Better Riding: Overtaking and slow riding skills

Be spacially aware when overtaking

The Better Riding content series is made up of articles, blogs and videos which have the primary purpose of maxing your enjoyment of riding by being safer and smoother. We’re here to help you get more out of your motorcycling with this series brought to you with Honda Motorcycles UK because safety is one of their key business pillars and their quest for safety inspires their innovations in products, technology and education. In this episode we focus on the art of overtaking as well as slow speed machine control to help with filtering and manoeuvring in tighter spaces.

In other episodes we’ve helped demonstrate how to improve cornering on a motorcycle by learning about counter steering, as well as how to improve you cornering confidence, what the safety bubble is, and why it’s important to be on the right line, every time. Afterall, there’s always something new to learn about riding and if we put the hours in to actively learn and practice the correct techniques then we can all become better and more confident riders.

Our professional Motorbike Coach is Mark McVeigh – an experienced rider coach, an ex-MotoGP engineer, a riding academy owner for over 20 years and the inventor of motoDNA rider training tech.

Better Riding – Overtaking tips and slow speed control on a motorcycle

Mark and Michael talk about overtaking techniques and slow speed bike control

How to start an overtake

“I kind of like a Mike Tyson analogy; everything's fine and dandy until you get punched on the nose, and that's kind of what it's like with it with overtaking, right?” begins Mark. So we'll start off with just the simple, straightforward manoeuvre. Here’s your top 7 tips for overtaking:

1. With the bike in lane position three, check to see if the road ahead of the vehicle we want to pass is clear as well as the lane we’ll be using to do the overtake, i.e. is there any oncoming traffic. Move around in your lane to get the most amount of information available before committing. Don’t ride too close to the vehicle in front which could block your view or make the angle of the initial overtake movement too tight.

2. Check your mirror. It’s very important to have good situational awareness - good 360-degree awareness of what's going on behind you, in front of you, in front of the car, etc.

3. A life saver before the indicator goes on.

4. Indicator on and another mirror check and life saver.

5. Move out into the overtaking lane and give yourself plenty of room to the vehicle you’re overtaking, laterally.

6. Use the power of the bike and/or the momentum to complete the overtake quickly before getting back into your lane.

7. Be aware of your speed - don’t start too far back, too late or in too high a gear. By the time you complete the overtake you could be travelling too quickly for a) the speed limit, and b) to get back into your lane safely.

If you’re on a smaller capacity motorbike, or don’t have as much power or torque then the skill of the overtake is in the momentum or use of the gearbox. By changing down a gear or even two at the point you want to begin the overtake will increase the revs and allow the throttle reaction to be more instantaneous. A more powerful machine usually has plenty of torque in the mid-range (middle of the rev range) and can get the job done with just a small twist of the throttle.

What if the driver in front isn’t paying attention?

In the modern world, drivers can be easily distracted by ‘phone calls, ‘phone alerts, music, satellite navigation, and passengers, to name but a few.

And with our motorcycling superpowers we often know what they’re up to. We can see through their rear windscreen and look at what their body language is telling us. Because we’re focused on them, we can sense them jolting at the steering or veering towards either side of their lane. We have the ability to use our other senses too – we can smell if (and what) they’re smoking. We can hear if the music is loud. All these symbols point towards giving them extra time and space.

Information is key to a rider, and just like Sherlock Holmes we’re always on the lookout for clues that will help make a better decision about where to place the bike or if our speed needs adjusting, which in turn leads to confidence.

What our motorcycling superpowers don’t show us is the pothole or animal that the vehicle might swerve to avoid.

Yet on other occasions a car might encourage you to overtake by moving to the side of their lane and remaining there. But don’t assume a) they have actually seen you, and b) that it’s safe to pass. Remember, it’s your move, your decision and your safety. Be comfortable that you are ok to go, not just because the vehicle has moved over.

Though it’s always polite to give a little wave of thanks, anything we can do to make motorcycling look even more awesome to those who’ve only wondered is a good thing.

How can I abandon the overtake?

There’s absolutely no problem in diving back in if you’re not sure. Be safe. A top tip here, especially if you do have a powerful enough bike to not need to change down to build the momentum, is to edge out into the overtaking lane to see if it’s clear before committing to the full move. There’s no harm in checking before executing.

An important point here is to also think about where you’ll end up once you’ve overtaken the vehicle in front. Is there enough space in front for you to slot into?

Mark often says, “see, and be seen” and in this motorcycling manoeuvre is just as important. While it’s not always possible, you would want the slower vehicle to know you’re coming by. They can move over giving you a little more room, they can also give you space to slot into in front of them. A tip I mentioned in a previous episode was to move laterally in your lane when travelling behind the slower vehicle, there’s more of a chance of them seeing you in their mirrors.

