When I ride on the Interstate I feel comfortable in the right lane only and to the outside. I am new to interstate riding and to be honest I am slow poke on the Interstate around 60 or 65 is this unsafe? Just wondering if I'm the only one out there like this.

 

WVIceman,

What you are doing is the best practice for your comfort level. As you gain experience the speed and moving left will come. If you are not comfortable running at the speeds that the majority of traffic is running stay right so they can get around you. Soon you will find that another 10 mph isn't that big of a deal. Just remember to give yourself at least 2 seconds between you and the vehicle ahead and always look farther down the road so you can adjust as you need to.

 

One thing I can say is I'm a safe rider. I just want to bring up my confidence level a little at a time but I don't want to make a mistake by being to slow out there and getting my hind end run over.

 

I haven't been out on the highways yet either, but just by what I see while driving my car, depending on the highway itself, the time of dayand the amount of traffic, riding on a highway can be a safer and more comfortable experience than riding in heavy stop and go traffic on a local street.

 

What you are talking about here is what is called "lane position." Skilled and experienced riders will probably tell you that there is no single right or wrong way to position your motorcycle.It all depends on the circumstances...and those riding circumstances change all of the time.

What you need to do is change you position along with the circumstances in order to increase your ability to see traffic, increase your visibility to other motorists, avoid blind spots, avoid surface hazards, protect your lane space from encroachment by other drivers, let drivers know your intentions, avoid wind blasts from other vehicles, and give yourself an escape route.

Needless to say, you can't do all of those things by riding in the right track of the right lane all of the time. How best to do these things comes with experience. However, you can get a leg up on learning them bytaking a riding safety course, reading some books on proficient motorcycling, and talking to and riding with other safe and experienced riders.

As you become more knowledgeable and skilled, your comfort lever will increase and so will your speed.

Have fun, be careful, learn more, and practice.

 

We have alot of HOV carpool lanes here. Motorcyclists are allowed to use them and do use them as they are not as congested as the regular lanes and you don't have people moving in and out of them as much as you do with the regular lanes. So they are a relatively more safer lane to be in if your a motorcyclist.

I personally wouldn't want to be any far right lanes where drivers are consistently switching lanes and merging into and out of traffic. If a divided highway as far as left possible and by a shoulder to have an escape route. Possibly the center lane to give the option of both a right or left esacpe route. It really depends on the amount of traffic.

 

I can agree with your riding in the right lane. That is a comfortable lane to be in. I will comment however in your being on the right side of the right lane. Unless there's a specific reason to be there (to see or be seen), I will ride in the left side of my right lane. I want traffic behind me to know that "all of that lane is mine" and not have someone coming up behind me in my lane do a "close shave" in passing me. If they pass me, which is fine, I want them to get over completely in the next lane. It's a minor point I know but I've always tried to analyze everything I do and so far it's worked for me.

 

I have to agree with this.

I find that, as freeway speeds don't bother me much now, I stay in the middle lane, and the left side of that lane so I can be seen by the driver in front of me and the driver behind me. In the middle lane (of course on a three lane freeway) I have several extra escape options available to me. On a four lane freeway, like Interstate 5, I stay in the second lane (the second from the right).

I was really scared to ride the freeway the first time I did it. But once I'd been out there, I found that its actually easier than surface street riding because there aren't people coming out of side streets and running stop signs in front you.

Remember to ride within your limits. Thats one of the things I take with me on Every ride. I ride MY ride within my limits. If I'm with more experienced riders, and I fall behind, they wait for me.

Ride Safe.

 

I entirely argree with whaap, in fact, was just about to post the same.

Also, by riding in the left third of the right lane, you have given your self a space cushion to the right. By riding in the right third of the lane, if someone crowds you, your only place to go is off onto the shoulder.

Always remember, however, that the best position to ride in constantly changes with weather, traffic, road condition, path of travel, and so on.

 

I ride where I am the most visible and where I feel the safest. However, I'll drive 100 miles out of the way to avoid an interstate.