Overtaking is a singular skill.  Out on the race track, the rider who has the ability to ride fastest usually wins the race, but back in the real world of traffic and road hazards it is often the rider with the best overtaking skills who completes the journey quickest, and most importantly, safest.

The ability to overtake safely requires a high degree of concentration and skill.  Cornering apart, overtaking accounts for the greatest number of serious injury motorcycle accidents and therefore every manoeuvre must be accomplished with extreme care.

A motorcycle should be one of the safest road vehicles to overtake on.  The rider is usually in an elevated position compared with the average car driver which should give the motorcyclist an observation advantage, not only ahead but also through and round the vehicle being overtaken.  When following vehicles such as light vans, it is often possible to see straight through the back windows and hence through the windscreen to the road ahead giving the motorcyclist a big visual advantage.

With so much power on tap, even on smaller capacity machines, getting into difficulties should be a thing of the past.  In fact, when overtaking, a rider should use only about 90% of the machines available power – the remainder is held in reserve in case of an emergency.  Many accidents would be avoided if drivers and riders actually accelerated out of danger instead of braking harshly and losing control.

So what do you need to consider before overtaking?  Look well ahead and consider whether the road is clear enough for the manoeuvre.  Do you have a sufficiently good view before the road reaches a hillcrest or bend?  If you are making rapid progress, consider yourself coming the other way – will you have time to complete the manoeuvre with the safety margin before the appearance of another vehicle or carriageway obstruction?

If travelling in the 50-70 mph range remember the ‘Three Times Rule – estimate you return point and ensure that this distance is no more than 1/3^rd of the overall distance ahead that you can see to be clear.  This sounds luxurious, but this is the distance you need.  You need even more if your initial speed is less than 50mph.

Blasting past a car causing it to squeal its breaks whilst a van coming in the opposite direction takes to the ditch to avoid you is a serious breach of road etiquette, not to mention a few road traffic laws!  Every time a rider inconveniences or frightens a four-wheeled motorist our collective image as motorcyclists takes another dent!

Many overtaking manoeuvres go wrong because a rider has to judge the speed of at least three vehicles; his or her own, the vehicle being overtaken and the vehicle coming in the opposite direction which may only be a dot on the horizon when the decision to overtake is made.  Get it wrong and you could be in serious trouble.

After passing the vehicle in front, don’t be too hasty to return to the nearside.  If it is safe to do so, stay out and observe.  It may be possible to continue on and overtake other slower moving vehicles.  Overtaking is not an isolated manoeuvre.  It should be part of the natural and continuous flow of the ride.

  Now to a contentious issue - filtering.  There is nothing wrong with filtering at low speed provided it is done with caution, in fact it is to be encouraged, but I hate to see high speed overtaking by motorcyclists between two lines of opposing vehicles – they are the meat in an extremely hazardous sandwich.  There is just so much that can go wrong.

First, if a vehicle in either carriageway deviates towards you it spells big trouble and you will have nowhere to go, apart from hospital.  Second, you are flirting with the white line or worse enduring a bumpy passage along the cat’s eyes.  In wet weather either scenario makes the machine slip and slide.

Finally, remember – if in doubt, hold back, and always be in a position to abort a manoeuvre on safety grounds.  As always, better safe than sorry.

Now get out there and practice!

badsworth

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