New rider do's and dont's
- Thread starter NoNameNoNumber
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That wasn't my plan, I'll ride the 125 for a while then maybe start making a more informed decision next spring time on what sort of bike I'm after.
I've always wanted a Daytona 675 bt recently gone off the full on sportsbike style...
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So v-twin or I4?
My girlfriend has a mate who rides a ZX12R, they've been out a few times to help her get the hang of it. He's offered to let me get on the back of it. I just grinned like a 12 year old with a new action man. Waiting for a dry Sunday morning to take him up on his offer.
My girlfriend has a mate who rides a ZX12R, they've been out a few times to help her get the hang of it. He's offered to let me get on the back of it. I just grinned like a 12 year old with a new action man. Waiting for a dry Sunday morning to take him up on his offer.
Soldato
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That's all personal preference. Some people like a nice throaty v-twin that could wake the dead. Some people like IL4's. Some even like parralel twins, or triples. They all have their differences.
Generally, the more cylinders an engine has, the smoother and higher revving it is, but it'll make less torque than one with less cylinders.
single or v-twin - huge pistons which are heavy (less revs) but which have huge explosions in the cylinder, and therefore make big torque.
IL4 - smaller pistons, lighter, more revs but less torque.
It's how my 400cc IL4 can rev to 14k rpm, yet a 400cc single cylinder 'only' revs to around 10k
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Big V-twin
IL4
videos don't do the v-twin justice though, they have a deep underlying bass 'growl' that you feel more than hear
it's something that has to be experienced in person.
IL4
videos don't do the v-twin justice though, they have a deep underlying bass 'growl' that you feel more than hear
it's something that has to be experienced in person.
Weight, and weight is very important.
I just sold a zx12r with full system I have also owned a tl1000s v twin the zx12 made the tl feel like toy in all areas.
The torque on the TL is weak in comparison.
It also depends on the v-twin your talking about.
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one key thing to rember
"it's more fun to drive something slow fast, than to drive something fast slow"
lot of my mates are moving from their liter super bikes to old 400cc sports bikes for the hilarity off racing up an down the gears in the twisties instead of just sitting in 2nd/3rd the whole time
You just made that up didn't you.
Well, it's just how it is.
You don't bail into the path of oncoming traffic, you always escape to the near side, you cover the brakes and sit in gear so if you get nudged the engine stops etc.
We just do things safely.
In first, left foot down, rear covered. Don't have your front brake on.
B doesn't really count as if that was a factor, you could argue you should be putting your foot down that's furthest from the traffic, so right foot down if you're sitting in the right lane of a roundabout.
I also like to filter at traffic lights or when stopping, even if it's one car. Better to be between the lanes than in the middle of one where somebody can rear end you.
Soldato
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Often the weight.
Some of the smaller 600s you can lift up and shift around into/out of tight spaces.
£4-600 can, as well!!1k will get you 160mph
Really? Have you ever ridden a 650 Dragstar?"it's more fun to drive something slow fast, than to drive something fast slow"
Case in point - Windy day, you're in the feeder lane to turn right. Traffic on your left has a green, as does the opposite lane ahead of you. Cars oncoming from the rear left and front right.
Good luck falling in a safe direction there...
Add to that the sudden and unexpectedly strong wind that blows you over. As the bike goes it leans outward, pushing your knee away fron under you.
You have no choice in which side you go as you've literally not got a leg to stand on.
If they cannot see either your brake lights and/or especially the whopping great car that you're immediately behind, then they shouldn't be on the road.
I personally don't filter unless there are several cars in front. More of an inconvenience to other drivers like that and doesn't really help you make much progress.
But the Front Line Freddies think they can race, which can happen if you filter around 'just them', and too many drivers can't even pull away straight, which results in clipping your back end.
True, but unfortunately they are. The amount of videos I've seen of bikes randomly getting rear ended is ridiculous and most can be avoided by sitting between lanes (i.e. filtering) rather than sitting in the middle of your lane. It's one of the reasons filtering was legalised in Australia recently. It's quite often safer to filter than not.
That's why you pull off faster than them
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Soldato
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Doesn't mean filtering is always the thing to do and there are some cars that will thrash a number of bikes out there.
If you're THAT worried about being rear ended that you filter this often, then perhaps you should consider what you're doing/not doing about making yourself more visible to cars coming up behind you...
Which then leaves a LARGE space, which encourages cars to pull up alongside you and potentially close off your escape routes.
Far safer to maintain your own position and your space.
Utter crap.
