Did my first filtering today

[andrea]

Had to go to a course in Telford and on the way back the whole stretch of the A5 (about 15 miles) was chocca and moving at around 5 miles per hour. So i filtered for the first time all the way back. Was only going around 15 - 20mph though, and watching out for junctions and people doing u-turns (which they were without looking first). Some people moved over to the left for me, so i thanked them with a wave... and some barstewards swerved and purposefully tried to stop me - so they had a different kind of wave

Only thing i found was when all the cars were bunched up and over to the right of the lane, i found it hard to find a gap to fit into when cars were coming the other way...whats the best thing to do in that situation?

EDIT: waiting for Itchy with his words of filtering wisdom

[stinkwheel]

[andrea]

Stinkwheel that makes more sense, think i was just getting a little impatient and going when there was no traffic coming towards me but not spotting a gap until i needed one. Thing was i could do lots of cars before something came as its a pretty straight bit of road, so couldnt see a gap that far ahead. Was concentrating on the cars to make sure none pulled out, when i should have been looking for gaps too. Cheers

[stinkwheel]

It's exactly the same principle as overtaking a line of moving cars (and many other things you can do on bikes that make car drivers mutter under their breath). As long as you can see an escape route, you can keep going.

[_Will_]

If theres free tarmac thats free use it, curb it if you have to
Long as theres no coppers around










I am of course joking about driving on the pavement, unless theres some sort of end of world standstill.
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[GearboxGeezer]

Gota love the feeling you get when you first filter... Now you only get that feeling when filtering on your back wheel...

[Nath]

[kawakid]

You sort of get used to filtering, its weird.

[THCi]

Filtering soon becomes and means to and end, not something to shout about initself.

Nath, I ride like that anyway!
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"We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so...very...pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."

[ISLAND GIRL]

The more you do filtering the more confident you will feel about doing it. I always take great care with it as like you say some w*****r pull over so as to make it difficult for you. Always look down ahead of the que of traffic for potential spaces just incase you need to pull in for oncoming vehicles
In this country it is not allegal to filter whereas I have heard in others it is so
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Live on the Isle of Wight and ride a CBR600F

[Itchy]

Ask Sickpup he is the filtering machine on this board, my advice probably isn't that good (and potentially dangerous) and not much more than the stuff already posted.

My only real safe advice is to relax and slouch in the seat which is the key to slow speed handling and to feet down if you feel the need to, slow speed handling is needed to pop in between cars all queued up when I say that I mean side ways facing the pavement ,


as a bonus when you are relaxed and do actually come off you are generally hurt much less than if tensed up (learned from many many nights completely pissed and getting caught by dodgy stairs).
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Ride like a courier, locked out arms and straight back to give an enhanced view of the traffic. Seen many a rider ride like that in London shortly before scrapping their mirrors on a car either side lol.
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[Annabella]

The A5 can be a bit of an arse to filter along, it's not particularly wide, it's dead dead straight and you think you can see for miles but there are hidden dips and lots of double white lines.

Brave place for a first filter


Keep your head up, look where you're going and take it a car or two at a time. I try to look over the top of cars, especially if there is a junction coming up. Junctions either side are a problem, but at least you can see those on the right clearly. Junctions on the left can be dodgy, you can't see if there's a car at them nor if they are being let out. So always approach them cautiously, and look for tell-tale gaps in front of them where someone could be pulling out to turn right across you.

You'll soon get the hang of it.
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