Are your local roads becoming too congested?

[kian]

Hi,
I have been without a bike for some 4 years now but plan on buying another soon.
Previously i would ride both track and road but as ive started thinking about doing both again i cant help but think the roads are just too busy now for sport bike related fun?
Is it just me??
I think i will just stick to track days.

[c-m]

Congested and potholed.

Anywhere in an around the city at any time is 25mph at best.

Loads of stupid people on the roads too. Hesitating here and there, not looking, not indicating etc..

Could be worse. Could be in Belgium. Try riding around there.

[c_dug]

I guess it depends where you live but even living on the outskirts of London it is still possible to have a proper blast every now and then, though you do have to find the right time and place.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[t121anf]

No congestion on roads up here providing you lot stay down there.

(speaking about the North East of England)

[-Monty-]

It's getting crap down in Dorset now that the summer holidays are upon us and the tourists descend in their millions. There will be a nice clear 50mph road and you can guarantee you will get stuck behind someone doing 30 for literally no reason at all.
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Present: [Kawasaki ZX7r][Suzuki DRZ 400s]
Past: [Honda PCX 125] [Yamaha RXS 100] [Honda CB 500] [Triumph Speed Four] [Honda ST1100 Pan European - Po-Po Edition]

[Islander]

I saw no more than 6 vehicles on my 18 mile commute this morning. No potholes either.

[Suntan Sid]

I'm afraid that since "Big Brother" has started watching our every move, Derek and Doris, in their family runabout, piss their pants whenever thay see a speed camera sign, consequently 99.99% of car drivers can't or won't overtake when the opportunity arises.
That combined with the fact that Derek & Doris now shite themselves at the mere thought of traveling at anything faster than 40mph means the roads are clogged with wankahs of the first order!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[mentalboy]

....However.... despite all the negatives I doubt you'll find much has changed in four years!
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Make mine a Corona.

[c_dug]

To be fair if you can afford another one like this:

https://i47.tinypic.com/6hopsm.jpg

It has to be done!
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[goto10]

[Itchy]

[Snorty]

[Hetzer]

"Becoming"?
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"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[Snorty]

In all seriousness, yes, they are becoming too congested.

It's still better on a bike than in a car though. You can dispense with the dawdlers and cretins faster.

What's this? An open roundabout? And you can see the exits? Why are you stopping? Fuckers.
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Current: Yamaha FZ1 '07 | GSXR 750 SRAD

Past: CB125TDC | TZR125 | GPZ500 | CBR600F3 | ZX9-R | GSXR1000 K4

[mentalboy]

[c_dug]

Thinking about it, the biggest change I have noticed in the last 4 years is the amount of average speed cameras, particularly in permanent locations.

With rear facing cameras to be added to the A13 in 2015, the freedom of bikes to blast through average speed cameras looks to be coming to an end too.

I don't think things have changed much for the worse in the countryside to be honest though. There are still very few cars on the roads if you pick the time right. If anything all the budget cuts mean there are even fewer Police to be seen out and about too, so if you play it right it can be a winner.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Volume-wise my local roads are fantastic. Even the urban routes are comparatively quiet. Yes, York gets busy - but you don't have to go far beyond to escape it. And the lanes and back roads up on the wolds are always there for the taking - but of course they're by there very nature slow going due to being so narrow and twisty. However the incredible views and vistas do compensate for that. The main issue for me down in the vale though is the heavy mechanised agricultural stuff - with the long spiked bale loaders lurking round every blind bend, aimed squarely at lung height. That can get a bit scary.
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Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Copycat73]

[kian]

[MC]

Problem with London is all the no entry's, no right turns, and no left turns... WTF is the matter with turning left! I can see the idea behind keeping people off side roads, normally being residential areas, but all the traffics being pushed onto the main roads and causing gridlock.

Only decent time to go riding seems to be Sunday morning's and bank holidays.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[stevo as b4]

I think traffic is very generally worse, morning commutes have got longer/busier and traffic stays heavier longer into the evening too!

Roads are neglected more than 5-6years ago, as councils run out of cash/refuse to spend, and the points made about slower driving to eek out more mpg are true too. (lots of 50mph cars on motorways etc).

Road rage has got worse and Gatso's have become less or just not operated/maintained. I do believe that there are massively more ANPR patrol cars and fixed camera's though than 5years ago, and more bus lanes/routes with penalty cameras too. Bus lanes have increased in number, as town and city routes become more pedestrian and less vehicle friendly.

Out in the sticks, farmers still leave shit on the roads, idiots still ride horses on busy roads with inappropriate gear, and in favourite rural NSL black spots cops and Bike patrol's still hide in bushes with speed guns. There's probably more Police interceptor type performance patrol cars around and more motorway traffic patrols and more offenses committed, as the laws have changed. Also motorway patrol's will remain high or increase as they are looking out for other non motoring related criminal activity as they do with ANPR these days.

I'd still ride a bike on the roads, for occasional fun or to go A-B, but definitely the glory days have long gone for me. Sportsbike's seem pretty irrelevant these days, and the late 90's sportsbike mad era, and hooning bikers en masse, going to the really big bike nights, and meets/ride outs has long gone.

I miss the good old times at big meets like Bassets pole, Wheel at Worfield and the Waterman at Hatton etc.

Lot's of folk today ride a bike to replace the 2nd car in the household (money saving/tightening up on expenses) and for commuting to work and back as the main use. little bikes, mopeds and scooter's are very popular still, and so much so I think it's best to buy small stuff and fit it.

Bike theft has only risen I'm sure in the same period, and good secondhand bikes are less available and more expensive too!

overall it's not hopeless for biking now, but it aint great compared to when we had it good!

[_mjs_]

I work 6pm to 6am night shifts in the city centre so getting to work is all about filtering to the front and blasting away from the lights.
Apart from a few taxis, the roads are empty on the way home so I can cane it all the way. Commuting on the bike is probably the highlight of my day when I'm working, sad but true and if I had to commute in the cage I'd probably commit seppuku while sitting in traffic
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Previous Bikes: 2006 Honda XR125L > 2003 Yamaha DT125R > 1996 Honda CB500
Current bikes: 1997 Kawasaki ZZR 600 E5 > 2006 Honda Varadero XL125V

[blurredman]

Even in the few years i've been driving/riding, I can tell a definate increase in vehicles in my local vicinity. Either that or I didn't really realise back then how many there were.

One thing I do know is that there is a street beside me that has houses on only down one side of the road. Only a few years ago, the cars only parked on the house side, and even then there were gaps. Now, it's both sides all the way down, without any real space for letting oncoming cars pass.

Very little but annoying things also stick in my mind, as parking becomes a little difficult on the nice straights, and people can't be bothered to use their drive ways, they start parking on corners and each subsequent year more inconsiderate(?) drivers park their cars at the silliest locations.

I tend to dislike driving. Because I drive so little, I find it frustrating to have to squeeze through gaps with a few inches between a line of parked cars and oncomnig traffic. The bike is far less eventful in that regard. Doesn't help that cars are generally alot wider than they used to be, with a standard car quite often being up to a foot wider than a cheap runabout from only 20 years ago.
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 52k.

[dodgydog]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not sure things have got worse recently. They have been screwed up a fair few years ago with loads of cameras, speed humps, traffic calming, closed overtaking lanes, bus lanes, etc. But that doesn't seem to have got any worse for a while now.

What possibly has got worse is temporary road screw ups, such as congestion caused by road works.

All the best

Keith
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