Filtering. Your 'style'?

[Davie_G71]

Right, technically i've only beed riding for 4 days. And i brought the bie into work yesterday and today having never filtered before then.

Originally i didn't think i'd have the balls to do it, but the temptation is fierce when sat on the M8 at 08:45 and nothing is moving.

So i'm off. it was p1ssing down yesterday, so i was much more up tight, but found it fairly natural.

Today the sun is shining and i felt much more confident, i'll take that from yesterdays raining filtering session.

Anyway, i found myself having the attitude of 'sod it, if there is a gap, then i'm in it'. But then found myself getting stuck at times when i shouldn't have and upsetting my tin topped brethern.

So, i put it to you, how do you filter? Do you stay in lane 2 or do you weave to allow you to get past, is there a rule for this?

Also, i know it's not illegal, but is filtering even if the outside lane is moving allowed?

But, it sure makes the morning ride more entertaining. Van drivers seem to hate me when i do oit, as do big lorries.

And i did search.. Perhaps not hard enough, but i didn't find what i was looking for.

[Wil]

I filter only if traffic is moving slow enough to make it worth the risk. If traffic is moving at above 50-60 on the motorway then I'm not going to make a great deal more progress if I filter compared to if it were moving slower, and the risk is far higher. I try and keep in the outside lane on the motorway and filter between it and the middle lane.

I see some riders weaving in between cars at high speed, only to catch up with them on the slip road anyway 10 miles down the road when traffic is bunched up. Sometimes it isn't worth it, sometimes it is.
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[doggone]

On the motorway its wise to go between lane two and three assuming there's only three lanes.

It is one of the more hazardous things you can do, not illegal but something of a grey area.
If you have a bump sorting out who's to blame will be no fun.
The chief danger is unsignalled lane changes from others when they are moving - and be very watchful for other bikes!

[Davie_G71]

Yeah, i agree that filtering when the traffic is moving anything over say 30-40mph isn't worth it, as that's still good progress. I only filter is the traffic is almost stationary and i can see it's worth my trouble by making more progress than the cars in front.

I try to be very watchfull for driver attitudes and signals that they might move out.

Some drivers are switched on and will give you a little space, others will drift over into your path out of spite.

I have a reasonably loud can, and i had my full beam on, all though this seems to p1ss people off more than anything, so i packed that in.

[garth]

Combat filtering
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[rc211v]

with our traffic here, filtering is a need, and requires a bit a insanity.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=F7-PCNVIQ-M
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[pa_broon74]

I think a lot of drivers assume all bikers filter because it saves them time or because they see it as a competition. Personally I couldn't give a toss whether Tarquin is in front or behind me in his M5, its just great fun.

If they catch up at the next slip road then so what, I bet I had more fun getting there than they did.

In terms of speed, I tend not to filter if the traffic is moving at 50mph or more, but sometimes... You see some numpty just sitting in the passing lane at 55 with a massive gap in the slower lane, (a pet hate I have...) You just have to nail it up the inside...

I tend not to filter passed on-ramps, that can be a bit hairy... And I never filter onto roundabouts, always make sure I'm in a lane well before entering...


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Didn't catch anything.

[iooi]

With care most of the time, thankfully most of mine is in city traffic. But on the odd ocassion where the duel carrageway gets snarlled up its down the middle, and extra care anywhere near a on/off for the opps i forgot to signal, coz i'm in the wrong lane and don't give a toss about anyone else....

Sometimes you just hit it and go for that gap, then spend the rest of the trip thinking what if..... Coz you don't half look a tit when that gap dissapears and you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere to go...
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[fortknoq]

[jack_zxr400]

[Demonic69]

Good filtering's an art. Some bikers give the rest of us a bad name. It's not about cutting cagers up or darting in and out of lanes. proper filtering shouldn't cause anyone to have to move or brake suddenly.
Also it's nice to thanks drivers who get out of your way.
I filter all the time, local roads and motorways and I filter fast. You just have to be clever, reading the road and drivers in front of you, making sure they're not likely to change lane or direction, no side roads, lights etc.
Pick your battles, don't just filter all the time. Give cagers a break and don't force their hand. I've seen bikers cut cars up on roundabouts for instance, that's just not clever. You'll be round them 20 yards after it anyways!
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[Mudskipper]

I tend to get cars moving over for me a lot, which I always make sure I thank them for. (They are then more likely to move over for bikes in the future).

Think it's cause my hair has got really long now (making it obvious I am a bird).

But also I don't dither, I think confident (but not overly aggressive) positioning helps cagers to know where you're planning to go.

Planning, concentration and judgement, and a little bit of bottle (for the combat stuff) are all that's needed for happy effective filtering.
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[karen_moomin]

Filtering scares me!! I have only done it a couple of times, once in Norwich on a single lane into the city that just wasn't moving. Most people moved over which was nice.

I've also done it on the motorway but it really scares me, especially with panniers on!!

[Demonic69]

[Method]

The worst thing for me, when filtering, is when cars swerve to let you past.

Theres nothign worse than that, it just makes me think that if they are happy enough to swerve over to one side as quick as they do, whats stopping them from swerving back again that quickly if something appears on their other side...
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[jayvfr]

my main trouble with filtering now is confidence in the size of the bike. I learned my craft filtering on an NC30 which was almost too easy to filter on due to its size. Now on the Zx i'm finding I don't fit in tight spots anymore and I've been doing less filtering...

One thing I don't like doing is filtering when I know the lights are due to change ( I know most of the sequences on my way to and from work) as i've had it before where drivers who arent expecting you to pop up beside them just as they start moving close the gap you were aiming for, not fun!

It's all about confidence and judgement, just gotta be careful


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[Demonic69]

[Knacker]

Basically i see where i wanna go i go, bumped over little traffic islands,Dodge duck dive dip and dodge as long as you keep the speed low you can go where you need to quicker

So technically slow means fast
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[salty21]

[Whosthedaddy]

Slow and steady, I'm never in a great rush to get to work anyways.

[NicM]

Its got to be done very confidently with a wide eye on what others are doing as gaps sometime's disapear faster than the were created.

I also tend to cover the back brake as I'd rather slide the rear on a white line in the wet than slide the front. I also tend not to filter to much going over the forth bridge due to wind....
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[Davie_G71]

Good responses.

I did find myself stuck in 'no mans land' today and having to wati for a gap to appear again, but i'm still learning.

Also, i ALWAYS thank car drivers when they sensibly move over, i do it myself in the car and it makes all the difference to know they are paying attention.

[jayvfr]

[Major_Grooves]

My boss told me I filter "apologetically".
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[flossi46]

do you know i never thought that moving to one side put any biker off! i do it all the time, well i dont swerve but i do pull to as far left as poss when i can safely do so, i'l be worrying now that i shouldn't!
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