Discussion
Cant say it was much fun!!
I have developed an instant despise to all car drivers after today! i swear, even though the Varadero is big, the L plates make you a target!
Had several cars trying to insist i moved out of the way, like into the gutter, as it was their road! Then there is islands, where you follow lane discipline and actually, because its the normal thing not to, people pull out in front or sound the horn cause they had assumed you were going off at the first exit....
I dont think i will be doing it much in this weather and particularly on a 125, not enough power to make the bike any quicker (aka no overtaking!) into work and certainly not keen on filtering just yet! Actually it was slower! And the weather wasnt great!
Sounds like one big moan - it isnt, there were moments that had me grinning from ear to ear, its just i dont think with a 40 mile commute a 125 can cut it! Its a shame, cause restricted to that until march / april time!!!
I have developed an instant despise to all car drivers after today! i swear, even though the Varadero is big, the L plates make you a target!
Had several cars trying to insist i moved out of the way, like into the gutter, as it was their road! Then there is islands, where you follow lane discipline and actually, because its the normal thing not to, people pull out in front or sound the horn cause they had assumed you were going off at the first exit....
I dont think i will be doing it much in this weather and particularly on a 125, not enough power to make the bike any quicker (aka no overtaking!) into work and certainly not keen on filtering just yet! Actually it was slower! And the weather wasnt great!
Sounds like one big moan - it isnt, there were moments that had me grinning from ear to ear, its just i dont think with a 40 mile commute a 125 can cut it! Its a shame, cause restricted to that until march / april time!!!
Once you get down to their speed it gets a lot tougher to make your own space. I had one guy tail gating me tonight when there was no where to overtake. Act like you know what you're doing and wave them back with a dab of the brakes as they're more than likely just half asleep and following the guy in front home rather than doing anything malicious. Get your test passed and you'll be owning the road in no time.
I know you won't like this suggestion as they look wank but really consider a reflective vest this time of year. Apart from the obvious benefits of being seen a mile off but I have found that it you rush up behind someone half asleep on the commute then often they'll move to one side before even thinking about it and you can nip past. Whether they think I'm police or a courier it doesn't much matter and it does make a difference. Get a class 3 job which you could see from the moon and get a zip up one rather than velcro so it doesn't flap around like a flag and stuff it in your bag when you get to work or you'll be known as bin man bob for the rest of your days
I know you won't like this suggestion as they look wank but really consider a reflective vest this time of year. Apart from the obvious benefits of being seen a mile off but I have found that it you rush up behind someone half asleep on the commute then often they'll move to one side before even thinking about it and you can nip past. Whether they think I'm police or a courier it doesn't much matter and it does make a difference. Get a class 3 job which you could see from the moon and get a zip up one rather than velcro so it doesn't flap around like a flag and stuff it in your bag when you get to work or you'll be known as bin man bob for the rest of your days
garyhun said:
The trick is to make sure you "own" the road you are on. Make sure you position your bike in the middle of the lane so car drivers are aware they cannot push you into the gutter!!
Gary's right. You have to be very confident and use road to positioning to make it VERY clear what piece of road is yours. You don't get as much respect if you carry L plates. That said though I ride a 50cc moped the same as my regular bike in the city and as long as you're bold and clear, people soon get the message. Nobody wants to hit a bike in their car or van, so as long as they know you're there they'll make room for you rather than knock you off or scratch their car
It does take a bit of a leap of faith to ride that boldly though. Most of the regular London commuters suss it out fairly quickly.You need to make sure you are never near the gutter for them to push you towards it and never overtake or undertake accross an exit. These are the places where most accidents occur.
Don't be discouraged on your first time. It'll come to you, but it is fairly daunting to start with. Stick with it and you'll be fine
Edited by m3psm on Wednesday 28th November 21:22
Robertjp said:
Cant say it was much fun!!
