Rider Etiquette

As with anything, there are bound to be unwritten rules of motorcycling, particularly on the roads. As noobs, we might not be privvy to these, and may be committing faux pas without even knowing it. Whether it's lane positioning, traffic light hierarchy, somehow warning fellow riders of dangers/constabulary in their path, or anything else, what would you experienced riders have us new riders know about managing ourselves on the road?

Cheers.

 

1. Don't be a jerk.
2. See number 1.

 

When on group rides .....over taking- you do it as fast as you can and when you pull in you head for the left part of the lane in front of the vehicle you just passed. This gives the people coming thru from behind a nice safe place to run into..

When doing long fast days I like the lead rider to take the oncoming lane and stay out there till all the group is thru or they run out of vision. Small things like this make covering kms easy and keep things honking along.

 

Fair enough, let me throw out a hypothetical. Say an L plater like me is first to a set of traffic lights, on a mid sized cruiser, not going anywhere particularly fast, and I'm chilling waiting for the green. Then a bloke on his 900cc Ninja pulls up. My natural position there is to let that bloke go first when the light turns green, otherwise I'm just holding him up.

What's the etiquette if you have 2 guys on very similar bikes? First in best dressed, or race it out?

 

If they're at the front first I will let them go first.

 

100 times, yes. Not okay, get your own lane.

 

Isn't it illegal to pass someone whilst travelling in the same lane?

 

There are many things that can/are done that are illegal..

 

See it a lot on the Snowy Ride....

 

On group rides no passing up the inside or on any ride for that matter, pass on the outside. Also when riding with others in a group, don't sit up the rider in fronts arse, give yourself plenty of room to avoid them if they do something unexpected like braking hard for a Kangaroo etc. It might look nice and cool to cruise around bunched up like outlaws, but when something goes wrong it wont just be you involved and basically with any incident you might have, the last thing you want to do is involve someone else because you are too close (3 second gap is a good start, then you might alter that after you get a few frights). Don't worry about falling behind because you don't really lose that much time and you can catch up fairly quick anyway i.e. ride for yourself.

 

with a group ride.
pick a wheel track L or R and stick to it . Makes things predictable for the people riding behind.
don't ride right behind the person in front best to stagger. If they stop suddenly you end up beside them and not into the back of them.
Keep a constant speed, nothing worse than sitting behind someone with the throttle control of Steady Eddy. Pet hate of mine that one.

 

That distance thing is a good point. I also tend to ride staggered so I'm not directly behind the person in front.

Edit: beaten to it

 

In your said circumstances - first in first served. If they don't like sitting behind an L plater, they will overtake you when they can in any event. You will find that 99% riders are very patient with learners - hey, we've all been there.

On group rides, stay in your wheel track. Please don't bunny hop through staggered groups - it tends to cause havoc, and quite often nearly ends up in an accident, as has been experienced in rides such as Black Dog Ride etc.

On organised group riders there's normally a tail end charlie who will sit back at the end of the column and look after any rider in trouble. This person will normally have contact details for at least some of other members of the said group.

As @Someguy rightfully said, don't be a jerk. Unnecessary and doesn't earn you any bonus points with the rest of the riders.

If you see another rider on the side of the road or in trouble, stop to assist. Or at least, see if they're okay - most of the time you won't even need to stop but merely slow down and see if they give you the thumbs up.

Nod to other riders (but not before 8.30am business days as people like @Epona will ignore you until they've had their coffee), more details can be found on already existing threads such as this.

 

POINT TO NOTE: When you are the rider stopped on the side of the road for a smoke/phone/wee keep an eye out and just give a thumbs up if you see anyone slowing for you. I have stopped a few times, only to realise the person was just doing one of the above and gave no signals.

Supposedly, an international distress signal for bikes is the helmet, on the road, behind the rear wheel but I don't see that posted to often.

 

nod at other motorcycles

 

I believe the etiquette is the same as for selecting the correct cutlery for the next course at a formal dinner: always take from the outside.

 

If you're parking in a car spot try parking left or right so another bike can also park there. Save me the walk