South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

Hi all,
Been riding 125 about a year now all over south devon. Loving it, naturally.. nothing like breezing across a rural road atop a ridge with breathtaking views either side of you!

To the Q... as I do so much rural riding, I'm frequently questioning where I should be on single-lane roads?

- My friend suggested to always be on the outside of all corners, for maximum visibility. That makes some sense to me as I know on some of these corners if I didn't, and a car came, they simply would not see me in time and it would be up to me to squeeze by without dying..
- Road rules suggest to always be on the left, where drivers will expect me to be and minimising time needed to gtfo of the way of any approaching traffic, as well as not challenging a driver's instinct to swerve left to avoid a hazard.

I've never been able to reach a conclusion on this. As it is I just kinda go for the centre mostly, left if the road is a bit wider than single-lane, and right if it's a particularly blind left turn.. feel like there must be a correct answer?

Any advice appreciated, cheers !

On hols as a kid, if we (in a car) were in country lanes, father would drive very slowly and sound his horn before every blind corner.

Also put headlights on (which was not common in them thar days).

Generally, you should be positioned where you get the most amount of vision without endangering yourself ( to the left hand side on right handers and further out to the right on left handers.) You don't want to be so far over to the right that you can't get back over to a safe position if something appears from the other direction or out of a side road /entrance on your right. On a real blind narrow left hander you should slow and keep to the left as its generally regarded to be safer to be meeting head on with a pedestrian than a 8 foot wide tractor.

Hi voxr
As scorcher says maximum view of oncoming vehicles whilst still being able to get back to the left. Another theory is that you should always be able to stop within your range of vision.
You also mentioned the wonderful views. You need to remember they are a distraction and I certainly wouldn't want to go to the right unless paying full attention. A friend had this problem and would always crash going across Dartmoor.

When riding over the moors and similar breathtaking scenery I normally ride in a very "spirited" manner, concentrating on the road. I stop to take in the scenery. Your positioning in the narrow lanes seems right, as said maximise your view ahead and be able to stop safely in the distance you can see....though you still might meet a wannabee rally driver and be unable to avoid THAT hazard.......

I think an equally important hazard to be looking for is crap on the road surface, corners often have gravel pits at their lowest side. In autumn this threat can also be added too by wet leaves. Plan your route through the corners in such a way so don't have to brake or turn hard on these if it can be avoided.
I tend to just stay in the middle, or if it's a very dirty lane then I will sit in left side tyre track, as the tyres tracks can be the only clean part of the road.
That is unless I'm on my DRZ in which case I'm probably riding on the gravel shoulder and tearing it.

ptolemyx wrote: ↑Feb 13th, '18, 08:01 When riding over the moors and similar breathtaking scenery I normally ride in a very "spirited" manner, concentrating on the road. I stop to take in the scenery. Your positioning in the narrow lanes seems right, as said maximise your view ahead and be able to stop safely in the distance you can see....though you still might meet a wannabee rally driver and be unable to avoid THAT hazard.......

I take a lot of joy in picking and choosing, #125life.
Sometimes it's lush to just *canter* through a village or across a ridge at the lowest speed, taking in what the low speed allows.

As for the rally drivers , stuff of nightmares for me in my adventures.. i have been lucky so far i think ! Sometimes in my head i rehearse the emergency protocol of driving up a tree