Had several cars trying to insist i moved out of the way, like into the gutter, as it was their road! Then there is islands, where you follow lane discipline and actually, because its the normal thing not to, people pull out in front or sound the horn cause they had assumed you were going off at the first exit....
I dont think i will be doing it much in this weather and particularly on a 125, not enough power to make the bike any quicker (aka no overtaking!) into work and certainly not keen on filtering just yet! Actually it was slower! And the weather wasnt great!
i dont think with a 40 mile commute a 125 can cut it! Its a shame, cause restricted to that until march / april time!!!
why are you restricted till march april??? if it's a 125 your clearly 17 or over so could do indirect access and have the 33 bhp restriction rather than the 14.6 bhp you cureently have,Had several cars trying to insist i moved out of the way, like into the gutter, as it was their road! Then there is islands, where you follow lane discipline and actually, because its the normal thing not to, people pull out in front or sound the horn cause they had assumed you were going off at the first exit....
I dont think i will be doing it much in this weather and particularly on a 125, not enough power to make the bike any quicker (aka no overtaking!) into work and certainly not keen on filtering just yet! Actually it was slower! And the weather wasnt great!
i dont think with a 40 mile commute a 125 can cut it! Its a shame, cause restricted to that until march / april time!!!
of course hypothetically speaking you could de-restrict the 125 to have it's full power, but then it would be a motorcycle and illegal for you, (sure no one ever does that though)
as for getting bullied on the road by cars- don't, you are not on a bicycle, you do not have to ride in the gutter, take up the dominant posistion in the road and providing you can keep up with the speed of traffic (legally) do not move over to allow cars past
somedays wether it be on the bike or in the car it can feel like you have an invisibility cloak as several cars pull out on you all in one day, somedays it will happen. The journey taking you longer on the bike could just be down to your lack of confidence riding the bike, especially filtering where you should be gaining time over a car journey and perhaps also why cars start to bully you, the confidence will come with the experience.
Not the best weather to be riding in but I am so jealous at the moment even of 50cc mopeds not having a bike is driving me mad
if you don't already, make sure you ride with the lights on all the time, dipped headlights rather than side ligts to increase your visability,
if a car starts to pull out, you have a horn use it! (the horn is to make others aware of your presence)
Edited by Brite spark on Wednesday 28th November 23:10
Thanks for all the advice guys...maybe i wont give up on he 125 commute just yet, but then maybe take the car tomorrow - i am also shattered from it!
In answer to some of the questions...
I have a bright yellow day-glo goretex jacket, i will wear that on my next commute!
I am only restricted because of funds and my other half! We bought the bike to learn together - so i am waiting for her a little, it wouldnt be fair to move on straight away. Also - in order to get a large bike each + DAS each your talking a few pennies, so have to save a bit!
Yes your right about the islands, its prob a combination of confidence and positioning, had a couple of cars right on my @rse and maybe worried a bit too much about where they were and not the exit of the island, and i ended up moving over. Doesnt change the fact they were being complete c*cks though, i would never have tried to overtake anything on the exit of an island, never mind a dirty great bike! I suppose there are some drivers you just have to get used to. I have driven for 11 years and never noticed it so prominently as today!
Lights are on all the time...suppose weather didnt help tonight!
In answer to some of the questions...
I have a bright yellow day-glo goretex jacket, i will wear that on my next commute!
I am only restricted because of funds and my other half! We bought the bike to learn together - so i am waiting for her a little, it wouldnt be fair to move on straight away. Also - in order to get a large bike each + DAS each your talking a few pennies, so have to save a bit!
Yes your right about the islands, its prob a combination of confidence and positioning, had a couple of cars right on my @rse and maybe worried a bit too much about where they were and not the exit of the island, and i ended up moving over. Doesnt change the fact they were being complete c*cks though, i would never have tried to overtake anything on the exit of an island, never mind a dirty great bike! I suppose there are some drivers you just have to get used to. I have driven for 11 years and never noticed it so prominently as today!
