I must say i use the revs thing a fair bit and toot the horn if passing buses or vans.
I only use the rev thing if someone hasn’t seen me, and i toot a quick little beep beep when passing buses. I have had someone run out on me before and i was helpless and they broke 3 ribs and a sholder as i hit them at about 25mph. Needless to say they took responsability which was good of them.
But i think its worth having a loud can. I always give it tons when i see some ****** on the phone while driving, its seriously annoys me. I wish i had an AK 47 somtimes:D
I’m with the OP (and the Highway code) in that beeping is for warning only. Unfortunately though, some of the rules we (road users) all demonstrated we know by passing our tests seem to have little value in the real world, and this is one of them.
Excessive beeping or revving is quite annoying for most road users I know and can surely only lead to more road rage and a lower opinion of those making the noise.
I’d say a short bib is okay, but a long blast is a different thing
Sure am those friday nights ending up god knows where in the pitch black being a cornerman then catching up fugging love it just a shame my confidence is shot your in the state and terry is not riding
having driven transit size vans (yes most of them white) for the last 20 years I have no problem with people beeping to let me know they are there, if I can I will let them past, if I can’t they can wait until I can or go F*** themselves when I am on my bike I never assume some one has seen me and never rely on a horn other than to alert the driver alongside that the next noise he will hear is my boot on his car I have friend who likes to bully his way through heavy traffic with a combination of revving engine and beeping horn/flashing headlight, to my mind that is asking for trouble, as that sort of aggression will eventually find its match, however it works for him.
I tend to move over for faster bikes when it is safe for me to do so, they can just bloody wait until then. All the beeping and revving makes no difference to me, I’m deaf and can only barely hear police sirens etc… With pedestrians etc I use both horn and revs, but only in appropriate circumstances. I don’t use them to get cars to move, I just filter past at the clear/safe opportunity. Horn is to be used to signify your presence when you could be in danger, not to get cars to move over for you because you want to filter faster!
Filtering on high beam is a no-no in my book. It’s actually a lot harder to make out how far away an object is and how fast it’s going if all you can see is a big blur of light. I reckon a quick flash is better for alerting someone you’re there.
when bike come up behind my car with high beam, i dim the mirror, so any bikes are actually less visible, not very effective. I stop looking in my mirror cos it hurts my eyes
Funny enough i never seemed to have any problems people hearing me on the Duc;), but i would flash my lights when filtering at slower speeds through town, i find people in cars tend to see you better in advance that way and so not pi$$ing them off too much. Mind you when they have been sitting in a queue for over an hour and you pass them in traffic you know they are not happy:P
waspieeeeeeee :w00t:
peeps that is not true
As I ride bikes in London for a living I have experienced all sorts, scooters stuck to my number plate, not giving me any safe distance just because they see I have a bigger and louder bike than their scooter and I tend to succeed in clearing traffic ahead by revving up a bit ( unfortunately I have to do it even if i don’t like to use my horn or revving the engine unnecessarily but I must get to my destinations on time) or bikes using high beam behind me etc etc I just move over when possible and let them past and I find myself another gap or just keep a reasonable distance and follow them.
But if a cager drives right on the white line and would not move over to let me past I feel the urge to knock on their window and ask whether the lane is wide enough for their car. Been out there doin this job for the past 20months, every single day and must say at times it just puts me off to a degree when i want to quit my job and pack in biking.Drivers deliberately blocking me annoy me the most, they think if they have a Merc or a 7series BMW then they got right of way…
I use the horn if cagers position themselves so I can’t filter past…
I lose my temper easily, I’m not used to people giving **** back so when I had some saxo driving 17 year old boy with fake diamond earings gimme the ****** sign with 3 of his homo mates in the car. I couldn’t resist.
Plastic knuckles are good for tapping on peoples windows and getting ones attention…
I take ages to filter because If I cant get through I just wait plus If I rev my tiny 125 engine most people just laugh.But i do notice alot of drivers block me on purpose and then I get stuck and get some big biker revving on my ass
Get this alot where i commute into work. the other day a **** on a sportsbike with a LOUD can approaching a narrow gap was actually bouncing their revs off the limiter trying to get the car driver to move over. I genuinely felt embarassed and dropped back to distance myself from 'em. No need to intimidate someone like that, the 3 seconds it saved would make no difference to my journey. I’m all for a toot if i think someones not seen me but i’m pretty sure beeping, revving the nuts off and filtering on high beam does the whole ‘biking’ cause no favours at all. I know as a biker myself i just think **** !
+1
I heard an R1 coming up behind me when filtering on the M25 so got out of his way 'cause he was quicker.
Recently there had been an accident on the A329 near Reading and the traffic was at a standstill. Some drivers who were chatting, commented “its a bird on a bike, through you go love” then moved their cars so I could get through. they were nice.