And today's commuting highlight is...
Discussion
Traffic 'busy' but not last Friday levels of busy this morning - most odd almost surreal this morning - for once in a long time I did leave home some 15mins later but refuse to believe that makes any difference lol Mainly contending (as is normal now) with certain summer months powered two wheelers rider with frankly pathetic levels of filtering ability. There is best who are safe/observant/considerate whilst making good progress vs the worst who seem to be afraid of their own shadow that refuse to take huge gaps right in front of them.
My actual highlight was almost being taken out just on my close by a trevved up escort van reversing out of one of the many flat block carparks at speed onto the close road - i.e. super t**t driving - spotted him however and it seems the horn on my bike does actually work because he stopped quickly
My actual highlight was almost being taken out just on my close by a trevved up escort van reversing out of one of the many flat block carparks at speed onto the close road - i.e. super t**t driving - spotted him however and it seems the horn on my bike does actually work because he stopped quickly
Edited by sjtscott on Monday 24th April 09:50
CAPP0 said:
Starting to get mildly irritated with people parking really badly in Minories, leaving 90% of a space between them and the next bike. Someone's going to find their bike standing in the middle of an access lane soon.
Doesn't seem to matter if its public, onstreet or private motorcycle parking you'll have some idiot who can't park their bike/scooter with consideration to others.We have exactly the same in the summer months in the bike parking under my office.
At least an abandoned irresponsibly parked vespa is easier to shift than matey with his two ton current model triumph trophy which takes even more space to birth the titanic than the GS on the sidestand does! i.e. 2 spaces vs 1.5 spaces. We literally have space for 16 considerately parked bikes/scooter on first come first served basis so you'll understand the frustration here - usually I'm fine cos I start early - but coming back to find a scooter wedged in semi blocking you due to domino effect inconsiderate parking is always a pleasure.sjtscott said:
Doesn't seem to matter if its public, onstreet or private motorcycle parking you'll have some idiot who can't park their bike/scooter with consideration to others.
We have exactly the same in the summer months in the bike parking under my office. At least an abandoned irresponsibly parked vespa is easier to shift than matey with his two ton current model triumph trophy which takes even more space to birth the titanic than the GS on the sidestand does! i.e. 2 spaces vs 1.5 spaces. We literally have space for 16 considerately parked bikes/scooter on first come first served basis so you'll understand the frustration here - usually I'm fine cos I start early - but coming back to find a scooter wedged in semi blocking you due to domino effect inconsiderate parking is always a pleasure.
I found the same frustration when I used to park around Finsbury circus. Ended up having to get off the bike and shuffle around the adjacent bikes to make a space. Which was too hard work considering the miniscule effort involved on their part to be considerate - so I didn't care particularly if they occasionally resulted in being too close to their adjacent bikes.We have exactly the same in the summer months in the bike parking under my office.
At least an abandoned irresponsibly parked vespa is easier to shift than matey with his two ton current model triumph trophy which takes even more space to birth the titanic than the GS on the sidestand does! i.e. 2 spaces vs 1.5 spaces. We literally have space for 16 considerately parked bikes/scooter on first come first served basis so you'll understand the frustration here - usually I'm fine cos I start early - but coming back to find a scooter wedged in semi blocking you due to domino effect inconsiderate parking is always a pleasure.My Cheapo emergency purchase BikeIt tank bag finally gave out today after about 30,000 miles of usage. Just replaced it with this little cheap number https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/...
I only use it for my phones, wallet, torch, hayfever tablets and a spare set of keys so should be fine!
I only use it for my phones, wallet, torch, hayfever tablets and a spare set of keys so should be fine!
Leaving the Vespa at home and bringing the car to work for the first time ever.
Limited car parking space in the office basement allocated on seniority and I'm a nobody so don't qualify for one. Plenty of free motorcycle spaces.
Going to a Porsche Club event at the Ace Café (close to my work) tonight so jumped through the hoops to get a visitors space for the day.
Limited car parking space in the office basement allocated on seniority and I'm a nobody so don't qualify for one. Plenty of free motorcycle spaces.
Going to a Porsche Club event at the Ace Café (close to my work) tonight so jumped through the hoops to get a visitors space for the day.
supercommuter said:
Sunny but freezing.
Was hoping the cold would keep the sea of filter blockers on the tube. But no....
Yes cold almost like winter this morning. Was hoping the cold would keep the sea of filter blockers on the tube. But no....
