a observation

i was coming back from shepton mallet yesterday. when a group of 7 bikes apeared behind me.

forgien dunno where from. they went past me and i caught them up again in traffic.

they all were over taking slower traffic. not ONCE did i see a life saver. now to me a life saver is something i do without thinking about it.

is this not part of training if different countries? or was it purley bad habbits of the riders ??

i learnt my lesson with life savers 4 years ago......i went to over take i checked my mirror................nothing.....moved out the next thing i know a bloke on a r1 is sat on my tail HARD on the brakes.

also some of the places they over took..........i wouldnt have even considered it.

anyway thats my little rant of the day

Dan

They must be from Southern Europe and have God on their side

I struggle to always do lifesavers when I should, especially if I'm confident of what's behind anyway.

Caught myself a little over-confident once or twice when I've started to switch lanes at the same time as doing my lifesaver, thinking I knew nothing was there, and having to pull out of the manoeuvre! (But hey, that's exactly what the lifesaver is for :))

Lifesavers prove their worth when riding with other bikes, when those damn motorcyclists come zooming up behind you from nowhere and sit in your blindspot... ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 470four

Lifesavers prove their worth when riding with other bikes, when those damn motorcyclists come zooming up behind you from nowhere and sit in your blindspot... ;)

---

Over 40mph I don't bother as the distance I travel while looking behind me is more dangerous IMO. I rely on knowing whats behind me at all times, not just when I want to make a move.

Excuse me - I realise I may be a throwback to some distant time - and by chance still happening to be riding a motorbike - but what the hell is a lifesaver..?

It's what we of a certain age used to call "looking over your right shoulder to see what's behind you" :)

An.....AN observation! You can ride as dangerously as you like but don't ever use A before a word begining with a vowel.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by @bj

Excuse me - I realise I may be a throwback to some distant time - and by chance still happening to be riding a motorbike - but what the hell is a lifesaver..?

---

!!??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan

An.....AN observation! You can ride as dangerously as you like but don't ever use A before a word begining with a vowel.

---

sorry for not paying attention at school?

LifeSaver is defo worth it at least 4 times when i was touring around scotland there was somthing in my blind spot car/bike and i adjusted accordingly! phew to me :)

haha oakley you are the funniest on this forum by far. Yes, I like to look in my mirrors regularly and know what's going on. That way there's no way there will be anything in your "blind spot" as you'll have seen it coming. And if you didn't see it coming, chances are it will already have passed you..

Trust me, for the second or so it takes, a right lifesaver is worth doing. Have looked over my shoulder more than once only to find a car, motorcycle, cyclist etc in my blind spot.

Definately one of the MOST important checks prior to manoeuvres to change direction of travel.
It has definately saved me from some nasty incidents. :o
The majority of the time it is a "Sports-type bike" that has to overtake with the minimum of clearance between himself and me; even if their is no oncoming traffic! >:(

Yeah, though travelling at 70mph you will travel 30 metres in that second the life saver takes. You have to assess what is going on in front as well as behind. Sometimes you may not have time to do a lifesaver, say for example in emergency situations. Don't get me wrong, during general riding, I do my shoulder check automatically whenever I pull out. It is part of my riding system to prevent crashing so I make sure I do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BMWGraeme

[quote author=470four link=1315658258/3#3 date=1315686705]Lifesavers prove their worth when riding with other bikes, when those damn motorcyclists come zooming up behind you from nowhere and sit in your blindspot... ;)

---

Over 40mph I don't bother as the distance I travel while looking behind me is more dangerous IMO. I rely on knowing whats behind me at all times, not just when I want to make a move.
[/quote]


A Life Saver is a 1 second glace to your left or right to about 90 degrees or there abouts. There is next to no time in taking to look enough to fill your peripheral vision with enough information to tell you whether it is safe to pull out or not.. Its only your head moving nothing else.

An over the shoulder check , different kettle of fish as its a full look back and it can change the direction of your bars with your body moving, normally only done from a standstill before pulling away

By rights the distance travelled shouldn't matter as you should be within the 2 second rule gap from the vehicle in front and if not you have lined youself up sufficiently for a quick glance before that overtaking manouvre..... Just an observation ;)

PS ... sorry Graham x ;)

if you go MUCH faster than the rest of the traffic you dont need to do a lifesaver :-)
i never even had mirrors on my fzr1000 for four years..... ;-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BMWGraeme

It's what we of a certain age used to call "looking over your right shoulder to see what's behind you" :)

---

Thanks Snowy - maybe a bit niave of me to think that repackaged, buzzwordised, dumbeddown management speak wouldn't find its way into biking - but there you have it...

'check behind' always worked for me...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jonnydangerous

if you go MUCH faster than the rest of the traffic you dont need to do a lifesaver :-)
i never even had mirrors on my fzr1000 for four years..... ;-)

---

;D ;D ;D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jonnydangerous

if you go MUCH faster than the rest of the traffic you dont need to do a lifesaver :-)
i never even had mirrors on my fzr1000 for four years..... ;-)

---

;D ;D ;D Nutter!

it's not traffic from behind you have trouble with though is it?! ;) ;D

Roxy x

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan

An.....AN observation! You can ride as dangerously as you like but don't ever use A before a word begining with a vowel.

---

Is that a universal truth then...? Is there not a one time exception..? 8-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by roxychick

[quote author=jonnydangerous link=1315658258/17#17 date=1315830235]if you go MUCH faster than the rest of the traffic you dont need to do a lifesaver :-)
i never even had mirrors on my fzr1000 for four years..... ;-)

---

;D ;D ;D Nutter!

it's not traffic from behind you have trouble with though is it?! ;) ;D

Roxy x[/quote]

LMAO 8-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by @bj

[quote author=dan_geoghegan link=1315658258/7#7 date=1315698380]An.....AN observation! You can ride as dangerously as you like but don't ever use A before a word begining with a vowel.

---

Is that a universal truth then...? Is there not a one time exception..? 8-)
[/quote]

I didn't say it was an unique rule. It's an european one though. Bet you can't come up with anymore. You have more chance of seeing an unicorn reading an eulogy at an university >:(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan

Bet you can't come up with anymore... >:(

---

...not taking the piss - just a urine sample... 8-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by @bj

[quote author=dan_geoghegan link=1315658258/23#23 date=1316105023]Bet you can't come up with anymore... >:(

---

...not taking the piss - just a urine sample... 8-)[/quote]

is that a euphemism for something else? ::) okay okay I think that's enough now

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan

[quote author=@bj link=1315658258/24#24 date=1316109303][quote author=dan_geoghegan link=1315658258/23#23 date=1316105023]Bet you can't come up with anymore... >:(

---

...not taking the piss - just a urine sample... 8-)[/quote]

is that a euphemism for something else? ::) okay okay I think that's enough now[/quote]

a-ok... 8-)

It's called a lifesaver for a good reason.

An historian once told me that rules are made to be broken...