A2 Commuter dude, your gonna kill yourself....

Now i pass two Curvey blue SV quite a lot on the A2 coastbound from London to Gravesend. One of them i pass, black jacket, small red line accross the top. Normal safe rider...

However...

I get passed all the time by another guy on a blue SV650S, curvey, again thin black leather jacket at a thicker red strip going accross the top of his jacket...

Now im quite a fast rider, but i know my limits, and the limits of the SV brakes, but this guy simply flys past me like im standing backward, flicking the bike left and right through the cars..

Now each to their own and that, but your not kitted up the best you could be and ytou ride like a nutter through the most accident prone part of the A2. Im not telling you how to ride, but i am telling you you WILL get seriously hurt, maybe not today, tomorrow, next week or next month, but it will happen.

Theres simply NO way you could hit the brakes in time if someone switch lanes....

Take the advice or not, its your life, not mine, i don't care...... I ride slow enough to stop..

[Viney]

Dont ever follow me then!

Some people are lucky. They have been commuting for a long time in whatever manner they choose. They can go for ever without having an off. Maybe they use the force!! Or theres people like my mate, whos come a cropper 5 times on the A2.

Each to thier own.

Yep, its ya own choice how you ride, and if you take the risks or not!

Putting it simply, you cant apply your set of standards and risk assessment to someone elses. Yes, if they were a danger to you then you would have fair grounds to complain. If theyre not, then you have to let it go.

You ride YOUR ride, they'll ride theirs. You cant look out for everyone else out there. You need all your concentration looking out for you.

*PS yes I do agree with you that some people ride too fast, but end of day its ultimately their choice and not mine. As long as they dont endanger me I dont care.

Well not strictly true, I do, never like to see a bike down. But you have to distinguish between inexperienced riders that get sucked into over confidence and the real suicidal muppets that have statistic written all over them. And you dont have to be going fast to get your bike written off either. Someone was only doing 15mph when a passenger got out a stationary car. Not good for him either.

*PPS - have you encountered the vfr or gixxer that filters past you filtering yet? Now THATS something I feel warrants a major rant against.

re -filtering ,,im just back from the nw200 and really the standard of riding amongst 90% of the bikes on the roads is shocking ,i mean theres filtering and theres madness (wrong side of road /oncoming cars /solid white lines ,the list goes on) i even got overtaken AND undertaken at the same time (i was doing about 50 in a small village so it wasnt even on an open stretch) on the approach to a junction while passing a traffic island/lamp post thingy and my elbow was clipped a few times.there are some right nutters out there.no wonder car drivers /general public have a low opinion of motorcyclists

Originally Posted by jim@55

mean theres filtering and theres madness (wrong side of road /oncoming cars /solid white lines ,the list goes on)

Depedning on how its done, its sometimes safer to be on the other side of the road. There is no right and wrong side, only left and right. You are allow to be on the right hand side as long as it is safe to do so and you do not disrupt any oncomming traffic.

Indeed, there is one perticualr road on my commute which has a junction at the end, and it is traffic light controled. So there is no traffic coming towards you. The road bends at the end slightly, so to get a good view on what is going to be a hazard I go right out into the other lane. This gives you plenty of time time get back in should the lights change/a car turn right etc...

Also, in london crossing traffic lights, some of the roads I use are fairly long strights, plently of room and vision to get over to the right to pass lots of cars before the lights change.

Again, double white lines. There is one part of my journey where i regually break them, although im a lot more careful about doing this than the scooter riders who do. If you know the road, its coming up to batterse brige where the turning to latchmear leasure center is. I can hold back at the top of the hill where the lines start and get a good view all the way down to the lights, and if the lights are red, I have no problem (bearing in mind things turning right to the leasure center) crossing them to make progress up to the lights. And to make things better its perfectly legal

Originally Posted by The Highway Code

"You may cross the line if necessary to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10mph or less. "

Oh, and Can I have the Cat back once its finished with the pigeons please.
Ta
Dan

[Viney]

Originally Posted by jim@55

re -filtering ,,im just back from the nw200 and really the standard of riding amongst 90% of the bikes on the roads is shocking ,i mean theres filtering and theres madness (wrong side of road /oncoming cars /solid white lines ,the list goes on) i even got overtaken AND undertaken at the same time (i was doing about 50 in a small village so it wasnt even on an open stretch) on the approach to a junction while passing a traffic island/lamp post thingy and my elbow was clipped a few times.there are some right nutters out there.no wonder car drivers /general public have a low opinion of motorcyclists

Never commuted in london then. Rules...what rules! Its survival of the fitest out there i tell ya!

see i go with the idear that if you sit the bike on the back wheel you can see further ahead...

I have in built rules that I follow... sometimes I break them, but I normally keep to them. And I'll happily filter in 6th gear at 6k, just try to ensure I'm not going more then 10-20 mph faster then the traffic I'm filtering though. I'm more concerned about dangerous riding then speeding, but it still is on my mind as I have 9 points.

As for London, still working on that, as I see people doing so bizzare things. Riding on the pavement, wrong way down one way street, seems a little too far to me. Bit to much pushing that 'dangerous' riding point that I just made.

So many opinions.... I don't care really, im not riding in a loony style...

Im mearly advising that person of their stupiditty, whether that person or others wishes to pay attention is up to them... Its not my life.....