Lights are on all the time...suppose weather didnt help tonight!
Robertjp said:
I have a bright yellow day-glo goretex jacket, i will wear that on my next commute!
One thing to bear in mind that I picked up when I was looking for a zipped one (the hours just flew by) is that the yellow bits cant help people see you at night, the dayglo stuff is designed for the day. It's the reflective strips on class 2 and class 3 that show up at night 
. Working on your positioning does help, but sometimes 4-wheelers will just either bully you or assume that you don't need as much space. Those stupid traffic calming chicanes are total bastards for this, where car drivers will just come through because they know there is enough space for a bike *and* their car.
Smaller bikes and L plates do suffer more I think, but generally on faster roads rather than in town. Even then, you can vastly improve your prescence by strong positioning. Don't go too far the other way though! If you're in a car you'll clip mirrors, on the bike you could clip your knee
Smaller bikes and L plates do suffer more I think, but generally on faster roads rather than in town. Even then, you can vastly improve your prescence by strong positioning. Don't go too far the other way though! If you're in a car you'll clip mirrors, on the bike you could clip your knee
All sound advice above, I'd definitely recommend sticking with it for a week and then seeing how you feel. Car drivers will try to bully you, more often the less confident you are, so take your rightful position and resist them, they soon get the message. L plates are definitely red rags to some of them though.
My favourite way of dealing with tail gaiters is to very gently ease off, get their speed down a bit and a nice gap between you and any traffic in front and then smoothly open up: their dopey driving means you usually end up with a nice gap between you. If they close up again then repeat. If it's not simply dopey driving but deliberate bullying then either slow them down more and make your maneouver more obvious or simply wave the idiots by when safe to do so: I've personally never done the latter in this situation, but it's always there as an option.
Where I have waved people by is when they come up quick when I'm just pootling along: no point holding faster traffic up, let them by as soon as it is safe to do so and it'll usually be appreciated and met with a cheery wave as they go past. Great for you too as it lets you concentrate on your riding rather than worrying about other people driving.
Most of all, remember you've had 11 years of accumulated road sense: put it to some use!
My favourite way of dealing with tail gaiters is to very gently ease off, get their speed down a bit and a nice gap between you and any traffic in front and then smoothly open up: their dopey driving means you usually end up with a nice gap between you. If they close up again then repeat. If it's not simply dopey driving but deliberate bullying then either slow them down more and make your maneouver more obvious or simply wave the idiots by when safe to do so: I've personally never done the latter in this situation, but it's always there as an option.
Where I have waved people by is when they come up quick when I'm just pootling along: no point holding faster traffic up, let them by as soon as it is safe to do so and it'll usually be appreciated and met with a cheery wave as they go past. Great for you too as it lets you concentrate on your riding rather than worrying about other people driving.
Most of all, remember you've had 11 years of accumulated road sense: put it to some use!
hiccy said:
Most of all, remember you've had 11 years of accumulated road sense: put it to some use!
This is a good point; when I started riding again a few years ago I did some days with Rapid Training (recommended BTW). The feedback was that the advanced components of the ride were acceptable, but my machine control was shit!The only thing you can do about that is find a quiet place to practice and spend the time doing your stuff, like e-stops, slow control, etc. Perhaps if was really quiet you could pop a couple of wheelies
You’ve not mentioned your road position. Are you riding the recommended for learners 1m from the kerb? If so, move out. I always recommend that you position yourself in the road at the same position that you would be sitting in were you in the driver’s seat of a car. This is normally about 1m from the white line.
Doing this will stop cars trying to push past you and will make right turning type maneuvers a whole lot easier.
As has been said, if the car behind is too close then gently back off to make sure there is lots of gap between you and the car in front of you, then ease forward slightly to create some space behind. Don’t get ‘pushed’ right up to the car in front of you.
Doing this will stop cars trying to push past you and will make right turning type maneuvers a whole lot easier.
