7 Reasons Motorcycle Riders Make Better Car Drivers

[900gc]

We knew this already!

https://www.bikebandit.com/community/articles/7-reasons-motorcycle-riders-are-better-drivers?roi=echo3-22942449080-23036477-a56febd35b0b560dfea4305be2e79448&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Friday_101614_BBNews&utm_source=Friday101614&utm_content=7_reasons_riders_better_drivers

 

[Geezer]

Yes! Especially number 2.

 

[LagerHead]

They didn't list the one that, to me, seems the most obvious: You look ahead more. I can't count the number of times that simply looking ahead, especially in curves, has saved my hide. From the time I was able to avoid a cow in the middle of the road immediately after a 90 degree right hand turn to the time I came around a sweeper in a forested area to find a fire truck blocking the entire road. That has definitely colored the way I drive a car. But the 7 listed are all true.

 

[wheatonFJR]

All that may be true, but...

I get more impatient in the minivan when I realize I can't pass that string of cars before the twisties...

 

[Bustanut joker]

Though we/ they get a bad rap.. Truck drivers tend to be better riders as we observe the same rules.

Let the cat fight begin!

 

[DesignFlaw06]

Seems to me that this is a list of "why you should be better", not a list of "you are automatically better".

Owning a bike doesn't qualify you as a better driver. But the skills you should hone to keep from being pancaked. Seen plenty of cages with HD stickers on them that certainly don't fall into the "better driver" category.

Then again there are far too many people that believe that HD apparel is the same as owning the bike.

 

[mcatrophy]

Though we/ they get a bad rap.. Truck drivers tend to be better riders as we observe the same rules.
Let the cat fight begin!

In general, heavy goods drivers are a lot more aware of motorcycles than car drivers, and will help our progress if they can, moving over a bit with filtering and so on.
I also will help an HGV if appropriate, such as holding off overtaking if one obviously wants to move into my lane to do his own overtaking. It takes him far longer to get back to cruising speed than me, and he's on a time schedule.

Ok, I occasionally have to wait a while for a truck doing 60mph to overtake another doing 59.8 mph, but it's fun making up my time .

There again, I've seen a truck driver reading a newspaper while driving at 60 on a motorway.

 

[LagerHead]

Though we/ they get a bad rap.. Truck drivers tend to be better riders as we observe the same rules.
Let the cat fight begin!

In general, heavy goods drivers are a lot more aware of motorcycles than car drivers, and will help our progress if they can, moving over a bit with filtering and so on.
I also will help an HGV if appropriate, such as holding off overtaking if one obviously wants to move into my lane to do his own overtaking. It takes him far longer to get back to cruising speed than me, and he's on a time schedule.

Ok, I occasionally have to wait a while for a truck doing 60mph to overtake another doing 59.8 mph, but it's fun making up my time

.

There again, I've seen a truck driver reading a newspaper while driving at 60 on a motorway.

And that is why vehicle mounted rocket launchers oughtta be legal.

 

[exskibum]

We're typically more engaged and aware, states that are also more common to participating in a sport. Unlike what is typical of cagers, you don't see significant surrender of concentration by someone in a batters box, playing a point on the tennis court or mid-run in a mogul field. To me, riding a motorcycle is skiing on pavement - the focus on line, surface, lateral traction and awareness of fixed and moving obstacles near or on my path. It's an integral part of the experience and its exhilaration to pay attention to and execute my line.

 

[Uncle Hud]

^^^ ding, ding, ding! Picking your line through bumps/potholes/trees/gravel, working the start and finish of your turns, traffic in your path, ... skiing and riding are very related. Your skis need sharpening? Your tires need changing?

 

[SacramentoMike]

I agree with the article and with Rich about the total focus you had better bring to riding well. Because a tiny little moment of inattention can have the worst consequences. But just to toss another idea into the mix, I've always felt that learning to drive in Syracuse NY, the snowiest city in America (NOT the snowiest place, but snowiest city), and one of the hilliest, forced me to develop skills most drivers never have to hone. Here in Sacramento, for example, the streets are flat, wide, and NEVER icy. You never really challenge yourself, don't know how to get out of a snowbank (or a muddy ditch), learn how do deal with a skid, etc., etc. And every left turn, at least nowadays, is controlled by a lights and green arrows. Well, I got way off on a tangent, but it's the same thing, really. It's why a baseball player on deck swings two or three bats. Makes that one bat feel nice and light when he gets up to the plate.

 

[RossKean]

Seems to me that this is a list of "why you should be better", not a list of "you are automatically better".

I agree with this statement. While I believe that many that do a lot of riding have (car) driving habits that are better/safer than the average, there are a LOT of MC riders who scare the crap out of me - on a bike or in a car. Let's face it, the average MC rider probably does less than 2,000 miles per year and their skills are not what you might call "finely honed". Also, even if experienced and defensive on a bike, this may not translate to car-driving behavior.

 

[exskibum]

. . . even if experienced and defensive on a bike, this may not translate to car-driving behavior.

I believe it was Nick Ienatsch in "Sport Riding Techniques" who suggested practicing what he was teaching (such as training your eye to look all the way through corners and scanning the road surface at the same time) while in your car. After all, reps taken anywhere can only help your riding.

In my car, I like to treat the white fog line and yellow mid line as sacred. If I'm any good, I sure as hell ought to be able to keep a Subaru from touching or crossing either, even on twisty roads. Right? I also like to feel the outside front wheel take the weight and begin to carve as I initiate a turn. Amazing how much that makes you aware of whether a car has a tendency to understeer, for example, and to hone your control to take that into account by setting it into the turn slightly earlier. That becomes part of the fun in ess turns. Like I said above - just like a ski and making it do what it do.

Make it a sport and make it about honing performance. Then, even the trip to the store in the cage is engaging instead of boring. The only downside seems to be that it's probably made me even more judgmental about most cagers. If the one in front of me is stepping all over the lines, I lose respect for his/her skills quickly.