Riding in the wheeltrack of the car in front of you?

[slowpoke]

d00d, try it next time you are out on ya bike! prolly not too close just in the wrong place, as said before, to the right of the wheeltrack is prolly the best place!

Riding to the right of the right-hand wheel track means you are effectively riding in "suicide alley" when you don't need to. You've just reduced the buffer between you and oncoming traffic. In an emergency situation there is now a much greater risk of inspecting the grill of a truck with a combined impact speed of 200km/h. There may be more frequent hazards but the worst possible consequence (head on) arises from the traffic in the other lane, so I want a bit more room that what you propose.

or if you aint in a hurry then right in the middle, that way you cant help but be seen in their rear view mirror! (which is my original point)

Why are you fixated on the driver in front of you seeing you? His responsibilities are towards those drivers in front of him, not behind. What action do you expect him to take as a result of seeing you? Ride as though you know he hasn't seen you. Why pick the most slippery bit of road you can find when there is a clear alternative?

sorry to be trying to argue this point but what i am trying to say is; stop telling all newbies that riding in the right hand wheel track will solve their problems, which is what seems to be happening! that was the first comment i saw on a thread about a newbie rider riding home for the first time in the rain! that aint allways going to be the answer! i think the answer should have been something like this "ride how you normally would (unless you are a speed freak etc), just plan a little further ahead!" or some such similar. why feel scared to ride in the rain? most people that ride on the roads have good tyres, and those tyres that the average joe uses are as good in the wet as they are in the dry!

Why would you not plan as far ahead as possible in the dry? Wet dead or dry dead you are still dead.
"Ride like I normally would" in the rain? No thanks. I'll leave a greater following distance, I'll corner a bit more sedately, accelerate more gently and generally ride as though I had my nana with a heart condition on the pillion seat. I have absolutely nothing to gain from doing otherwise....on the other hand I have absolutely everything to lose by not respecting the conditions. Sorry mate, but the average tyre doesn't grip in the wet anywhere near as well as it does in the dry.


i guess what i am saying is the training/teaching methods havent evolved like they need to have! get out of your old habits folks!

Just to further screw with your head I was taught by a qualified instructor to ride in the left hand wheel track, unless I'm positioning to pass. The road is clean, I've got a good view of potential tossers pulling out from the left and they can see me, I have more time to react to tossers pulling across me from the right, I have a large buffer between the greatest possible hazard (oncoming traffic).
Riding on the left the worst likely outcome is hitting something stationary vs riding on the right where the worst likely outcome is hitting something coming towards you at 100km/h. I know what I've got a greater chance of surviving.

[Kflasher]

Yeah I have done this, the dryer the road in front can only be better....right?

[Albino]

If any one takes any advice as gospel without applying their own thought while riding motorcycles then they should do themselves a favour and hang up the keys now. Especially when the person giving advice is not a qualified instructor. Having said that I agree with the majority on the poll.

The general rule of thumb is that the right hand wheel track is the place to ride because:

• Less road contamination
• Easier to manouevour around car in front if it stops suddenly
• Less likely to hit road obstacles. Debri is more likely to be pushed into the middle or side of the lane by the cars in front
• No one likely to try and pass you in your lane
• Good compromise of visibility and road positioning
• Etc

If you are riding in the right hand lane and you cannot see the rear view mirror then you are too close (or there is another factor you need to cater for). If you keep the same distance and move into the middle of the lane you have just removed an escape route if the car stops suddenly. Yes there are exceptions and if you decide to change position consider the risks and benfits and make a logical decision.

I've never had problems, because the times that I can't see mirrors I have been following close and when I ride in not-so-sensible mode I take take full responsibility for my actions and I don't expect cars to see me.

[MSTRS:Me]

Just to further screw with your head I was taught by a qualified instructor to ride in the left hand wheel track, unless I'm positioning to pass. The road is clean, I've got a good view of potential tossers pulling out from the left and they can see me, I have more time to react to tossers pulling across me from the right, I have a large buffer between the greatest possible hazard (oncoming traffic).
Riding on the left the worst likely outcome is hitting something stationary vs riding on the right where the worst likely outcome is hitting something coming towards you at 100km/h. I know what I've got a greater chance of surviving.

