A hairy near miss

Well- nearly stacked it today- exactly same place as my crash in January, but different situation!!

Slip road onto the A3 from Tolworth- 2 rows of traffic, I'm in between. Spot a gap on the left- decide to filter through and ride past on the left and jump the queue to get onto the A3 (undertaking, I know- but I'm happy it's safe). As I'm guaging my gap and the car behind me, look round and the car in front's stopped.

Hard on the brakes- lock the front up (it's at an angle) and nearly tip the bike and me over. Manage to get a grip on it and get into a bus stop on the left.

The great thing is that I didn't really panic (heart went a bit though!)- just started the bike and got going again, if a little warily.

Experience is a great thing- even just a month ago, I probably would have tipped the bike and/or lost my nerve, spending the rest of the journey punishing myself.

Still- another lesson learned and I actually felt more confident afterwards and more balanced. It's interesting how a bad situation can be made good in the right frame of mind. Though I'm getting a little too pushy some mornings in the traffic!

Correction- I did have to wait for a second while my nuts straigtened emselves out again- would have been a most uncomfortable journey otherwise!..

i see filtering just like playing on motogp or need for speed on the xbox lol, its like you get into that ZONE where peak concentration prevails, but allas yes i almost rear ended a woman to day ( in a Car . . . easy ) and taken out by a transit, i love filtering though but when you get to work your just knackered and cant be arsed lol, good to hear you didnt brown trouser though

*looks down*

maybe i should learn from you lol,

Jon

Filtering hard & fast, yes, I agree with lylej, there is a certain zone that you have to be in. However, even when you're in the zone, you can still hit the deck, and when you do, it's going to hurt more.

My filtering used to be bloody agressive, until a friendly officer gave me a stern warning (without even stopping his car). I've slowed down my filtering a little now, not because it was dangerous, but because I don't want to find another unmarked police car

(undertaking a police car at close to double the legal speed limit is never a clever thing to do, but I was lucky that day!)

Now I try to concentrate more on being fluid rather than fast. It actually feels better too. Mainly because I'm using far less effort, and it seems to wind car drivers up when they get stuck in traffic

Must admit though, been there before, looking around for gaps, making sure the traffic behind is staying somewhere reasonably safe, and oh crap, that car in front of me stopped a few seconds ago, brake or dive?

I havnt been down that road T.D, it always looks busy. I've had a few moments around here, when its busy its stupid! Glad you got away with it though! I personally am very cautious when filtering, and go quite slow (compared to others) so if you get stuck behind a guy on a yellow SV wearing a red and black alpinestars jacket, its me - just be patient!

Nice day tpday, i might go for a little play later...

Matt

!

Yeah- I'm often still cautious and often get overtaken by other bikers riding on the outside where I still won't go!!

If you spot a yellow SV with a blue lid and red&black Buffalo jacket, that'll be me- though we must arrange a Boxhill/Newlands jaunt at some point. Gonna have to wait for the end of the month as once again, I'm broke halfway though...! I can't wait for my insurance to be paid up (over 4 months instead of 12..!)

Still- made 120 on the A3 today- big grin factor, probably brought on by post klutz adrenaline!! Didn't seem so turbulent today either- perhaps the gales ares starting to subside...

Spring is on it's way folks!!

Originally Posted by thedonal

!

Still- made 120 on the A3 today

what gear and what would you get absoloute top end out of yours???

That was in top gear (!)- stats say 125 max- I doubt I'd pass that unless I lost a few pounds...! And got more streamlined bikewear. Plus, I don't know what 8 years on a bike does to the bhp- I guess it depends on how it was maintained by the previous owner. I really have to get right over the tank to help it along and it really creeps up to the top, compared to roaring up to 70/80

I think my speedo is fairly accurate, judging by the signs I pass which show your speed with a smiley/sad face (depending on if your above or below legal...!)

Originally Posted by lylej

what gear and what would you get absoloute top end out of yours???

That there be licence loosing terratory.

(120 used to be 6th gear, about 9k rpm. After rear sprocket went up 2 teeth, 120 is now about 10k rpm, and I haven't bothered finding the top speed, but I reckon somewhere 130-135. Before the rear sprocket change, I'd seen an indicated 149 - private track & clocks set to kmh naturally .)

Originally Posted by Baph

That there be licence loosing terratory.

(120 used to be 6th gear, about 9k rpm. After rear sprocket went up 2 teeth, 120 is now about 10k rpm, and I haven't bothered finding the top speed, but I reckon somewhere 130-135. Before the rear sprocket change, I'd seen an indicated 149 - private track & clocks set to kmh naturally .)

oh of course i ment the track . . . so maybe me getting 130's when i first got it was ( indicated ) wrong im definatly sure i got it ! but saying that we can get to 70 - 80 in litrally seconds lol, i dont even know why im so obssesd with going stupidly fast

Originally Posted by lylej

oh of course i ment the track . . . so maybe me getting 130's when i first got it was ( indicated ) wrong im definatly sure i got it ! but saying that we can get to 70 - 80 in litrally seconds lol, i dont even know why im so obssesd with going stupidly fast

An indicated 130 is entirely possible, even with my 2 extra teeth. But you have a point, it takes seconds to get to 70 (what? all 4-5 of them approx?).

Anyhow, this is getting to be a derail, buttercup apologique.