Sorry but I feel the need to rant a bit and unfortunately the subject is to do with fellow numpty bikers. I was riding home last night on the the motorway sitting in the outside lane doing about 85mph passing cars etc. when a biker came canning past my right shoulder between me & the central reservation. He/she must have gone past at around 100mph. I didn’t see them in my mirrors or anything, must have been right on my ass rather than riding staggered stylee. The point I’m trying to make is that although I wasn’t tearing along I still wasn’t mr. slowcoach either. Had I of seen them I would have moved over as I normally would.
As I didn’t know he/she was there had I of moved a few inches to the right for whatever reason evel knievel would’ve been picking armco out of his / her teeth for a couple of days as well as myself !
Wonder if it was a fellow LB. If so, calm down a bit - anyone can ride fast but not everyone can see you doing it !!!
i had this on way to ace teh other week, was going along teh A406 just before the park royal slip road for ace, roads dips down as you go under the railway lines, well just before there i was about to check my shoulder and move over for the slip road…BBBBBBBAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRP…0 white blade flys past inches away from me, good job i didnt move cos even with a shouldder check, at the speeds he was going…i doubt me checking would make much diffrence.
personally i try not to do that…ever, if i am gunning it and i come up behind someone i will slow down, hang back for a while see if they know im there, see if there head moves to look at the mirrors etc if not i give em plenty of room befoire passing them.
equally as bad, is someone tagging on teh back of ya, but not just following but right up ya bloody arse…THAT winds me up.
Got to agree Ratty. Riders must take into account that others can move across quickly. I’ve always hung back and only overtaken when safe to do so, no point blatting past a rider like that at all and rather silly to do so. 85mph is plenty fast enough in darker conditions and being overtaken like that is not nice.
Happened on m4 westbound between heston & h/row. Bike was a sports bike of some sort, didn’t catch the make. Possibly a CBR, it had an underseat exhaust.
It just gets on your wick a bit as it could end it tears. I’m the same as you Ratty, I hang back till I’m seen then normally pull inside to the middle lane for an overtake as most people I pass tend to move over to the right in the fast last as a signal to let you pass.
I guess that is technically undertaking but in the majority of my experience it seem to be the norm under these circumstances. I normally move ‘right’ in the fast last to let bikers past me on the inside - that is unless I can safely move into the middle lane.
I wonder if anyone else has a view on this with regard to unofficial biker ettiquette in situations like this.
mate everyday in london this happens to me, for some stoopid reason people think it is better to sit behind than to sit off centre to the left or right in one of my mirros.happen this morning some idiot on a cub 90… I had a word with him at the next set of lights to inform him of my displeasure that he nearly rode into me because of his poor positioning…I honsetly think something like this should be included in the DAS or maybe even the CBT as it is bad news for both riders if it goes pear shaped
you know what powderpuffgirl, it could well have been a KWAK. I feel better now that I’m not alone in thinking riding in that way is stooopid. As weel a dangerous it’s just a bit rude & arrogant.
if yoiu sat directly behind anything with mirrors, they wont see you, your in the blindspot, to the left or right makes sense no? tis not rocket science is it.
totally agree tho, tho on my DAS this was mentioned, along with large veichle like bus’s and trucks, stay to the right so the driver can see you in his mirror, on the left he may never see you…unless its a left hand drive of course( forieng trucks etc)
mate the even worse thing about it is that they ride bikes as well, how can these people be so stupid as to think I can see them, how long does it take to think… “hang on I’m right behined this guy who only has side mirrors”
know what I mean… in all fairness I have to say it is probably more scooters and L plates than bikes, but bikes do do it as well
Good point sleeper. There is no mention of ‘group’ positioning in biker training. However the more ‘sensible’ among us go to great lengths to get it right in group rideouts. I always positon myself ‘off centre’ from the bike in front of me whoever he or she is, it just gives them a view of you in their mirrors as well a buying you an extra few feet in the event of an E-stop. However, I suppose there will always be some nutter who thinks he’s a racer & cooler than everyone else.
dude believe some people are that stupid, sometimes when in a big group it can be hard not to do that, but i only ride in a group with people i trust, end of.
but i agree with ya, and yes more scoots and L plates do it than bigegr bikes, but all are guilty of it at some point.
Not in reply to anything specific on this thread but i do about 30k a year in the car of which more than half is motorway and i see lots of bikes in the outside lane not using there mirrors enough cos they seem not to be used to other road users going faster than them and some of em will just sit there when the inside lanes are clear.
This applies equally to car drivers,i just think most road users have almost zero lane dicipline on motorways,. Head west on the m40 and after the M25 junction up to wycomb you may as well be driving on the continent,its 4 lanes with the outside totally congested and the inside 2 lanes empty.
Not the time or place :w00t:
