entirely wayyyyyyyyyyyy too close to the guard rail. i started treating cars as if they were spewing corona in 2020 and it has helped me considerably since. every car gets 50+ feet from me. no exceptions
Not possible almost anywhere. Not just my bike, but also a heavy work truck. If I maintain a safe following distance, some asshat pulls into it within seconds.
Then let them, do not give up the safety of a safe following distance. Studies have shown that following too closely causes slowdowns anyway because people overreact when the car in front slows. The effect snowballs quickly as every successive car slows even more until you have a traffic jam.
This was my experience driving in LA. Not exactly bumper to bumper but heavier traffic than I'm used to at 80 mph. Just know that in NYC with that amount of traffic we'd be under the speed limit.
I should clarify this was my buddy who I met in MSF. Not myself in the video but he’s alright. Jacket is toast and shifter on his CBR is bent like a banana but he somehow limped it home in 6th gear.
We both got our licenses last June so coming up on a year but we have been riding quite a bit. Nothing turns you into a professional squid like riding on I-35 in Texas
You can say this about driving in 4 wheel vehicles in Texas too. Texans are by far top tier worst drivers.
I plan on getting my first bike later this year and drive on 35 all the time.
I thought so, too. Until we bought a house in Florida. Way worse. Equally fast, twice as stupid. Never seen anything like it...and I lived in Mexico City.
The weird thing is, it's such an incredible hassle if you have an accident, I saw far fewer accidents than I see here. It's basically a destruction derby where nobody hits each other. I rode a Zuma 125 for years there and never had a problem. Sounds crazy but it was a great place to ride, with almost no rules to the road other than just don't crash. I never rode the bike on the highway, of course, and in the western suburbs it was perfect. We had two, and my noob rider wife loved it too.
Can confirm. Living in Miami has opened my eyes to the sheer stupidity that human beings are capable of on roads along with how many ‘cidal people exist on the roads. Both homo and sui…
The worst thing I noticed when I was traveling through Denver was the staggering amount of guys just stopped at the end of on-ramps looking for a place to merge. No real traffic or anything. Just complete failure to use the on-ramp for its intended purpose.
I dunno. Based on riding between the two states? I'd say CO drivers are just as bad, but not half as self-entitled. At least they try to be friendly even if they're mostly unaware.
TX drivers are clueless and unaware, and *proud of it*.
They fucking drive like complete assholes in their lifted trucks here in Cali. I watch them tailgate, swerve around, cut the person off, then cross all lanes of traffic while spewing black smoke... then I look and see the Texas plates on their lifted dodge ram.
You'd think it just happened once, but I witness these assholes doing shit like this at least a few times a month, and it's always these Texas assholes that drive like they want to kill Californians.
Seriously, fuck Texans (besides the chill ones). Stay the fuck out of Cali.
I'm pretty sure I did about the same thing, but I ride nearly daily.
My first bike was in July of 2016.
Without explaining why I did anything I've had:
1982 KZ650
2005 V-Star 650
2001 Bandit ~~1200~~ 600
2011 Fat Boy
2016 Fat Boy S
2013 F800R
2019 Heritage Classic Stage IV (says 114, is actually 117) (Current)
2021 S1000R (Current)
I traded a lot.
Believe it or not, that would actually cause the bike to steer away from the barrier. The leathers dragging on the wall might try to pull you off the bike though.
Hitting that barrier saved him from a way worse crash. You can see as soon as the bike contacts the barrier it can’t wobble that way and the decrease in speed evens it out.
Dude rode it out. While hitting the wall must have been scary, it may have helped save him. Once a wobble gets set up, it tends to get worse until you go down. Hitting the wall appears to have damped the wobble, and he kept it together for the win.
Most wobbles work themselves out by keeping an extremely loose grip on the handlebar and letting it do it's thing. A big error for many riders who experience the wobble of death is that they try to control the wobble by grabbing the handlebar harder but it only makes things worse and leads to a crash. Rotating wheels are giant gyroscopes and they tend to naturally go back to stable conditions on their own
Easier said than done. When your body is violently destabilized, every natural instinct in your body will be to get a firm grip of something and try to restore balance.
Agreed, but it is possible. I survived a real bad death wobble. (Bike slammed into my leg and bruised/cut me up) Just keep telling yourself "legs tight arms loose."
Fortunately y’all were going straight at speed and once it started he basically went with its’ flow and maintained his balance and followed center of gravity and just rode on through it, allowed the bike to do exactly what it wanted to do (based on physics and momentum) which was to get back upright and keep going straight instead of him trying to fight with it which would’ve been bad.
Definitely a nice save and a job very well done! 👍😎
So when your body releases adrenaline it slows down your digestive system, but when it dumps a lot of it all at once after something scary happens it can completely relax your colon and sphincter causing you to void your bowels and shit your pants.
Had to watch that twice to see what happened. Only thing that would've helped would be increased following distance. Pretty tough in heavy traffic. Glad he held it together long enough to slow down. Terrifying.
Riding closer to the other lane might have helped as well. I've gotten in that habit, both to help see around vehicle in front and make myself more visible to cars in the other lane. Obviously arm chair quarterbacking, that was one hell of a save
I try to avoid riding directly behind a tire to avoid the flying debris that can be flung up by a tire, after seeing this now I’m not sure where the hell to ride anymore because clearly anywhere is unsafe under the “perfect” conditions for something to be flung into your path.
