Other bikers who sneak up behind you..

Originally Posted by timwilky

Whilst I have found on certain rides with mates, that people I know are behind me suddenly decide to go for it and blast past. I do think that if you are surprised by an overtaking bike then you may not be doing all the observations you should.

Don't fault a rider for overtaking you. Fault yourself for not knowing he was there. When ever you consider any manouvre also consider is the guy behind may also be wanting to overtake. Am I actually impeeding the progress of the guy behind? etc.

Yes there are some who buzz you, simply to goad you into taking them on. But these are normally the Richard Heads with more bike than ability. don't let them goad you.

I made this mistake while overtaking a van last summer. I was aware of the bike behind me, went for the overtake only to find that he'd gone for it as well, as he blasted past me while I was blasting past the van.

Luckily there was room but it could've ended badly. I should've been more alert and felt bloody stupid for not checking before I went.

[timwilky]

Thanks ping. I thought I may have got flamed a little for my post. Assumption is the mother of all ****ups and we have all been guilty of it at some point in our biking careers. Fortunately we tend to get away with just a scare.

I think many of the bikers who get accused of sneaking up and overtaking fast with minimal room, would accuse those bikes they overtake of poor riding, lack of observation. Particularly a lack of indication. You are not going to overtake a biker that has just turned his head and put his RH indicator on etc.

Originally Posted by ivantate

Is it safe to assume anyone on a Gixer will pull a move when coming up behind an SV?

....or coming up on anything else for that matter It seems to be a general thing with any SS middleweight. Oddly the bigger ones (R1, ZX10 etc) tend not to bother showing off (apart from the twisties) as there really isn't much to prove. An SS 600 will tend to go after any other middleweight.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by ivantate

Is it safe to assume anyone on a Gixer will pull a move when coming up behind an SV?

You should never assume anything. If a bikes being ridden at a similar speed to the speed I feel comfy going at I'll sit a reasonable distance behind it and follow it. If its going slower than I want to I'll overtake when its safe for me to do so.

Theres idiots that rides all sorts of bikes. You shouldnt tar all us GSXR ridders with the same brush you know

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

You should never assume anything. If a bikes being ridden at a similar speed to the speed I feel comfy going at I'll sit a reasonable distance behind it and follow it. If its going slower than I want to I'll overtake when its safe for me to do so.

Theres idiots that rides all sorts of bikes. You shouldnt tar all us GSXR ridders with the same brush you know

C'mon fizz, even you have to admit that you're one of the few that have at least a semi-sensible head on.

It's not the riders that get tar'd with the brush, it's the bikes. Rightly or wrongly,life is full of generalisations (WVM, 4x4 school run mums etc etc).

[fizzwheel]

Oh I got a bite

I agree its the bikes, but different bikes attract a different type or genre of rider. I think biking is going that way.

Theres the lifestyle kind of biker, who wants a bike, because its fast, its cool, chicks / blokes ( delete as appropriate ) dig it, it makes up for the deficency in the trouser department. You know the sort, they spend all day riding around and then when they get to the pub / burger van, they suddenly found an extra 20 - 30mph on their corner speed.

Theres the other type who just like riding and biking, the freedom of the roads and the joy of riding a such an exquistite piece of engineering.

I probably sit between the two, I love my bikes, ( both of them ) but I'm a bit of label tart to. Every now and again I ride by a big plate glass shop window and sneak a peek at myself ( dont tell me you dont )

Oh I'm rambling now...

I dont get the mentality of some other bikers I see out on the road. But I dont assume that one type of bike / biker is going to be ridden in a certain way thats all I was getting at. I think its the "Lifestyle" type of biker that will tend to ride in more aggressive / competative way that kind of biker can be found on any type of bike.

Oh and you shouldnt assume I have a semi sensible head either. I quite often do stupid stuff or things that I think afterward oopsy I shouldnt have done that. I ran a bit wide on a few corners at the weekend, my road position in places was quite frankly rubbish. I rode aggresively because I didnt want to be cut up by a scooter rider who had no idea that I was quite comfy riding at 45mph in a 40mph ( he'd already cut up Liz and pushed in in front of her ) I lost the back end of my bike on some diesel, I bounced my GSXR off the rev limiter in 3rd gear at one point to ( I'll let you guess how fast I was going )

Does that sound sensible, because it doesnt to me when I read it back, yet I got home in one piece, I at no point frightened the bejesus out of myself, I put nobody else or myself in danger and when I got home I had a big grin on my face. I had an ace time.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Oh I got a bite

My pleasure

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I agree its the bikes, but different bikes attract a different type or genre of rider. I think biking is going that way.

