Be Excellent To Each Other

I have forgotten the fun of overtaking on double white lines, filtering at 50 mph and gratuitous use of lower gear than necessary to make a lot of noise. And standing on the pegs to pull my jeans out of my arse as I pass a line of schoolgirls (a la Rossi) as I'm THAT COOL.

On the downside, I've obviously been away from it for a while as I chickened out of a 95mph undertake.

I can't tell if you're being ironic or not.

No, am not.

Oh.

It's fun.

It's people like you that I hate, you bastard motorcyclist, you.

What, being a reckless, dangerous idiot; or boasting about being a reckless, dangerous idiot?

It's the noise that bothers me too. I have a lot of traffic go past my house and as I'm on one of the main routes to the hospital, I get a lot of ambulances go by - however, the noise of their sirens is nowhere near as annoying as the boy racers revving their engines in loud cars or on loud bikes.

I sound old.

I have no problems with responsible, careful riders at all (Meat Angle being a case in point). However, as someone who has been involved in a road traffic accident at the fault of a motorcyclist, I find it so strange how a normally rational and sensible person can become a complete twat, putting himself and others in danger when he's got a throbbing machine between his legs (fnar).

no one died, ergo it was completely safe to do.

Ah, you are being secretly ironic. Well done, you had me going for a minute there.

I'm still struggling with the 'reckless' and 'dangerous' bit of it though. I'll try harderer next time.

If you're struggling with that, then I do wonder how you manage to put your underpants on in the morning.

I want a motorbike, but a cruiser would suit me instead of the twatmobiles I see people killing themselves on.

I have someone to do that for me.

EDIT: I'll rbeak down each incident:

overtaking on double white lines: traffic moving at 10mph, clear other side of road, perfectly safe, if not strictly legal, the legal option would be to overtake BUT NOT CROSS the white lines



filtering at 50 mph: Traffic moving at 40mph on dual carriage way. made use of space in between lanes.

and gratuitous use of lower gear than necessary to make a lot of noise. : For help with filtering

And standing on the pegs to pull my jeans out of my arse as I pass a line of schoolgirls (a la Rossi) as I'm THAT COOL: I rock

Are you 60?

No, are you?

While I wouldn't quite agree with the vociferousness of Myp's response, there is no 'space in between lanes'. Either one lane runs straight into the next (single line), or there's a crosshatched section, which you're not allowed in. If you're going down the middle of a dual carriageway, you're overtaking on the inside, which is illegal. Also shockingly dangerous for yourself.

I just wanted to say 'throbbing machine'.

It isn't. It's just frowned upon.

It also isn't too dangerous if you pay attention and watch the gaps. The gaps are more dangerous than the packed-together cars.

I'm sure I said to the gf just the other day, motorcycles aren't more dangerous than cars due to anything about the bike itself, it's more to do with the people who use them that causes accidents. Like, undertaking, nipping in and out of traffic because there's 'technically' the space to do so, and otherwise just driving a bit unsafe.

I'm sure the incidence of accidents among careful moderate bikers is no worse than that of cars, but the point is it seems that more people have bikes just to do the, albeit timesaving but more dangerous, things noted above.

It's not illegal if traffic is backed up, and the two police cars I passed didn't seem to mind.

Filtering is quite tricky, and certainly, there is an element of danger there, I agree, but not 'shockingly dangerous'. 'Risk managed dangerous' granted.

And there is a space between lanes

This from the highway code for motorcyclists:

"only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so "

Any breach of the highway code is a driving offence.

This is called 'making progress'.



I got mine for the ability to go really fast, really quickly, and enjoy the commute. It's also considerably quicker to get to work and back than it is in the car.

have fun letting every bus in london pull out
is there not an exception for slow traffic queues?

It's not illegal, but you are far more open to being charged with dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention if you do it.

Mali, no matter what you say we're going to burn you at the stake. I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to avoid this now, so just continue basting yourself until the mods can get to you.

Not so:

I must admit, I'm quite surprised at the violence of the replies, yes.

But I'll do the same ting tomorrow, as well, and the day after.

