Stig - looks like I got you as rattled as our friend in his black scooby this morning - have a good day

 

I drive a Scoob and ride abike and having riden bikes it does make you a more observent driver, I reckon everyone should be made to ride a bike before being alowed to get into a car.

 

James - you didn't get me rattled at all. I just found your general attitude appauling.

You see, as a rider and driver, I can comment about my experiences with both. Whereas, I assume that you've never ridden a bike on the road, so you speak from a relatively ignorant standpoint.

 

James - you didn't get me rattled at all. I just found your general attitude appauling.

You see, as a rider and driver, I can comment about my experiences with both. Whereas, I assume that you've never ridden a bike on the road, so you speak from a relatively ignorant standpoint.

 

being a fireblade rider and scoob driver i have eyes in the back of my head.
car drivers in general havent a clue you are behind them and i have seen them jump out of their seats when i go past (not just because of my micron pipe )
i have had car drivers even try to block me. never once has a 'high performance' car driver done anything to get me worried - always been aware and moved over, its the tourers and trippers who are the pain and unaware of their surroundings........ but then again a few can escape the 'net'.

 

Pikey Tramp Layabout

Quality name!!!!

 

Im a scooby driver and a bike rider, riding bikes gives you a gretaer sense of road awareness, for instance it is second nature for a car driver to see a gap and head for it, if said car driver happens to be a biker then his/her FIRST action is to check for other road users, specifically bikes.
bikers who drive cars also do lifesaver looks when in the car because it is imprinted upon them that this is a good moanouvre to make and could save their and/or someone elses life.
The number of times Ive seen drivers just indicate, look in the mirror then move is frightening, are these people even aware of blind spots???
No generalisation was intended, but there is real value in making all car drivers take at least a CBT before giving them their licenses...

my 2p worth of course, but then I would be biased seeing how I got tee-boned by some ****** who
*didnt see me mate*,
next time you find yourself saying that, try saying the more truthfull version
* I didnt F*ckin look mate*
Regards

Andy..

 

As a car driver that doesn't ride a bike (not even a bicycle - can't balance on the thing) I must be an inferior driver to others posting here. So here's a question:

On the M25 this morning I saw three bikers dangerously (in my view) cutting back and forward in excess of the speed limit with inches to spare in the gaps. Whilst I was in the fast lane (overtaking, not hogging), I was aware of a bike approaching rapidly from behind. When I got past the vehicle I was overtaking I had a dilema, as the bike was now on my tail.

I indicated to pull back into the middle lane to let it past (as I would with a car trying to get past) - but I was aware that the bike may be about to undertake as the other mad bikers would have done. Should I have held my line or moved across?

 

SPYR0 I thimk u hit the nail on the head.

any one that drives something with some reasonable performance (ok maybe not your 18 yr olds)is generally speaking a lot more aware of the road and whats going on around them. I have been in traffic with bikes filtering past plenty of times (I am currently doing about 40 thousand miles a year in my scooby)I pull over to let them past and so do all the other people in the more powerfull cars and the reps in the audi's, even the BMW drivers seem to pull over for bikes. but time and time again its the doddery old ****ers and daft birds with people carrier's full of kids that are the complete ****ing nuisence on the road. the same people that do 25 mph on a fast flowing single cariegeway A road, without looking @ or ignoring the 2 mile train of frustrated vehicles behind them. I do think that in general bikers are more aware but only because they tend to be the sort of people that would pay attention, the same sort of people that would buy a scooby or other such performance car. "the problem is not with car drivers" but with stupid tossers that drive cars (and the occasional **** on a bike)

 

Haven't read the entire thread but I MAY have an explanation for the original poster.

Was reading a Scoobynet thread titled "Followed Home" or something like that by a gut in a black scoob on which he apologised for his driving but he was trying to get away from a bunch of scary looking blokes.

Can't be arsd to link to the thread but it won't be too far away.

Might be different bloke but it just rang a bell that's all.

