Can a biker offer me some insight?
By reinydawn
@reinydawn (11643)
United States
June 10, 2008 9:47pm CST
I have noticed recently that many bikers ride very close to the center line on the highway. This could be either closer to the left or closer to the right depending on what lane they are in. To me, it makes no sense and seems like a bit of a hazard. Is there any reason for this??? I do realize that sometimes the road is humped in the middle and that would make it difficult to ride on, but why ride closer to the traffic in the other lane????
4 responses
@djvirus (40)
• India
23 May 09
From where i come from, we ride on the right side :) . im not really sure how to answer this, id guess that are two points to it.
1. Because of the high speeds, the bike not very stable when cars are passing by at high speed while the bike is on the closer to the left. The breeze that hits causes the bike to shake a little bit. Hence they ride in the center to get equal force of breeze hitting both sides.
2. Its a line, when you drive a bike at high speed, you will enjoy looking at it :)
again this is from my point of view as i am a biker my self.... In India
1 person likes this
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
24 May 09
Ok, but what side of the road do you drive on? When you are on your bike, do you stay closer to the cars you are traveling with or do you stay on the other side of your lane from the cars you are traveling with?
@KUSHANK55 (2437)
• India
11 Jun 08
hi dear i am the first to respond to this discussion . it s not because i wish to answer it but because i also share your view and wish to join you in knowing the answer. it has at times been creating little difficulty while driving a car and negotiating turns!
1 person likes this
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I think a lot of motorist try to watch out for motorcycles.
@wpark2419 (265)
• United States
11 Jun 08
It's the safest place for the biker to be. If something was to happen they have more room to maneuver in order to avoid an accident. Also, if they ride closer to the white line, a lot of times cars will try to pass when there's an oncoming car, and they'll try to squeeze between the oncoming car and the motorcycle. It makes the lane theirs to ride closer to the center line.
1 person likes this
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
11 Jun 08
Hmmm.... that just makes no sense to me, but I don't ride a motorcycle (yet). I would think that you would not want to be within inches of the passing traffic, but further away... And although I've never seen it happen, I'm sure cars have tried to squeeze though when they're on the oppotiste side... Mostly I've seen motorcycles going between the lanes of cars - on the highway even...
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
11 Jun 08
My husband says that you don't want to ride close to the shoulder because, if you wander over just a little bit, you're on the edge of the roadway and you can lose control. Being close to the center gives you more room to maneuver if something happens in front of you because, again, you don't want to head for the shoulder of the road.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
11 Jun 08
I can see where you would not want to be close to the shoulder, but why not ride in the center of the lane? Then you've got a lot of room on either side. With the warmer weather (and gas prices) there are a lot more bikes out there and I have noticed most of them ride VERY close to (if not right on top of) the center line. It just makes me a bit leery of them when it looks like they're almost in my lane.
