MyBB Motorcycle Owners Thread

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So when splitting in bumper to bumper traffic, where do you guys look to get a sense if somebody is planning on changing lanes, i found myself looking at rear view mirrors and not side view mirrors most of the time.
 
i look for gaps. If there's a gap, then I expect some twit to push into it.
 
Archer said:
What you guys think - colleague wants to get a bike and is about 1.9m and 90kg, he is looking at the KTM 390. Isn't that going to be a struggle at anything over 110km/h?
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Personally i wouldn't recommend the Duke 390 to anyone. Don't get me wrong i love that bike, it was almost my first purchase. But simply (for me) won't have enough power. For me power is one of the big reasons i got a bike, and i see now that i would've had to sell and buy something else way too soon. i'm already craving more from my ER6 (after 1.5 years) and she's got plenty of poke. oh and i'm not tall at 1.68m.
 
Zuner said:
So when splitting in bumper to bumper traffic, where do you guys look to get a sense if somebody is planning on changing lanes, i found myself looking at rear view mirrors and not side view mirrors most of the time.
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Tyres.

And as Sinbad says mind the gaps as there is space for them to make a move when those exist and the risk increase.

Tyres tell you they are going to move before they even know they are going to move as they do that subconscious turning of the wheel.
 
faniebraai said:
this.

but had to think about it for a second... after a while it just becomes second nature to read minds
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I've only been lucky enough to use the bike twice to go to work, so thats only twice I've split in proper peak traffic.

Also what do you guys think of using the suicide lane(the white lane next to the barrier on the fast lane) ?

i don't use it but i noticed that when somebody else uses it the cars try to give that person space and in tern cut me off, so i was "forced" to join them in that lane.
 
Zuner said:
I've only been lucky enough to use the bike twice to go to work, so thats only twice I've split in proper peak traffic.

Also what do you guys think of using the suicide lane(the white lane next to the barrier on the fast lane) ?

i don't use it but i noticed that when somebody else uses it the cars try to give that person space and in tern cut me off, so i was "forced" to join them in that lane.
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I'm too scared to use that lane. Too much speed differential between them and the cars.
 
I don't use it. Even when I commuted Pretoria North - Houghton. It's asking for trouble.

Regarding the observation, I had to sit down and think about what it is I look for, and I can't specifically point to one thing, maybe a combination of a few things: side mirrors, gaps, is the car parallel to the lane it is in and how close it is to the painted line. As fanie said, it becomes second nature to predict it (at least, I like to think so).
 
Tyres (angle of the car). If it is a minibus taxi I just slow down to crawling pace because you just know some impatient twit is going to jump out of the side door.

Generally though I only lane split if I really need to. If cars are moving there is no need to be honest. You'll overtake all of them the moment they stop for the next traffic light any way.

Zuner said:
Also what do you guys think of using the suicide lane(the white lane next to the barrier on the fast lane) ?
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I'm going to get flak for this but I rate them as scum amongst bikers. Suicide laners evoke the same emotion minibus taxis do. They are selfish for exactly the reason you mentioned: cars swerve into the lane where law abiding people are riding, the bikes kick up debris/stones and inevitably cause a traffic jam when they go down. And for some reason they think because they are on a bike it gives them the right to break the law.

I have zero sympathy for any biker that goes down in that lane and if I ever had enough power I'd impound their bikes and take their license with it.
 
Zuner said:
Also what do you guys think of using the suicide lane(the white lane next to the barrier on the fast lane) ?

i don't use it but i noticed that when somebody else uses it the cars try to give that person space and in tern cut me off, so i was "forced" to join them in that lane.
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Easy to summarise.

Lane splitting is legal. Suicide lane is not. Which makes you an outlaw and a also generally a ****.

I’ve also seen more accidents in the suicide lane than the “bike lane”.

Also you say you don’t use it...then proceed to tell us how you do use it. Doesn’t compute.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Easy to summarise.

Lane splitting is legal. Suicide lane is not. Which makes you an outlaw and a also generally a ****.

I’ve also seen more accidents in the suicide lane than the “bike lane”.

Also you say you don’t use it...then proceed to tell us how you do use it. Doesn’t compute.
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I don't use it, I was splitting as normal between fast and second fast lane. Then after being cut off numerous times I decided to slot in behind one of the commuters that were using it.