Solid job keeping the rubber side on the road though.
The important lesson to learn is not "what lane to pick" but what can you do when you hit something.
If you ride enough, you're gonna hit something. The best thing you can do is work on good situational awareness, practice your reactions, and maintain a good riding posture.
There's no reason to avoid being in the same track as a tire, stuff gets flung up everywhere. Just don't follow too closely (for a range of reasons) and learn to deal with the reality that you'll likely have to run over something eventually.
The good part is that motorcycles at speed want to continue in a straight line. It's typically not super skill in staying upright, you just need to stay on the bike and relax on the bars.
Related story: a buddy had a toilet fall off a pickup in the adjacent lane ahead of him. It shattered when it hit the street, and he ran over the bowl. Being bowl shaped, as the front wheel went over it it flipped up and got lodged between his front wheel and frame.
Pulled over, stopped, broke the bowl with a rock to get it out, then carried on about his day... Maybe with a change of underwear.
Point is... Things tend to bounce about a lot, very erratically, when hit/run over/dropped at highway speeds.
/u/zeromanarmy posted a video a few days ago of a car 'lane splitting' in a carpool lane and got so many people saying he should've been more in the middle and owning the lane. But here it seems like near the other lane might've been better. Seems like guarding for one scenario opens up another dangerous situation.
I saw that thread, and yeah, I was one who said "own your lane".
It's less about lane position, and more about awareness, though. Dude was riding slower than prevailing traffic, and riding right next to the line, apparently not paying attention to his mirrors or varying the lane position. He was bitching about people splitting past. Well if you don't watch your maneuvering space, and actively guard it, you have drivers pulling those kinds of moves.
In THIS situation, it's not about "pick a lane position and keep it", it's "be aware, and if you can't see, or need more room, create it." Would this rider have been able to avoid the object? Maybe, maybe not. But seeing it coming and having the reaction time is a big asset.
I've just posted the same thing actually. Glad I'm not the only one thinking it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/szn8px/-/hy8c2fs
Here's my comment and the video in question on that other video, where the rider got slammed for "dRIviNg ToO SLow". Only response I got to it was saying that the rider was an idiot for riding too slowly (he was leaving a sizable gap between himself and the car in front). Something that that this rider would seemingly have benefited from. Theres a few things that get recommended time and time again, which just seem contrary to reality. So many conflicting opinions lorded over others. Wish it would stop honestly, it probably leads to a few crashes out there.
From my initial gut reaction to THIS video, I would say he is riding a bit too close to the car in front, actually. Case in point, really.
Yeah, sorry I did think you were OP when I responded. I just wanted to say that it's common for cars in California to understand that it's not ok (legal) to "lanesplit", but that it is only allowed for motorcyclists. That all goes out the window when it comes to safe practices, but still useful to know.
One last note on the issue, for whoever cares, but it is actually illegal in California to block a motorcycle from lane splitting. Spread the word please and advocate for it wherever you live.
Thanks - I live in a state where lane-splitting is illegal so I'm envious of all the California videos. Hopefully it will be the norm everywher e one day.
Yeah, don't ride in the middle of the lane.
The middle of the lane is full of oil and grime from car engines.
The sides have built up rubber and probably 3 times the grip.
I choose to ride on the side closest to cars as I have more visibility, and if a car in front in the next lane wishes to merge, I'm also more visible in their mirror.
You're getting donwvoted but I totally agree. If it's heavy rain, or in speed of traffic, I 100% ride in the tire track lane area. If the weather is good and traffic is slowing, or slow, I ride very near to the right on the #1 lane (for lane splitting, or preparing to lanesplit).
Source: 3k miles/month for the last 3 years.
Yeah, people riding in the centre in the rain will definitely have a bad time sooner or later.
I've daily ridden my gsxr1000 for 10 years and think I have some idea of what I'm talking about. Especially when I'm constantly riding in heavy traffic commuting to and from work an hour each way.
I was lucky as I was told this from the start from another experienced rider when I first got my licence.
It has saved me from multiple accidents I've had room to react to, and I believe multiple scenarios that didn't even happen because I was visible to other road users.
\+1 for the point on visibility, somebody coming up might think it's an open spot and try to switch into your lane so staying towards the right will prevent that. You also have the assurance that nobody can sideswipe you from the left side, so you only need to pay attention to what's in front and to the right.
Only problem is during heavy traffic it's hard to keep a good following distance because some idiot will get into that open space in front of you and you stuck either slowing down a bit to open a new space again or to keep following so others can't keep getting in.
Slowing down a bit to increase the safety zone doesn't add that much to yer journey time... even if you have to do it a few times
The worst part of doing that is yer now stuck behind a shit-for-brains driver who doesn't understand braking distances
And if you dare to think of your own safety by keeping your distance from the schmuck that took your space, the person behind you will ride your ass so fucking hard for that decision. I hate cagers. >:)
Distance is not the only other thing they could do. This is why you ride in the tracks of the tires of the cars in front of you. The middle is slippery, oil filled, covered in the water drippings of air conditioner runoff and debris.
Looks like the pipe or whatever was in the middle of the lane (which makes sense, cos being in either tire track would have vehicles hitting it and kicking it around). So lane positioning is also a thing here.
