If your answer was “Depends on their speed” your right!
It’s hard to judge from a picture the speed and distance of these bikes , but at around 40-50 mph this would probably be an acceptable following distance. Unfortunately I’ve been on both sides of the following to close equation.
The first, my fault. I learned a few valuable lessons the day I was riding behind my buddy on his sportbike. He almost missed the street on which he wanted to turn . He suddenly grabbed his brakes at the same time I just happened to be checking my mirrors. When I looked up, it was too late. I grabbed the brakes too hard and slid right into the back of him. Fortunately we both walked away from this.
The second, not my fault! I was stopping at a red light when I was suddenly launched over my handlebars by another sportbike rider plowing into the back of me who was simply not paying enough attention. Thankfully, no serious injuries here neither.
What did I do wrong?
More than I care to admit, but the first was obviously my following distance. I didn’t give myself enough time to react. You should maintain at least a 3 second following distance from the vehicle in front of you. The way to do this is to pick a stationary object like a road sign, tree, or my preference, the dotted lines separating the lanes. When the vehicle in front of you passes the object, slowly count “one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand.” If your reach the object before you finish counting you should probably back off a little. The ”three second rule” is for ideal road conditions and should be increased, usually doubled in ”less than ideal” conditions such as rain, wind, fog etc. or when riding at night.
My second mistake was following his riding line. When riding with other bikes always stagger yourself so your not riding directly behind the other rider, if the other bike is favoring the left half of the lane you should favor the right & vice versa.
The third mistake was not being familiar enough with bike and how well it handles under heavy breaking. I locked up the rear tire and didn’t apply enough front brake. A good idea is to find a vacant parking lot or a street with no traffic and get more familiar with your bike. Make some quick stops and, at your own pace, work into some “panic” stops. Pay attention to how much your using your front & rear breaks. If your starting to lock up the rear tire, ease up on it and try using more front brake. Although around 75% of your stopping power comes from the front brake, you should always use both at the same time.
You obviously don’t have any control over the vehicle behind you. If someone is following you too closely the best thing to do is just pull off the road when you can & let them pass. You can also change lanes when possible or gradually slow down hoping they will just pass you. I’ve been known to give a friendly hand gesture, (and no I don’t mean telling them they’re #1) more like throwing up your arms so they notice you. Honestly though, you don’t want to be involved in a road rage situation, especially on a motorcycle.
This brings me to checking your mirrors. You want to check them often, but quickly, don’t get fixated on what is behind you, just be aware of it.
Well that’s it for now. Don’t forget to enter your email so we can keep in touch! I’ve got a Podcast coming soon as well as some cool additions to the site. I’d love your input!
Ride Safe.. Ride Smart.. Ride Sane…
Rod
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