Riding in cities/large towns

I quiet like riding in town, london especially. But it helps alot if you plan your route before hand as it means you spend less concentration on signs and where your going but more on your riding and every fool in a cage around you.

Originally Posted by BBadger

I quiet like riding in town, london especially. But it helps alot if you plan your route before hand as it means you spend less concentration on signs and where your going but more on your riding and every fool in a cage around you.

This is very true, Google StreetView is a fantastic invention for this reason! I hate the feeling of not knowing where I'm going if I've got somewhere to be (different if I'm just on a bimble) so I find the StreetView a real help!

Exactly. If your looking out for somthing, your not looking where your going which can become uncomfortable.
Good planned route
plenty of time to do it in

and the more you do it the less it will worry you and the more confident you'll become in your riding and observation of others.
Time and practice is all you need really.

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

Unfortunately I have no choice, I'd rather ride my 125 than get on a bus I have no qualms about riding in towns but cities scare me a little, probably because I'm on a small bike so my presence on the road is reduced, makes it all a bit more intimidating. I can filter no problem in a normal town, then I hit a city and I just get the feeling there must be a higher ratio of idiots to eejits so I don't filter as much...although saying that I don't go to many cities hence my problem!!

I have to agree with this, riding my 125 in Sheffield was no fun and I was made very concious that I was a very small thing on the road, Doing the same route on the SV with its tiny end can and no L plates was much better, I'm sure other drivers were giving me more room and not trying to intimidate me as much...

Probably the main key is to prioritize what you're seeing to give yourself a better chance of taking the right option. A useful cue would be the shape of the sign, as this tells you what sort of messages the sign has... round are orders, triangles are warnings, squares are information, so you can come back to squares after the others.

You've probably already had this one drummed into you as well... the speed limit is a limit, not a target, so if you need to slow down to take it all in, do so. I was in London this weekend, and while I was trying to navigate through to Westminster, I hardly went above 20 in 30 limits to make sure I didn't miss a direction, hit a pothole or a taxi. If you arrive late, at least you've arrived...

[Spikenipple]

What's good about riding in cities is that you're typically at a standstill more often, giving you plenty of time to read the signs ahead and get an idea of where you need to be. Filtering to the front of the queue where possible is always a good start so you can pull away before everyone else and get into place.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Stonesie

I have to agree with this, riding my 125 in Sheffield was no fun and I was made very concious that I was a very small thing on the road, Doing the same route on the SV with its tiny end can and no L plates was much better, I'm sure other drivers were giving me more room and not trying to intimidate me as much...

My 125 experience in Leeds was great fun at rush hour and terrible at any other time when traffic was encountered

[fizzwheel]

I dont like it, either riding or driving. Heres what I do...

Slow down, just because the limit is 30mph doesnt mean you have to ride that fast, that'll give you more time for

Observations, keep them up, you'll need eyes in the back of your head.

Always expect the unexpected

Everybody else is a moron

Learn to get used to reading the traffic flow, watch for gaps as the begin to develop and use that as a get out of jail free card / escape route

Leave a decent gap between you and the vehicle in front / that you are filtering past, space is your friend, again it'll leave you room to deal with the moron / unexpected

The more you ride in cities / heavy traffic the easier it'll get.

I loved riding my 125 in town / through traffic, so much easier to move it around due to lighter weight, high wide bars ( mine was an off road style bike ) was good fun.

However big the city, you can only ride on one little part of it at a time. Roads are roads. Cars are cars. Everything is the same, hazards, junctions, you can encounter weird and busy ones anywhere, it's just that in a city it can be almost constant.

Originally Posted by Spikenipple

What's good about riding in cities is that you're typically at a standstill more often, giving you plenty of time to read the signs ahead and get an idea of where you need to be. Filtering to the front of the queue where possible is always a good start so you can pull away before everyone else and get into place.

I admit, one of the things I didn't observe enough on was where I'd approached a junction with 4 or 5 cars in front and the lights on green, I usually rely on having to slow or stop at the front to observe junctions but I ended up having to go through and so didn't have enough time...if I'd have slowed down too much I might have had to stop suddenly for a red light because I was looking for something else, can't win!

Also, when I come to a traffic light in a city centre I sometimes don't filter to the front on purpose so I can see where the car in front is going (if we're in the same lane and I know I'm in the right lane) as this helps me sit in the middle instead of veering off slightly, does happen sometimes.

Originally Posted by orose

Probably the main key is to prioritize what you're seeing to give yourself a better chance of taking the right option. A useful cue would be the shape of the sign, as this tells you what sort of messages the sign has... round are orders, triangles are warnings, squares are information, so you can come back to squares after the others.

A good tip Ollie. You IAM riders have your uses