[Slickcraft]

Here is the the text of a post I made last year in response to general concerns about side by side and yellow line riding:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ead.php?t=7951

If you look closely at bikers traveling in a group at highway speed there are normally two staggered rows of bikes. One row with wheels about were a car left wheels run and a row about where a car right wheels run. But the rows are normally staggered at speed so any one bike has emergency left to right space. When slowing or stopping the staggering normally goes away. A few bikers will ride side by side at speed and I agree this is unsafe. My wife and I have ridden in many groups over the years and the bike rows have always been staggered at speed.

I have taken both a basic riding class (long ago) and in recent years an experienced riders course. As a defensive measure, a single bike should ride on the left side of the travel lane on a two way undivided highway (about where a car left wheel rides). Riding on the right side invites car drivers to try to pass you in the left side of your lane. So riding on the left side “claims” you space in the lane. The middle of the travel lane is where the oil, pavement cracks, etc exist.

While many bikers do in fact crowd the center line, most are riding where a car left wheel would travel. And, I’ll add, most of us are responsible riders.