One foot vs. two feet is a pretty lame evaluation tool I think. I bet many of the one foot crowd are younger folk and don't understand that some of us use two because we aint going to bet the farm on just one old ankle or knee. I use one foot only when I see oil in the center of the lane.

 

HAHAHA.... TRUE!

 

The truth is there are too many variables to determine how experienced someone is by only observing them after a few moments.

 

this is my point as well. plus saying your looking at these points to decide weather you are going to pass them at the next open area and how to handle them? I guess I don't get that. sitting back and watching still does nothing for you. its just like the cage full of old people that I sat back for a mile and watched then when I went to pass. the old fart pulled out no signal and about run my butt over yesterday. not to mention the possibility of hitting my wife who is on her bike right behind me.

so I would have to say sitting back and watching or what ever is a mute point because you still never know whats gonna happen.so I think im gonna go back to my comment made in an earlier post the only people on a bike you should judge are the guys wearing shorts and tennis shoes. because they obviously don't know what happens when you go down.

 

+1 on this! I typically like riding behind a rider I've never ridden. That way I can leave a gap and get a better feel for the people I'm riding with.

On the subject of chicken strips. It's not like you can -really- lean off of a massive bagger but from what I've learned those strips can either mean experienced or future low-side candidate.

That said i'm an advocate of doing a track day or course to hone in your skills. Only so much you can pick up on the road.

 

Our group pulls up to a stop light in TN and this guy wearing a chrome German helmet pulls up parallel to us on a Fatboy with a flag on it - reving it vroom, vroom, vroom... looks over at us like "yeah, I be bad". My wife bursts out laughing, as did all the women passengers. He looked totally deflated and tore out in a big hurry. Later she explained that it's a private joke among biker ladies that guys that wear Chrome German helmets have erectile dysfunction. And, it's a code - Fatboys flying a flag on the back are sphincter boys. Also guys rev their bikes at a stop inversely proportional to their member size. So, he hit a home run lol... (i'll never rev mine again)

 

I do most of the things pointed out in this thread as signs of an experienced rider. But now I'm conscious of them, and am making little rookie moves here and there.

Thanks a lot for drawing my attention to it! haha.

 

The riders I stay away from are the ones who look back over thier shoulder when making lane changes. That makes me very nervous just watching this very dangerous rider. Most riders I have seen doing this are tailgating and pacing faster than the flow of traffic which means frequent looks over left shoulder then the right shoulder and some riders have one hand on the face shield so it does not flip up while doing this.

 

No way in hell am I going to try to balance an 800+ lb motorcycle on one leg at a stop light just so I can apply the rear brake.

1) If someone rear ends you, you are much more likely to dump it because you aren't stable.

2) Front brake?

 

Just to clear up a couple myths...

AFTER you come to a complete stop using both brakes you should put both feet down unless there is loose material or something slippery under your right foot. It is a simple stability issue.

It is perfectly fine for an experienced rider to cover or keep a couple fingers on the front brake. Novices are told never to cover the front brake because we don't want them to overreact to a situation and grab the front brake.

There is nothing wrong with taking a couple quick steps when you start especially if the potential for the rear wheel to loose traction is possible, loose material, sand, oil, etc. It is simple common sense.

This isn't rocket surgery, the physical part of riding a motorcycle is the simple part. Different people have different techniques and styles. What makes a good rider is what goes on above the handlebars in his, or her, head. You can't see that so you really don't know. A rider may look cool and look like they are doing all the right things but if they aren't using effective observational skills, if they are prone to taking risks and making bad decisions, they are no better off and more dangerous on the road than a brand new rider.