Sadly no the mobile filter blockers out in force again this morning - some seriously poor observation and road reading skills being demonstrated. This mornings top idiot shiny clean met green kwak wannabe mini sports bike 200 or 300 cc thing stopped with an absolute acre of space to his left and a way between the traffic down the middle blocking me and all the other bikes from moving from the right of the traffic through a junction/traffic light island. Ended up trading places with a number of slower bikes I'd already made progress past due to this clown. I ended up having to do a bit of a c**t double dotted line hatched area overtake on this idiot to stop him holding me up any further. Funny but once past he wasn't able to remotely keep pace.
Oh and gixxer600s are still as slack off the line as I remember them lol no match for a speed triple
sjtscott said:
supercommuter said:
Sunny but freezing.
Was hoping the cold would keep the sea of filter blockers on the tube. But no....
Yes cold almost like winter this morning. Was hoping the cold would keep the sea of filter blockers on the tube. But no....
Sadly no the mobile filter blockers out in force again this morning - some seriously poor observation and road reading skills being demonstrated. This mornings top idiot shiny clean met green kwak wannabe mini sports bike 200 or 300 cc thing stopped with an absolute acre of space to his left and a way between the traffic down the middle blocking me and all the other bikes from moving from the right of the traffic through a junction/traffic light island. Ended up trading places with a number of slower bikes I'd already made progress past due to this clown. I ended up having to do a bit of a c**t double dotted line hatched area overtake on this idiot to stop him holding me up any further. Funny but once past he wasn't able to remotely keep pace.
Oh and gixxer600s are still as slack off the line as I remember them lol no match for a speed triple
t polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.I think all of these tube strikes and impending sunny few months have pushed a lot of cocks onto Xmax / burgman scooter behemoths. The parking down oxford street way is full to the brim with the f
king things parked like dicks.supercommuter said:
Some old boy on a shiny K reg BMW complete with tt polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.
I think all of these tube strikes and impending sunny few months have pushed a lot of cocks onto Xmax / burgman scooter behemoths. The parking down oxford street way is full to the brim with the fking things parked like dicks.
I keep seeing a guy on a fully tarted up Tmax heading into town on highway/lower thames street from the East/CW where I live - this idiot can't ride for toffee - I keep meeting him i.e. stuck behind him on lower thames street sat not being able to make progress cos the thing is so wide - but will he move over for the other slimmer bikes.. of course not, he'll sit looking in his mirrors at you too! Basically I see these actions of a non biker he's on it because driving is idiotic - its a form of transport and basically he's applying London car driver mentality to his riding. Each and every MP3 thing I see is ridden in the same rude arrogant non biker way - essentially because they are all car drivers given the front wheel car license loop hole.t polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.I think all of these tube strikes and impending sunny few months have pushed a lot of cocks onto Xmax / burgman scooter behemoths. The parking down oxford street way is full to the brim with the f
king things parked like dicks.I always maintain an element of courtesy and respect for my fellow bike commuters initially unless they use their allowance up that is.. i.e. lack of filtering competence/blocking others/also inconsiderate towards other bikers.
Edited by sjtscott on Tuesday 25th April 12:03
sjtscott said:
supercommuter said:
Some old boy on a shiny K reg BMW complete with tt polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.
I think all of these tube strikes and impending sunny few months have pushed a lot of cocks onto Xmax / burgman scooter behemoths. The parking down oxford street way is full to the brim with the fking things parked like dicks.
I keep seeing a guy on a fully tarted up Tmax heading into town on highway/lower thames street from the East/CW where I live - this idiot can't ride for toffee - I keep meeting him i.e. stuck behind him on lower thames street sat not being able to make progress cos the thing is so wide - but will he move over for the other slimmer bikes.. of course not, he'll sit looking in his mirrors at you too! Basically I see these actions of a non biker he's on it because driving is idiotic - its a form of transport and basically he's applying London car driver mentality to his riding. Each and every MP3 thing I see is ridden in the same rude arrogant non biker way - essentially because they are all car drivers given the front wheel car license loop hole.t polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.I think all of these tube strikes and impending sunny few months have pushed a lot of cocks onto Xmax / burgman scooter behemoths. The parking down oxford street way is full to the brim with the f
king things parked like dicks.I always maintain an element of courtesy and respect for my fellow bike commuters initially unless they use their allowance up that is.. i.e. lack of filtering competence/blocking others/also inconsiderate towards other bikers.
Edited by sjtscott on Tuesday 25th April 12:03
Saw an odd one today. I passed someone on a rat bike (a proper mess!) on the M20 where he was riding relatively slowly, probably because his camouflage combats had ridden halfway up his shins and the fact that he was wearing trainers with no socks meant his ankles were freezing.) Anyway, I rode with him from the M20/A20 junction right through to the north side of the Blackwall/Commercial Road.
