How long before going into heavy traffic?

rajc007 · 01-11-2006, 06:07 PM

I have been lurking around here for awhile and have gotten a lot of good information.

I have been riding around on the back roads for about a month, but the same back roads have started to get boring. I have started venturing out onto busier streets. Just wondering how long, if any, did you practice before riding in regular heavy traffic?

fire · 01-11-2006, 06:09 PM

Until your comfortable with your riding ability.

Drake · 01-11-2006, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fire

Until your comfortable with your riding ability.

Well said. And don't let the guy on your arse intimidate you.

UberGoober · 01-11-2006, 06:34 PM

I rode right off the lot and into the afternoon rush hour. I think the hardest thing to overcome, and I've seen other suffer from this same thing, was the idea that I wasn't on a bicycle. I didn't have to ride on the shoulder or pull over to let the car behind me pass. Once I got that part down, the rest was easy.

If you are comfortable with your skills, traffic is the next step. The main thing is don't go too fast and be aware of what is happening around you. This should be easy if you have been a good defensive driver in a car for a while.

Special to bikes: Try to keep an escape route open, don't get (and stay) in peoples' blind spots, don't let people crowd you from behind if you can help it and don't crowd the car ahead of you either.

RBP3072 · 01-11-2006, 08:35 PM

As already said, if you feel comfortable with your skills, then your on the right path. What I personally did after I became bored with neighborhood scene and back roads was to slowly expand my limits, pushing myself bit by bit, (but not enough that I ever felt like I had done anything beyond my limits). For example :

On a Sat afternoon, take it out on your normal backroads that your comfortable with, but then divert a bit and hit a slightly busier street, (perhaps a 4 lane FM road, or major frontage road, etc), and spend some time just going up and down that road.

When you feel ready, expand how far out you travel, (distance wise). This will help to increase your comfort level, and get you out of your "safe zone", so that you can develop your skill more.

Then, actually transfer from the frontage roads onto the freeway, even just to go from one entrance ramp to one or two off ramps, if that is all you feel okay doing. Build up until you feel confident staying on the freeway for longer distances and conditions, just like you did with the frontage roads and major streets.

Depending on how often you ride, (days and miles), it is only a matter of time. I stil lahve much to learn, but I am now riding to work on the freeway, (although, I still try to avoid IH 35 and take a US HWY instead while I continue to build skill...lol).

Just continue to have fun and ride while exanding on your comfort zone, and you will gain confidence and skills. (Just don't be foolish and do something you don't feel ready for yet either). I went out Sunday and put another 40 miles on just cruising around, it was great...hehehe.

bush · 01-11-2006, 08:59 PM

I went straight from the previous owner's house into I95 rush hour traffic. It was intimidating at first, but I think I adapted pretty well. I've said it before in other posts - drive like everybody else on the road is trying to kill you. You tend to expect the unexpected that way...

OFFICER737 · 01-11-2006, 09:02 PM

Everyone here has given the advice needed

aero3685 · 01-11-2006, 10:02 PM

One other thing I didnt see. On a bike, its better to be going a little faster than the average car instead of slower or the same speed. The last thing you want is to piss off some cager, or having people want to ride your ass. I still get annoyed when people get close behind me, but they are expecting me to haul ass like the majority of squids here... so i just keep a close eye on them, and yeah, always have an escape route, since every car really is out there to kill ya.

revmachine · 01-11-2006, 10:18 PM

I've been riding for a month after taking the MSF course. I just recently moved and since the bike is my only transportation now basically had to ride it to work. I stayed in my neighborhood for the first week mainly becuase of the break-in period on my bike.

I was pretty skittsh in traffic at first, I did exactly what RBP3072 said to do with the exception of some long night trips which is the only time there is no traffic ( i'm not recomending this but it helped me ). If i feel sketchy on a busy road I just take a back road. I make sure to give myself time so I'm not in a rush.

After three weeks I feel a lot better ( I will always have a lot to learn and will always be looking out for the cages). Giving myself a lot of time to get places and leaving busy roads if my gut says to seems to be the best formula so far. I also hear my MSF teacher in my head all the time.

From one noob to another I hope this helps.

bdrushto · 01-11-2006, 10:56 PM

This is all great advice and a great question... exactly why I'm on here so much!

I think that the most important thing for me is that I'm not heading into traffic until I not only feel comfortable in my riding ablity (that seems to imply you have the basics down and little more sometimes...) but I feel comfortable making an evasive maneuver of sorts. Either being comfortable tossing the bike over agressively to corner around an object, desperation braking (as my MX school instructor put it), or knowing to accelerate out of a situation, I want to be comfortable doing these type of things and not have to think about initiating the maneuver. Sometimes I guess I feel like this gets overlooked by rookies (I know it has with the

's I have to deal with in my area) Definitely adopting the ideology that everyone's out there to kill you... Really true.

Greg in H-Town · 01-11-2006, 11:46 PM

Probably the hardest thing about riding in traffic is overcoming the fear of doing it. Don't get me wrong; riding in traffic puts you right in the middle of a bunch of idiots and you have to keep your head on a swivel, but the previous responses have given you some good advice about that. You'll probably survive it.

One thing I didn't see mentioned is to run about one or two gears lower in traffic on the main roads than you normally would at the same speed on side streets. This keeps the revs up a bit and puts you in a better part of the powerband in case you need to accelerate away from a problem if that's the best option.

jeepcoma · 01-12-2006, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg in H-Town

One thing I didn't see mentioned is to run about one or two gears lower in traffic on the main roads than you normally would at the same speed on side streets. This keeps the revs up a bit and puts you in a better part of the powerband in case you need to accelerate away from a problem if that's the best option.

Great idea. Another was the concept of riding late at night when there is little/no traffic on main roads. This is a good idea and is something you should do, as it effectively separates two learning experiences: learn to ride at higher speeds (65+, which can be quite scary the first few times), and learning to ride with traffic. Sensory overload is a bad thing on a bike, if you can break things down to learn them one at a time, you'll be better off, and probably learn more.

revmachine · 01-12-2006, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg in H-Town

One thing I didn't see mentioned is to run about one or two gears lower in traffic on the main roads than you normally would at the same speed on side streets. This keeps the revs up a bit and puts you in a better part of the powerband in case you need to accelerate away from a problem if that's the best option.

That is a really good idea that I think I was starting to stumble on but hadn't asked about yet. I started doing it yesterday around a juncture of two highways with a bunch of gas stations......everyone puts on their stupid hat around gas stations it seems.

My big problem in traffic is that I am still paying attention to the break-in reccomendations and watching my tachometer all the time. I finally got the bike over 500 miles and have had people tell me it's ok just to ride it normally. Maybe some of you have suggestions on this, unless it's better to break the bike in before driving in traffic?

thanks everyone this helps me a lot too

mikem317 · 01-12-2006, 08:33 AM

Ride faster than every cage, ride like your invisible, keep your high beams on, use common sense, and forget your "right of way". So long as you have excellent commands of those concepts and the machine controls, I say go for it.

Greg in H-Town · 01-12-2006, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by revmachine

My big problem in traffic is that I am still paying attention to the break-in reccomendations and watching my tachometer all the time. I finally got the bike over 500 miles and have had people tell me it's ok just to ride it normally. Maybe some of you have suggestions on this, unless it's better to break the bike in before driving in traffic?

If you've already got 500 miles on it, don't worry so much about the break-in and keep your head up and your eyes down the road. Take the sticker off the tach and do what you have to do to keep up with or pass traffic. I sometimes still catch myself looking at the speedo or tach or something instead of the road, so it's a habit that take a while to fix.