20 replies to this topic

[NickIAM]

Hi

 

Question: is this regular for bikers when overtaking?

 

Being a fairly new rider still (a couple of years) I have not had much time to have many bad experiences yet, so this may be old news for many old timers here. 

I thought I was getting pretty good with the overtakes (have just applied for my test with the IAM). But on Sunday something new happened, TWICE...

 

As I was passing the last car in a multi-overtake, 'suddenly' (a word that perhaps should not appear in the IAM vocabulary) the car accelerated to stop me getting into the space. (This has never really happened to me before.)

 

The first time took me totally by surprise... I was confused as all of a sudden I did not appear to be passing the last car and the space in front of him was getting smaller; and then the space had totally disappeared! So I then tried to brake to pull in behind him...

 

This did not all compute until looking back later, but the two cars in front of him (possibly bcos the front one saw what was happening) braked hard (to let me overtake all of them?). But, being shocked and confused at what was going on, and already committed to slowing down to pull behind the git, and seeing a motor-home in the not-so-distance getting closer, I kept braking. But with all 3 cars now braking hard, I still was stuck outside of them and unable to get in despite fighting to out-brake the cars, without risking a skid.

 

So, I was now even more confused, as I was braking hard (apparently, we nearly stopped) and yet somehow I was staying in line with the same car. It was very surreal - and a bit scary....  As I looked down the road at the motor-home getting closer, I honestly said to my partner (pillion, via the bluetooth) "Sorry; sorry, sorry...". ...How did I get it so wrong? Where had the space gone?...

 

The git car had to brake really hard as well of course, and almost went into the back of the car in front of him.

 

Round the next corner I skipped passed him (and this time he did not interfere), and the next two cars were dispatched moments later (A272 in West Sussex, lovely road), but it affected me.

 

 

On the way back that day (from watching BSB at Brands Hatch), it happened again; but this time I was aiming to slip in behind two motorbikes near the front, but instead I had to come in alongside the rear bike as the white 4x4 behind him almost went into the back of both of us as they tried to stop me getting in!!!

 

All part of the learning experience, I imagine...

 

But what is the view on this... I know drivers sometimes try to block bikes filtering, but trying to keep them on the wrong side of the road, really!!!???

 

Was I just unlucky, or is this likely to be a regular event...?

 

Thanks guys

 

 

 

 

[Matt101]

And breathe...................................

 

There are some fookin idiots out there matey. You have to be sooooo switched on to what the idiots are doing these days!

[tdmpaul]

You get them swing over when your going down the middle of slow or queing traffic to , idiots some car drivers you just have to be aware.

[Matlock]

yep, there's no shortage of tw*ts in cages out there   You say you were going to/from a BSB round, maybe they'd been passed by a few bikes already and were getting wound up stuck in traffic. Not an excuse, but a possible cause?

[jdelfino]

 

 

 

... I know drivers sometimes try to block bikes filtering, but trying to keep them on the wrong side of the road, really!!!???

 

yeap, happens all the time, some (the assholes) do it on purpose, some are just plain stupid and the rest don't see you!

 

that's why you always have to have a plan B, good brakes and a powerful engine helps

[arthurbikemad]

Treat them all as dangerous, assume nothing and keep your guard up at all times, make positive moves and do so with intention, in other words see a gap, make the move and block off any passage for silly games, saying that you still get nutters who are willing to knock you off! If this happens my advise is forget the law and make off to get space between you and the nutter, nutters are often some hard nut who has no licence etc and prob been smoking something etc etc, they do exist sadly I know first hand from being under attack from crazed drivers who hate bikes!
Keep your distance is key and try and read the driver, don't forget with a pillion stopping and handling are effected massively and crashing with someone on the back is not nice at all, sometimes I take an extra moment to think about my actions when. I have someone else on board.

[NickIAM]

Thanks guys... so it's likely to happen again...

 

yep, there's no shortage of tw*ts in cages out there   You say you were going to/from a BSB round, maybe they'd been passed by a few bikes already and were getting wound up stuck in traffic. Not an excuse, but a possible cause?

 

very good point. 

 

yeap, happens all the time, some (the assholes) do it on purpose, some are just plain stupid and the rest don't see you!

 

that's why you always have to have a plan B, good brakes and a powerful engine helps

 

I handled it fine the second time, as it didn't take me by surprise. So hopefully, knowing it will always be a possibility will mean I will indeed have a plan B in future (didn't know I needed one until now.  They were clean overtakes until then).

Thanks

 

[Rallyist]

You never stop learning some pillock can always come up with a new ploy to spoil your ride this is becoming more common as cars have got more powerful some with better roll on figures than a lot of bikes

[Bikemike]

This happened to me once, while travelling two up.
Now I'm a mild mannered soul, but my mate Mike isn't*. As we were accelerating hard, alongside the a***hole driver who was also accelerating hard to stop us pulling in in front of him, Mike twigged what was going on. He reached across and smashed the cars door mirror off. The car driver soon lifted off then...
I doubt that this helped the drivers anti bike feelings, but he might think twice about doing it again.



*Mike might possibly have been a little tetchy due to riding pillion on my Zx7r for the last two hours.

[TYREDNGRUMPEE]

I doubt that this helped the drivers anti bike feelings, but he might think twice about doing it again.

 

Nah. The driver was grateful, as they had no use for the mirror and it was causing unnecessary drag, making the racing of motorcyclists even more difficult and dangerous than it needed to be. You both did them a favour. 

 

BTW,

I don't do this any longer.