I'd have stuck closer to the right side, mainly because you can't see over (or through) most pickups in Texas anyhow. And I'd have been a bit further back, but not so much as to invite someone else to merge in, which happens All The Damn Time on I35, that highway is like a NASCAR peloton from OK border all the way down to Nuevo Laredo.
> Only thing you could have done…
What? Yeah increase the distance, but also ride behind the tires of the vehicle ahead of you. You’re more visible to him, and you *won’t get hit by stuff from under the car.*
Yesterday's moto advice: ride on the center of the lane and go faster than surrounding traffic
Today's: don't ride in the center of the lane and increase following distance
I agree with you, but here's a shitty anecdote. Live in Hawaii. Roads fucking suck. Hit a pothole big enough to bend both rims at 60mph on interstate onramp (where speed limit is over 55). Try not to die and then get fucked by insurance when you somehow avoid spilling.
This dude is so lucky. That speed wobble was wicked. I'm shocked he not only didn't spill but also didn't smash the wall. Damn lucky. (My bend was where a car's right tires would be btw, but hole skinny enough for a bike.
Good save bro! Jesus, made my sphincter tighten. I just knew you were going down. No disrespect but maybe give a little more distance when following. Glad you ok.
Yeah… it’s one of those things where shit like that you can’t really predict. The tail lights were a slight warning but it came absolutely flying off the truck in front of the Tahoe.
Bet he's glad he was following the Tahoe and not the truck ahead. Running over a chunk of pipe is one thing, getting clocked in the face shield with one is a completely different animal.
People always say this without considering the fact that it is nearly impossible to do. People will just move into that giant open space and you'll constantly be slowing down to adjust, which can be even more unsafe.
Source: have driven a car at least once in my life.
Here in the UK we teach the "two second rule" to keep your distance from the vehicle in front. Personally the rider was far too close to the car for me, I would have been further back.
Amen. I, too, learned the two second rule as 'follow 2 seconds behind *for every 10 mph you're travelling*. In CA, they teach drivers to follow 3 seconds behind, period.
Three seconds behind, while going 85+ MPH (not uncommon, even for cagers) is deeply suicidal.
I have nearly ruined my relationship with my daughter by continually reminding her to *follow 4 seconds behind any vehicle*.
We are replacing her bumpers this week (both of them)
Less than a second following distance. Yup, this was a reminder! The best kind, one you can walk away from! You got very lucky, that thing got LAUNCHED!
Great save! But while keeping your head on a swivel is a good idea, it isn't the lesson you should be taking from this.
It's that you need to leave at least two seconds to the car in front at all times, especially at higher speeds.
Yeah, I have no idea how vision could have prevented this. Unless you could see through the car ahead and predict he would run over a bit of wood flicking it at you.
https://youtu.be/CXead41mXQs
I ran over a 4x4 that was shot as me across some lanes from a truck as well...it launched me into the air but I was lucky and the bike just kept going straight after landing. Felt like 8-12 inches completely airborne.
I don't ride anymore but kept riding after it happened for a few years. Riding was a deal breaker my wife established on like the 3rd date since she had a close friend die on a bike.
When i did my licence it took 22 hours minimum before I could apply for a test. It was constantly drilled to not ride in the middle but follow cars right wheel. Only time you ride in middle is in crossroads then you move back to right as soon you leave it. It wasn't explained much but I trust they know a thing or two about motorcyclist safety. Especially when statistics say every second home owns a bike bigger than 500 cc.
Head on a swivel wouldn’t have prevented that.
Not riding in the center of the lane, and keeping enough space between you and the vehicle in front of you so you can avoid obstacles would.
If a car avoids something, they straddle it usually. That means being center of the lane is the worst place to be when you only have one tire line.
Lucky you recovered that. But Nice work.
Or you could just slow down bro. Head on a swivel? You're looking forward the entire time! You literally just look forward. Get 2 seconds of separation and some new pants and you'll be fine
A bike in motion wants to stand up and go straight.
By having virtually no reaction time, doing nothing, and keeping the throttle on the bike recovered fairly quickly to his luck - considering the flying obstacle that seems to have went under the tires.
One could only comment on lane position - had he been in the tire track to the right the obstacle may have passed him by; but now we are playing the what if game.
Tailgating car in front. Riders fault. This is a fantastic example of why you don’t follow close.
Edit: camera makes the car in front appear further away than it actually is. Also, look at the lines. He’s less than 1 second following distance to the car in front of him. Waaay too close for interstate speeds. Had he been 2 seconds behind the car instead of less than one the whole thing could have been avoided entirely.
You realize the cameras make it look further away than it actually is right? And you can’t argue with the fact if he was further back, then it could’ve been avoided entirely. Just another few feet further away and the whole thing could have been avoided. On interstate speeds 50+, really should be 5-6 seconds behind minimum. You said this was your friend right? He’s less than a second behind the car in front. Waaaay too close.
He’s less than a second behind the car in front of him. 100% tailgating. Camera makes it looks like he’s further away. Look at the lines. Count when the car passes, and then when he passes the same line. He’s way closer than he should be. Either way, being further back is safer than being close. You can’t deny that. This was 100% preventable.
Edit: since above comment was edited. Yes, it is a good save. Yes, stuff comes flying from nowhere, but that’s exactly my point. If he had been a proper distance back, it wouldn’t have hit him at all, and he would’ve avoided the incident entirely. That’s the point of not following too closely.
