Do you Ride the way you Drive?

[Vit0r]

I'm crazy defensive on the road while driving and drive very slow. Whenever people in my rear view change lanes to pass me they always stare me down to see who the driver is, expecting to see an old man or something. Most of the time they're surprised its a teenager behind the wheel since they're expecting someone my age to be driving on the road like it was a Formula-1 race or something. Now this doesn't neccesarily mean that I would ride a bike the same way seeing as how cirumstances on a bike and a car are very different.

So are the lunatick speed demon bikers going 95mph on the freeway just as aggressive in a car or do they only push the limits on a bike since its much more enjoyable?

[PhilD9er]

Good question. No, I don't ride like I drive. I'm much more attentive riding, and quite a bit more aggressive. No air bags and steel cage = you're in my rear view mirror. I drive like an old lady, with all that false sense of security. On my bike my head is swiveling a mile a minute at intersections, I check my six constantly, and I ride like the devil himself is chasing me. It helps to have 100 horsies at the rear wheel.

[flynrider]

I tend to drive pretty sedately. I just keep up with the general flow of traffic most of the time and let the speeders pass me by. Most of my friends complain that I drive too slow, but what's the point a speeding around in my old pickup. It wasn't made to go fast and isn't all that fun to drive.

I ride my bike fast. It was design to go fast and does a pretty good job of it. How I've managed to avoid a ticket in the last decade and a half is a total mystery. The only time I see the speed limit is while I'm passing through it. Like PhilD9er, I like to get the cages in my rear view mirror as soon as possible, and keep 'em there.

[Scott58]

I'm more agressive on the bike also. Easier to stay alive.

[gsJack]

Yes, I'm aggressive with both driving and riding. I think being at least reasonably aggressive is safer that just putting along annoying people. Stay on top of traffic and don't let it get on top of you. Besides, the older you get; the less you have to lose.

[ZooTech]

I drive just as aggressively as I ride, though my truck doesn't facilitate it as well as my bike. I recently discovered my truck is governed at 95mph, while I've had my bike up to 125mph. I've never had an accident of any kind, but I do manage to get one speeding ticket per year, but nothing yet on the bike. Regardless of what I am driving, I pretty much see other motorists as obstacles. I am more than happy to show the same amount of consideration to others as they show me, which is why I pretty much show none. Round here my favorites are the folks that could wait three seconds longer for you to go by, but pull out anyway, and then go five below the speed limit, causing you to brake. I also enjoy the idiots that follow behind a semi on the freeway for hundreds of miles, perfectly content with the speed they're going UNTIL you're ten feet away from passing them, and THEN they decide they've had enough of being behind said semi and proceed to cut you off and pass the semi at 1mph faster than it's going. Last year I got a $110.00 ticket for "following too closely" when one of these a$$ clowns pulled this stunt. The last one I'll mention for now is the guy who fails to understand what an onramp is for and proceeds to do 35mph the whole way, causing me to merge with 75mph traffic with a 40mph disadvantage. This is where the bike's slim profile and wicked acceleration come in handy as I blow by him on the stripe.

/rant

[sapaul]

I drive aggressive most of the time but not nasty, I do consider other road users in the cage especially bikers but have also learned not to lose my temper and get involved. Yes of course there are some things that annoy me put I figure out ways of putting them behind me and let the other sad bastards get the high blood pressure. On the bike, hell Yeah I let the HP do the work for me, I have no problem lane splitting and letting them eat my catalysed unleaded german processed fumes.

[-Holiday]

I drive a car differently. I'd say i'm a more agressive car driver, in that i'm more apt to ride someones "O Ring", or aggresively change lanes etc etc. Its not very cool of me, but its kind of been bred into me after years of driving on the busy highway to my work where it is kill or be killed..

I take way fewer chances on the bike, and I pay more attention to whats going on around me. I make sure im not in people blind spots, i watch people braking behind me at lights to make sure they dont want to slam into me, etc etc.

I just care more about getting hit on a bike then I do in a car.

[Mustang]

I'd have to fall into the same catagory as Holiday. As matter of fact, the guy who got me into riding was concerned I'd ride my bike the way I drove!

I can be aggressive and don't like to have too many people in front of me. On my bike, I hang back keep an eye on everything going on around me and sit back to enjoy the ride.

It is interesting that if I go straight to my car after a long bike ride, I'll drive much more sedately........

Interesting..............

[Psycluded]

I tend to drive much more sedately these days, but I ride like I -used- to drive. I like being out in front of the pack, leading the way. I hate being stuck behind slow-moving cages, so I tend to twist the throttle and zip past if there's a clear, safe opening.

Drivers here seem to have a lot of trouble with this "blinker" thing, so when I say "safe" I mean they're not edging towards the other lane or eyeing their mirrors, not that those are trustworthy indications either. The ones I'm afraid of are the ones that just zip over without looking.