that I'm running an increased risk of legal trouble.

There's also a balance between passing quickly and efficiently and buzzing past at warp speed. I try to make sure my pace is such that I'm going to be totally out of sight in a couple of turns. It think it helps that my GS850 is very quiet. No one feels assaulted by a blast of noise -- there's just a whoosh and the fat guy with the weird helmet is gone...

Wherever and whoever you are, moving to block or impede a passing rider is not only discourteous, but incredibly stupid and dangerous. You do have the right to every inch of your lane, but if someone is deadly stupid enough to try and usurp it, your safest move to deal with a dangerous situation is to slow down enough to allow both of you a full lane. Park the bikes at the next stop sign and start a fistfight if you must defend your bruised honor, but never, ever, ever try and block while you're riding.

[Hoomgar]

What a bunch of safe old men you all are. :twisted: Your ruining me! I personally just can't get too upset by the scenario described in the original post. That mostly comes from my previous life as a Squid :-P

Seriously, where I grew up and learned to ride, this was the norm. We rode two, three abreast and often clustered. We did this for tens of thousands of miles over a period of at least 6 or 7 years. Never ever even once had an incident. However! We were also a very tight nit group of friends and our riding formations were controlled most comparably to that of a Circus act. We all knew what the other person was doing or could tell what they were going to do or what we should do just by assessing our positioning, location, etc...

I don't ride like that anymore. Mostly because I don't have anyone to ride with that rides like this anymore or that I know well enough. Also because I agree with you all on the points made. Your converting me and my Squidly ways. All that safe old man stuff is rubbing off on me. Your ruining me I tell you!

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.

Always try to control the environment around you as much as is within your power to do so. This coupled with safe riding and knowledge will eliminate most of any accident hazards that can come too close to you for safety. I myself would never do what he did. But if he did it to me, big deal. No worries unless he endangered me.

~Squidward

[Hap Call]

In motorcycle etiquette, do you put your front forks on the left side or on the right side of the man hole cover?

And how do you keep the napkin from blowing off when you go faster than 20 miles per hour?


Hap
Enquiring minds want to know...

[Plasterdog]

The only place I'm side-by-side is at a light, otherwise it's staggered and never pass on the "inside." If someone comes up beside me under power, I'll drop back and if they slow down/match my speed, I slow down some more. Most get the hint.

[Pyloff]

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.

[beby99]

A few years ago I had a HD rider slide up next to me on my right side...
scared the beejesus out of me. Must of had stock pipes cause
I never heard or saw him coming. I was so pis*ed with myself for not
seeing him that it really freaked me out....had to pull over for a smoke
and slap myself a few times.