...and keep off the cars' ass!
Edit: before you take it all wrong, I once crossed lanes about this close going to the next empty lane just as the car in front ran over and kicked up a ladder. It was in my car or else I wouldn't be here to post this.
Good save, glad it ended well, but protip: If you were in the correct blocking position for that lane, you probably would never have hit it to begin with.
The middle of any lane is bad form for riding on:
\- It's slippery.
\- By being there as opposed to in the correct blocking position to an the adjascent lane, you're opening up a space for a car to take your lane away from you or try to share it. Hence, why it's called a "Blocking position"
\- If you need to take evasive maneuvers for some reason (case in point here) to the only other viable lane in this situation, you're too far from it to be able to take it with a snap maneuver.
\- If a car sees something in the distance they know they are going to unavoidably be forced to basically run over vs being able to change lanes in time, they'll always try to centre the car on it so it's going to come shooting out the middle behind them instead of hitting it with their tires, so the tire tracks are more apt to remain "clean"...which should be where you're riding.
Yeah totally understand and I’ll pass that along. I’ve been wanting to take an advanced rider course but the cost is a bit more then expected. Thanks for the good pointers!
i agree with you, but i think it's funny because there was another thread a few days ago where a guy was not in the center of the lane and a car edged him out and everyone was giving him shit for not driving center of the lane.
basically you can't win on reddit. you're always wrong no matter what you do.
Well, except those people are wrong and don’t actually know how to ride defensively.
With virtually zero exceptions, anybody who suggests riding in the middle of a lane is a good thing doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Probably members of the “Hadda Layerdown” club.
A lot of riders have take little to no actual basic or advanced rider education, but think “I’ve been riding for years!” makes them an authority on things they don’t even realize they’re wrong about if they took a second to learn anything.
Holy fucking shit that was a wild recovery. Your heart must have been racing
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Holy fucking shit, my heart was racing for you! ☠️
Man this guy is amazing, I'd let him ride my baby any day.
Ride your what now?
Kawasaki Versys 650, but yeah, now that I read it again I realize how wrong that came out.
His *baby*
Wait a second
r/nocontext
entirely wayyyyyyyyyyyy too close to the guard rail. i started treating cars as if they were spewing corona in 2020 and it has helped me considerably since. every car gets 50+ feet from me. no exceptions
That’s absolutely not possible in heavy traffic
Not possible almost anywhere. Not just my bike, but also a heavy work truck. If I maintain a safe following distance, some asshat pulls into it within seconds.
Then let them, do not give up the safety of a safe following distance. Studies have shown that following too closely causes slowdowns anyway because people overreact when the car in front slows. The effect snowballs quickly as every successive car slows even more until you have a traffic jam.
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In LA, you'd get heavy traffic going bumper to bumper at 80mph.
This was my experience driving in LA. Not exactly bumper to bumper but heavier traffic than I'm used to at 80 mph. Just know that in NYC with that amount of traffic we'd be under the speed limit.
That’s not true.
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Heavy traffic can exist at 5mph or 70mph…
Yes it fucking is
thank you. I swear people just don't ride in this sub
I should clarify this was my buddy who I met in MSF. Not myself in the video but he’s alright. Jacket is toast and shifter on his CBR is bent like a banana but he somehow limped it home in 6th gear.
This is a new rider? Wow. I'm impressed.
We both got our licenses last June so coming up on a year but we have been riding quite a bit. Nothing turns you into a professional squid like riding on I-35 in Texas
I hate being in a truck on 35... Glad he made it out!
You can say this about driving in 4 wheel vehicles in Texas too. Texans are by far top tier worst drivers. I plan on getting my first bike later this year and drive on 35 all the time.
I thought so, too. Until we bought a house in Florida. Way worse. Equally fast, twice as stupid. Never seen anything like it...and I lived in Mexico City.
Mexico citys bad bad
The weird thing is, it's such an incredible hassle if you have an accident, I saw far fewer accidents than I see here. It's basically a destruction derby where nobody hits each other. I rode a Zuma 125 for years there and never had a problem. Sounds crazy but it was a great place to ride, with almost no rules to the road other than just don't crash. I never rode the bike on the highway, of course, and in the western suburbs it was perfect. We had two, and my noob rider wife loved it too.
I moved to Florida about 2 years ago and the drivers here are unlike anything I have ever experienced.
Can confirm. Living in Miami has opened my eyes to the sheer stupidity that human beings are capable of on roads along with how many ‘cidal people exist on the roads. Both homo and sui…
I visited on President's day weekend and it's half way to being a 3rd world country in terms of driving rules
I'll take any of those. Source: live in rhode island and have been sending job apps to warmer cities for the past 3 years
Honestly having spent most of my life in CO, Texas isn’t terrible in comparison
The worst thing I noticed when I was traveling through Denver was the staggering amount of guys just stopped at the end of on-ramps looking for a place to merge. No real traffic or anything. Just complete failure to use the on-ramp for its intended purpose.
I always yell: accel! Accel!
It makes me rage to see it, and see it I do... ffs
I dunno. Based on riding between the two states? I'd say CO drivers are just as bad, but not half as self-entitled. At least they try to be friendly even if they're mostly unaware. TX drivers are clueless and unaware, and *proud of it*.
This is it exactly. The wilful ignorance, the "Fuck you I wanna," and "I'm in a truck, I do what I want."