Also as mentioned before this is only the second time I've used the bike in peak traffic. I'd hardly classify being "forced" to go into that lane after first trying to do things by the book as "user" of that lane.
 
The fact that you put forced in quotation marks as a scapegoat really says it all.

There is nothing forced about it.

One chooses to use it or not.

The only time I can think of having used the emergency lanes would be stop/go roadworks long distance or in extreme weather conditions where it’s a safety concern and then it would have been for very short sections and not a case of riding it all the way.

Anyway what I’m trying to get at is don’t fall into the habit of using it because then it will become the norm for you and next week you’ll see nothing wrong with it.

If there is one place cops will give you **** for riding a bike it’s that lane.

Using it to skip past some sections of traffic I can still roll with, even though equally illegal. Using it as your personal highway is not on.
 
exactly what the Resident Rodent said. Way too much crap in the SL, which makes it way too unsafe. The only time (like this morning) that I use it, is when I need to stop for fuel. I join the highway at brakfontein (south bound) and fill fuel at the Ultra City, but I keep in the emergency lane on the left since my offramp is the second one. It is cleaner, other than the cagers using it to get to Samrand because of the cagers in the slow lane that jam it up trying to get back into traffic at the offramp. (See a few bikers at the steers on a Wednesday for morning coffee catch-up sessions) Once the fuel up is done, I get back onto the highway and move a quickly as I can into the biker lane.

As for watching for cars changing lanes, exactly what everyone says: if there is a gap, someone will try and take it, watch the wheels, but generally watch at least 3-4 cars down the road as well
 
Zuner said:
So when splitting in bumper to bumper traffic, where do you guys look to get a sense if somebody is planning on changing lanes, i found myself looking at rear view mirrors and not side view mirrors most of the time.
Click to expand...

I rely on that spidey sense endowed on each biker after their third or fourth close call. Basically gaps, wheel direction, mirrors, driver body language, localised atmospheric pressure fluctuations, minor disturbances in the force, etc...

Also, as others mentioned I'll only lane split in stationary traffic.
 
Another oke on the R27 this morning lane splitting at about 30 or 40km/h faster than the traffic around him. Facepalmed so hard...
 
Hamster said:
Tyres (angle of the car). If it is a minibus taxi I just slow down to crawling pace because you just know some impatient twit is going to jump out of the side door.

Generally though I only lane split if I really need to. If cars are moving there is no need to be honest. You'll overtake all of them the moment they stop for the next traffic light any way.



I'm going to get flak for this but I rate them as scum amongst bikers. Suicide laners evoke the same emotion minibus taxis do. They are selfish for exactly the reason you mentioned: cars swerve into the lane where law abiding people are riding, the bikes kick up debris/stones and inevitably cause a traffic jam when they go down. And for some reason they think because they are on a bike it gives them the right to break the law.

I have zero sympathy for any biker that goes down in that lane and if I ever had enough power I'd impound their bikes and take their license with it.
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I agree with you. Bikers are allowed to lane-split but not use the emergency lane.

Ignoring the legal side, just the debris in there would make me not want to use it.
 
Agent_Smith said:
Another oke on the R27 this morning lane splitting at about 30 or 40km/h faster than the traffic around him. Facepalmed so hard...
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Rolling the dice with your life.

I try to watch some YouTube of bike crashes at least once a week, to remind me how not to ride like an idiot.
 
Hosehead said:
You might just put yourself off riding altogether if you see the crashes on
Documenting reality
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I actually feel like riding after watching YouTube crash/fails. Which I watch quite often.

SauRoNZA said:
Anyway what I’m trying to get at is don’t fall into the habit of using it because then it will become the norm for you and next week you’ll see nothing wrong with it.
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Definitely won't get into that habbit. At this point riding is a leisure activity, so I rarely ride in traffic.

martin said:
I rely on that spidey sense endowed on each biker after their third or fourth close call. Basically gaps, wheel direction, mirrors, driver body language, localised atmospheric pressure fluctuations, minor disturbances in the force, etc...

Also, as others mentioned I'll only lane split in stationary traffic.
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Hahaha, I know that sense, in my car anyway I usually predict lane changes some time before they happen.
 
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