After putting a couple thousand miles on my Roadstar over the past 7 weeks or so I have had a couple close calls and the most dangerous of them have been lane divers or people drifting into my lane. That being said I have started approaching all cars that I am passing on more than one lane of traffic (same direction) in this manner; I stay close to the center of the two lanes until I am around ten feet from the car and as I begin to pass I drift away from the car to the outside of the lane. My reasoning being that by staying close to the center of the two lanes I maximize my time in their line of sight and as I get close I move away just in case they did not see me. What are your guy thoughts on this? Have I created a bad habit?

And on a side note, does anyone else think a section on the RSC just for riding technique, safety, rules of the road, etc would be a good idea? I know there may be some liability issues but there seems to be a lot of new riders here and we could all use the expertise of those who have more experience. Sorry for the long post.

Heh... wait for the clear and throttle pass, and always, ALWAYS watch. To quote one famous character from Harry Potter, "Constant vigilance."

Dan

I have a perpetual passenger called "paranoia". In my time riding other drivers still amaze me with what "stupid human tricks" they can come up with. Reading the paper, shaving, applying makeup, dog in their lap looking out the window, cellphone-itis, one arm laying on the top of the seat and gesturing with the other, swivel necking, driving with one knee and the list grows . RangerDan said it perfectly.

Greyphart

reconize possible blind spots & get in& out ASAP. Be ready with horn/ throttle/brakes/& finger if needed

IMHO you should always use you blocking position never drift to the outside of your lane this leaves you nowhere to go if the cagers decides to suddlenly move.
Try to avoid riding beside cars if possible. If you must try to position yourself beside the driver. Blind spots are not the same on all cars so it is hard to judge that alone. Also drivers seldom set up mirrors correctly and almost never do a visual check before lane changes. So best place to be is behind the car by about 2 or 3 seconds.
When passing ironman is right. Pass with autority don't dog it. Keep your proper lane position.
Blocking positons are as follows.

http://www.motorcyclebasics.com/lane-position.html

Not sure how they do the driver tests in the US but here in Ontario Canada they will fail you for not following the proper lane positions.

Hope this helps.

Another tip I use is to watch the behavior of the driver as I prepare to pass. Like the stock market, "prior performance is no guarantee of future performance". If someone's driving is erratic I chose my time to pass very carefully. When passing, I use those opportunities to clean the carbon out of the system!

Helmut wrote:
Blocking positons are as follows.

http://www.motorcyclebasics.com/lane-position.html

Hope this helps.

It does. Thank you very much. I didn't know that about the middle lanes. Also, watch out for on-ramps. There are cagers that will floor it and swipe over two and three lanes at a time. Scary chit....

ya it is scary. But I personally feel safer on the major highways(interstates) than I do in cities or even secondary highways. When everyone is going the same direction it does minimize the risks.

lot of good info here..

I treat the cagers as if they are all out to kill me. Most just don't see us, they don't get up, have a bowl of cheerios and say to themselves, I think I will go mangle a biker today.
I always try and follow the basics as shown in the link on this thread. It works for the most part.
I always have to remind myself that its my responsibility to stay alive and in one piece. My instructor at MSF told me that if I get run over, its going to be my fault, maybe not in the legal terms, but I will be the one paying the price.
Drive a little faster than everyone else, pass fast.
I use hand signals, that seems to work for me along with turn signals to be seen. I don't know why people respond to that so well.
Stay safe, ride hard.
Howie