As has been said, if the car behind is too close then gently back off to make sure there is lots of gap between you and the car in front of you, then ease forward slightly to create some space behind. Don’t get ‘pushed’ right up to the car in front of you.
black-k1 said:
You’ve not mentioned your road position. Are you riding the recommended for learners 1m from the kerb? If so, move out. I always recommend that you position yourself in the road at the same position that you would be sitting in were you in the driver’s seat of a car. This is normally about 1m from the white line.
Doing this will stop cars trying to push past you and will make right turning type maneuvers a whole lot easier.
As has been said, if the car behind is too close then gently back off to make sure there is lots of gap between you and the car in front of you, then ease forward slightly to create some space behind. Don’t get ‘pushed’ right up to the car in front of you.
Sound advice as usual there.Doing this will stop cars trying to push past you and will make right turning type maneuvers a whole lot easier.
As has been said, if the car behind is too close then gently back off to make sure there is lots of gap between you and the car in front of you, then ease forward slightly to create some space behind. Don’t get ‘pushed’ right up to the car in front of you.
Also, be aware of the car drivers' blind spots and aviod them at all costs. And just to repeat, you have to be dominant. The road is yours, not theirs.
As K1 says, make your normal position within the right hand third of the lane.
One thing to bear in mind about cars following; I don't think they 'see' the bike when they are setting their following distance. They see past you and just register empty space between them and the car you are following. Always keep space in front of you so you can brake gently or prepare to pass slowing traffic.
One thing to bear in mind about cars following; I don't think they 'see' the bike when they are setting their following distance. They see past you and just register empty space between them and the car you are following. Always keep space in front of you so you can brake gently or prepare to pass slowing traffic.
as others have said take control of the road, dont hide in the gutter.
its the L-plates, i dunno why but L-plates on a bike mean cars HAVE to pass you - even if your riding exactly the same as a bike without them. been on a few rideouts with L-platers & seen it often.
I know how it feels mate, i was on L-plates back in jan & it takes a while to be able to bully cars back.
its the L-plates, i dunno why but L-plates on a bike mean cars HAVE to pass you - even if your riding exactly the same as a bike without them. been on a few rideouts with L-platers & seen it often.
I know how it feels mate, i was on L-plates back in jan & it takes a while to be able to bully cars back.
Hooli said:
as others have said take control of the road, dont hide in the gutter.
its the L-plates, i dunno why but L-plates on a bike mean cars HAVE to pass you - even if your riding exactly the same as a bike without them. been on a few rideouts with L-platers & seen it often.
I know how it feels mate, i was on L-plates back in jan & it takes a while to be able to bully cars back.
its the L-plates, i dunno why but L-plates on a bike mean cars HAVE to pass you - even if your riding exactly the same as a bike without them. been on a few rideouts with L-platers & seen it often.
I know how it feels mate, i was on L-plates back in jan & it takes a while to be able to bully cars back.
I sometimes drive my sister's learner car - a Mini Cooper Diesel (surprisingly torquey and quick).Through town, regardless of what speed you do or how positively you drive, people are obsessed with passing you. Hilarious as they then try to keep up on the twisty stuff, though.
I was similar to your position in august when i first passed my CBT (at age of 44), got myself a nice varadero 125 which was big a roomy but felt very nervous on my first commutes with L plates on. I think a lot of it is psychological, you automatically think everyone is out to get you and you feel vulnerable, now four months down the line and still riding the same bike i forget that im a learner still but i agree that the most important thing is confidence and dominance on the road. I always ride closer to the centre white line than the kerb which gives me a better view ahead and deciding when best to filter, some might say that this is aggresive riding but it commands much greater respect from car drivers. Just think that your in your car and ride with the same attitude as you would drive
Im sure after a couple of weeks you will look back a laugh at your early experiences
Im sure after a couple of weeks you will look back a laugh at your early experiences
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