Re: Riding on motorways
 

I eat motorways for breakfast.

Re: Riding on motorways
 

Ed

My motorway advice is :-

1) you should have plenty of time for all manoeuvres. Therefore forget quick glances behind. Turn your head and look.

2) enforce your road position. Ride in the middle of your lane, not to the side. that way you are telling the gits behind you I am no different from a car you cannot come past me until I am prepared to safely move over. Obviously the outside lanes are for overtaking. I hate people who refer to fast/slow lanes of motorways.

3) Expect to be blasted sideways after you overtake large trucks. that way you can be prepared for it if it happens.

4) you are higher than cage drivers. You have better visibility. Use it, plan ahead.

5) take rest breaks, but avoid motorway cafes. bad guts and bikes don't mix

Re: Riding on motorways
 

It's because you have your IAM badge that I found the suggestion of IAM training funny :smt077

Motorways do not worry me, early planning and 'being big' by dominating your lane avoid most issues. I agree with Ralph about long over the shoulder looks being a little perilous, but you do need them at times. My VFR mirrors make looking behind an easier proposition than on the SV, but chewys mirror extenders helped a lot on my SV.

Re: Riding on motorways
 

my worst ever experience on a motorway was on the m1, back in june when the weather was really bad. was coming up towards sheffield, when a downpour started. didn't have water proofs. within 10 minutes there wwas a good 2 inches of water on the road. ended up doing about 30mph, coz i couldn't see anything and the rear wheel was everywhere.

Eventually i gave up and stopped under a bridge on the hard shoulder. when i eventually got home, i couldn't feel anything in my legs or arms. Had a friend who is a nurse come and check on me, coz large portions of my skin had gone various unusual colours... orange, black, purple, etc

Re: Riding on motorways
 

Priceless! Must try it with a rather tasty nurse I know :smt096

Re: Riding on motorways
 

You don't have orange, black and purple coloured leathers do ya? :p

Re: Riding on motorways
 

sadly not lol. i dont have water prrof ones either im afraid

Re: Riding on motorways
 

My IAM course covered motorway riding, and every time went out for a ride we were covering 60-100 miles, suppose that depends on observer you're with though.
If you haven't noticed a slip road coming up and already checked whether you can pull out safely at least 1/2 a mile beforehand (and done so if needed), your observation skills need a lot more work.

Re: Riding on motorways
 

That, is just bad planning...

I hate the way that it has become standard that approaching a junction everything automatically pulls into the middle lane, leaving the "slow lane" empty, even of Artics.

The knock on effect being that EVERYTHING slows down.

However by cheekily staying in the outside lane, you can get past a load of stuff, and its not undertaking if the other lanes are going slower then your lane.

You just need to keep a eye on the merging lane, and then moderate your speed to avoid reaching the merge point at the same time as any merging vehicles.

If thats going to be a problem, then there is usually some kind of gap you can slip into in the middle lane.

To me, Motorway riding is like a big, 3D game of Tetris or Frogger, where its all about matching speed, anticipating gaps and just having fun - I still remember riding with Devil Biccy to AR07 on the M1, now THAT was fun.

On my recent trip to Aberdeen I was dreading the boredom of the M1/M6 etc but in the end there was enough traffic to make it a laugh.

Re: Riding on motorways
 

Gotta agree with Ralph here. As Bigape will tell ya, turning your head and not seeing the traffic braking in front of you is a very bad thing. Adjust riding according to conditions - obviously if the motorway isn't so busy, you can afford to do longer shoulder checks. Otherwise, rely on mirrors and very fast lifesaver. I also do 2 if there's any doubt or something I haven't seen properly.

do you mean inside lane? you can't undertake in the outside lane