to London riders

[brutus]

I am due to take my CBT in the next couple of weeks.

Two things concern me.

First one is the safety aspect.

If you regularly ride in London;
how safe do you feel?

This is particularly aimed at new-ish riders.

The second point of concern is about the lack of genuinely good scooters or mopeds for around £400-£500; which is my budget.

I looked on several auction websites, and for this kind of money,
all you get are battered or accident damaged scooters.

Feedback appreciated.


Thanks in advance all

[bikertomm]

Not sure if this will help but yeah, keep your wits about you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow0es9HnzVg

And £500 for a scooter is quite a tough budget. All I can say is try to avoid ALL chinese makes!


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07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[95Theses]

I ride 20 miles a day minimum in London.

I read threads on here about people getting grief for filtering and I assume it must be outside of London, because in London I think everyone expects you to filter and doesn't give you any grief.

It is busy, and there is a lot of traffic, but I feel perfectly safe and I'm actually a little bit worried about going back to where I grew up on a bike having read about how car drivers treat motorcyclists outside London.

Ride defensively, expect every car to be trying to actively kill you and you will be fine.

[dragstaar]

[Nai]

I have ridden a push bike for 14 years and a motorbike for 1 year in London for at least 200 mile a week. In all that time I had 1 accident on the pushbike.

As long as you are aware of yourself and expect everyone to drive / ride / walk like they are asleep, you will be fine. Take your time, keep your 2 secound gaps, don't be bullied into going fast or close to the car in front and you will be as safe as you can be.

[topbanana]

Riding in London (and presumably other large cities) is completely different from anywhere else.

At first, don't feel pressured to keep up with the other bikes, or you'll end up having an accident. Over a few weeks you'll start to get a feel for gaps you can go through. You must remember to shoulder check when moving out to filter as there is often a bike already there. If you are filtering to the front of the traffic make sure you are positively blocking the car in front, even if that means using the cycle box (ASL). This is illegal but not enforced. Stay away from the left of the cycle box though, because the lycra lot like to congregate there.

Stay away from anything with the words 'Addison Lee' written on the back. As far as I can tell, it means 'I want you to die'

[brutus]

Thanks very much for all the replys guys;

I decided to get a decent 125, at least give me a bit more oomph
to get away from sticky situations.

I've driven a car in London and other cities for years, and i can definetly say it's the most most dangerous city in the UK for any road user.

Aggressive bus drivers, arrogant cabbies and worst of all, those addison Lee/private hire taxis.

I still never forget when i was doing 60mph in my car on the A40 one night, only to find an addison Lee driver with his hazards on, attempting to reverse back from the paddington slip road back on to my path!

I mean, words fail me..

Anyway, i'll definetly only ride in daylight and in good weather for at least the first month; and have my wits about me.

Cheers

[Nai]

If your going to spend a decent amount of money on a bike, many people will say 'you will drop it buy a cheap thing'. I am not one of them people, I haven't dropped my bike, haven't broken it myself, haven't hit a hedge either.

What I will say though, is people seem to have less respect or just plain dont see bikes parked like they do cars. My bikes been dropped / knocked over at least 4 times in the last year when I have left it parked somewhere. Something to bear in mind before spending a lot on it

[SweenyT]

I agree with all the comments on here, in particular Nai's. I've been commuting on my 125 in East-North London for over a year and had 1 accident (rear bump into me at traffic lights) and someone knock my parked bike over, run over it and flee causing nearly £700 worth of damage to an almost brand new bike. I've had more accidents riding a pushbike & driving in London but have been doing that for more years.

Remember to ride your own ride and watch out for other riders, couriers, scooter & moped riders who think it's fun to 'race' you and cyclists who weave in and out of traffic when your filtering. Oh and the cars/private cabs who have a tendency to try and block you from filtering past them by weaving from side to side.

Now is the best time to try and commute as a lot of the cars etc are off the road because of the school holiday.

Good luck and safe ride.
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Current ride - 2005 Suzuki GSX-R600 K4 - 2x 2014 Honda NC750s long term courtesy bikes - 2003 Fazer FZ6 written off as idiot reversed into me - 2009 YBR125 - still have from new

[95Theses]

Couple of other things,

Even if you are at the front of the queue and indicating left at the lights, shoulder check left when they go green because it is likely some moron on a cycle is coming up on the inside at 15mph and hasn't noticed you indicating left (had that twice)

Go slow and wide round busses stopped at bus stops because some moron will wander out in front of the bus looking left trying to cross the road (once)

Slow down a bit and check left and right before going through green lights at a cross roads because some moron on a bike will be running the red light crossing you (seen someone in a car hit a bike doing this)

And when there is a tube strike, expect all hell to break loose as every moron in London thinks 'Ah I'll just get that bike out of the Shed that i haven't ridden for 12 months since I took it round the park with the Dog' and has never ridden on the roads before. (total carnage)

Closest I have had was filtering past stationary traffic coming up to a set of lights with a Pedestrian crossing and some old boy pushed his missus in a wheelchair out in front of me from behind the front of a van on a Red Man. I screeched to a stop from 15 mph and the pair of them just stood/sat there staring at me with open mouths.

[SweenyT]

[Pete.]

[GSTEEL32]

If your riding in london, the best piece of advice I can give is to ride your own race.

Don't get involved with more experienced riders on bigger bikes, you'll only endanger yourself and those around you.

[Sky]

Drivers in London pay alot more attention to you than if your outside of London, (as all of my crashes have been outside of London, and all because of other peoples fault for not paying attention.. grr) your expected to filter as much as possible, if theres a gap then go through it, as long as it is relatively safe

But I enjoy London riding, its good fun, especially in the summer time, its lovely, if you do winter riding, get some good waterproofs, and heated hand grips help alot in the bitter cold >.<

[topbanana]

Example of filtering in London

https://www.youtube.com/user/UkTrailRider#p/u/0/6fC1SPtgtHo

[Themightyimp]

[Gerrard]

Riding in any city gets better with practice..
Just dont rush at it.
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Honda Blackbird the great all rounder.
Chillin near Malaga.
Marco Simoncelli 58

[Andy_Pagin]

I second all the previous posts, and would add that you should always wear a high vis vest, it'll save your life more times than you'll ever know. Be particularly wary of cyclists, they can appear out of nowhere in swarms and show total disregard for their own safety or anyone else's. Before you move off or change position always always do left and right lifesavers as cyclists cutting in front of you from both sides at once is a regular occurance.

Don't worry about getting a tug from plod for filtering or stopping in green boxes, they know the score and frankly have more important things to worry about, unlike country plod, tugging a biker's the highlight of their week ( or career in Cornwall).

Keep more than a two second gap since the tarmac can be pretty crap and you'll need the extra time to dodge the potholes and the bus lane hymalayas.
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They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Andy_Pagin]

[reddeviljp]

I feel extremely safe as I'm reading the road for everyone else and I tend to 'read' further ahead than immediately in front of me.This allows me to anticipate problems. As been said above, take command of your lane and ride confidently and assertively whilst occupying the centre. I despair at the quick lane changes that car drivers make but I'm not going to argue with them as it makes no sense, I'd be stressed and it would take the enjoyment out of riding my bike.
Enjoyment, confidence and positive riding are key to riding in any city not just London.