View from 2 wheels ...(nb)

ParaHandy

ParaHandy

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weel ... not many car drivers can drive ...... so, decision has to be made whether to climb up the food chain and buy a few more cc's to get out the way.

following considerations might apply:
1 a scooter at 30mph presents a car driver bearing a small brain on an A road with every chance of successfully overtaking
2 a bike at 50-60mph presents aforementioned bearer of small brain big problems which results in dirty dive in front etc and possible visit to A&E although nice to know that that Mr Milburn thinks NHS "better than ever"
3 a bike at +70mph needs to anticpate what aforementioned brainless twerp's going to do ... not good idea

seems stick with option 1?

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I've got a 600 and when my son wanted a 30MPH Aprilia Replica, I thought (apart from "shit"), OK 30 MPH that's alright. Then I tried it! Awful. I wound up telling him to take up enough road that cars would not keep trying to squeeze by. But better that everyone's making progress and that cars are not always frustrated in my opinion.

The inevitable happened though and a nice lady of 80 years pulled out directly in front of him. He dropped it and lost interest after that. I got there in 2 minutes and whilst I was discussing things with her, she said "well at least I stopped, I didn't have to did I?"

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I recently saw a cyclist with a horse rider's 'please pass wide and slow' jacket, thought I might try one myself as most motorists don't seem to be able to see me very clearly unless they have just overtaken me 10m from a traffic light and then need to stop and would like me to stop behind them thus causing them to swerve into my bike lane or I appear to be about to 'jump' a light when I get lots of Paddington Bear hard stares.!

<hr width=100% size=1>...If you can find the simple solution to a complex problem, you've got it wrong!.........
 
Size of bike really depends on where you will use it , and level of experience. I personnally hate the restricted twist and go type scooter. One of the most useful things on a bike is the ability to out accelerate other traffic, and thus get out of the way of the idiots. "Sorry Mate I Diddnt See You" is the normal cry of the car driver knocking over a biker.

If you are using in town only, then a 125cc should be adequate. If you will occasionally go further afield then move up to 250cc. Once the bug has bitten you will then want to get a larger bike, but a transition through 125 to 250 to larger is a good idea anyway.
While you are learning, do not move over to the side of the road - there are two main reasons for this firstly that once you are over on the side, a motorist will think there is more room than there is and end up forcing you off the road as he overtakes and discovers there is not as much room as he thought. Secondly, the edge of the road contains all the bumps and most of the drains and drain covers - items that are very slippery when wet (it is also a good place to pick up a puncture!)

After many years of biking, I now own a 1000cc bikeand have done over 35,000 miles on it.

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I own a 1150 cc off-road bike which I ride 42 miles through central london everyday. It is probably one the physically biggest bikes that you can buy and definitely get's you noticed. Many drivers even see me over the tops of cars so I avoid the the call pulling out from inside a queue of traffic problem.

Wouldn't ride anything smaller....

The biggest danger now appears to be buses who seem to regularly jump red lights and ignore lanes.....

RB

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hmm ... yes ... agree about 80yr olds and also young mothers turning onto a main road with squabbling brats in the back ....

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If its town work I would seriously consider one of the larger twist & go scooters (400/500cc) but the smaller wheels are'nt very suitable for out of town work.In fact one company recently had serious stability problems at the top end.The soloution was to detune the engine and recalibrate the speedo's to over read.Tsk tsk.If its a mixture of in and out of town try one of the 500's (mostly twins).Out of town or more experienced the 600's seem a good place to start.IMHO.
Al.

<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.
 
I had a 125 cc for some time until nearly sandwiched between two lorries in a heavy braking situation on the motorway. I vowed never to ride anything after that that couldn't go as least as fast as the other traffic.

I had left Paris in a heat wave and by the time I got to Stratford it was snowing. Also going from Liverpool to Paris in a day on the 125 convinced me that something larger and better protected was called for.

I then got a 1000cc until some needy chap relieved me of it.

If I were restarting today, I would be tempted by one of the large scooters. The wheels are much larger than on the normal scooters. I don't know what high speed stability would be like though.

John

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I'v just downgraded from a VFR750 to a Piaggio t&g 125 because I felt the big bike was wasted on just commuting . To be honest the difference is less than I expected - if you're an experienced rider you won't get into sticky situations. The scooter lets me slob out without all those dificult things to do with your feet - time your arrival at junctions and keep up the momentum and you can weave through traffic no problems and the weather protection and storage are great. I would reccomend one for any daily journey up 20mls.
Andy

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A mate is a biker paramedic. He keeps threatening to patent an invisibility kit consisting of big flourescent yellow Pan European, Hi-viz jacket, blue lights and siren...

The only way to treat the 4-wheelers - not to mention 8, 10 & 12 wheelers - is the way we treat the give way ships in the channel. Assume they aren't looking, and wouldn't care if they were.
 
Recently sold my Suzuki 600 Intruder to help finance the boat purchase. Candy Red with gleaming chrome - completely invisible to most other drivers. Right enough about the road position - take a high line and keep it - if you are at all retiring they will literally run you down.

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