ACC/Pro Rider Silver course

[george formby]

Sure is - great guy. He's also the IAM Northland Examiner.

I never knew that. Hmmmmmmm. I may look a bit further into IAM up here.

[russd7]

Sure is - great guy. He's also the IAM Northland Examiner.

oohh crap, you mentioned that pet food again, cassina will be along in just a jiffy to extol the virtues of not being pet food trained

[Blackbird]

Geez, what was I thinking?? A thousand apologies

oohh crap, you mentioned that pet food again, cassina will be along in just a jiffy to extol the virtues of not being pet food trained

[Maha]

oohh crap, you mentioned that pet food again, cassina will be along in just a jiffy to extol the virtues of not being pet food trained

A jiffy is equal to the time it takes light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum, approximately 33.3564 picoseconds, seems his/her time has lapsed.

[george formby]

Geez, what was I thinking?? A thousand apologies

Awwww C'mon. It's not like the thread lacks in obtuse posts so far. Your a Chief pet food dispenser, fearless of trolls.

[Blackbird]

Awwww C'mon. It's not like the thread lacks in obtuse posts so far. Your a Chief pet food dispenser, fearless of trolls.

Too kind Fearless of trolls yes, fearful of my sanity with plonkers, most definitely

[Moi]

... You're a Chief pet food dispenser, fearless of trolls.

I'm sure Annie would also agree...

[Blackbird]

I'm sure Annie would also agree...

Provider of kawhai and snapper (trimmings only) to the fur kids Mark

[Old Steve]

A jiffy is equal to the time it takes light to travel one centimeter in a vacuum, approximately 33.3564 picoseconds, seems his/her time has lapsed.

And did you know that a "shake" is 10 nanoseconds.

This informal unit was developed by the Manhatten scientists during WWII from the expression "two shakes of a lambs tail" as 10 nano seconds was a very convenient unit of time when describing the workings of an atomic bomb explosion.

Back to the subject, one thing our instructor emphasised was to fade left coming up to the brow of a hill - he said you never knew when a 4WD towing a boat was coming unseen up the other side and some stupid motorist was trying to pass it. Being on the left hand side of your side of the road gave you just that little extra space and time to avoid an accident. Maybe you'd gain a couple of hundred shakes

[rastuscat]

Back to the subject, one thing our instructor emphasised was to fade left coming up to the brow of a hill - he said you never knew when a 4WD towing a boat was coming unseen up the other side and some stupid motorist was trying to pass it. Being on the left hand side of your side of the road gave you just that little extra space and time to avoid an accident. Maybe you'd gain a couple of hundred shakes

Sound advice that.

From time to time I get someone asking me where the best position on the roadway is. Right? Left? Centre?

There's no easy answer, as it entirely depends on what the riding environment dictates. Actively managing your lateral position in response to your cumulative risk assessment is the key.

Basically I simplify it and talk about the left hand wheel track and the right hand wheel track. That keeps me away from the risks of extremity ie the centre line, and the edge of the road.

And I manage my position to balance out the needs of visibility, conspicuity, buffering and the need to gain a better view of the scantily clad busty blonde on the footpath.

The crest of the hill is a great place to give yourself space.

[Ulsterkiwi]

....the need to gain a better view of the scantily clad busty blonde on the footpath......

the old environmental headcheck eh? "I wasnt perving officer, I was scanning for hazards...."

[Old Steve]

I ride 35 km to and from work every day, almost all on the m/way. When entering the m/way, I quickly move across into the right hand lane so I only have idiot cagers to worry about on one side (the left) of me. However I've been startled a couple of times by lane splitters (definition, sports bike, rider wearing jandals, shorts, no gloves, shooting between the 100 km/hr traffic at about 130 km/hr). So I now regularly fade to the left hand wheel track and take a glance in my left hand mirror so I can see back along the gap to the left of my lane, keeping an eye out for oncoming lane splitters.

[rambaldi]

Sound advice that.

From time to time I get someone asking me where the best position on the roadway is. Right? Left? Centre?

There's no easy answer, as it entirely depends on what the riding environment dictates. Actively managing your lateral position in response to your cumulative risk assessment is the key.

Basically I simplify it and talk about the left hand wheel track and the right hand wheel track. That keeps me away from the risks of extremity ie the centre line, and the edge of the road.

And I manage my position to balance out the needs of visibility, conspicuity, buffering and the need to gain a better view of the scantily clad busty blonde on the footpath.

The crest of the hill is a great place to give yourself space.

I have been meaning to ask you about that. Particularly what are your suggestions when it comes to multilane motorway positioning. What are the things you are considering? Usually corner visibility isn't a big issue so you don't need to keep out wide there but what are you thinking about?

Motorway riding was something I found missing from the Bronze course. Aside from a little chat about the legalities or grey area surrounding lane splitting, and to do it between the lanes furthest from the on-ramps. At least in Auckland you see so many riders commuting via the big roads and I felt part of the prescribed course should talk about them.

[Old Steve]

I have been meaning to ask you about that. Particularly what are your suggestions when it comes to multilane motorway positioning. What are the things you are considering? Usually corner visibility isn't a big issue so you don't need to keep out wide there but what are you thinking about?

Right hand wheel line in the right hand lane, I get out there as soon as I can. I move over in the lane to the right hand wheel line every now and then to look back down the inside of the lane.

Coming home over the Bridge from the south, because I get off at the first exit, I get into the left hand lane for the Westhaven and Bridge parts of the m/way as soon as I can coming through Spaghetti Junction. That way I've only got to worry anout idiots in cars on one side of me and any cars entering the m/way from Wellington St or Currin St are pretty visible.

I wear a white helmet and fluoro yellow hi-viz vest. So I'm doing my best to stay rubber down and away from contact with anything harder than my body.

[rastuscat]

I have been meaning to ask you about that. Particularly what are your suggestions when it comes to multilane motorway positioning.

We don't really have a real motorway down here.

I lived in Auckland for 20 some years, but I've managed to avoid the place since 2003. I consider that to be my greatest effort at hazard avoidance, right there.

In regard to positioning on multi lanes, we have a few multi lane arterials here. I suggest to people that they consider motorists blind spots, and ride to stay out of them. Even at 60 kmh on a 60 kmh road, it's worth considering if the car ahead and to your right can see you in their mirror, should they bother to look.

I also usually suggest motorcycling naked. People will almost always see you if you are naked. Wearing a helmet, of course, I don't want to suggest doing anything dangerous.