FOAK - filtering with oncoming traffic

It takes more skill to survive, say I.

You cannot control the antics of other road users, you can only try to
survive them.

There's a limited truth in this, but being stopped is merely an
interim stage between different velocities.

Note I use "velocity", which combines both speed AND direction. The
direction is at least as important as the speed, for survival.

On a slow-handling bike I have to anticipate and plan a lot further
ahead, in order to leave my options open for changes in speed or
direction to avoid hazards. I can't see a gap in the distance, aim for
it and just nail the throttle to the stop, because by the time I can
arrive there all will have changed.

On the Blackbird I would have been through the gap and become a speck
in the distance before the situation had time to change. Too easy.
Boring.

 

I have only one word for you, fucktard.

"Plonk"

 

I think you're porbably pissing in the wind, but even so I'll hint for £4
each

Chas has proved beyond doubt that comprehension is not his strong point.
Twice. In one thread FFS.
--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 75 2.0 TS
Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

 

No he's saying he used to have a blackbird, it was fast but did things
*too well* and became boring in everyday riding.

So, he swapped the blackbird for a big lardy cruiser which required a
lot more planning, and effort in order to hussle along.

I can appreciate that, I did much the same getting rid of my R6 and
buying a lardy ZRX1200. Whilst not as precice as the R6, the ZRX is a
lot more fun.

Having a bike that does it all for you can be boring.

Do you get it now?

 

Chas secured a place in history by writing:

WTF exactly are 'internetty type peoples'. Are these people who use the
internet as a communications medium? Like phoney type peoples? And postal
servicy type peoples?

 

Catman wrote

Yeah, she is a complete and utter twat. The perfect ukrmer.

 

Satelite spotter headlights on main beam have at *least* a similar effect
;-)

Admittedly people also throw things at you, but a small price to pay IMHO

Oh, and according to the highway cod which I once read, you did have right
of way anyway.
However some the hypothetical cagers may labour under the hypothetical
misapprehension smaller bikes must concede the road to larger cages. IRRC
The apocrypha to the highway code, MC edition, used to make clear you have a
moral duty to convey that this is in fact errronious by ripping off their
door mirrors if these are placed within reach.

--
Nidge
ZX6R J2 Stunning in zit yellow. KX 125 MX 'I'm snot green -fly ME'. A few
bits of CB500S in Norwegian Parrot blue. BOTAFOT#63 BOMB#5

'Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand'.
Homer (Simpson).

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Big mistake - huge. Never assume that just because they can see you
they will try to avoid you.

Make bloody sure that whatever they may attempt, they cannot harm you.

Is yours not?

I'm over 6 ft tall, weigh over 200lb, and was dressed in bright blue
motorcycle gear while riding my XJ900F.

I was stationary behind a transit that had stopped at the base of a
T-junction.

Fairly visible, you would think? No?

The fucker reversed into me. The rear of the transit rode up over the
bike's front wheel, at which point the van lost traction and stopped.
Shortly afterwards I was unable to keep the bike upright, and let it
drop sideways, which also slewed the rear of the transit to one side.
At this point the driver stopped attempting further rearward motion,
to my great relief.

Never assume that just because you are easily visible other road users
will act with any form of consideration for your continued existence.

Maybe not, but you could do worse than to discuss this with a Mr. Wood
or other injured denizens of this parish.

 

Err, you're thinking "vector", aren't you?

 

Ah, right. I've always thought it was interchangeable with "speed".

 

Here y'go. Wear it with pride.

 

Chas wrote:

Oh good grief...

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My bike 1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr
M'boy's bike 2003 Honda NSR125R
Spare Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X
BOTAFOT #140, DIAABTCOD #26, BOMB#18 (slow)

 

more skill than what? aren't you trying to imply that i'm suggesting
speed is the one and only answer? if you can show me where i said that
i'll accept it.

controlling others is impossible, i agree. i'm talking about the
control you have over your actions in any particular situation-i.e.
your control over the situation. if you aren't moving you have NO
control. If you are moving you can avoid 'the antics of other road
users'. why was that difficult to understand?

glad you can accept sth i say, even if it's only a limited acceptance.
But i smell BS in the 'being stopped is merely an interim stage between
different velocities' remark. it applies to any velocity you care to
pick, not just zero velocity so i fail to see how you can use it as an
argument.