According to RoSPA 15% of motorcyclists were recorded as performing an overtaking manoeuvre when they were involved in a collision. So be vigilant.

What if they cut across me mid-overtake?

SMIDSY is a common expression used in motorcycling, standing for ‘Sorry Mate, I Didn’t See You’, which, when used, is the result of a driver not being aware of a motorcycle before they turned into or out of a junction that has consequently seen them collide with a motorcycle.

It doesn’t matter who is at fault, any collision between a car/van/lorry and a bike will end up with the rider getting hurt which is why we go on about being extra careful, give yourself time, space and as much information as possible. Look for the hazards, the junction, the other vehicles and stay alert.

Don’t get yourself sucked into an overtake without assessing the possibility of the driver doing something stupid. When exiting a mini roundabout in very slow moving traffic once, I was filtering on a Harley and a Ford Galaxy driver decided that patience wasn’t for her. She didn’t see me approaching in her blind spot when pulling out for a quick 180. Was it her fault? Yes. But who ended up on the floor? Me. Uninjured thankfully but the bike was scuffed, and it shook my confidence. It happened so quickly and there wasn’t anything more I could have done… or was there? My speed while filtering was slow enough, the road was grippy, the conditions were ideal, but how about the force with which I pulled on the front brake lever, or even my reaction time? It’s a big, heavy bike but I guess we’ll never know. And that opens up a whole new chapter of machine ability vs. our reactions. We’ll get into it another time but essentially a ‘bike will stop better, safer, quicker than 99% (a figure I just made up, by the way) of us can manage. We simply do not pull hard enough on the front brake lever when considering modern day electronics, suspension, tyres.

Are there any rules about overtaking when riding in a group?

It’s very easy to get sucked into overtaking and flying past a group of cars if you’re riding with others. You don’t want to lack the bravado but if you’re the one following a lead rider or even a group of two, three, four in front of you, just think about what you can see and what you potentially can’t. Just because there’s space for those other riders to get by doesn't mean it’ll be the same when you get mid-way through the move.

Hand back, take a look, make sure the coast is clear but most importantly, act for yourself. I’ve been on many press launches when you ride as a group of, sometimes, eight or even ten bikes, and whizzing by slower vehicles at the same pace and time as the rider in front will keep you up with the group but is it worth taking the risk?

There are handful of moves and gesticulations that can be used but they must be agreed beforehand, and even if they are then you can’t let your guard down. We can stick our leg out or point to a dead animal or gravel in the road which is great to help out the rider behind but what if there’s an occasion where you don’t? Then what? That rider can’t trust whether you will or won’t next time. The same goes for overtaking – if the rider in front beckons you on, or stays out in the overtaking lane to demonstrate it’s clear, don’t assume that’s what they are doing, or that it is clear. Make each overtake your own responsibility.

How can I practice slow speed machine control for better filtering?

Yes, by practicing in a safe, controlled environment you can quickly begin to understand the clutch bite point, how many revs you need to gain momentum from 0mph, where the balance point of the bike is, and how tiny body movements can affect the machine. All of which can be advantageous when manoeuvring in tighter areas such as filtering between two lanes of traffic, or even when riding on slippery surfaces such as gravel, mud or through deeper water.

Our advice would be to find a car park which has white lines as a good guide. Here are Mark’s top slow-speed riding tips:

1. Head up and eyes forward. It sounds pretty straightforward, but your balance is in your ears, so if you're kind of looking down, you can get, you know, a little bit dizzy, a little bit disorientated.

2. Revs. Basically, I tell riders to double the idle speed as long except for Boxer engines. If it's a longitudinal crank that stabilises the bike, it's a bit of a cheat! So, you got your revs up higher, and it stabilises the bike. It makes it less wobbly.

3. Clutch. Have the clutch in the friction zone, which is the where the clutch lever is out enough to feel the bike moving.

4. Rear brake: just a little to stabilise and drags the bike

5. Body position. Have that core engaged allowing you to kind of relax your arms

6. Speed. Start practicing at 4-5mph to see if you can stay on that white line.

And then you can try the same exercise while riding in a circle. Keep your head up and looking in the direction of where you’re riding, not on the floor directly in front. Use your vision along with the balance of revs, clutch and rear brake to find the sweet stability spot and you’ll soon have the handlebars on full lock.

For reference:

• A hazard-based model of the motorcyclists’ overtaking duration (2020)

• http://www.righttoride.co.uk/virtuallibrary/ridersafety/indepthstudyofmotorcycleacc2004.pdf (2004)   

• https://www.rospa.com/rospaweb/docs/advice-services/road-safety/motorcyclists/common-motorcycle-crash-causes.pdf (2017)

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