For Verm...
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NorthernPete
- Legendary 3000
- Posts: 3485
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:24 pm
- Real Name: Pete
- Sex: Male
- Years Riding: 11
- My Motorcycle: 1988 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500
- Location: Northern Ontario, Canada
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VermilionX
- Super Legendary 5000
- Posts: 5996
- Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005 3:45 pm
- Sex: Male
- Years Riding: 6
- My Motorcycle: '06 Suzuki GSX-R 750
- Location: The Valley, SoCal
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camthepyro
- Legendary 1000
- Posts: 1478
- Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:14 am
- Sex: Male
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
My problems with that riding:
1) Was it just me or did [s]he run about 15 red lights?
2) What's wrong with keeping your front wheel on the ground?
I see people doing basically the same thing (weaving through traffic agressively) in pickup trucks all the time. In fact just today I was laughing at some guy who was weaving through traffic in a lowered S10... the funny part being that he was stopped at every light just like I was and over about 5 miles he had gained a net 1 carlength... of course at times he was maybe a quarter mile ahead, but each time he gained some he lost the lead as soon as the light changed.
The guy in the video would've had the same problem except he seemed to pause and then run any red light he hit.
1) Was it just me or did [s]he run about 15 red lights?
2) What's wrong with keeping your front wheel on the ground?
I see people doing basically the same thing (weaving through traffic agressively) in pickup trucks all the time. In fact just today I was laughing at some guy who was weaving through traffic in a lowered S10... the funny part being that he was stopped at every light just like I was and over about 5 miles he had gained a net 1 carlength... of course at times he was maybe a quarter mile ahead, but each time he gained some he lost the lead as soon as the light changed.
The guy in the video would've had the same problem except he seemed to pause and then run any red light he hit.
Ride it like you think owning it matters.
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NorthernPete
- Legendary 3000
- Posts: 3485
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2005 4:24 pm
- Real Name: Pete
- Sex: Male
- Years Riding: 11
- My Motorcycle: 1988 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500
- Location: Northern Ontario, Canada
Doesn't look like it... unless you mean that a red light is to be treated like a stop sign instead of a "stop until it turns green"... but then it didn't look like anyone else was running the lights.
That sort of thing is pretty common with a certain type of road user. I see chevy impalas, lowered pickup trucks, screwed up hondas, and a few other types of cars do it pretty frequently. I see bikes do it too. All of those vehicles attract a certain type of driver... those who can't afford expensive transportation (real sports cars) but want to express aggression on the road. Kinda funny because they rarely actually go much faster, they just speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down, and stay busy.
The sad truth is that, unless you are willing to run red lights (like this guy was doing) filtering in controlled traffic (i.e. anywhere with stop lights) is pretty close to useless. I've paced motorcycles for long distances while they filtered up to every light and I didn't... they gained perhaps 20 meters over 10km, expending a lot of effort to do it. Not worth the effort.
On a highway though... filtering (even without lane sharing) can allow a vehicle to move through and out of heavy traffic quickly. It's just a lot more difficult in a car. Bikes are great.
Something highway designers seemingly don't understand is what causes traffic to bunch up in certain areas. On the highways I drive there are "standing waves" of heavy traffic... kinda like a stream with a boulder under the surface causing a wave that just sits there never moving. There are certain spots that have a metaphorical traffic boulder under them and the traffic there is almost always rotten... and a kilometer up the road everything clears up... there were no exits, no lanes were added, but whatever problem was causing drivers to slow down in that area is gone and everyone speeds up again. That standing wave might be just a kilometer long, but it can take 10 or 20 minutes to get through. On a bike, just weaving through like this guy was mostly doing, you'll be through it in 5 minutes and then you can go back up to 120KPH until you hit the next standing wave of traffic.
That sort of thing is pretty common with a certain type of road user. I see chevy impalas, lowered pickup trucks, screwed up hondas, and a few other types of cars do it pretty frequently. I see bikes do it too. All of those vehicles attract a certain type of driver... those who can't afford expensive transportation (real sports cars) but want to express aggression on the road. Kinda funny because they rarely actually go much faster, they just speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down, and stay busy.
The sad truth is that, unless you are willing to run red lights (like this guy was doing) filtering in controlled traffic (i.e. anywhere with stop lights) is pretty close to useless. I've paced motorcycles for long distances while they filtered up to every light and I didn't... they gained perhaps 20 meters over 10km, expending a lot of effort to do it. Not worth the effort.
On a highway though... filtering (even without lane sharing) can allow a vehicle to move through and out of heavy traffic quickly. It's just a lot more difficult in a car. Bikes are great.
Something highway designers seemingly don't understand is what causes traffic to bunch up in certain areas. On the highways I drive there are "standing waves" of heavy traffic... kinda like a stream with a boulder under the surface causing a wave that just sits there never moving. There are certain spots that have a metaphorical traffic boulder under them and the traffic there is almost always rotten... and a kilometer up the road everything clears up... there were no exits, no lanes were added, but whatever problem was causing drivers to slow down in that area is gone and everyone speeds up again. That standing wave might be just a kilometer long, but it can take 10 or 20 minutes to get through. On a bike, just weaving through like this guy was mostly doing, you'll be through it in 5 minutes and then you can go back up to 120KPH until you hit the next standing wave of traffic.
Ride it like you think owning it matters.
Yep, that's exactly what I've noticed/think!dieziege wrote: Kinda funny because they rarely actually go much faster, they just speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down, and stay busy.
Not worth the effort.
On a highway though... filtering (even without lane sharing) can allow a vehicle to move through and out of heavy traffic quickly. It's just a lot more difficult in a car. Bikes are great.
Something highway designers seemingly don't understand is what causes traffic to bunch up in certain areas. On the highways I drive there are "standing waves" of heavy traffic... kinda like a stream with a boulder under the surface causing a wave that just sits there never moving. There are certain spots that have a metaphorical traffic boulder under them and the traffic there is almost always rotten... and a kilometer up the road everything clears up... there were no exits, no lanes were added, but whatever problem was causing drivers to slow down in that area is gone and everyone speeds up again. That standing wave might be just a kilometer long, but it can take 10 or 20 minutes to get through. On a bike, just weaving through like this guy was mostly doing, you'll be through it in 5 minutes and then you can go back up to 120KPH until you hit the next standing wave of traffic.
I "usually" only do it on the freeway then when I get to a clear spot I like to cruise, no more than 10 above the posted speed limit, unless traffic is so congested then I find a "relatively free position" and go w/the flow of traffic.
'77 KZ1000LTD
Riding again!!
Riding again!!