Can't agree with that. I know several (now ex-)bikers who lost their left leg to a car door being opened without a chance to react.
Ride to the right of the lane centre. The term 'wheeltrack' is a loose one in that cars will drive in various positions in their lane, leaving a fairly wide clean area of road on the right of lane centre. When following a car, position yourself to the left of its righthand wheels, where you can see the driver's eyes in both of his mirrors, and far enough back to give yourself reaction space.
And fucked if I will place my wheels a foot from the centreline...where do you think my righthand bar-end will be????

[scumdog]

Just to further screw with your head I was taught by a qualified instructor to ride in the left hand wheel track, unless I'm positioning to pass. The road is clean, I've got a good view of potential tossers pulling out from the left and they can see me, I have more time to react to tossers pulling across me from the right, I have a large buffer between the greatest possible hazard (oncoming traffic).
Riding on the left the worst likely outcome is hitting something stationary vs riding on the right where the worst likely outcome is hitting something coming towards you at 100km/h. I know what I've got a greater chance of surviving.

Ride on the left:

Generally rougher road
Road on left tends to end up with more contaminants on it.
And worse of all, one day while pootling along on the left tyre tracks you may find a large car wishing to use the same space after he has overtaken the car behind you without noticing you're there until he has started to pull back in to his left - on the right side tyre track he would have seen you as he was thinking of overtaking.

[MSTRS:Me]

Road on left tends to end up with more contaminants on it.
And worse of all, one day while pootling along on the left tyre tracks you may find a large car wishing to use the same space after he has overtaken the car behind you without noticing you're there until he has started to pull back in to his left...

Good point - most roads have a camber, meaning the left side is downhill from the lane -centre splooge.
You are right there, as well

[ManDownUnder]

OK I took a look at this this morning on the way to work and riding in the wheeltrack with a car length gap is fine from a visibility point of view. The driver can see me from their centre mirror as well as the side mirror.

This holds true for both left and right wheel tracks.

Major blind spots are on the flanks of the car... assuming the driver looking forward is 12 o'clock, major blind spots are from 3:00 to 5:30 (RHS) , and 6:30 through to 9:00 (LHS)

There is similarly a small blind spot at about 10:00 where the door pillar blocks some view but if the driver has an issue seeing a bloody great bike around that little thing you should consider anything other than 6:00 and 12:00 to be blind spots.

If you are right up the date of a car then riding in the wheeltrack is DUMB. They brake and you'll get hurt. I hope that basic rudiments of riding safety such as that are above this conversation, but I'll throw it in for completeness' sake.

[Ocean1]

I like the right wheeltracks thing as a general open road policy, but I started thinking how that changes with different factors. I realised that it's something you build as a sort of sub-concious database over time. If you ride in a group with experienced guys you notice they tend to all be in similar places in the same piece of road.

It does seem intuitively correct to those who've been riding for a fair while but it's difficult to break it down into a set of specific rules or policies. I looked briefly for evidence that someone else had done the homework, perhaps for a training course. All I found was this: http://www.flamesonmytank.co.za/Traffic%20Wise.htm Which ain't a bad start, I can agree with most of it even though it's not native to NZ. It doesn't cover every situation, nor could it, but it's not a bad start.

[Gassit Girl]

Being in the RH wheeltrack gives you the best chance of being seen by drivers other than the one directly in front - oncoming drivers, oncoming drivers waiting to turn right, and dickheads pulling out of side roads to the left without looking. And most importantly, I see them as early as possible, giving me maximum time to take action! I see no benefit in habitually riding in either the left track or the middle, though a factor of our safety is that we can move across the lane as needed when different conditions crop up. As far as being seen by the driver directly in front, the RH wheeltrack is the place to be, so they have a chance of catching sight of you in either the rear view or the side mirror, and you can get an impression of their general manner/movements, how on-to-it they are and whether you have been seen etc.

Of course, the whole road behind is a blind spot for drivers who do not check their mirrors, and I then assume they will not keep an eye on who is behind, so I should take responsibility for my following distance, and get close to them only in a passing manoeuvre. And making eye contact with you in the mirror doesn't mean they won't still do something stupid, or just have to slam on the brakes to avoid something, giving both of you little room to move.