Can somebody tell me why motorcycles ride the centerline?

[Kingcreek]

What is the reason? I often meet group bikers and there is always at least one right on the damn centerline or at least with their left hand over it. If I’m pulling a trailer I feel like I have to move out or ride the shoulder to give them room.

[RoadKingLarry]

My experience is that the majority of motorcycle riders don't really know how to ride and probably shouldn't be on a motorcycle in the first place.
I've known many "riders" that have stated that they know how to ride and don't need to take any special training like the AMA courses offered. I won't ride with those people. I generally won't associate with anyone that believes that they know all there is to know about a subject and couldn't benefit from training and instruction.

As to proper lane position, a traffic lane can be divided in to 3 sections. Left, middle and right. Each having a circumstance where and when they are appropriate to use.
My preferred lane position is the left track for normal traveling. This position takes "ownership" of the lane and can help prevent overtaking vehicles from encroaching into your space. Riding on the centerline is a problem for multiple reasons. First, you would be encroaching oncoming traffic which is bad. Another is that the painted lines offer a lower coefficient of friction that bare, dry pavement, wet it's even worse.

[French G.]

Had one last night, BMW dualsport which are usually the least trouble demographic. Riding two up, met them coming downhill into a right hander. Their wheel is a foot in my lane and leaned pretty good. Of course they stood it up and got back in their lane, a recipe for disaster if they were anywhere close to max velocity. See above, dunno how to ride.

My mountain playground has deserted roads, hundreds of curves. It also has kids playing, old people walking, log trucks, turkey trucks, turkey feed trucks, container trucks, ditch washouts from storms that make roads around blind corners insta gravel, etc. In short everything a race track is not.

I get passed on the blind corners, the group rides break every law, my 35mph zone is ignored, the medevac helo and the volunteer companies put their lives on hold and at risk to scrape them up. But all of social media is "watch for motorcycles" and zomg your grass clippings. I already didn't like american motorcycle culture where we all dress identically to show how individual we are but now I hate it.

[Kingcreek]

It’s just so damn common that I thought there must be some universally accepted reason for it.
I don’t have an issue with them riding the wheel track or middle but it’s usually the leader riding his tires about 6” from the centerline.
Much of my driving is on 2 lane highway with a Harley dealership at the south end of it. There is live music and food trucks, merch tents, poker runs, etc almost every weekend and holiday during the summer. Lots of groups riding and yeah I’m sure some are idiots.

[AZRedhawk44]

It’s just so damn common that I thought there must be some universally accepted reason for it.
I don’t have an issue with them riding the wheel track or middle but it’s usually the leader riding his tires about 6” from the centerline.
Much of my driving is on 2 lane highway with a Harley dealership at the south end of it. There is live music and food trucks, merch tents, poker runs, etc almost every weekend and holiday during the summer. Lots of groups riding and yeah I’m sure some are idiots.

It's probably for visibility going around corners.  You can see more the farther out you are from the corner.  Also for encroachment, as RKL says.

I agree with him that significant swathes of motorcycle cultures fail to appreciate the value of training.  Not just the land pirates.  I'm rather surprised to hear of what sounds like a GS rider being like that, from French G.  But everyone blows a corner sometimes.  I blew a corner about a year or so back, down on the AZ/MX border near Arivaca.  No oncoming traffic, but I didn't know it at the time.  Just a corner too sharp for my speed and too much complacency or inattention or lack of planning for it.

[RoadKingLarry]

I agree with him that significant swathes of motorcycle cultures fail to appreciate the value of training.

Some of my favorite comments -

Never use the front brake, it'll put you in the dirt.
Never touch your brakes in a corner, you'll crash.
Loud pipes save lives.
A helmet will break your neck in a crash.
Counter steering is a myth.
And, possibly my all time favorite - I had to lay it down to avoid a crash.

[HeroHog]

If yer tire is within 6" of the fog lines/center stripe, on the street, yer too dang close!

[Northwoods]

Riding my bicycle once I hugged the centerline.  It was a road I hadn’t ridden before, was rather steep downhill and it was a kinda long and sharp corner.  I realized a short way into it I was going waaaaayyyy to fast but couldn’t really slow it down by then.  So I cut into towards the centerline and then rode that corner all the way out to the fog line.  Thankfully the corner ended before the edge of pavement.  Never did that *expletive deleted*it again.

[HeroHog]

Also, stay out of the center of your lane! It's usually greasy and slightly humped making for bad juju.

[Boomhauer]

Some of my favorite comments -

Never use the front brake, it'll put you in the dirt.
Never touch your brakes in a corner, you'll crash.
Loud pipes save lives.
A helmet will break your neck in a crash.
Counter steering is a myth.
And, possibly my all time favorite - I had to lay it down to avoid a crash.

Had to layer down cuz of the grass clibbins

[charby]

Had to layer down cuz of the grass clibbins

Fresh ones are slicker than snot. Personal experience, never laid a bike down because of them, but it got white knuckled for a bit.

Only 2 times I laid a bike down, I hit a large dog going around a wet pavement corner, bike laid itself down. Took a corner too fast in the dirt and bike slid out from underneath me (100 or 125 dirtbike).