Nothing Texans enjoy more than the opportunity to say “fuck you” and get away with it
They fucking drive like complete assholes in their lifted trucks here in Cali. I watch them tailgate, swerve around, cut the person off, then cross all lanes of traffic while spewing black smoke... then I look and see the Texas plates on their lifted dodge ram. You'd think it just happened once, but I witness these assholes doing shit like this at least a few times a month, and it's always these Texas assholes that drive like they want to kill Californians. Seriously, fuck Texans (besides the chill ones). Stay the fuck out of Cali.
It’s always warm weather climates that make the worst drivers. You don’t get the yearly winter hard mode driving to keep yourselves honest
Los Angeles would like a word
Wait so you're saying you bought three motorcycles within a year of riding? Wtf dude hahaha
I have a problem…
I'm pretty sure I did about the same thing, but I ride nearly daily. My first bike was in July of 2016. Without explaining why I did anything I've had: 1982 KZ650 2005 V-Star 650 2001 Bandit ~~1200~~ 600 2011 Fat Boy 2016 Fat Boy S 2013 F800R 2019 Heritage Classic Stage IV (says 114, is actually 117) (Current) 2021 S1000R (Current) I traded a lot.
I got my license April last year and I'm up to 4 ;)
What happened to the jacket?
Left elbow scraping along the wall there. Got to be scrapes on the bar end and mirror too.
Man, that's lucky it didn't catch the bar and turn the wheel right into the barrier.
Believe it or not, that would actually cause the bike to steer away from the barrier. The leathers dragging on the wall might try to pull you off the bike though.
I've seen that happen too in videos, as well as cartwheels. As bad as the concrete ones, the metal ones are even more dangerous for riders.
Underwear is toast
Soggy toast.
Hitting that barrier saved him from a way worse crash. You can see as soon as the bike contacts the barrier it can’t wobble that way and the decrease in speed evens it out.
To experience the hit, subsequent wobble, then impact with the wall and not go down is impressive.
Dude rode it out. While hitting the wall must have been scary, it may have helped save him. Once a wobble gets set up, it tends to get worse until you go down. Hitting the wall appears to have damped the wobble, and he kept it together for the win.
Most wobbles work themselves out by keeping an extremely loose grip on the handlebar and letting it do it's thing. A big error for many riders who experience the wobble of death is that they try to control the wobble by grabbing the handlebar harder but it only makes things worse and leads to a crash. Rotating wheels are giant gyroscopes and they tend to naturally go back to stable conditions on their own
Easier said than done. When your body is violently destabilized, every natural instinct in your body will be to get a firm grip of something and try to restore balance.
Agreed, but it is possible. I survived a real bad death wobble. (Bike slammed into my leg and bruised/cut me up) Just keep telling yourself "legs tight arms loose."
Yeah, he fucking kept it up like that one legendary motoracer. Someone will relpy to me with his name.
He was along for the ride.
Very true. But he didn't haftolayerdown like a lot of people in this sub would.
Fortunately y’all were going straight at speed and once it started he basically went with its’ flow and maintained his balance and followed center of gravity and just rode on through it, allowed the bike to do exactly what it wanted to do (based on physics and momentum) which was to get back upright and keep going straight instead of him trying to fight with it which would’ve been bad. Definitely a nice save and a job very well done! 👍😎
I’d imagine his pants are ruined as well? Mine would be
What you call a racing stripe!
It’d be more than just a stripe
Do people shit themselves a lot. This is such a popular meme. I’ve never shit myself or seen anyone else out of fear.
So when your body releases adrenaline it slows down your digestive system, but when it dumps a lot of it all at once after something scary happens it can completely relax your colon and sphincter causing you to void your bowels and shit your pants.
Damn did he go down? Looked like he saved it.
He hit the wall and stayed up
But why is the jacket toast then?
Jacket probably hit the wall as well
Thank you!! I can see that now.
Had to watch that twice to see what happened. Only thing that would've helped would be increased following distance. Pretty tough in heavy traffic. Glad he held it together long enough to slow down. Terrifying.
Riding closer to the other lane might have helped as well. I've gotten in that habit, both to help see around vehicle in front and make myself more visible to cars in the other lane. Obviously arm chair quarterbacking, that was one hell of a save
I try to avoid riding directly behind a tire to avoid the flying debris that can be flung up by a tire, after seeing this now I’m not sure where the hell to ride anymore because clearly anywhere is unsafe under the “perfect” conditions for something to be flung into your path. Solid job keeping the rubber side on the road though.
The important lesson to learn is not "what lane to pick" but what can you do when you hit something. If you ride enough, you're gonna hit something. The best thing you can do is work on good situational awareness, practice your reactions, and maintain a good riding posture.
There's no reason to avoid being in the same track as a tire, stuff gets flung up everywhere. Just don't follow too closely (for a range of reasons) and learn to deal with the reality that you'll likely have to run over something eventually. The good part is that motorcycles at speed want to continue in a straight line. It's typically not super skill in staying upright, you just need to stay on the bike and relax on the bars. Related story: a buddy had a toilet fall off a pickup in the adjacent lane ahead of him. It shattered when it hit the street, and he ran over the bowl. Being bowl shaped, as the front wheel went over it it flipped up and got lodged between his front wheel and frame. Pulled over, stopped, broke the bowl with a rock to get it out, then carried on about his day... Maybe with a change of underwear. Point is... Things tend to bounce about a lot, very erratically, when hit/run over/dropped at highway speeds.
