Ride like every car you see is going to hit you !

Laverda SF said:
It's the ones you don't see that will hit you ;o(
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....When you do see them , the world turns into slow motion ........ A little like pigeons leaving it to the last second before getting out of the way .... because their brains / eyesight operate at many more frames per seconds than do ours ........ except we can`t take off to avoid the collision ........
 
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And if you manage to avoid the collision we see coming, your more then likely to end up in a ditch with a broken bone or two and lucky to selvage your ride.
 
Commuted to work 90 miles a day for 37 years on a bike. So just to work, 865,000 miles and I am still alive. About 20 miles of that was splitting traffic as it is legal here. In that time I saw about 10 motorcyclists killed. Almost ran over one when the rider ended up under the trailer of a big truck and killed 20' in front of me. His legs were still where I was going to be. I once saw two killed in one day, a Yamaha XS650 chopper and a Triumph 750 chopper. Neither one made a turn on a mountain road and went flying off in to the bottom of the canyon. I had spoken to both earlier in the day while getting fuel.

The vast majority of the accidents I witnessed were caused by the rider as they thought going 60mph splitting traffic when the traffic is at a dead stop was safe? Last one dead before I retired was a Harley going way too fast and the car in front of him changed lanes without looking. The driver looking at the dead rider said, "I did not see him" even though the bike was loud enough to be heard miles away.

I know we like to blame the car that ran us over and all motorcycle riders think only about safety. Complete BS. When I was young, I also rode like an idiot.
 
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I NEVER split lanes while in motion because as a car driver you never look for a Motorcyclist splitting lanes from behind - Mainly because you can't see a motorcycle due to blind spots. However, stopped at a red light in a city and a few vehicles behind while riding a motorcycle I would occasionally creep up between cars ;o)

Splitting lanes is a DANGEROUS PRACTICE - PERIOD. Like riding a bicycle on a street a between the traffic and parked cars - Then suddenly someone in a parked car opens a door - You better hope he has window down so you can catapult over the door resulting in a few bruises and scrapes and bent front rim on your bicycle. Been there did that riding a 10spd Raleigh over the speed limit in down town Pembroke Ontario one hot summer afternoon when I was 22 ;o)
 
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Laverda SF said:
I NEVER split lanes while in motion because as a car driver you never look for a Motorcyclist splitting lanes from behind - Mainly because you can't see a motorcycle due to blind spots. However, stopped at a red light in a city and a few vehicles behind while riding a motorcycle I would occasionally creep up between cars ;o)

Splitting lanes is a DANGEROUS PRACTICE - PERIOD. Like riding a bicycle on a street a between the traffic and parked cars - Then suddenly someone in a can be parked car opens a door - You better hope he has window down so you can catapult over the door resulting in a few bruises and scrapes and bent front rim on your bicycle. Been there did that riding a 10spd Raleigh over the speed limit in down town Pembroke Ontario one hot summer afternoon when I was 22 ;o)
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Filtering, here in the UK, is quite a normal thing to do, given the state of traffic speeds and concentration of traffic in towns and cities. Also, on motorways (freeways for North Americans ) there are quite often situations of stationery or very slow moving traffic which it would be counter productive to sit in. Filtering, in practice. demands low speeds and good forward observation and planning. If I'm filtering, I generally tend to use the headlight on high beam (that catches people's attention in door and rear view mirrors), and if I'm on my ex-police Guzzi, I also put the 4-way flashers on. You can see the cars that are in a world of their own before you reach them; trucks in general are more likely to allow you to filter past, but in general most road users will happily give you extra room to get past.
 
smlav said:
I had a truck driver open his door whilst I was filtering in stationary traffic on UK motorway, about a year back. Luckily I spotted the door opening and my speed was low enough for me to stop, but it was a new one for me. I hate motorways when on the bike, last resort, give me back roads every time.
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Whenever I filter ( this is stationary or very slow moving traffic only ) , I keep my speed low and an eagle eye on the cars I am passing ......... One of the things I l tend to look out for is a car leaving a gap in front of it so someone can pull out from a side turning ......

Most times though , I find filtering to be an rewarding experience ...... ( It`s part of what motorcycling is all about , after all ) ........ and as long as it`s approached sensibly , then there`s no problem ........ In fact , my usual journey in and out of Bristol is probably 10 % filtering at least , and many drivers will actually pull over to let you by ... ( at least those that are awake and looking in their mirrors ) ......


I was trying to find one of my clips of trips into town which involves filtering ...... ( or lane splitting , if you prefer ) ........

This short clip of the approach into Bristol is the closest I could find ............. not filtering as such , just overtaking really ........

Traffic is light on this occasion , and gives no idea of how congested and how long the tailbacks along here can usually be .............. usually caused by endless temporary road works ......... It is also someone`s bright idea to create a cycle lane along here , which will restrict road space even further ....... How many people do they imagine are going to cycle the ten miles or so into Bristol on a dark , rainy , Monday morning ... ?

Getting back out of Bristol is a hundred times worse , and does involve creating a third lane between the two rows of cars , but I have no clip of that .

There is a long bus lane along part of the route back out , which bikes are entitled to use , which helps ............ There is nothing more satisfying than passing three quarters of a mile of stationary cars in your own private ( almost ) lane .... !

