Why bikers speed ahead

[tigertim20]

got involved in a conversation on another site, and thought I would share my thoughts here. we were discussing why many bikers ride a little faster than the average cage (110-120).
Now we werent talking about going at 180km/hr everywhere. Nor am I saying I am a perfect rider, this is just my thoughts, putting them out there to se what others think of it, bear with me it is in a few posts.
initial comments seemed to be that people felt their bikes 'rode more happily' at just over 100km, than on or below it. I added to this with:


there is also a physics explanation as to why bikers speed ahead, I will try to explain it, and then give a digram.
I will use soccer as an analogy.
keep in mind that on a motorcycle we are much more at risk from the elements and road surface than other vehicles, eg dead animals, shiny tar, rutting in the surface, and potholes present dangers to bikers that do not exist (usually) to cars, especially in corners. hit a dead possom banked over in a corner and you'll know about it.

now essentially the issue is that (keeping in mind how much more road and conditions affect us) is visibility, our ability to see ahead and recognize those factors in the upcoming road in time to take evasive action or change our line.

who here has played soccer? consider the goalie, and you are running towards him to see the goal.
if the goalie stays dead in front of the goal, the target is larger to you, his body covers only a small area of the goal.
However if the goalie runs towards you, he effectively covers a greater area, and restricts your ability to strike a scoring kick.

now apply the goalies position, and related ability of the attacker to score, to a biker's visibility behind a car.
the closer the car is to you, the less visibility you have, apart from peripral vision.
Black dot in the following diagram is the biker, the green blob the car and the red lines are his lines of vision. blue dots are road imperfections/obstructions.
also consider the distance being covered per second at say 100km/hr and how this affects the ability to react in time.
also consider that if we fall back, we get tailgated, or passed, and the passing vehicle will sit in front, again restricting our vision.

[tigertim20]

i was asked if the biker in the diagram on the left was tailgating, here was my response:

No, thats at a safe following distance.
any vehicle ahead of you is going to restrict your vision, the closer you are to it, the more it restricts your vision. I am saying this is why many of us riders pass other vehicle and travel at a slightly higher speed, because if we slow down, people catch up and either tailgate us, or pass us and remain in front, restricting our vision as in the left hand diagram.
If we pass these vehicles though, then we put ourselves onto an open piece of road where we have plenty of forward visibility like in the second diagram, and thus have time to detect and respond to potential hazards in the road surface.

[tigertim20]

keep in mind that (by my calculations) t 100km/hr, you are covering 27.8 metres per second. if you adhere to the 2 second rule for following you are 55.6 metres behind the other vehicle.
That mean that a vehicle (at safe following distance) in front of you drives over a dea possom in your riding line ahead. The distance from the possum to your bikes front wheel is 55.6 metres, from the nanosecond that it comes into your visibility (eg no longer concealed by the lead vehicle)
so travelling at the speed limit, 27.8 metres a second, it takes roughly:
half a second to see it, as you are scanning everywhere while riding it, so in that time you have travelled 13.9 metres, and it is now only 41.7 metres away. say another half second to acknowledge that what you are seeing is a hazard and realize you need to act, another 13.9 metres, now its 27.8 metres, or 1 second from being hit by your front wheel.
in that time, you need to choose where you will move to, and how you will react, hit the brakes? go left? go right?, then once you have chosen you need to move your fingers onto the brake, or lean left, or lean right, and take into account the little bit of time it takes for the bike to react to your movements.

So you can see that even at the recommended following distance (2 second rule) you have fuckall time to react. keep in mind two things:
1) when in a long sweeping corner, it may take more time/energy to see, acknowledge and react.
2) thats just the first hazard, what if there is another following it? and another after that?.

This is why I pass vehicles, so I can get to a spot where I have more ahead visibility.

[tigertim20]

just thought I would share these thoughts with you to see what your thoughts on it were.
i wonder how long before this turns into a safety campaign or tailgating thread? lol

[Headbanger]

I have no idea what your on about.

However, Its good practise for a bike (or any vehicle for that matter) to be in their own space on the road if they can.

I pass cars because I can do so easily, If I couldn't, I wouldn't. I can speed up and slow down at any time in a tiny amount of time and space. This enables me to be in a space that I'm comfortable with, and sometimes its just fun....

No need to over think things.....

[tommygun]

I get what TT is on about, however I agree with HB on this one as to why I pass cars.

[atothek]

the exact same argument can be given to slowing down and increasing your following distance so you can see more of the road ahead. if you are travelling faster than the traffic flow then by going faster you will simply catch up to the next vehicle ahead again and again. in fact motorcyclists have an advantage over cars (which they need due to reasons you have given) in that they are higher up and generally have a better view of the road anyway.

if people tailgate then the you should increase your following distance so you have more time to slow down and not get rear ended.

[slofox]

I pass cars because I can...(ht. ht. ht.)

[R-Soul]

Another factor is that of intent. When you ride with purpose, you show intent. When you show intent, cages know what to expect from you. When you tiddl-i-po all over the show, speeding up, slowing down and generally loitering around their back bumper, they get all fidgety and nervous about you, and they start doing stupid things like braking to let you pass, or speed up to get away from you, or a multitide of other didgy things.

It is like dogs in pack. If every dog doesn't know his place, they start getting edgy and thinking that they are somewhere in the pecking order that they are not.