 

We've all said to the Volvo/vectra/wotever driver who has half the power/weight of our scoobies "move over you to55er" and they don't and then we get the hump. Daft

The guy in the wotever has no idea what a scooby can do and won't move because he reckons he'll get held up and then he thinks "mad bugger - unsafe driver" when we flash past, quite safely. I'm sure it's the same for many performance car drivers who don't realise that an R1 has twice the power/weight of their baby.

If we ALL did the right thing, it would be much easier for all. But then life would be boring........

 

Final post from me on the subject (thank **** for that I hear you say).

The road is there to be used by all us nice honest, tax paying people. Please try and show some consideration to our two wheeled friends as they're a hell of a lot more vulnerable than you are. Deliberately trying to impede the progress of another vehicle is only ever going to end in tears for you, or them.

We'll definitely show the same courtesy to car drivers and the world will be at peace

PS. As a footnote, having sought advice from an IAM observer, there is NOTHING illegal about filtering, whether it be on a motorway or otherwise and can be done in any lane. The only guideline is that it should be done at no more than 15mph above the speed of the ambient traffic. So if you're in the way, it's YOU who's in the wrong. Cheers.

 

I've been to bike meets and enjoyed them too.

I have been riding bikes for a great number of years although I have recently sold my last one since I got the Scoob. I have owned a vast variety up to a ZX12R and loved riding them all.

I agree that bike riding makes you more aware and it is a good training for car driving for sure. Of course there are good and bad car and bike riders, I for one get annoyed at bikers who overtake and then cut across in front just to swank about it. Totally unnecessary and can be quite alarming. Nothing wrong with filtering and there are many who don't realise that a biker is entitled to overtake on a solid line as long as he does not cross it. I know that most bikes will accelerate better than my Scoob and have no quarrel if they want to overtake me-safely.

Live and let live I say.

Les

 

 

I was thinking of getting a bike engined Westy. So applying some logic I'm either the best driver ever or a total sh1te to all other road users

Now I have never ridden a bike on the road, I honestly believe I would have killed myself in my youth had I did, either by fault or non-fault. However for some strange phenomena nothing gives me greater pleasure then moving to within a foot of the kerb to let a biker through in slow moving traffic. 90% of the time I get a wave of acknowledgement

I even think that I'm doing my bit for the perception of scoobs from bikers. This thread has obvously blown that theory out of the water.

Also I'd like to add that I rather like my alloys and with the rather stiff suspension setup I also look for imperfections in the road and tend to avoid them. And although I'm less likely to get a serious injury in a crash nonetheless for some strange reason I still like to avoid them - hence I'm on the lookout for potential dangers too.

As for popping down a cafe to meet up with 400 other scoobs, not a chance. Parking would be a nightmare and it'll take ages to get a cup of tea.

 

in my part of the country (south wales) there are literally hundreds of bikers meeting up every sunday at the local bus station (mostly mid life crisis has beens) ...basically the whole town is like the isle of man and as a result there are police speed traps everywhere. they drive thru the twistly lanes at stupid speeds which has caused no end of accidents and deaths in the area. they go screaming past me and the missus when we are taking the baby for a walk.
a few years ago i would happily move slighty to the left to let bikers past (mind u, they were real bikers..u know, the scruffy types, not the speed freaks) but these days i just stay where i am and if, for example, they jump out at me from my blind spot on a day where i happen to be startled by the baby in the child seat, i may end up hitting the guy.

if i want to drive my scooby pedal to the metal on every road i'll book a track day.

why don't they?

 

NotoriousRev, the problem with doing it by the book and indicating, moving over etc (which I did BTW) is that I get so used to bikers whizzing up the inside that I start to anticipate it and it would be so easy to start to react accordingly ie trying to avoid an accident by holding the line - which must frustrate the biker and make it more likely that he undertakes. A vicious circle!

