[kellymch]

Could some veterans post some dos and don’ts? Maybe some common sense things that might not be so common sense to those of us who are new to this???

THanks in advance,
Kelly

[Candice]

Ok, I have been thinking on this one, do you mean biker etiquette towards other bikers and bikers you are riding with or just generally on the road?

Things I have thought about are:

If it’s starting to get dark I try to remember to turn off my highbeam so I don’t blind people.

If I come up behind another biker I’m not technically riding with I still ride staggered even though I’m not really sure if this is what I’m suppose to do or what.

When bikers acknowledge me I acknowledge them back if I can if not then oh well.

I don’t really take liberties that I’ve seen other bikers take just because they are on bikes and can squeeze inbetween cars when they are not suppose to, I think that is kind of rude and I don’t want cars to get pissed at me as they are dangerous enough as it is. Lane sharing and that kind of thing is not legal illinois.

Otherwise I really just abide by the same etiquette I use in my car, let people in if they have their signals on etc.

I don’t really use the finger too much and especially not on the bike. I had a lady in a HUGE SUV tailgate me recently and I really wanted to give her several fingers but I chose not to since she could just step on the gas and run me right over so I just suffered severe anxiety until I could move.

When riding with other bikers I try not to pull my bike too close to them. One girl I rode with really made me nervous with how close she would pull up her bike at stop lights and in parking lots, I was sure she was going to collide with me. Not that it would be that bad since we aren’t really moving but still.

If I think of anything else I’ll post, hope this helps a little.

Oh AND – turn off your signal lights after you make your turns.

[kellymch]

This is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for. Is there more and how you should park your bike at stops?

I can’t handle when someone tailgates me in a CAR so I’m sure that I will not take it well when someone does it while I’m on my bike!!! When we rode on Tuesday, my husband rode behind me so he protected me from that.

[Candice]

Parking the bike, I just park my bike in it’s own spot, another woman I work with rides too and she sometimes will park her bike in the same spot as mine, I haven’t done that yet because I’m a noob and I might do it wrong.

If it’s street parking, I back up in there and it should look like this: |

– my bike – front tire towards the street bike tire towards the curb.
| – the curb

Stopping at stop lights, I usually stay to the left of the lane and always in first gear so if someone behind me is not stopping I hopefully will be paying attention and I can move all the way over to the left quickly out of there way. Also as I’m coming to a stop and there is a car behind me I flash my break lights to wake them up. Or if no one is behind me I stop rather far from the car in front of me and wait for a car to come up behind me, flash my break lights vigorously and pull up a bit so they can see, hey someone is there.

When approaching intersections that are really busy, and there are cars waiting to make left turns in front of me, I slow down a tad if possible, wiggle my headlight a little if I’m afraid they are going to go, and I try to follow a car or be beside a car while I am going through the intersection. Just some little tricks I use to make myself feel safer I guess.

Or if I’m travelling and I see a car coming from the right who is going to make a right hand turn, I move into the right side of my lane so they can see me. I think when I ride on the left side of the lane that sometimes they can’t see me.

[kellymch]

GREAT ADVICE! Thanks. I’m just extremely Type A and I want to know everything about everything..

[zeppelinfromled]

If you park in a real parking space in a parking lot, park towards to back (exit) of the space, so that people can see the bike before they’re half way turned into the space. I also park at an angle (the bike isn’t parallel to the lines on the side of the space) so that it’s clear that I’m taking up the whole space.

At a stop light, if I’m the only biker, I stop in the center of the lane. I’m not sure if this is the best, but I do it to prevent a car from trying to get alongside me in my own lane. If there’s another biker behind me, I go to one side or the other so that (s)he can pull up along side of me. I do this even if I’m not riding with that person.

With waving to other bikers, recognize that sometimes their left hand is busy with the clutch and they can’t return the wave. If I’m on the receiving end of a wave when I’m on the clutch, I try to nod in return. But safety comes way before waving, so make sure you’re safe when you do it.

I squeeze between cars (at a light or something) if it’s to get in front of a bus whose fumes are choking me or something like that. But not just to get a few cars ahead because I’m impatient.

With tailgaters, try flashing your brake lights at them to see if they back off. I get tailgated a lot less on my bike because I think most people are terrified of hitting a bike, but rear ending a car wouldn’t have such big consequences. If someone’s tailgating me on my bike, I’ll flash my brake lights and increase the distance in front of me. I have to force myself not to get angry (or not to let that anger come through in the way that I ride). It’s not worth it. No matter how much you show them your disapproval, it won’t change the way they drive. Just let them pass and move on.

Edit: Sharing a space with another bike is perfectly acceptable in my book. A couple things to keep in mind. The biggest thing is to make sure that there’s room to both sides of their bike so that they can mount it easily. I like it when another bike shares a space with my bike, because it makes us more visible and less likely to get hit by some inattentive person trying to park.

A small note: A lot of cities have rules for only one vehicle per metered space (they may not be enforced, but they’re there). So if it’s a metered space, be aware of that. If you add your bike to a metered space with a bike in it, it’s nice to fill up the meter.

[Munch]

as far as locally here there is an unspoken rule that if a bike is parked to one side or another of a spot then it lets other riders know that it’s ok to share the spot. However if they are nearer to dead center… move on. Best thing to do is find some local riding club websites and forums to get a good idea of local attitudes. As far as highways or roadways… if I see a rider coming up I will slide to the left side of the lane to show it’s ok for him/her to piggy back. As far as tailgaters…. if the break flashes don’t work I just do a slalom run in my lane…usually grabs their attention and throws them off.

[Author]

Posts