And you can't deny that GSXR's attract weekend riders (I'll avoid the term warrior just for K ). Not that there's anything wrong with people who only ride in fair weather & on weekends. However, I accept that not all GSXR's are ridden only on sunny weekends.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I probably sit between the two, I love my bikes, ( both of them ) but I'm a bit of label tart to. Every now and again I ride by a big plate glass shop window and sneak a peek at myself ( dont tell me you dont )

There's also another category of biker. The commuter (aka me ). The folks that bought a bike because it actually makes financial sense & helps to save time commuting. The extras of speed/visibility (when on the bike looking outward, compared to cars with metal pillars) are just that, extras.

For the last 8 months ish (since passing DAS) I've been strictly a commuter. Last weekend was fun, playing with the weekend crowd. Usually I don't get out on the bike much (if at all) on a weekend. It was damn good fun to let my hair down for a change. It's nice to know that my commuting experience has given me enough confidence in the bike to keep up with machines that on paper, should out perform me easily.

So I'd say I'm probably a hybrid of the types too. And yes, there was a moment in Betws-y-coed on Sunday when I did some "window shopping"

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

I dont get the mentality of some other bikers I see out on the road. But I dont assume that one type of bike / biker is going to be ridden in a certain way thats all I was getting at.

Agreed, I don't understand the mentality of some either. But I do make assumptions. I always try to assume they're going to be doing something stupid very soon. I actually found myself swearing at some of the bikes I was following because of their riding style (as I've mentioned, poor road position & heavy on the brakes), which isn't a clever thing, but still. It happened.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Oh and you shouldn't assume I have a semi sensible head either. I quite often do stupid stuff or things that I think afterward oopsy I shouldnt have done that. I ran a bit wide on a few corners at the weekend, my road position in places was quite frankly rubbish. I rode aggresively because I didnt want to be cut up by a scooter rider who had no idea that I was quite comfy riding at 45mph in a 40mph ( he'd already cut up Liz and pushed in in front of her ) I lost the back end of my bike on some diesel, I bounced my GSXR off the rev limiter in 3rd gear at one point to ( I'll let you guess how fast I was going )

Does that sound sensible, because it doesnt to me when I read it back, yet I got home in one piece, I at no point frightened the bejesus out of myself, I put nobody else or myself in danger and when I got home I had a big grin on my face. I had an ace time.

That's why I said semi. Yes some stuff was silly, just like me swearing at the bikers because, as I saw it, they need to learn a few things about corners. Half the time they were actually impeding my natural progress, but because of the way I am, I'd rather sit behind them at a safe distance than try to push past.

It's the fact that afterwards (even whilst still on the bike I bet) that you (and I) think "oh crap, shouldn't of done that" that counts. I know a fair few bikers who simply don't think like that.

Anyhow, this is getting slightly off topic now...

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

2 R1's did it on our group of five on saturday .. wasn't big or clever.

Yeah, but they were on R1's (Biking's equivalent of a 3 series BMW I reckon...)

.

Being blindspotted by other riders really annoys me. The worst instance was some clown on a ducati who blindspotted one of the lads in our group. He came up stupidly fast, so the chap concerned hadn't seen him in his mirrors (I was the only one out of 5 of us who saw him and this was an IAM ride, so it's not like people weren't checking their mirrors). The bloke then had a hissy fit (and actually had the audacity to confront us over it, at a bike meet later!) at nearly having his front wheel taken out as the bloke in front (who was still unaware of his presence) adjusted his position within his lane for a bend.

You'd hope other riders would:

a) Be sympathetic to the dangers of blindspotting and not do it.
b) Be aware that you'll probably stay upright when your back wheel touches their front, whereas they will probably come off.

You can say "always check your blindspots" (which I do - twice this has saved me from other riders), but we all know that in emergencies we occassionally have to move without having time for a blindspot check and have to rely on what we know from our mirrors to be true. If you've closed up on someone at 40mph+ speed difference, then sat in their blindspot the past five minutes, they probably won't of seen you.

Originally Posted by timwilky

When ever you consider any manouvre also consider is the guy behind may also be wanting to overtake. Am I actually impeeding the progress of the guy behind? etc.

Surely its the responsibility of the person behind to overtake safely? If you are behind a lorry and there is another biker behind you, you shouldn't have to do anything more than check your mirrors and your blind spot before overtaking. It doesn't matter what the biker behind you is doing, unless he is already overtaking.

And I'll bite on the GSXR topic too. You shouldn't assume all GSXR riders are all the same. I'm a pretty cautious rider and I also ride a GSXR all year round as do almost all the GSXR riders I know. As far as other bikes are concerned, I don't give a monkeys what you are on, if you are going faster than me then I pull in and let you through, if I'm overtaking I make damn sure you've seen me and give you loads of space. I certainly don't feel I have something to prove by riding a GSXR.

GSXR are probably one of the most popular bikes on the road and are very very numerous. It stands to reason you will get all sorts on 'em!