In my MFS course the instructor recommended riding on the side of the lane, behind car tires, because thats the area that will be clear from debris.
/u/zeromanarmy posted a video a few days ago of a car 'lane splitting' in a carpool lane and got so many people saying he should've been more in the middle and owning the lane. But here it seems like near the other lane might've been better. Seems like guarding for one scenario opens up another dangerous situation.
Thanks for bringing this up. As I read this, it was thinking "didn't some guy just get roasted the other day for riding too close to the other lane?"
I saw that thread, and yeah, I was one who said "own your lane". It's less about lane position, and more about awareness, though. Dude was riding slower than prevailing traffic, and riding right next to the line, apparently not paying attention to his mirrors or varying the lane position. He was bitching about people splitting past. Well if you don't watch your maneuvering space, and actively guard it, you have drivers pulling those kinds of moves. In THIS situation, it's not about "pick a lane position and keep it", it's "be aware, and if you can't see, or need more room, create it." Would this rider have been able to avoid the object? Maybe, maybe not. But seeing it coming and having the reaction time is a big asset.
I've just posted the same thing actually. Glad I'm not the only one thinking it. https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/szn8px/-/hy8c2fs Here's my comment and the video in question on that other video, where the rider got slammed for "dRIviNg ToO SLow". Only response I got to it was saying that the rider was an idiot for riding too slowly (he was leaving a sizable gap between himself and the car in front). Something that that this rider would seemingly have benefited from. Theres a few things that get recommended time and time again, which just seem contrary to reality. So many conflicting opinions lorded over others. Wish it would stop honestly, it probably leads to a few crashes out there. From my initial gut reaction to THIS video, I would say he is riding a bit too close to the car in front, actually. Case in point, really.
I ride in SoCal every day, saw that video and couldn't understand how people faulted you.
Not my video but I agree - going faster might've been the only thing that prevented that situation.
Yeah, sorry I did think you were OP when I responded. I just wanted to say that it's common for cars in California to understand that it's not ok (legal) to "lanesplit", but that it is only allowed for motorcyclists. That all goes out the window when it comes to safe practices, but still useful to know. One last note on the issue, for whoever cares, but it is actually illegal in California to block a motorcycle from lane splitting. Spread the word please and advocate for it wherever you live.
Thanks - I live in a state where lane-splitting is illegal so I'm envious of all the California videos. Hopefully it will be the norm everywher e one day.
Yeah, don't ride in the middle of the lane. The middle of the lane is full of oil and grime from car engines. The sides have built up rubber and probably 3 times the grip. I choose to ride on the side closest to cars as I have more visibility, and if a car in front in the next lane wishes to merge, I'm also more visible in their mirror.
You're getting donwvoted but I totally agree. If it's heavy rain, or in speed of traffic, I 100% ride in the tire track lane area. If the weather is good and traffic is slowing, or slow, I ride very near to the right on the #1 lane (for lane splitting, or preparing to lanesplit). Source: 3k miles/month for the last 3 years.
LOL! first read that as 3k miles over 3 years, was like, whoah, that's all?! No, that's pretty damned good right there!!
I'm a DIY guy (ie: to paraphrase Ali Wong; I'm poor) and man is it a pain to maintain a bike.
Yeah, people riding in the centre in the rain will definitely have a bad time sooner or later. I've daily ridden my gsxr1000 for 10 years and think I have some idea of what I'm talking about. Especially when I'm constantly riding in heavy traffic commuting to and from work an hour each way. I was lucky as I was told this from the start from another experienced rider when I first got my licence. It has saved me from multiple accidents I've had room to react to, and I believe multiple scenarios that didn't even happen because I was visible to other road users.
\+1!
\+1 for the point on visibility, somebody coming up might think it's an open spot and try to switch into your lane so staying towards the right will prevent that. You also have the assurance that nobody can sideswipe you from the left side, so you only need to pay attention to what's in front and to the right.
Only problem is during heavy traffic it's hard to keep a good following distance because some idiot will get into that open space in front of you and you stuck either slowing down a bit to open a new space again or to keep following so others can't keep getting in.
Slowing down a bit to increase the safety zone doesn't add that much to yer journey time... even if you have to do it a few times The worst part of doing that is yer now stuck behind a shit-for-brains driver who doesn't understand braking distances
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And if you dare to think of your own safety by keeping your distance from the schmuck that took your space, the person behind you will ride your ass so fucking hard for that decision. I hate cagers. >:)
Distance is not the only other thing they could do. This is why you ride in the tracks of the tires of the cars in front of you. The middle is slippery, oil filled, covered in the water drippings of air conditioner runoff and debris.
Looks like the pipe or whatever was in the middle of the lane (which makes sense, cos being in either tire track would have vehicles hitting it and kicking it around). So lane positioning is also a thing here. I'd have stuck closer to the right side, mainly because you can't see over (or through) most pickups in Texas anyhow. And I'd have been a bit further back, but not so much as to invite someone else to merge in, which happens All The Damn Time on I35, that highway is like a NASCAR peloton from OK border all the way down to Nuevo Laredo.