What he was doing was riding really aggressively for a mile or so at a time (full bore on his open pipes, weaving tightly, waving and yelling and hooting at people), and then he would drop back to a low speed whereupon everyone overtook him. Couple of miles later he would come charging through like a mad thing, then slow down again for a while. Rinse and repeat. I must have passed him at least 4 times (and later been passed by him again). He even did it in the tunnel, sat and behaved himself (no solid white lines crossed) for about 3/4 of the tunnel then he suddenly went demonic again.
V odd!
What he was doing was riding really aggressively for a mile or so at a time (full bore on his open pipes, weaving tightly, waving and yelling and hooting at people), and then he would drop back to a low speed whereupon everyone overtook him. Couple of miles later he would come charging through like a mad thing, then slow down again for a while. Rinse and repeat. I must have passed him at least 4 times (and later been passed by him again). He even did it in the tunnel, sat and behaved himself (no solid white lines crossed) for about 3/4 of the tunnel then he suddenly went demonic again.
V odd!
Back from holiday and back on the bike this morning, thankfully all was uneventful beyond a brief hold-up behind a fully panniered GS on the Old Kent Road, although with light traffic getting past (only after he sits blocking skinnier bikes filtering in New Cross) wasn't too difficult.
Managed to get the exhaust fixed yesterday and the bike is transformed, so quiet although it now seems to have a lot less torque than previously - would holes in the exhaust cause an increase? - else it's me being in a higher gear vs. normal previously...
Typically as it's now time to leave the clouds open and I left my waterproof trousers at home...could be a slightly damp ride home!
Managed to get the exhaust fixed yesterday and the bike is transformed, so quiet although it now seems to have a lot less torque than previously - would holes in the exhaust cause an increase? - else it's me being in a higher gear vs. normal previously...
Typically as it's now time to leave the clouds open and I left my waterproof trousers at home...could be a slightly damp ride home!
My highlight seeing the huge white CLS Merc with the tracksuit wearing owner trying to pull the wing out of the front right wheel sat in the road into traffic doing so.. he wasn't getting or going anywhere it was fully crunched in with a nice tinge of blue paint highlighting the interacting vehicles colour which was nowhere to be seen. This was at the Tower Bridge crossroad lights this morning - he was helping to cause traffic chaos heading into town as it was immobilised partially blocking the left filter turn to tower bridge and part of one of the two lanes right at the lights.
Edited by sjtscott on Thursday 4th May 10:42
supercommuter said:
Some old boy on a shiny K reg BMW complete with tt polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.
The A4 around the Hammersmith Flyover has such narrow lanes, even people on narrow scooters often can't filter. I have seen every size of bike from small to large get stuck and unable to filter there due to narrow lane width. t polite vest on this morning blocking the filter approaching the hammersmith flyover, which is a tight section anyway. Lots of surrounding motorists shared my annoyance with him as his bike was too wide to straddle the line so he was risking hitting other peoples cars as well. Should have fell in line with traffic and let the queue by.- If you are filtering and come across a gap too narrow to fit through, it is often not possible to stop filtering and rejoin the traffic lane.
- If you are filtering anywhere on the A4 near Hammersmith, you are going to be very, very close to other vehicles, end of story, there is no way around this.
creampuff said:
- If you are filtering and come across a gap too narrow to fit through, it is often not possible to stop filtering and rejoin the traffic lane.
.
On my route this is very much the exception rather than the rule, but wide bikes (and slow scooters) still love the filtering position..
Three today (so far). Saw a bloke I see quite often who rides like a bit of a muppet, overtake opposite a right turn and a fuel station (going East past Mi5 on York road) and nearly get cleaned up but someone who made a late decision to turn right into one of them.
An obvious but inoffensive wheelie off the power in 2nd.
A daring but not-very-bright, be-hooded yoof at the lights to go north over London Bridge, pulled up behind a Police Transit van on his bicycle and thought the obvious thing to do at 8:15am on the commute is lean forward and write the word fk in the dirt on the back window of the Transit, with his finger. Clearly was not expecting ALL the doors to suddenly be flung open and number of quite angry looking Rozzers to come storming out. He instantly got that mouth-breather's look of poorly feigned innocence on his face whilst hastily trying to rub out the profanity with his hand.
An obvious but inoffensive wheelie off the power in 2nd.
A daring but not-very-bright, be-hooded yoof at the lights to go north over London Bridge, pulled up behind a Police Transit van on his bicycle and thought the obvious thing to do at 8:15am on the commute is lean forward and write the word f
k in the dirt on the back window of the Transit, with his finger. Clearly was not expecting ALL the doors to suddenly be flung open and number of quite angry looking Rozzers to come storming out. He instantly got that mouth-breather's look of poorly feigned innocence on his face whilst hastily trying to rub out the profanity with his hand. Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff