M25 Driving

[MonkReadusuk]

Hiya,
Wanted to see if anyone has some tips for Driving on the M25 on a bike. I have done it twice before, but both times were during the early afternoon and therefore not much bother. However I have been warned by my Parents and others that the M25 is deadly at about 2-6pm, thats when i will be traveling on it. From the A3 junction heading East past gatwick to Essex. has anyone got some tips for driving in rush hour there?

Many Thanks
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-Monk-

[killa]

Pure faith
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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
Bike:- Yamaha TRX850 | Killas Biking History | Killas Gaming History | Killas autmotive history

[Sadie]

Motorway driving is statistically the safest driving around, so try not to panic.

As you are inexperienced, you are best to just ride your bike like a car. In other words, don't worry about filtering unless the traffic actually stops (goes below 20 mph). The more you travel on a motorway, the more confident you will become.

If you filter, try to keep your speed to no more than 10 mph above the moving traffic. Watch out for indicators, front wheels turning towards you, drivers checking their mirrors etc. These are all indications that they are about to do something.

If someone pulls over to make space for you to continue through, try to remember to thank them. You'll make it easier for the next rider who comes along.

Finally, if another rider comes up behind you while you are filtering, good manners dictates that you should pull over and let him through. He/she is either better than you at filtering or he/she is a complete fruitcake. In either case, keeping them behind you will cause frustration which could lead to an accident. Better have them in front of you.
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With experience comes age.

[Minky_monkey]

I live in that area around junctions nine and ten. It's not that bad, the lanes are fairly wide and don't forget general traffic speeds will be a lot slower than at other times of the day when It's flowing more freely.

Keep alert, try to keep a safe distance between you and other vehicles (easier said than done). It's funny, but after a while, you develop a sixth sense when it comes to people that aren't paying attention!

[Bikay]

You should be fine. Motorways are very safe. Just do your shoulder checks as there are so many vehicles around each side of you that it's hard to keep an eye on them and look up the road.
I second the advice about giving way to people who want to filter (or get past in general). If they come up behind you move over for them. I let a chap past the other week only for the bike in front to block him for a good minute or so.
Where there are 4 lanes everyone seems to be confused. Every bugger will be in their Ford Focus in the 3rd and 4th lanes. There will be some lorries in the inside lane and no one using the 2nd lane.
It will be interesting to see how the extra lanes help traffic flow on the M25 around Heathrow. I bet people still hang in the outer lanes.
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[G]

The 'being safe' depends if you're sitting in traffic or filtering through it at 40+mph over the speed the traffic is doing .

Have a search on here for some filtering tips. But be happy with going past stationary cars slowly to start with... it takes a bit of time to get into knowing what and when cars will do stupid things.

[Kaben]

I could see inside lanes as a more dangerous place to be near junctions, as drivers who are panicking that they are missing their turn off, tend to veer across lanes to get there dangerously. Much more likely to get knocked off in this situation than many others.
Keep your wits about you near these spots, both in car and on bike.
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[zephyrgirl]

Hopefully the dumbf*ck I encountered last Sunday doesn't venture to the M25.

Me & the b/f were getting on the M27 Westbound via the J11 slip road.
I was in front, in the left hand lane of the slip road, b/f was on his GSX 1400 in the right hand lane behind me, both of us were preparing to join the main carriageway of the motorway at approx 80-90mph (not slow).

I looked in my right mirror at b/f behind me, to check it was clear to move in to the RH lane, and saw a dark blue estate car right up the other half's backside flashing his lights and swerving all over the lane trying to get past. He even tried to get up on the central reservation of the slip road!

He then undertook on the left and came alongside me. I gave him the finger & then concentrated on joining the M27 safely. The driver cut across in front of me and veered across 3 lanes to join the fast lane - no indicators, of course.

I got a red mist and chased after him - feckin daft thing to do on reflection, but seemed a good idea at the time.
My boyfriend came alongside me and hovered between lanes 2 & 3 looking menacing.

Both of us just a couple of feet away from him going at approx 100mph.

Car driver then decided to exit the motorway immediately, so, once again swerved across 3 more lanes of traffic without indicating, and got off at Junction 10 with inches to spare before the road ran out.

I'm not sure why he left the M27 in such a random hurry, if he intended to get off there then why the hell did he behave like a complete tit and race all over the motorway? There is less than a mile between J11 and J10 - TBH you can see the exit signs for J10 as you join the M27 at J11!

When we left the motorway, we pulled over and my b/f had to take a moment to calm himself - he was visibly trembling with rage and adrenaline.
Apparently, whilst I was in the process of preparing to join the motorway, b/f was kicking the shit out of the rear wing panel of the car as it was alongside him.
It's possible that the driver exited the M27 in such a hurry because he was pretty scared - seeing 2 x bikes in rear mirror (not sure if he used it at all TBH), both riders in black with black visors, one of which had just given your car a good stamping, could have made him think twice at continuing his journey on that particular stretch.

The most bizzarre thing was that the driver wasn't a young thug in a baseball cap, but a balding man in his 60's.

Whatever, he was still a first class F**kwit!
We did take his reg number, but the police don't do anything unless there are independent witnesses, which is a bit difficult when you are moving along a motorway and the whole thing happened in less than 3 minutes.
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Fly away on my Zephyr?
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[johnsilva]

M25?
Ah yes, use it a bit!
When its clear (a lot then) everyone on the outside lane is giving it 100mph bumper to bumper!
Rude not to join in really!

Chaaaaaaaaaaaaarge!

John
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