Glad I had a helmet and somewhat protective clothing both times.

[Tuco]

Grass Clippings?!?!
This has GOT to be a meme.  Admittedly I'm  now much heavier and slow witted than I was last time I rode a motorcycle, but damn... if these boomers can't ride under control through grass clippings they really need to sell the harley and stay on the lawnchair  God help them should there be loose gravel, broken glass, automobile drippins or chewing gum on the asphalt. 
It strikes me as seroius cope and "male karenesque"  deflecting responsibility for alert and skilled riding.

[zxcvbob]

When I ride a bicycle, I ride in the right third of the lane.  I want to take ownership of it, but also be easy to pass.  When someone does want to pass I will move to the right a little but not all the way (or even all that close) to the shoulder or curb.  I know you're talking about motorcycles that have no trouble keeping up with traffic so passing in not much of an issue, but to the right of the center of your lane still seems like the best place.  And you're farther from the oncoming traffic when some idiot is busy texting or sleeping instead of watching the road.

[Boomhauer]

Grass Clippings?!?!
This has GOT to be a meme.  Admittedly I'm  now much heavier and slow witted than I was last time I rode a motorcycle, but damn... if these boomers can't ride under control through grass clippings they really need to sell the harley and stay on the lawnchair  God help them should there be loose gravel, broken glass, automobile drippins or chewing gum on the asphalt. 
It strikes me as seroius cope and "male karenesque"  deflecting responsibility for alert and skilled riding.

https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/grass-clibbins-almost-haddalayerdown

[bedlamite]

I ride the left side of the lane. Most drivers ignore what's not directly in front of them, even on the passenger side of the lane. It also gives you a fraction of a second more to see and avoid anything unexpected from the right, either critters or cars.

Stay out of the oil slick in the middle of the lane, and the paint in the middle can be slippery under some circumstances.

[Tuco]

https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/grass-clibbins-almost-haddalayerdown

Thank you. I was seriously WTactualF. 

[JTHunter]

They are what you call "road hogs".

[gunsmith]

I had a fake cruiser  80's yammie in the 90's - not sure what was wrong with it but it would fishtail if I slammed on the brakes over 25 mph, I was doing 40 when a car made an illegal left in front of me .
I didn't lay it down on purpose,  I just slammed on the brakes.
I really like newer model r6 or cbr 6 or higher because they seem able to stop in a straight line.

I tended to take the right side of the lane going around blind curves - it saved my life one time .
A high school kid in a cage went around the blind curve doing 50 or 60 in a 35 mph zone .
If I wasn't all the way to the right already and on purpose - he would have flattened me .

I wish I had a bike now

[AZRedhawk44]

I had a fake cruiser  80's yammie in the 90's - not sure what was wrong with it but it would fishtail if I slammed on the brakes over 25 mph, I was doing 40 when a car made an illegal left in front of me .
I didn't lay it down on purpose,  I just slammed on the brakes.
I really like newer model r6 or cbr 6 or higher because they seem able to stop in a straight line.

I tended to take the right side of the lane going around blind curves - it saved my life one time .
A high school kid in a cage went around the blind curve doing 50 or 60 in a 35 mph zone .
If I wasn't all the way to the right already and on purpose - he would have flattened me .

I wish I had a bike now

Your problem was "slamming" the brakes.  You probably put your weight sideways one way or another while hitting the brakes, inducing a fishtail that continued to increase in angle until you low-sided.  It's an instinctive reaction to an impending collision.  The trouble with it is that your tires are a far better friction source with the road than your footpegs, frame, or engine casings, and even if you are about to crash and even no expert rider is going to evade it, you can crash at the lowest possible speed by continuing to apply your brakes as skillfully as possible rather than putting the bike sideways on the ground.

This is one of those training things that novice motorcyclists think they don't need.  You need to be skilled enough that even under high pressure situations, you apply controlled pressure to the brakes rather than a panic slam.  It's also one of those things that modern bikes try to fix by application of technology like ABS, lean sensitive ABS, inertial sensors and the like, but it still requires a rider with appropriate knowledge to give the right inputs.  Rear brake does different things than front brake.  Some bikes link brakes.  I want to say older Goldwings will even split the dual calipers on the front wheel; The front brake lever controls only one caliper on front, while the rear brake lever controls the rear brake and the other front caliper.  Sounds dumb to me, but the heaviest bike I've ever ridden was only about 550 pounds, I don't do the Goldwings and Road Kings and other big tourers (at least not yet).  Sounds like something one would do to avoid heavy front fork dive, without just addressing weak front suspension in the first place.

[gunsmith]

I was much better off letting the bike get lodged under the car than being on it while it hit the car!
I stayed on the ground and took the ride in the ambulance because in San FRancisco they do not investigate and cite the driver in error unless you do, I got a great payout and no injuries at all

[MechAg94]

My Dad always rode the centerline (in cars/trucks, not motorcycles).  He said in the rural area he grew up, the right side was always full of potholes.  He always kept the vehicle in his lane though.