How do you handle tailgaters?

[MZ33]

put down my left hand towards the side of the bike and give some "back off" motions with it. Surprisingly that works well a little more than half the time

An excellent idea--I would never have thought of that. Thanks!

[supertoft]

I have a tail light modulator on my bike, when I touch the brakes, they have a pattern they blink to, several fast blinks, then down from there. I will start hitting the brakes just enough to activate the modulator. I feel these help, I commute in heavy traffic and it seems to help people see me and stay back. I'm getting a headlight modulator for the same reason. Kisan and Back-Off are brands of these modulators. If you have a road rager, the best thing to do is to get out of their way as quickly, smoothly and safely as you can. Karma will catch up to them eventually, you just don't want to be in their way when it happens.

[Nalian]

So it may have been assumed they were on HARLEYS riding abreast (which is not against the law in alot of states) instead of staggered. hhhmm I have seen many Kawi, Ducati, Beemer, Adventure bike riders ride abreast and have conversations as well..

So - what is the price of tea in china these days?

I think the anecdotal story that was given is a good thing to keep in mind. Often folks don't pay attention to what they're doing on the road - on both cars and bikes. Around where I live, it's much more common to see two cruiser riders riding side by side chatting back and forth. Often those are the same folks that cause issues with traffic behind them because they're doing exactly what was describe above. Not maintaining speed and generally blocking up the flow of traffic.

Does that mean people on sport bikes don't do the same thing, or other more obnoxious things? No, of course not. It was just a story. Usually, again around me, the sportbikers are riding a lot faster than they should be and lane-splitting, which is not legal here and causes issues as drivers aren't expecting it.

Safe riding encompasses many things - being predictable definitely helps, as well as keeping with the flow of traffic. Not hindering traffic is one of the most essential safe-driving/safe-riding techniques that everyone should have down. Sometimes that means you end up speeding, and sometimes that means you end up slower than the limit. Either is more adviseable than trying to force others to ride/drive how you see fit. That's just asking for a world of hurt on a vehicle as exposed as a motorcycle.

[follow]

So - what is the price of tea in china these days?

The price of tea is what ever the sipper pays for it!
Actually the story is about the tailgaters..........but you are correct in safe riding encompassing many things.....overall safety is a riders concern, cagers tend to be off in another world. Usually a cell phone, perhaps the 16 year old was eager to get on hers.

[ofblong]

I ride fast enought that I RARELY have a tailgater. With that said the only people I see tailgate are young teenage girls. Rarely do others do it but it does happen.

[Funderbird]

I act nuts! Drift back and forth in the lane flash my tailight multiple times. I don't go as far as doing anything unsafe, just make the driver think something is wrong. It works some times. Then, if that doesn't work I let them pass.