PhatDad

Do you mean mirror checks or lifesavers? Remember that giving too many lifesavers can be a bad thing as you're taking your eyes off the road ahead everytime. As a general rule for the test give a lifesaver everytime there could be something in your blindspot, and you intend to move into it. Oh yeah it's mirror checks for hazards. Damn I need to get out on my bike more.

Don't forget to do them whenever you perceive a hazard. Any time you see a triangular road sign, any time you see a change in speed limit, any time you see a possible hazard, school, mud on road, before approaching a series of tight bends, when following a tax, audi, bmw, mercedes or female.

I'm up for a BBQ at yours too. Let us know when. You could even pop a note through the doors of the nearest neighbours informing them that you will be holding a BBQ and there may be some noise and you're sorry for any inconvenience.

Just a word of warning though. I had a 30gb creative mp3 player with built in hard drive that I kept in my top box plugged into my autocom to provide me with some tooons on rides. The thing went and bloody broke though and I believe it was the vibration of the bike causing a failure in the hard drive. For this reason I will not put my laptop or other hard drive based devices in anything other than a back pack despite the pain. Have you thought about having just your laptop in the backpack and everything else in a tank bag/tail pack?

Hahaha that's almost 'Dan, have you checked your kill switch?' Ooohhhh dear. Ahem, sorry.

I've got one of these "Click Here" that I wear in the summer (under a jacket), and they really are good. I wouldn't really recommend only a kevlar t-shirt to ride in the summer with though. It might offer some protection against gravel rash but it won't help against any knocks. You really need a jacket with a bit of padding. don't forget that they don't have sleeves so the arms are going to suffer BIG TIME.

Thought you'd have been able to figure out it was the cam sensor mate and saved yourself some cash. Thought it would have only taken you a couple of hours to figure that out, I was going to mention it but presumed you'd have already tested it. *shakes head* You dissapoint me sometimes Dan.

Were you holding up a bus or driving a bus as I'm sure at 42 seconds I see someone stick their arm out and try and signal you down.

I feel seasick. You got autism or something that causes you to rock? Not bad quality for the price. How long can it record for?

How much does your online gadget company sell them for? And, how much discount could members from this forum get them for if we mention your name?

That looks bloody good mate.

lol Definitely a good idea in my opinion.

It sounds quite cool actually. Get yourself a feel of a bike before you have to shell out cash for the CBT.

I've not heard of this at all. The only thing I've heard of is the regular Bikesafe course that you can only do after you've passed your big bike test on your own big bike. I would phone them up and make sure you're not about to turn up on a bikesafe course without a bike and get sent home with everyone chuckling at you.

Just a quick question Dan. Have you checked the kill switch?

Do a search for 'Little Ben'. One of the best things I've bought as it's never gone wrong. £25 or so but worth every penny in my opinion. High quality build too.

I have a camelbak that i'm yet to use on the bike but you can by cheaper bladders without the bag that you can put in any bag, tank bag etc. Most rucksacks now come with a headphone and hydration holes in them to allow you to use these hydration bladders.

Is it actually counter steering or is it just leaning your bike into the corner? It's natural for a rider to lean their bike into a corner which if I'm correct can only be done by pushing the bike that way or in other words pushing the handlebar downwards. If you didn't naturally do it then you would just end up going in a straight line or laying your bike down on it's opposite side. That's why at low speeds it can't be done because you don't have the momentum to keep your bike upright as you need the G forces trying to push your bike back up as you're pushing the bike down.

Arghhhhhhhh bloody hell. What with planning to get ready for our week away I totally forgot about the Rally this weekend else I'd have popped down to say hello. Bugger!!! I was looking for an excuse to leave the house yesterday too.

The problem for Autocom is that there are sooooo many radios out there so they can't supply a radio lead with the autocom as you'd end up requiring a different one more than likely due to the radio being non compliant with the cable included. I love the autocom though.

I thought that was only when at pedestrian crossings/zebra crossings but normal junctions you can filter to the front but NOT go over the white line. Although as said, I do go over the white line to make a point. The problem I've found with doing that is that you can turn it into a race rather than just a rapid departure. I was surprised at one time by a couple of cars who were faster than I expected and although I was able to leave them in my dust it was the first time I felt my front wheel lift into a wheelie in my haste to leave them in said dust. I much prefer to now place the front of my bike over the white line AND in front of the car so they know I'm in that lane.

To be honest yes, I go as far over the white line as I need to make sure there is no doubt in the mind of the driver I'm in front of that I'm in front of him. I've had no problems so far and filtered past police cars too. On the A52 in the mornings I even filter between two rows of traffic when cars are joining from side slip roads BUT I'm watching all about. I'll slow, I'll speed up, I'll move into the lane properly etc and I haven't had a problem with that either. I'm aware of what's going on, who's likely to move, who's not so likely but could move etc. It makes the ride fun and less mundane.

I don't think it was mentioned else where but I like to watch the lights as I approach, maybe further back than some might think to do to see if I can gauge the timing of the lights so i'm not filtering when they change and I'm forced to gun it between the front two cars or to find a gap. The other thing I try and do is look for the other traffic lights that are for the other routes rather than the one I'm on. That way I can see them going amber I can then figure out how long I have before the lights for my route changes if you understand what I mean. When filtering I usually go straight to the front now I'm on a big bike as, yes, it might piss someone off I've moved all the way up to the front and then moved in front of them but because i'm on a bike I'm not there for very long due to the acceleration. AND when I get to the front I place my bike in front of the car making sure the car, usually a BMW with a driver that thinks he can outpace me doesn't try and therefore force me to be sat between two cars.

I don't have a problem in either direction to be honest. Have you ever turned right at pentagon island towards Belper? The third island on your exit has a huge ridge to go over which when accelerating to exit the island causes my front wheel to lift. It's cool as you tend to head towards oncoming traffic before you can control it so there's even more adrenaline rush than had you just raised the front wheel.

I think that's an important point Frankie. I also only ever tend to filter when I can see where I will be rejoining traffic. I've seen people "automatically" filter before only to get so far and try and push their way back in and come into bother because there's just not the space. On motorways I will filter if there's a jam, pretty much all the time (safest type I think). Sometimes I'll do it down busy high streets but only if I can see there are no side roads coming up or pedestrians likely to step out in front of me. If I filter to the front of a jam and there's a roundabout at the end or traffic lights the furthest I'll go is behind the front car. The reason being that the front car isn't paying attention to me, they're looking for a chance to pull out and it could end up nasty. Rennie, you're my new hero! That's a damned long way to filter! Oh and I have to agree with you that it is very tiring. Though I did filter for about 5 miles through a complete stand-still jam on the M6 once where some people had gotten out of their cars because they'd been there so long - I was glad for the change because I was getting bored of sitting on the M6 for so long! I'm filtering everyday now on the A52 just before pentagon island in Derby. I love it, as it's at least a mile long, slowly moving too. Even today in the really bad rain I was filtering. Keep your wits about you and you're fine.