I quite agree. more important probably. no point twisting the
accelerator grip so that you go into sb's path. so now let me quote
your first reply:

'Any idiot can twist an accelerator grip.'

yes they can. and any idiot can brake, or sit in the queue, or anything
else they want to do. and so obviously that wasn't my point. my point
is, was and will remain-
being right is irrelevant next to being hurt. if you are stopped you
have no control( and must trust others not to hurt you-*shudder*). the
accelerator will save you more often than the brakes.

seeing as in the next paragraph you talk about changes in speed shall i
assume you only mean slowing down? i think that would be putting words
in your mouth.

These forum things work better when you read charitably. Don't assume
that because sb mentions speed they are an idiot who cares only about
speed. (if you do, you include every racing driver that's ever
lived-Are you calling them idiots?)

gotta agree there-the slower the acceleration curve, and the weaker the
brakes, and the slower the steering all mean more anticipation more
planning, and more escape routes needed. good point.

i've never ridden anything as fast as a blackbird on the road. nor have
i ridden a drifter. does it accelerate slower than the average car? if
the answer's no, i think you've gotta accept some of my points.

 

cdc said 'I was stationary behind a transit...'

sorry CDC but you can't expect me to let this one pass by without
comment

you mean you were stopped and so had no control over the situation and
so got hit, don't you? lol (sorry but how could i resist?)

and yes, twisting the accelerator wouldn't have helped either.
(no-one's perfect)


CDC said 'Make bloody sure that whatever they may attempt, they cannot
harm you.'

Yes. That's the important point.

Q: looking in hindsight, was there any way you could have avoided it?
or was it-sometimes shit happens?
i tend to go for the "every incident is my fault" philosophy 'cos i
think it makes me a more aware rider, so i'd love to hear what u learnt
from the incident.

 

tch, you've got it on upside down.

 

More skill to survive on a slow heavy bike than on a more powerful
better handling one.

No, but I'd like you to acknowledge that zero is also a speed, and it
creates additional and different opportunities for evasion due to the
more drastic changes in direction that are possible from this state.

You have the ability to control your own speed, position and
direction. There is no law that says you must remain stopped.

See above. It's only if you reject the option to move that you have no
control.

Ah, your enlightenment is imminent...

Why discard any specific achievable velocity as part of a potential
plan for survival?

QED

I have no argument whatsoever with the preceding paragraph.

This is the bit I don't like.

If you'd said "if you must _remain_ stationary you have no control"
I'd agree with you, but unless you've just ridden into quick-setting
concrete this will not be the case.

Perish the thought.

Probably true. This includes engine braking.

Riding Gertrude in traffic or "at speed" (for low relative values of
speed) requires much more conscious planning and control than did the
Blackbird. A brief loss of concentration can result in panic/mayhem
simply because her options for change of speed or direction are so
limited, and this makes her more challenging and more exciting to ride
than was the Blackbird.

Gertrude makes my V6 Mondeo seem fast. She's on a par with some of the
reasonably powerful family cars up to about 80mph, but falls behind
after that.

I do accept most of your points, except for your rejection of being
stopped as a practical option.

 

In hindsight, I should have taken more notice of the pile of boxes
that obscured his windscreen rear-view mirror, and made sure I was:

1/ visible in a wing mirror

2/ far enough back to be able to accelerate forward along either
side of the van should it become necessary.

3/ Prepared for the possibility of someone in a big van waiting
at the base of a T-junction deciding to reverse back over a
motorcyclist even if they had seen him.

4/ I should have had my thumb near the horn button.

I wouldn't accept that it was entirely my fault, but it could have
been avoided if I'd been more switched on. I had just left work after
a hard day, which excuses nothing but helps explain it.

As you said in another post, it doesn't help being in the right if
you're dead.

 

It'll ride up with wear.

 

Ah ha! now i understand.

guess i reject being stopped because of the extra time it takes to get
the bike moving out of danger compared even to say trundling along at
walking speed. easier to move quickly if you've got the 1st couple of
thousand revs showing on the counter than when it's at zero. Easier
still if you're at the lower end of the powerband on a bike with one.
suppose the difference is small with a cruser but i think i remember a
small difference with my 125, so maybe? (like i said i can't talk from
experience about any cruiser but a virago i used for a week, which, i
am told, was not your typical crusier)

guess it does give you more direction options if you have any steering
lock to speak of-(unlike my mate's monster-five point turns or learn to
slide the back around!), but the kinetic energy of the bike has gotta
be worth a second, no? (guess, you'll say no,

still thanks for staying with me on this one CDC, will bear your ideas
in mind