We've had some great weather here up North this weekend and as usual, it turns the local roads into Brands Hatch for the two-wheeled crowd.

I cannot remember a time in recent memory when I've had so many of these wankers hanging millimetres off my rear bumper edging to get past in quite ridiculous situations - but what happened to my nearest and dearest beggars belief.

Slowing to turn right into a junction for our village with a van behind her, a scoot-jockey decides to overtake the van and my wife. Fortunately she is one of the increasingly rare breed of drivers who use their mirrors and saw the maniac overtaking at warp-speed and was able to brake. The biker was saved from hitting the side of her car - but more importantly, my wife avoided a huge impact on her side of the car.

Do many on two wheels possess any common sense, or at the very least, read the Highway Code?

Here's hoping the maniac who nearly hit my wife had more 'luck' with an inanimate object and the there's one less contaminant in the gene-pool.

 

Sunday bikers - love em

 

Hopefully yes. Biker seems clearly to have been a tw@t. As a broad rule the presumption is that it is not safe to overtake near any junction. There are exceptions - sometimes you can be sure that you can get past safely but to attempt to overtake coming up to a right turn with two vehicles ahead of you, either or both of which might want to turn right is fraught with danger.

 

Biking has changed a lot over recent decades. And so have the bikers...... I rode year-round for 12 years mid-70s to late 80s usually on Z900/Z1000 with old leather jacket, jeans and balck ankle-length 'biker' boots. Each of the large group of us (all notably - and in stark contrast to today - late teens and early-mid-20s) did circa 20K miles p.a. and went all over the place sleeping rough in farm buildings, bus shelters, pub carparks etc. loads of festivals, Kent Custom Show etc. etc. Great times? I think so!

These days it seems to be all about being middle-aged, owning the latest GSXZRXCBRRRRRRXXZZZRR sportsbike and obligatory garrishly-coloured

 

[QUOTE=98RON,Apr 14 2009, 08:33 AM] These days it seems to be all about being middle-aged, owning the latest GSXZRXCBRRRRRRXXZZZRR sportsbike and obligatory garrishly-coloured

 

As generalisations go it fair enough.

Nobody ever says "oh that BMW's being driven well" hence the "all BMW drivers are w*nkers" stereotype, now equally shared with Audis.

Same with the bikes I guess

 

Treat everyone on the road as if they are trying to kill you that was drilled into me by my instructor , like the others have said you get twats on bike and in cars.

 

I struggle to believe the distribution is any different, i certainly see more tw4ts in car but i see more cars too. I would hope i'm more cautious on bikes than in cars but would hope i'm cautious on/in both.

i recall years ago overtaking a tractor which turned out to be turning right. on a single carriageway he just looked like a slow moving tractor to me, his indicators were completely covered in carap. that was in a car.

maybe he misjudged and got away with it. this time. hopefully he sh4t in his expensive technicolour suit and learnt a lesson? otherwise your wish will come true.

 

Unfortunately I too was plagued this weekend by what I can only imagine to be relative newbies to the biking scene, sitting an inch from my rear quarter for a mile or two.

Very sad..

 

I hate using the A29 to Arundel on a bright sunny weekend ... it is quite frightening !

The number of mad bikers seems higher this year than normal for some reason ... and considering I am a biker myself the fact I think they are mad is slightly worrying !