It is better for a bike to show intent, dont even give a cage an inclination that it should be doing anything else other than watching you pass it smoothly and then watching you smoothly and steadily F#$% off into the distance (or at least far enough that it realises that it is NOT going to pass you back).

As soon as there is uncertainty, it is like two people moving towards each other in a passageway, both stepping to the same side and then the other way again. Except that one person is 2 tons, and the other is you.

Another thing I always do is makes sure I make obvious signals to cars, like look over my right shoulder if I am changing lanes to the right. Aclear signal of intent. Some assholes may try to speed up and block your lane changes (and good luck to them, because there are damn few cars -if any- that can out accelrate my bike) but at least they know what you are going to be doing, and they are not going to choose that moment to try and light a cigarette, or put on makeup, or their own lane change.

Slightly offtopic - This may not be applicable to all bikes, but I always accelrate hard into a gap. I figure that if there is a gap, and I am btit further ahead than a cage, then if I accelerate into it, there is no cage that will be physically able to aoput accelerate me. If they start accelerating at the same time by some unfortunate coincidence, they will HAVE to give way to me, because I WILL be in the gap sooner than them. Pure physics. Whereas if I am at the ame speed as them, and start moving over, they could accelerate and put us in a potential collision situation.

[vifferman]

While your post was somewhat convoluted (I just skim-read it), I agree in principle with your thesis. I hate following anything I can't see past when on my bike; worst are trucks/buses, then vans/SUVs, then anything else that obstructs my vision. The reason is twofold: firstly, I need to see ahead to identify hazards in time (anything from road surface to obstacles, dangers, etc.)
Secondly (and most importantly), when riding a bike, you are generally looking not at the road immediately ahead (like most other drivers do), but through the corner to the one beyond that. Not being able to do that impairs your riding. As you said, slowing down to leave a suitable (very large!) gap invites the vehicle behind you to pass, which puts you back in the same position. Better to pass safely.

Oh - lastly, there is more turbulence following a vehicle, which also corresponds to its size.

[vindy500]

nah people just feel like they have a bigger penis when going faster than everyone else

[scumdog]

Another factor is that of intent. When you ride with purpose, you show intent. When you show intent, cages know what to expect from you. When you tiddl-i-po all over the show, speeding up, slowing down and generally loitering around their back bumper, they get all fidgety and nervous about you, and they start doing stupid things like braking to let you pass, or speed up to get away from you, or a multitide of other didgy things.

It is like dogs in pack. If every dog doesn't know his place, they start getting edgy and thinking that they are somewhere in the pecking order that they are not.

It is better for a bike to show intent, dont even give a cage an inclination that it should be doing anything else other than watching you pass it smoothly and then watching you smoothly and steadily F#$% off into the distance (or at least far enough that it realises that it is NOT going to pass you back).

As soon as there is uncertainty, it is like two people moving towards each other in a passageway, both stepping to the same side and then the other way again. Except that one person is 2 tons, and the other is you.

Another thing I always do is makes sure I make obvious signals to cars, like look over my right shoulder if I am changing lanes to the right. Aclear signal of intent. Some assholes may try to speed up and block your lane changes (and good luck to them, because there are damn few cars -if any- that can out accelrate my bike) but at least they know what you are going to be doing, and they are not going to choose that moment to try and light a cigarette, or put on makeup, or their own lane change.

Slightly offtopic - This may not be applicable to all bikes, but I always accelrate hard into a gap. I figure that if there is a gap, and I am btit further ahead than a cage, then if I accelerate into it, there is no cage that will be physically able to aoput accelerate me. If they start accelerating at the same time by some unfortunate coincidence, they will HAVE to give way to me, because I WILL be in the gap sooner than them. Pure physics. Whereas if I am at the ame speed as them, and start moving over, they could accelerate and put us in a potential collision situation.

Naked-arse, I don't agree with this very much at all, each to their own but not what I do.

And that 'Slightly offtopic' bit - how does the car driver you are rocketing up behind know you're only doing so for YOUR 'safety' reasons as mentioned ?

As opposed to thinking you're a squid on seeing you swerving in after passing the car and thinking you're about to veer out and pass them and think they'll be helpfull by braking hard to make it easier for you to pass them and (in their eyes) to save you having to cut in when passing THEM??

(as they saw you do in their mirror- assuming they use the thing)

[R-Soul]

While your post was somewhat convoluted (I just skim-read it), I agree in principle with your thesis. I hate following anything I can't see past when on my bike; worst are trucks/buses, then vans/SUVs, then anything else that obstructs my vision. The reason is twofold: firstly, I need to see ahead to identify hazards in time (anything from road surface to obstacles, dangers, etc.)
Secondly (and most importantly), when riding a bike, you are generally looking not at the road immediately ahead (like most other drivers do), but through the corner to the one beyond that. Not being able to do that impairs your riding. As you said, slowing down to leave a suitable (very large!) gap invites the vehicle behind you to pass, which puts you back in the same position. Better to pass safely.

Oh - lastly, there is more turbulence following a vehicle, which also corresponds to its size.

Which part was convoluted?

[Ender EnZed]

nah people just feel like they have a bigger penis when going faster than everyone else

It's mostly what he said.

But from a safety perspective there's also the matter of it being better not to have someone behind you. And its difficult to achieve this much of the time if you're leaving a large gap for reasons mentioned. If I'm following a car at car speed and there's no one behind me then I don't usually see any reason not to just leave a 6 second gap if I don't want to go faster than it. Only because I like having a licence.

[Insanity_rules]

Because we can so there!