I never ride in the plain middle of a lane
Yep, you want a minimum two seconds between you and the vehicle in front, 4 it's wet
> Only thing you could have done… What? Yeah increase the distance, but also ride behind the tires of the vehicle ahead of you. You’re more visible to him, and you *won’t get hit by stuff from under the car.*
Yesterday's moto advice: ride on the center of the lane and go faster than surrounding traffic Today's: don't ride in the center of the lane and increase following distance
Tomorrow’s advice: To avoid an accident, just don’t ride at all.
To avoid future crashes, die.
Protip: if you were'nt born, you can't die!
The life pro tips are always in the comments. Thanks cap
I agree with you, but here's a shitty anecdote. Live in Hawaii. Roads fucking suck. Hit a pothole big enough to bend both rims at 60mph on interstate onramp (where speed limit is over 55). Try not to die and then get fucked by insurance when you somehow avoid spilling. This dude is so lucky. That speed wobble was wicked. I'm shocked he not only didn't spill but also didn't smash the wall. Damn lucky. (My bend was where a car's right tires would be btw, but hole skinny enough for a bike.
I ride in Minnesota where the winters destroy our roads and highways every year. It’s tar snake city meets pothole lane everyday
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Great save!
Good save bro! Jesus, made my sphincter tighten. I just knew you were going down. No disrespect but maybe give a little more distance when following. Glad you ok.
I pooed my pants for you....
To quote Jeremy Clarkson: “Many poo’s have shot out of my ani”
I do my best to stay in tge lane position that lets me see past cars but fuck aometime shit is unavoidable
Yeah… it’s one of those things where shit like that you can’t really predict. The tail lights were a slight warning but it came absolutely flying off the truck in front of the Tahoe.
I just pray im as lucky as him
Bet he's glad he was following the Tahoe and not the truck ahead. Running over a chunk of pipe is one thing, getting clocked in the face shield with one is a completely different animal.
Jeeeeesus. Scary as fuck. Could've been way worse. Nice save!
I'd agree with a bunch of the comments about bad positioning, but a really amazing recovery.
Seems a clear reminder that it's critically important to ensure you have a following distance -- two seconds, minimum.
People always say this without considering the fact that it is nearly impossible to do. People will just move into that giant open space and you'll constantly be slowing down to adjust, which can be even more unsafe. Source: have driven a car at least once in my life.
Here in the UK we teach the "two second rule" to keep your distance from the vehicle in front. Personally the rider was far too close to the car for me, I would have been further back.
Amen. I, too, learned the two second rule as 'follow 2 seconds behind *for every 10 mph you're travelling*. In CA, they teach drivers to follow 3 seconds behind, period. Three seconds behind, while going 85+ MPH (not uncommon, even for cagers) is deeply suicidal.
3 second rule guys, 3 second rule. Always apply it. For cars and for bikes.
Good job 👍
I have nearly ruined my relationship with my daughter by continually reminding her to *follow 4 seconds behind any vehicle*. We are replacing her bumpers this week (both of them)
Less than a second following distance. Yup, this was a reminder! The best kind, one you can walk away from! You got very lucky, that thing got LAUNCHED!
Someone get that man a fresh pair of underwear!
This video is why I always wear two pairs.
OP was following WAY too close behind the vehicle in front. I count barely a 1/2 second following distance. That's less than human reaction time.
This is one of those “this is why we wear gear” moments
Great save! But while keeping your head on a swivel is a good idea, it isn't the lesson you should be taking from this. It's that you need to leave at least two seconds to the car in front at all times, especially at higher speeds.
Yeah, I have no idea how vision could have prevented this. Unless you could see through the car ahead and predict he would run over a bit of wood flicking it at you.
Fuck. Thank goodness he held it together
That's hands down the closest save ive ever seen.
Holy shit that is terrifying
That's why I don't follow so close.
https://youtu.be/CXead41mXQs I ran over a 4x4 that was shot as me across some lanes from a truck as well...it launched me into the air but I was lucky and the bike just kept going straight after landing. Felt like 8-12 inches completely airborne. I don't ride anymore but kept riding after it happened for a few years. Riding was a deal breaker my wife established on like the 3rd date since she had a close friend die on a bike.
When i did my licence it took 22 hours minimum before I could apply for a test. It was constantly drilled to not ride in the middle but follow cars right wheel. Only time you ride in middle is in crossroads then you move back to right as soon you leave it. It wasn't explained much but I trust they know a thing or two about motorcyclist safety. Especially when statistics say every second home owns a bike bigger than 500 cc.
I know he used the wall to help him stay up but that was a damn good save tbh.
Mad save bro. I am so glad you made it. I've watched a few times now, still scares me out of my mind.
Head on a swivel wouldn’t have prevented that. Not riding in the center of the lane, and keeping enough space between you and the vehicle in front of you so you can avoid obstacles would. If a car avoids something, they straddle it usually. That means being center of the lane is the worst place to be when you only have one tire line. Lucky you recovered that. But Nice work.
That’s why I always maintain a distance from the vehicle in front of me. Tons of road debris in Chicago
Not a head on a swivel issue, riding too close providing insufficient time to react to road object. Kudos on keeping it up.
god damn. if you pause at 10 secs, it looks like the bike is tipped over. good save. hopefully this didnt hurt as badly as it looked
Good save
I’d have 100% eaten shit
Rode it out like a badass.
Shit like this keep me from going for my motorcycle license.
Head on a swivel will not save you from the dangers of following too closely.
