Motorway Riding **UPDATE** Morning I am rather new to riding and have to make my first motorway journey this week down the M1 from Milton Keynes to South London Just wondering if there is any advice / tips to adhere to while on the motorway. Just a bit worried about getting blown across the motorway as it can be rather windy in certain parts. Many thanks from a novice rider
Plan plenty of time so you don't need to rush and just treat it the same as a dual carriageway. Will be easier than you think I'm sure but it is daunting the first time on one riding a bike.
I like to keep well away from the lorries and HGVs in the slow lane so spend most of my time in the centre or overtaking lane. I always do an over the shoulder check when moving between lanes as there is often a car in your mirror blind spot. Try if possible to plan your route away from motorways they are boring and tiring on a bike. By the way its a great feeling when all 3 lanes are stationary and you can filter between the lanes; you just need to keep a look out for anyone doing a last minute lane change in front of you. Am sure you will be fine :upyeah:
I agree with the comments above be aware of what is around you and the road conditions ,allow plenty of time to overtake lorry's ect. the worst things are coaches they are not restricted to 56mph like most lorry's and drive like lunatics, you will be fine ,just don't rush or panic as it can be a bit scary the first few times but once you get used to it its just like any other road p.s there are always services on route take a break if it gets to much ,hope this helps :upyeah:
Keep your eyes wide open and your wits about you.... Been riding for a few years and still get surprised..
If in doubt flat out, tailgate the car in front until he pull out of the way then get back on the gas.
If he doesn't pull over then fly past him & kick the fucking door mirror off! Lol :smile: I've claimed a few door mirrors over the years, it's a piece of piss.
I like to see you get the sensible answers first and then the hardcore pee taking ones at the end. I think i will enjoy this forum I will let you know how i get on. My only tip would be to avoid the M1 on Thursday morning if your in a rush...lol
"great feeling when all 3 lanes are stationary and you can filter between the lanes; you just need to keep a look out for anyone doing a last minute lane change in front of you. " or getting out to see what the hold-up is :biggrin:
It used to be in the highway code that bike could use the hard sholder to filter if the motorway was at a standstill. Not sure now these new filtering laws have come in
I think you got luck if Im honest, its usually 4 or 5 pages of piss taking then some sort of sensible answer can be reached
Sorry, Rich but I can't agree with you on this. There is no 'slow', 'middle' or 'fast' lanes on a motorway. There is he inside lane and two overtaking lanes. If everyone appreciated this there would be much less congestion on our motorways. Our fellow Europeans seem to be better at it than us (in general). Spanky's first post is the sensible way to treat a motorway on a bike, in my opinion. However, twatting the firk out of offending vehicles is incredibly satisfying!
Well I survived. It was eventful if anything. I have to admit i did take my time and tried to stay clear or keep a good distance from the heavies. The wind is something that I struggled with an I assume that just comes with practice an experience in how to deal with it. The thought of getting blown all over the road and into traffic was always on my mind. Anyway as I said it was eventful. It was all going smoothly until I stopped to take on some fluids at London Gateway M1. Parked up popped in for some water and came out. Sat under a nice tree in the shade to cool down and after a short while kitted back up and then I hit trouble.......Alarm wouldn't de-activated. I couldn't believe it. I kept pressing the button till my finger hurt and nothing. Was completely miffed by it all. Alarm LED still flashing, alarm goes off when you try to turn the ignition on. In the end I had to call out the AA. They were brilliant as where the number of other bikers that parked up beside me giving friendly words of advice and seeing if anything could fix the problem before I just ripped the bloody alarm out. We came to the conclusion that it would be easier to override the alarm to get me home. New batteries were placed in the fob and that didn't to the trick. A continuous flashing on the fob apparently indicates that the fob has a problem.( what would we do without iPhones an 3G signals). We took that apart and nothing looked damaged. I suppose it will be a job to look at over the weekend and see if the spare fob is in working order. So back on the road after a 2 hour delay and made it back in one piece a little hot an stressed. Anyway thanks for all the advice. If anyone is wondering or knows the cause to my alarm issues it is a Datatool System 3. All advice welcome. If I had the option I would bin the bloody thing (as I believe this is a common response, especially after speaking to the other riders today) but need it for where I am and for insurance policy.
Alarms cause more bike breakdowns than anything else, wont let one near any new bike of mine! Had the same issue as you a few years ago with a meta alarm fitted to my Bandit. Was at the NEC bike show bike was about 4 months old alarm would not deactivate, got collected by AA van delivered home and the thing worked fine. AA guy says "yea get this loads, its cos there was a high powered radio antenna close; move the bike further away and the issue goes away"
I know what your getting at Bry, mostly stupid car drivers hogging the centre lane; nothing to the left but a long queue in the 3rd lane all trying to get past. I know its not legal but on the bike I quite often undertake them. The other thing that slows traffic is lorries overtaking another lorry, with the speed limiters its about one or two mph on the overtake.
Richard Funnily enough that's what the AA man said about the radio attena problem. Worse of all was the fact another rider pulled up beside me with the same alarm and his was working fine. He did say his has caused him loads of grief over the years but probably like me still needs it.
I had a few troubles with my datatool, ended up having to rip it out sat outside work and hid it in my mates car as It was still going off!! Flat battery on the bike seemed like the cause, led sidelights and tail lights should stop it happening gain if I leave the parking lights on. Seems they are quite temperamental I'm afraid!
I've got a Xena alarmed disc lock on mine. Never had problems with alarms in the past, but do find them bloody annoying! With regards to motorway riding: Try and hold left or right of a lane when tailing cars which offers a view of the tarmac ahead. I get a bit paranoid about stray rubble as I've hit bricks in the past. I'm quite comfortable on the motorway, but in general I avoid it. A/B roads are far more interesting and too much motorway riding squares your tyres off with 0 riding satisfaction. Only time I've got done for speeding was on the M5, don't speed around slip roads! I was rolling on and off the throttle on a dry, sunny and quiet day on my old Tuono out of boredom. Boredom, V-twin and a full Akropovic race system is a dangerous mix when there's motorway cops about! Also learn about SPECS. SPECS 1 + 2 are the big yellow average speed cameras which are repeated over 2 mile stretches, they face forward so aren't a worry if your on a bike. SPECS3 are the same, but they face the rear and therefore catch a motorcycle number plate.
there are always services on route take a break if it gets to much. ___________________ Aion Gold Fifa 14 Coins
