Topic: Do motorcyles affect your driving?

[Uncle Ernie]

Wonderousness incarnate and I were traveling 40 through a mountain pass- pretty curvy- and I'm starting to realize it sounds like I'm sitting next to a radiator; little creaks, the occasional "knock", wheezes and the whoosh of air escaping.  After a while I ask, "Is something up, my dove...?"  "YOU'RE DRIVING LIKE YOU'RE ON A MOTORCYCLE!"  Non-plussed am I. "What, my delicate desert bloom, could you possibly mean by that?", I inquire.  "Instead of following the curve of the road, you're driving up the outside and then somewhere around the middle you cut in. Just like you do on your motorcycle", says she who drives vans.  I was astounded.  "Why, my very reason for living", I murmer with abject fondness, "your powers of observation are both quite revealing and amazingly astute. I had no idea!"
So, I got to wondering; aside from ajusting mirrors for something other than checking your eyeliner, and looking ahead on the road, does anyone feel like you drive differently because you also ride? I had never given it any thought before.

[6pkrunner]

During the winter months here, when he bikes are laid up I tend to cool off in my driving of 4 wheeled conveyance devices. However, once the warm returns ( but not this year as it still thinks its winter in mid June) and the bikes come out - then yes the driving gets a bit edgier, shall we say. A tad more agressive and a bit squirrelier.

[pmpski_1]

I'm a new rider and rather cautious. I've been driving for 15 years, but since I've started riding I'm a lot more "in tune" with my surroundings while driving. Just the other day I avoided getting smacked by someone running a red light. When I'm riding I always make sure to look both ways 2 or 3 times when the light turns green. I'm starting to do that when driving too.

[francesb]

I've been riding for about 15 years (all vintage) and I'm a pretty cautious rider. I got my current bike lat year after a hiatus of several years, I don't think my driving has changed, but my husband says I drive like a squid. Strange since I don't ride like one at all.

[kghost]

It'll Damn sure make you more aware of Motorcycles!

Problem is you tend to look at the parked ones too.

Is that a "insert your bike here" and is it for sale?

Screach, Scream, Crash

[gaijin]

Definitely looking at the parked ones. Even the same parked ones over and over, watching to see if they've been moved or ridden since yesterday...

[GeoffT]

I drove motorbikes for a few years before getting a car. Only noticed when a friend pointed it out that when cornering in the car i tend to lean over. Whats that all about??

[Uncle Ernie]

Perhaps if you stayed with beer until 5...? 

[pmpski_1]

Definitely looking at the parked ones. Even the same parked ones over and over, watching to see if they've been moved or ridden since yesterday...

Funny, I'm ALWAYS doing the same thing. My fiancee always notices me looking at something when there's a woman in the vicinity of the bike. She doesn't believe that I'm looking at bikes

[SteveD CB500F]

I had bikes for 10 years before learning to drive a car. My instructor complemented me on my observation and awareness.

Now I've had a bike license for 30 years and a car license for 20, I still get caught out every now and then by a biker - "Je*us - where did he come from??"

[brownb56]

I drove motorbikes for a few years before getting a car. Only noticed when a friend pointed it out that when cornering in the car i tend to lean over. Whats that all about??

LOL....I do the same thing, guess you can take the rider off the bike but you can never take the bike outta the rider

[three sticks]

Not at all. Unless you count just being a bit more cautious on the bike and in the cage..

then again i have only been driving for 5 months now? ive been riding off road for about 7 years, but more recently, on road for about 3 months.

[Paul]

Recently a few friends and I went on a Quading "Expitition Expidition...Trip. Initially we had to drive forward only about 20Ft and stop. Not much of an ordeal, to see if we were ok to go. Two of the lads, no matter how hard they tried just couldn't loose the "counter steering" notion. So...in the space of 20Ft they managed to bury it in the ditch so many times, the harder they tried the worse they got. You could see on their faces the effort to steer out (whilst subconsiously counter steering each time)..got there eventually.

[MetalHead550]

I would say riding has made me a better driver all around.  I'm much more aware of my surroundings and find myself "scanning" alot more while in my car.  I find myself predicting situations as far as what car is gonna do what, and I've gotten better at judjing which drivers suck and which ones dont on interstate,  which really is pretty easy cuz most of them suck.  I would also say that its made my driving more precise.  I judge and take curves better and judge breaking distance better.  The best thing is when I come to intersections I look for motorcycles in that I subconsiously picture a motorcycle like one would a car.  I can see now why so many people dont see them.  I never used to think that way at intersections and if youre not thinking of it, chances are you wont see it.  Weird.

[migopod]

i also find myself being much more aware of motorcycles (mostly due to cyclelust), as well as generally more aware of my
surroundings while driving the car.  It's only messed me up once while i was passing weaving pickup truck on the interstate
with the "minimize passing time and stay out of blindspot" technique and got pulled over for doing 85 for 3 seconds
while passing the bastard.

[needswork]

Metalhead hit the nail on the head. I drove bikes before cars and it made me a cautious driver. My wife thinks I'm almost claravoyent behind the wheel because I see people's f*ck ups in traffic before they do and I'm already prepared (I once grabbed the wheel while she was driving and avoided T-boning a van that blew a red light).  I've always said 'expect the other guy to do the stupidest thing and you probably won't be disappointed". Man there's a lot of stupid drivers here. 

20 some years ago I read an article in a Cycle Canada magazine that talked about driving with your high beam on during the day. I started doing that and it made a HUGE difference. People stopped cutting me off because; 1) They can't avoid the light as it's in their eyes so they knew I was there and 2) They thought I was closer to them than I actually was. 

Paul

[GeoffT]

Recently a few friends and I went on a Quading "Expitition Expidition...Trip. Initially we had to drive forward only about 20Ft and stop. Not much of an ordeal, to see if we were ok to go. Two of the lads, no matter how hard they tried just couldn't loose the "counter steering" notion. So...in the space of 20Ft they managed to bury it in the ditch so many times, the harder they tried the worse they got. You could see on their faces the effort to steer out (whilst subconsiously counter steering each time)..got there eventually.

Done that one as well. Donkeys years ago on holliday. went quading with a friend round a track. Spent a lot  of time pulling the thing out of hay bales.

[Bob Wessner]

20 some years ago I read an article in a Cycle Canada magazine that talked about driving with your high beam on during the day

The same article, or one like it must have run here in the States. I started riding with mine on all the time long before bikes were wired to do it autmatically. I too think it helps.. hell any little thing that helps get you noticed is a plus.

[Mark M]

During WW2 the RAF experimented with useing lights, pointed downwards, to act as camoflage. This apparently works well during the day in bright sunlight. For this reason I resent the nany state interference on this.

Incidentally here in the UK the highway code specifies that Fog lights should only be used in very poor visibility, this seems to be at odds with the department of transports current construction and use rules!     

[Trevor from Warragul]

I drive differently because I started on bikes.  I have to have the airconditioning blowing on my face, I wear a helmet in the car, and I open the driver side door halfway around corners so I can get my knee on the ground...