 

no there are men who ride bikes too

only kidding

I am an ex biker, and in the main most bikers are sensible, and I usually (when I spot them) make some room for them to get past

Yes I am jealous, but I think to myself, lucky git, wish I was on a bike so I could get out of this traffic, but I still let them through

 

I nearly always move to the left to let bikers through, and hopefully get an acknowledgement for it, but there are a number who will try to drive through your rear screen with their headlights on full beam, who are giving bikers a bad name.
"Filtering" as it's so euphemistically called is legal, but only when done at legal speeds. Filtering at 95 mph (easy on an R1) is not legal and is no wonder it scares people, regardless of how safe it may feel.
I will certainly make progress in my Scoob, but don't cut through gaps with an inch to spare, and I don't want to receive that treatment from any bikers.
What is really annoying is being overtaken by bikers on a straight who then pussyfoot through corners.

 

There are times when sports bike riders could be polite and move out of the way of the car they have been holding up for the last few miles or so. The assumption that a bike will always be faster in the real world is not really fair. For one thing, in the real world, bikes don't tend to be able to stop as well as cars.

I sold my bike, it's just too easy to be seriously injured or killed on a bike, no matter how defensively you ride there is always an idiot out there waiting for the chance to have his accident.

 

"for example, they jump out at me from my blind spot on a day where i happen to be startled by the baby in the child seat, i may end up hitting the guy"

what the hell are you on about? "jump out at me from my blind spot" eh???? what you trying to say if they legimately try to overtake you and your kid "startles" you, you may swerve across the road and knock someone off their bike?

 

"There are times when sports bike riders could be polite and move out of the way of the car they have been holding up for the last few miles or so."

never found this to be the case either?

not too many cars out there do 0-150 in 10 seconds.

 

There is a crowd down near me which hang out in all the tight bright leathers under a bridge on a big roundabout waiting for the traffic to clear so they can go tearing off down a particular stretch of road when its empty - there is no rational reason why this should bother me but I always feel they are nobbers. Anyway there is nothing more satisfying than to be passing by as one sets off, and is then stuck on this big roundabout until the other side. Lets just say as his knee is rubbing the floor he doesn't make much of an effort to let the faster Scooby pass by that has come up a few feet from his rear wheel to annoy him Fast acceleration and high top speed but they can't corner for **** and LOL when the rain comes down.

 

A blind spot is somewhere where you can't see another road user. That doesn't mean it's OK not to be aware that someone is in it. If you've been looking in your mirrors, you will know that someone has moved into it.

 

Thats exactly what i'm saying JJones.
If they choose to drive at 60mph(or even 25mph for that matter) a foot behind my bumper and i have to unexpectedly brake, get distracted for a split second, a sheep runs out in front of the car, anything... then yes, there is a fair chance that poor mr biker will hit me. a fair assumption i think...

this is the way most of these guys ride their bikes.
clever eh!

 

What's the significance of the bright leathers then?

Les

 

Apart from looking a bit fruity it contributes to the "hey look at me I'm knig of the road" perception. I would also think that a Subaru driver was a nobber if I saw him in bright blue overalls with driving shoes and gloves trying to look like Colin McRae down the local ring road.

Buy a nice car for attention don't dress up like a plonker!

Obviously nothing wrong from the safety point of view but often Over the top in my opinion with the colours matching the bikes.

 

my subaru shirt goes round cornerswell
Si

 

Bikers wear leathers primarily for protection. Can't see anything wrong in having the "colour coded" to their bikes though.

Les

 

In fact I specifically bought bright leathers to reduce drivers opportunity to spout the old "I didn't see you". What didn't you see? My headlights? My flourescent flashes on the leathers? The reflective panels on my leathers?

And Scoobydick, how intelligent of you to follow a biker at full lean mere inches from his back tyre. Of course, when a bike does this to you, you feel intimidated but you feel it's OK to do to a bike? I had though your name had come from your real name perhaps being Richard and owning a Scooby, now I'm not so sure