The GoPro Hero 8 Black used here has now given up the ghost ...... I`ll have to start saving up for another ........ New ones are an eye watering four hundred quid or so ........ You can get reconditioned ones for one fifty to two hundred quid , but now this new Labour government has stopped my Winter Fuel Allowance payment , I guess it will have to wait .......... This old age pensioner won`t exactly be sat shivering in the dark , but he won`t be adding any more clips to his YouTube channel either ......... Bastards ..... ! ..........:( .............
 
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Laverda SF said:
I NEVER split lanes while in motion because as a car driver you never look for a Motorcyclist splitting lanes from behind - Mainly because you can't see a motorcycle due to blind spots. However, stopped at a red light in a city and a few vehicles behind while riding a motorcycle I would occasionally creep up between cars ;o)

Splitting lanes is a DANGEROUS PRACTICE - PERIOD. Like riding a bicycle on a street a between the traffic and parked cars - Then suddenly someone in a parked car opens a door - You better hope he has window down so you can catapult over the door resulting in a few bruises and scrapes and bent front rim on your bicycle. Been there did that riding a 10spd Raleigh over the speed limit in down town Pembroke Ontario one hot summer afternoon when I was 22 ;o)
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As you don't live where it can get very hot in the summer perhaps you have never needed to split traffic. If it is 110 degrees F (44 degrees C) and you are sitting in the sun as your bike overheats, you have to keep moving! Not fun on a water cooled bike as the fans run non stop and it pees coolant all over the road.

I have done close to 200,000 miles just splitting traffic and never once crashed. You have to assume every car near you is going to do something stupid at any moment. If you keep that in mind at all times, it is perfectly safe. And most importantly keep your speed where you can actually stop when the car is out to kill you. Modern ABS equipped bikes have brakes nothing like a 1970's Laverda. I have one BMW motorcycle with power brakes and you have to remind yourself to never grab the front brake in a panic or you will go over the handlebars.

My 45 mile in the morning commute to work splitting traffic, took on average 50 minutes. In a car 90 minutes minimum.

Coming 45 miles home, one hour on the bike or two in the car. And that is assuming there were no problems on the roadway.

A 1970's bike with drum brakes, can be done but you need to ride slow. I did it many times on my 750GT.

Here in California, there are thousands of bikes splitting traffic every day.
 
If you want to see lane splitting and hair raising freeway riding search YouTube for:
S1000RR Chill Ride Testing Top Speed

I’ve never seen anything like it. You’d swear the speedo was reading in Kph but, no. MPH! How the guy survives this ride alone is beyond me. As for cars changing lanes?! He certainly seems to have the ‘looking ahead’ bit down pat!
 
Beginning on August 7th of this year my state (Colorado) started a three year trial of allowing lane filtering. Looking forward to seeing the results. Pretty aggressive drivers in the Denver metro area compared to many other places I've ridden. Seems like every state has their own "flavor". Portland drivers being the nicest I've encountered. Most the motorcycling I did in my younger years was in Chicago; where carrying a baseball bat in the trunk seemed de rigueur.
 
If you can be bothered ...


As for lane filtering, legal in stationary traffic in Victoria (Australia) - I've been doing it all my motorcycling life. Like anything, you have to use common sense.
 
Apparently it is legal in all Aus states and territory's but the restrictions may vary.

eg; Motor bike riders in South Australia with an R or R-Date licence class (who are not required to display an L or P plate) may lane filter between stationary or slow moving traffic travelling in the same direction, provided they do not exceed 30km/h and it is safe to do so.
 
Ian D

eg; Motor bike riders in South Australia with an R or R-Date licence class (who are not required to display an L or P plate) may lane filter between stationary or slow moving traffic travelling in the same direction, provided they do not exceed 30km/h and it is safe to do so.
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Similar in Canada (Even riding Outlaw) and NOT breaking the Traffic rules ;o)
That's why I said it's OK to creep up to a Stop light in a long line of cars at a Red light.

You don't come across these incidents riding the asphalt of the winding hills of the Northern Cambrian Shield unless you venture into a southern city with horrendous traffic and multi-lanes like Toronto.

You don't lane split doing over a speed limit above 30 km much above a freeway speed of 110 km on some of our Multi-Lane Hwy's PERIOD.

No rules apply when riding (Outlaw) on asphalt to nowhere (Mine Sites) through winding hills of the Cambrian Shield of Northern Ontario - Wanna Race - My 70 Breganzie 750 SF0 was great at it, 1100 Kawasaki's were doomed and I'm not talking about being a polite 750 SF rider ;o)
 
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Two things I've seen discussed on forums lately: lane filtering and drum brakes. Commute home in 30 deg heat and near gridlock across Melbourne from a mate's place ... if I hadn't lane filtered nearly 80% of the ride I'd probably have just made it home by Christmas!!

Drum brakes: section finally out of gridlock, 50kph, traffic moving OK, no visibility, small van in front; he musta been looking at his phone because next thing i notice he's stopped!! Brake!!! Was sure I was in for a mild collision ... squeeze a tiny bit more and I reckon those 320s had the rear wheel floating. Stopped with 1m to spare. Stick your drum brakes up ya cloacas!!
 
Filtering might be legal but it's not mandatory. Pick your time and place and it's fine. Even when it was illegal I still did it on occasion. Lately, lanes seem to be getting narrower and gaps reducing so It's rare for me to do it. Exception when coming home on hot Sunday afternoon, then its move or cook. My last really long fuilter was heading to the Oxley up the Pacific Hwy between Christmas and New Year, we filtered past 50ks of stopped holiday traffic that day.
 
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