Traffic Filtering Tips!

[G]

I would say the most important thing with filtering, whatever style, is watching the vehicles ahead of you. After a while you seem to get an almost 'instinctive' idea of when someone's going to do something stupid. There are plenty of other visual clues: outside lane closing ahead?
Look for people trying to nudge into the next lane without looking.
Bus ahead? Look for people trying to overtake when it goes to stop? In a town/urban area you have a lot more to look out for than on other roads, for instance pedestrians, cyclists changing lanes and taxis.
I tend to ride with two fingers over the front brake while filtering (if you have got ok brakes you shouldn't need more than two fingers, that way you still have control over the throttle.) If I think there's a reason I may need to stop or a driver I don't like I will often brake lightly, this means that if you do need to brake suddenly not only are you already braking, so only need to increase force on muscles rather than start a 'new' movement, but your bike is already well prepared. If you brake sharply from accelerating, the front will be lighter, so will have a lot less grip and be more likely to slide. If you are already braking then there is a lot more pressure on the front tyre, this means that it will have a lot more grip if you do need to grab a handful.

Presuming you're passing other vehicles a fair bit faster, you shouldn't need to look in your mirrors much. It's worth doing so occasionally to make sure there isn't a faster rider trying to get past or flashing blue lights . However make sure you check at a time when you are sure it is safe to avert your attention from the vehicles and road ahead.

As well as other vehicles etc, the road surface is obviously another important thing to keep an eye on. While it shouldn't be a problem generally, if someone does pull out in front of you or you need to brake for another reason, then it could be of much greater concern. Cat's eyes are the obvious problem between lanes. Where possible I try to stay just to one side of them, also prevents that regular bump that can cause mini tank slappers.

Generally I prefer to pass when two cars are next to each other. While I have had enough people try to pull into me in my Passat estate, it seems to be generally safer. The majority of the time car drivers do seem to realise there's another car next to them, so won't pull over into it.
If there's a big gap next to a car on either side, there's no reason they will use their mirrors or indicators before they move into it. If I'm going through a line of cars in a 'staggered' formation I tend to develop a bit of a weave, slalom style around the cars. This means that you're going away from the car for half the time you are next to it and hopefully will be past it if it decides to turn when you are turning back. This also gives you more 'personal' space, and hopefully panics the car drivers less as they don't have a bike appearing right next to them.


For town work a big trailie is about the best you will get for filtering in my opinion. As mentioned the bars are at transit van mirror level, so above most cars.
For motorways something with a bit more power is nice. There's usually a bit more space; my zx9 was always quite good as it had a lot of 'thrust' whatever gear you are in whatever rpm you are at, you turn the throttle and get a decent kick up the arse.
Always useful if you see a space or find the space you are going for is getting narrower.
I've found thin sports style bikes can be quite good, for instance my (ex) nsr125f or my rs250. Without the mirrors which are at car-mirror height and the widest parts is going to be your handle bars, so if they can fit through a gap, so can the bike, which is always nice.

I usually take small gaps at a similar speed to the traffic, but ready to brake or accelerate if either vehicles starts to get a bit too close.
Be especially wary of longer vehicles like big vans and trucks/arctics. The driver probably hasn't even seen you, so won't know there's a problem when they swerve across the lane.


If you want to filter fast, you /do/ have to be a bit lucky. So it is best to keep it down, especially if you haven't got much experience. Keeping it down to only going a bit faster than the traffic will mean that it's going to be more judgement than luck that keeps you alive .

[tgabber]