*notes in permanent record*
"unrepentant, adds to flavour"

I have a pedal bike. I don't think it rocks quite as much as a motor bike, but it still rocks. People on both pedal and motor bikes are also scootching up between lanes here, and no police has ever seemed to care.

Oh, absolutely - but you said you were going 50, which is hardly slow-moving congested traffic.

See above re: the police cars that didn't seem to mind.

Seriously, I fail to see the problem, aside from the legal grey area. Is it that motorbikes CAN do this and cars CAN'T or do you just hate me?

i think it is more dangerous on a pedal bike as you don't have the engine power to move faster when you need to. also cyclists do not sometimes wear helmets or leather (motor bike riders who choose to ride in shorts and a t-shirt are very surprising to me).

I hate it as a driver. I have no issue whatsoever with bikes overtaking on the right hand side, like they're supposed to, because that's where everyone is more observant, and it's where you expect overtaking. It's just the worst thing when you move six inches across to the left in your lane as part of normal adjusting of path, and suddenly there's a bike about to be squished between your car and someone else's. Even worse is on the motorway, in 3 lanes of traffic, when you're in the middle lane and bikes go past on both sides at the same time - that's just insane.

There may be a space between cars, there isn't a space between lanes. Overtake on the right. It's not hard.

There IS a space between lanes. More space than between the RHS lane and the central reservation. Also note that in that gutter there's all kind of shit that gives you punctures.

Gap between lanes 1 and 2 is about 4 feet between cars, Between 2 and CR is about a foot or 2.

It is if there's a twat in that lane when the left lane is completely clear, but that's me being facetious, and isn't what you meant.

But seriously, hang those bastards.

Also, it's a good idea to check mirrors and blind spots before a manouevre...

MR GRINNING IN A FRIENDLY WAY SMILEY

there should be an international flashing of lights that means 'move over, fucker'.

Filtering's fine and dandy by me in aforementioned congested conditions. I go out of my way to make extra space where possible, and am stupidly considerate when I've got a bike behind me and I'm wanting to make a move myself. Drivers moaning about the possibility of a bike "suddenly appearing" in the space they're about to move into aren't looking in their mirrors/over their shoulders enough, and presumably aren't indicating either (or the rider deserves it).

On the other hand there're a couple of riders that I regularly meet on my commute that are idiots, bolting in and out of lanes already moving at 50+. It's suicidal.

MR ENJOYING HAVING NEITHER A ROOF NOR A HELMET

Yeah, I move over for bikes too. Most of them are nice and thank me for it too. I don't check my mirrors that often, as most of the time I'm headbanging and driving into lines of children.

My job when driving my car is to stay between the white lines. Same as the guy to the left of me. That means that you've got about 3" gap (the width of the white line). If you're lucky, we might be further apart than that, but there's no obligation on us to keep a motorcycle's width between us.



I would be manoeuvering if I was changing lanes. If I'm not changing lanes, I'm not going to be checking my mirrors for cheeky fuckers trying to sneak down the middle.



Indeed - I'm not having a go. I'm warning you that that space you think is there only exists because the cars are briefly that far apart, and you're putting your own life (and others, because a bike suddenly appearing from nowhere causes reactionary swerving) at risk.

Please, though if you're going to make space for a motorbike behind you, don't swerve to your left. Look in your mirror, then move gently; there really could be something on your inside, and swerving is going to fuck it up good.

I find many people move over for me if I'm waiting patiently behind them. But more often than not, they'll swerve left without looking. That's just daft. I can wait while you do your observations, thank you.

Indeed, but I'm aware of that risk and manage it accordingly.

How? What can you possibly do if I decide to move across a foot to my left while you're on my inside, while staying in my lane?

By travelling faster than movement.

it sounds wrong, but after a while you can see when someone is going to do this. a bit like sixth sense.

What are you riding these days, Mali?

Still ER5. Although I am a bit smitten with a 748 at the moment, but, no movement on this sort of new toy thing until August.

manage risk != eliminate risk.

And as someone said, you do get that sense that someone is about to do something.