I always end up feeling bad about it eventually, then I ask myself, "What if they were an off duty copper?"

Edited by TYREDNGRUMPEE, 23 July 2014 - 09:19 am.

[Studley Ramrod]

I allus knock it down a gear or two, then proceed to make a swift, decisive man hoover.  Still had cars pulling out at the side of me whilst I'm overtaking them though.

[stu]

Hi

 

Question: is this regular for bikers when overtaking?

 

Being a fairly new rider still (a couple of years) I have not had much time to have many bad experiences yet, so this may be old news for many old timers here. 

I thought I was getting pretty good with the overtakes (have just applied for my test with the IAM). But on Sunday something new happened, TWICE...

 

As I was passing the last car in a multi-overtake, 'suddenly' (a word that perhaps should not appear in the IAM vocabulary) the car accelerated to stop me getting into the space. (This has never really happened to me before.)

 

The first time took me totally by surprise... I was confused as all of a sudden I did not appear to be passing the last car and the space in front of him was getting smaller; and then the space had totally disappeared! So I then tried to brake to pull in behind him...

...

 

 

On the way back that day (from watching BSB at Brands Hatch), it happened again; but this time I was aiming to slip in behind two motorbikes near the front, but instead I had to come in alongside the rear bike as the white 4x4 behind him almost went into the back of both of us as they tried to stop me getting in!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Things to consider before overtaking: is it safe? is it legal? is it necessary?

 

You need somewhere to go. Both cases you describe have limited amounts of space, over which you do not have control. The first one also had oncoming traffic, and in the second one you compromised another rider's safety space.

 

As someone else mentioned, performance when two-up is different; plus responsibility is too. Maybe open up your safety margins well beyond what you currently think is acceptable for a while, and give yourself time to do more traffic watching, seeing what happens from a safe® vantage point.

[divvxj]

a9 today , I thought that I would just take it easy after a scorching day on the hills and just follow the traffic on the way home , all speeds were done ie 39 to 75 on the duallers, I pulled out to pass a car and two lorries when the first lorry that I would reach pulled out to pass the the lorry in front meanwhile the car pulled out at the same time but I was far enough behind to shut the throttle and just bimble behind at 50 ish , now the lorry doing the overtaking was a low loader with a few earth mover buckets on the trailer so speed was never going to be an issue got the picture!!!    good , THE  car behind me decided that it would be better for him if he went into the inside lane and then come along side me and then nip right across my nose , by this time we were coming up to the roundabout leading into perth , lights were at red so I was able to nip in between two lanes of traffic and then get away from the lights first , now , after me ranting a few days ago about the state of driving on the a9 I was well prepared for dickheads and I actually enjoyed the ride home      ps , having eyes in the back of your head might  help in certain situations but it might add to the confusion ,

[jht]

1st happened to me back in 1993... so its nothing new!

 

Just assume every driver is a tw*t and out to get you

[Staffy]

Just this morning I was in the left lane cruising along on the way to work when a fella in his car looked right at me then pulled into my lane forcing me into the right lane.  Luckily I always know where my exit is and had a feeling he was gunna do that so I could safely avoid the idiot. I commute every day in all weather on the bike and have come across all sorts like this.  I've been run off the road, squeezed between an unhappy driver and a bus because he didn't like that I'd overtaken him (I assume), had motorists look right at me then pull out, cars coming over the centre line on a blind corner, and on, and on, and on.

 

Like everyone else has said, they will continue to do it so you need to always be mindful of what's happening around you.

 

But most importantly, always give yourself an out and you'll stand a chance.

[gilly]

Like the other chaps said look for away out or a escape route as the IAM call it and if in any doubt wait till a better time to overtake

But always take into consideration that the person you are about to overtake  could be a Tw-t or Nutter

Edited by gilly, 03 August 2014 - 05:15 pm.

[Oil patch]

When I do an overtake I leave sufficient room, in front, to enable me to pick up speed before I move out then, give it more throttle and I'm past before they know it. I always pull across enough to give space in case they start a move out and I drop the gears to give plenty of revs. Having said that I just returned from a trip to Scotland and Motorway driving. M5 and M6 was scary. Several times on a lane change cars in other lanes decided to take the slot I was heading for. I needed to shift my weight and alter direction pdq.

[TKH]

I think myself lucky if some total tw*t didn't have a go going to/from work, either on purpose or because they just don't care to look. Treat car drivers as all out to get you. 

Ride safe.

[Deauman]

I can't disagree with anything that has been said here but as I don't have to commute and only ride for pleasure the number of scary incidents I have is gratifyingly small.  But every time I ride my bicycle, and I do mean every time, I will feel threatened, endangered, inconvenienced or invisible.  At least on the TDM I have a chance of controlling the other traffic to some degree by my road position, and ability to accelerate.  On a bicycle you're totally at the mercy of the average drivers complete indifference to your existence.

[m0rt]

If you don't know about it, read this:

http://www.amazon.co...uct/011341143X/

 

It has some very interesting things to say on the subject of Drivers and their attitudes towards you.

 

One thing that sticks out is keep as much emotion out of an incident as you can. Don't use language, in your head even, that degenerates the Driver into 'Twat', 'Pratt', 'Cnt' etc, as that will only further cause you to react in an emotional manner.

 

Put it this way, emotion in these situations can *only* make things worse whereas keeping your emotions in check to allow you to keep a  decent appraisal of current events around you can only help.

But read that book. I suggest that edition, not the latest which seems to be a really bad copy/paste job from the Car version.