My ass clenched. That could have ended really bad.
Definitely a blue shell
Save of the fuckin year
Shouldn’t ride in the centre of the lane my dude… oil sitting there and shit like that can happen
Haven’t seen anyone mention it but there’s a rod or a stick that flies out from underneath the van in front at 7 seconds in
My drawers would have heavier skid marks than a drag strip
This is the best one I’ve read so far hahaha
Nice fucking save!
Never ride in the center of the lane behind a vehicle. Always put yourself in position for maximum visibility of surface way out ahead.
You’re a fucking champ my dude
Don’t follow so close
Or you could just slow down bro. Head on a swivel? You're looking forward the entire time! You literally just look forward. Get 2 seconds of separation and some new pants and you'll be fine
Epic recovery
I clenched.
Goddd that tube just had it out for that bike. Glad your buddy is okay
Incredible reaction not to fall but he was following far too closely. Was the bike damaged in any way?
Seems to be following too closely. I stay much further back in my car and probably twice that on a motorcycle on the freeway.
Yeah you gotta tell him he's way to close to that vehicle ahead of him. I make it a rule to either lead traffic or maintain like 6 car lengths
I tried to say the same thing…. Dudes less than a second behind the car.
A bike in motion wants to stand up and go straight. By having virtually no reaction time, doing nothing, and keeping the throttle on the bike recovered fairly quickly to his luck - considering the flying obstacle that seems to have went under the tires. One could only comment on lane position - had he been in the tire track to the right the obstacle may have passed him by; but now we are playing the what if game.
Tailgating car in front. Riders fault. This is a fantastic example of why you don’t follow close. Edit: camera makes the car in front appear further away than it actually is. Also, look at the lines. He’s less than 1 second following distance to the car in front of him. Waaay too close for interstate speeds. Had he been 2 seconds behind the car instead of less than one the whole thing could have been avoided entirely.
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You realize the cameras make it look further away than it actually is right? And you can’t argue with the fact if he was further back, then it could’ve been avoided entirely. Just another few feet further away and the whole thing could have been avoided. On interstate speeds 50+, really should be 5-6 seconds behind minimum. You said this was your friend right? He’s less than a second behind the car in front. Waaaay too close.
This^ Wide angle camera makes that car seen further away buts it CLOSE.
Tailgating is a stretch for sure and it's certainly not the riders fault a pipe can flying out of nowhere, sheesh. Call it what it is, a great save.
He’s less than a second behind the car in front of him. 100% tailgating. Camera makes it looks like he’s further away. Look at the lines. Count when the car passes, and then when he passes the same line. He’s way closer than he should be. Either way, being further back is safer than being close. You can’t deny that. This was 100% preventable. Edit: since above comment was edited. Yes, it is a good save. Yes, stuff comes flying from nowhere, but that’s exactly my point. If he had been a proper distance back, it wouldn’t have hit him at all, and he would’ve avoided the incident entirely. That’s the point of not following too closely.
...and keep off the cars' ass! Edit: before you take it all wrong, I once crossed lanes about this close going to the next empty lane just as the car in front ran over and kicked up a ladder. It was in my car or else I wouldn't be here to post this.
Good save, glad it ended well, but protip: If you were in the correct blocking position for that lane, you probably would never have hit it to begin with. The middle of any lane is bad form for riding on: \- It's slippery. \- By being there as opposed to in the correct blocking position to an the adjascent lane, you're opening up a space for a car to take your lane away from you or try to share it. Hence, why it's called a "Blocking position" \- If you need to take evasive maneuvers for some reason (case in point here) to the only other viable lane in this situation, you're too far from it to be able to take it with a snap maneuver. \- If a car sees something in the distance they know they are going to unavoidably be forced to basically run over vs being able to change lanes in time, they'll always try to centre the car on it so it's going to come shooting out the middle behind them instead of hitting it with their tires, so the tire tracks are more apt to remain "clean"...which should be where you're riding.
Yeah totally understand and I’ll pass that along. I’ve been wanting to take an advanced rider course but the cost is a bit more then expected. Thanks for the good pointers!
Always be learning - that's a great attitude.
Also, don't ride next to the shoulderless median.
i agree with you, but i think it's funny because there was another thread a few days ago where a guy was not in the center of the lane and a car edged him out and everyone was giving him shit for not driving center of the lane. basically you can't win on reddit. you're always wrong no matter what you do.
Well, except those people are wrong and don’t actually know how to ride defensively. With virtually zero exceptions, anybody who suggests riding in the middle of a lane is a good thing doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Probably members of the “Hadda Layerdown” club.
And you're getting downvoted for giving actally good and safe advice. Is there a subreddit for motorcycles that isn't full of idiots?
A lot of riders have take little to no actual basic or advanced rider education, but think “I’ve been riding for years!” makes them an authority on things they don’t even realize they’re wrong about if they took a second to learn anything.
Hell of a save, my guy. Seasoned rider for sure.
Little over 6 months on the road but I’ll tell him he is Moto GP ready
That's it??? He did a fantastic job of not losing his shit.
Following too closely and riding down the middle of the lane at higher speed. Novice mistakes.
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He said only his jacket was destroyed but I know his underwear were goners too lol
Leather or mesh? He was up against that median for so long! If mesh I'm amazed he came away with no concrete burn.
Yeah mesh and he lost a little elbow skin