Bike following distance

[KATWYN]

Well I was riding my bike to work this morning and I was following
behind a four wheel drive vehicle .....using the two second rule :innocent:

Then all of a sudden a big loud couch (cruiser -they always look so comfy......like a nice comfy couch/sofa) pulls up behind me and cuts in
in front of me....so now that biker is following about 1.5 metres immediately behind the four wheel drive landrover (obviously their following rule is a nano- second) :gob:

I was wondering if that rider had thought what would happen if that vehicle just happened to brake.... as they do.......??

Who in here at 100kmph has ever been able to come to a full stop on their motorcycle with about 1.5 - 2 metres distance!!

[placidfemme]

where abouts did this happen?

[ManDownUnder]

Yeah - I see it all too often splitting on motorway too...

On those occasions when I do need to get closer up beind a car I intentionally sit out to the side of their car (i.e. their car is not in front of me as it would normally be).

Not a good practice to become an exhaust extension...

[Beemer]

Then all of a sudden a big loud couch pulls up behind me and cuts in
in front of me....so now that biker is following about 1.5 metres immediately behind the four wheel drive landrover (obviously their following rule is a nano- second) :gob:

Sofa, so good... was it one of those very loud patterned floral jobbies?

[madandy]

dumbass double post

[madandy]

The single biggest isssue with maitaining a decent following distance...others want to push in there!
Drop back a bit, position youself, as said to the side of said vehicle or pull out & blow their doors off.

[Guitana]

Oh well if he wants to kiss the 4wds rear wind screen then so be it just keep your distance and ride safe if someone else wants to take the risk that's their problem!!! Ride safe and keep your distance!!!

[Roj]

Who in here at 100kmph has ever been able to come to a full stop on their motorcycle with about 1.5 - 2 metres distance!!

Only managed such a short stopping distance when hitting a solid object...:dodge:

I hate being tailgated:nono:

[idb]

Well I was riding my bike to work this morning and I was following
behind a four wheel drive vehicle .....using the two second rule :innocent:

Then all of a sudden a big loud couch pulls up behind me and cuts in
in front of me....so now that biker is following about 1.5 metres immediately behind the four wheel drive landrover (obviously their following rule is a nano- second) :gob:

I was wondering if that rider had thought what would happen if that vehicle just happened to brake.... as they do.......??

Who in here at 100kmph has ever been able to come to a full stop on their motorcycle with about 1.5 - 2 metres distance!!

I must admit I frequently follow too close but only if I can sit to the right-hand side.
I find that 90% of drivers actually move over to the left to allow an easy pass.



Statistic is anecdotal only and may bear little or no relationship with actual scientifically collated data

[COP_B8]

Yeah I do the same, however when I follow close it is to the right of the lane, and normally only when I am waiting to pass.

Sorry but WTF is a couch????

[ManDownUnder]

Sorry but WTF is a couch????

I'm guessing it's something suitable for sitting low, and a wide arse...

[Grub]

I didn't want to hijack this thread so started another on

When someone is tailgating *you* http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=43104

[Wolf]

Only managed such a short stopping distance when hitting a solid object...:dodge:
Shit, man, I managed a lot shorter stopping distance than that when I hit something solid...

roughly 60cm - being the amount my forks bent before the wheel hit the engine...

[Wolf]

I'm guessing it's something suitable for sitting low, and a wide arse...
My surmise as well.

[idb]

My surmise as well.

I thought it was a wide chair intended to seat two or more people.
I have two parked in my house.
I wouldn't be able to tailgate anyone on either of them though...they're broken down and I haven't been able to find a Haynes manual for them.

It's also a type of grass....but that's just too ridiculous!

[KATWYN]

Sorry but WTF is a couch????

A cruiser. In this case a Harley. Believe me, when you have been riding
in the jockey position on a sport bike for a lengthy time and a cruiser goes
past I look with envy....they always look so comfy......like a nice comfy couch - hense the term .

[KATWYN]

where abouts did this happen?

Along Kahikatea flat road....but it happens a lot anywhere really

[KATWYN]

Sofa, so good... was it one of those very loud patterned floral jobbies?

Nah....slinky black leather type.......

[Wolf]

I thought it was a wide chair intended to seat two or more people.
Or one Harley rider and his beer gut

:dodge:

[Beemer]

Sorry but WTF is a couch????

A couch is a Harley? How bizarre, never heard one called that before, I thought you meant a coach.

[sunhuntin]

i always leave a decent gap in town, and double to distance out of town. i sit to the right, no matter how big the gap is.
i hate when others overtake me and make my gap too small for my liking.
following campervans down south...they would have been going around 80, and i would always have at least 3 car distances between them and me, cos 80 was my chosen speed as well.

only time i dont mind being crowded in is on group rides, cos i know the other bikes know what they are doing, and the group disperses pretty quick on the open road.

[spookytooth]

A typical couch seats two to three people and has an armrest on either side. ...:bye:

[KATWYN]

A typical couch seats two to three people

...Or potatoes

[petesmeats]

i always leave a decent gap in town, and double to distance out of town. i sit to the right, no matter how big the gap is.
i hate when others overtake me and make my gap too small for my liking.
following campervans down south...they would have been going around 80, and i would always have at least 3 car distances between them and me, cos 80 was my chosen speed as well.

only time i dont mind being crowded in is on group rides, cos i know the other bikes know what they are doing, and the group disperses pretty quick on the open road.

Yeah my first bike was an '84 Ginny with (crappy) drum brakes all round and at one stage i was following my mate in his van and he stopped... Not even too suddenly. Managed to come to a stop by the time i reached his drivers door... Made me always sit to the right. I often find myself tailgating and find that most car drivers will pull over a little for the easy pass. Sometimes they even do it when i have a real decent gap and am not in the mood for passing...

On this same thought... Is it legal to pass on double yellows as long as you stay on your side of the road? I do it sometimes when people pull over a little but have never been sure whether it is legal or not...

Pete

[Beemer]

On this same thought... Is it legal to pass on double yellows as long as you stay on your side of the road? I do it sometimes when people pull over a little but have never been sure whether it is legal or not...

Pete

Pretty sure it is, but I certainly wouldn't test it while a cop was watching! They are classed as lines you shouldn't cross, rather than lines where you shouldn't pass I think.

[Ixion]

That is correct. Providing you stay to the left of 'your' yellow line, and comply with all the other overtaking stuff - 100 metres visibility etc.

A perception exists that it is actually illegal to overtake where there are yellow lines (incidentally everyone DOES realise that a single yellow line only affects traffic on that side of the road, don't they). Probably because (a) in a cage it would be difficult to overtake without crossing the line, unless the other vehicle was stopping (which case is probably why it is legal); and (b) until the recent hyper-manic activities of the Insane Yellow Paint Maniac, yellow lines were reserved for places where overtaking was actually dangerous - so that , more or less by definition, it would be rare indeed to have the necessary 100 metres etc. Now matters are quite different.