Bikers - sometimes our own worst enemies.

[Hoggs]

ex biker, (expired, deceased, dead).

 

is this a monty python reference? if so... nice

[Fozzie]

the polite bikers rideout- any takers?

 

Just don't wear the "polite" jacket that clearly looks like "police" from a distance, otherwise you've gone too far the other way

I deal with idiot bikers nearly daily. On the M60 you get one weaving like he's dodging bullets, usually with someone casually behind riding in more or less a straight line through the same gap, making a good point.

I think that's the best way to be, if you see an idiot, just give them space and be courteous. People will see the comparison and realise it was a w**ker on a bike, rather than a biker w**ker.

[winston smith]

I totally agree with just about everything you guys have posted so far

and I get a sense that basically, we all agree that while we can go pretty much everywhere a fair bit quicker than the traffic around us, there are limits of what is acceptable riding behaviour - and generally I think over 90% of riders stay within the bounds of what is reasonable 90% of the time.

I get the OP's point that drivers won't expect a bike filtering through at high speed - in my experience an awful lot of cagers don't expect bikes to filter through at all (expect in and around big cities like London, Brum, Manc etc) its almost like their world only contains cars, vans, buses and lorries - none of which can fit through that 3ft gap between lanes, so theres no point looking anywere except straight ahead.

I think the go-pro/you tube explosion is largely to blame - plenty of "heroes" uploading footage of themselves and/or mates trying to show off their riding prowess through rush hour traffic, which with closing speeds of 50, 60, 70 mph on every other vehicle inevitably either ends in a collision, or a near miss (which in turn ends up with an angry exchange, road rage, smashed mirrors etc). And the really worrying thing is that a lot of younger moped/scooter riders seem IMHO to take this behaviour as normal and acceptable for bikers and then copy it.

I could rant on for hours over this stuff.... but I wont.

Sometimes Sans Engine made some great points - well said sir !