You'd sacrifice your given space, for a narrower area with only one way out, where the space available is dictated by cars from two sides who are/will be doing different things at different speeds?
Even while the traffic is stationary, doors open, the width varies, the lights can change, people are even less likely to see you... so much more can go wrong.
I can.That's why you pull off faster than them
Not everyone can.
There's always someone faster than you.
They might jump the lights.
They can still move enough to clip you.
You're also now intentionally putting yourself in a position where you now rely on power to escape... hope you don't stall or spin out - Nothing so uncool as a biker wheelspinning, into a highside, into the vehicles he was trying to outrun!!
The amount of videos I've seen of bikers stuffing things up and wrecking their and others' vehicles is far higher than your rear-enders (thanks to YouTube) and could be easily avoided by not putting yourself in the position where that is your only escape.
Many of us do it, myself included and with great success, but it's still highly inadvisible!
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I'd rather filter past 1 car than sit at the back of queue, people who can't see a huge car and yet still manage to rear end them because they're playing with their phone or distracted in many other ways, shouldn't be on the roads. But... they are. And they're all around us. I'd rather not take that risk.
And 999 times out of 1000 a bike will be away from the lights and 200 yards up the road before the car driver has woken up and started to pull away. If you can't beat 99.9% of cars away from the lights with a whiff of throttle then you shouldn't be filtering.
And 999 times out of 1000 a bike will be away from the lights and 200 yards up the road before the car driver has woken up and started to pull away. If you can't beat 99.9% of cars away from the lights with a whiff of throttle then you shouldn't be filtering.
Soldato
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The risk is then that the car they do hit will cannon into you, blasting you across the lights and into whatever you've stopped for.
Seriously, where did all this sudden rear-ender fear come from? You are FAR more likely to have someone pull out on you from a side road. Sounds like just some BS butterfly excuse to justify riding like an idiot...
If you think that's what biking is about, then neither should you.
Soldato
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I hardly ever sit in front of the lead car at the lights, only ever if they've left a 10ft gap (which is almost never). I'm always alongside their front wing. So in fact if the car at the lights NEXT to me got rear ended I'd maybe get clipped, but I'd certainly still be alive.
Getting rear ended, being pulled out on, both things are risks to us bikers - you try and reduce that risk by either riding defensively and/or not putting yourself in a situation where you are at risk.
One of the big advantages to being on a bike is being able to filter. If you have a full licence and don't filter, you may as well drive a car, unless you only ride on Sunday mornings at 8am. Those of us who do the daily commute deal with heaps of traffic daily and if I didn't filter my journey would be 20-30% longer than it is.
Oh and to add - I very rarely filter if there's only a car or 2 in the queue, but when there's a line of 5-10 cars, you can bet your life I'll filter past them.
Getting rear ended, being pulled out on, both things are risks to us bikers - you try and reduce that risk by either riding defensively and/or not putting yourself in a situation where you are at risk.
One of the big advantages to being on a bike is being able to filter. If you have a full licence and don't filter, you may as well drive a car, unless you only ride on Sunday mornings at 8am. Those of us who do the daily commute deal with heaps of traffic daily and if I didn't filter my journey would be 20-30% longer than it is.
Oh and to add - I very rarely filter if there's only a car or 2 in the queue, but when there's a line of 5-10 cars, you can bet your life I'll filter past them.
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that's actually what i was taught for my test, accelerate quickly but safely to the speed liit, your acceleration advantage means you open up a nice big space behind you that unless they're speeding they wont take back up giving you some added safety.
how does filtering increase that risk?
the idea is you reduce every risk you can.
filtering reduces the chance you get rear ended it also gets you to the front where you can open up a safe lead.
multiple cars are fantastic shock absorbers especially with their handbrakes on.
if the guy is going fast enough on impact he cannons cars into you at the front then being at the front 100% saved your life as that impact would have crushed you beyond belief.
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Soldato
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Some good info on lane splitting (filtering).
It's a US based video but it all applies here too. A little stat from the vid: in a state where filtering is illegal, deaths to motorcyclists from rear impacts were 30% higher than in a state where it's legal to filter. So, it's safer for us and it reduces congestion for every single other driver.
It's a US based video but it all applies here too. A little stat from the vid: in a state where filtering is illegal, deaths to motorcyclists from rear impacts were 30% higher than in a state where it's legal to filter. So, it's safer for us and it reduces congestion for every single other driver.
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Looks to be a well argued point. I just need some balls now 
That Street Triple looked sweet btw
That Street Triple looked sweet btw