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The latest from the posts is that it’s not a stolen bike, but has a non-stolen 1996 frame was used to fix damage which was stamped with the number from the 2003 bike… the police are happy that there’s no charges to be brought, and that DK have offered a full refund or an exchange. It’s a result in that he can then get rid of the frankenstein bike to get something in better condition, although it does sound like something which should be passed on to trading standards, because it’s apparently not being made obvious to potential customers that such significant repairs have been made to the bike.
You get loads of slow-speed practice if you don’t filter… at least in the London rush-hour – plenty of sections where you’re moving up to 3 car-lengths with speeds always under 10mph… which is then slower speeds than you’d be doing when filtering through that area. It does improve your spatial awareness, though, and making sure you’re stable enough to fit through a small gap at a fairly slow speed.
I can easily understand why it wouldn’t be taught in a CBT, which is short enough to demand a focus on the more basic skills, but if like me you do your CBT and then start commuting with just your provisional licence, then you WILL start filtering very soon, without having had any formal training in it, which is possibly a recipe for trouble – at least having an information leaflet discussing the rules for things like filtering that gets given out when you complete your CBT would help, as I suspect many don’t know the rules or advice, and some of the ones which I’ve seen being most bold in their filtering have been other riders with L-plates.Thanks for the welcome… I’ve kind of had to learn filtering quickly. I did my CBT at the end of June, got my bike sorted at the start of this month, and only had the opportunity to do a couple of miles on it before going straight into a 14-mile London commute. The first couple of journeys I avoided filtering entirely (since it’s not something that the CBT covered), but when stuck in a length of traffic moving 1 car-length at a time for 10-15 minutes, I decided that it would probably be easier to filter. As such while I looked up some rules, I’ve mainly taken the lead from other bikers filtering. Most of the ones in London come straight into the cycle area in front of the car, so they’re clearly overtaking the front car, although they’re not going into the crossing area itself. Shouldn’t be doing it, but are almost universally in London, seemingly.
Re 6), I was told not to just let the engine do the braking because of letting the person behind know about the speed, much as you’d said. I’ve been finding that I’m more comfortable easing the clutch and braking a little for the same overall drop in speed but with the brake light coming on… other than that if you at least give one of the brakes a brief touch then you can flash the brake light at the person behind, giving them an alert that you’re changing your speed, which would be better than no brake light at all at least.
The rule about passing the car at the front of the queue is interesting, because one thing that’s almost universal is bikers moving into the cycle area at the lights, doing that very thing.
More than that, you can see reasons why this would be done, as sitting beside the car could create safety and traffic flow issues, such as when you find that a lorry or van is coming the other way, and looks likely to need the bit of your lane that you’re currently in. Additionally, it’s far easier for a bike to pull away in front of the car than to potentially end up, say, trying to take a turning side-by-side with it, fighting it for lane space. Obviously the faster bikes would just pull in front anyway, but a moped or the like may not have that option, and they could easily find breaking that rule safer than not.It just sounded to me like they suspected an infringement, and rather than attempt to investigate properly themselves, they’d rather use up significantly more resources in taking it through court. They’re able to do that, and you’d hope that the court will quickly just dismiss the case, especially if the officer has no formal evidence to present proof that the exhaust did not meet regulations (i.e. if they didn’t use specifically designed sound equipment to accurately measure noise emissions then they surely haven’t a leg to stand on).
Hopefully the case would then have a beneficial effect in indicating that a heavy-handed approach by police would need to be backed up by proper evidence.
The other possibility of course, that I haven’t seen any mention of, is that the exhaust doesn’t comply with regulations and was in fact mis-sold. It’s a possibility, but you’d hope that’s not the case.I hope you’re still planning on getting a bike for commuting – even London traffic is mostly fun compared to public transport (apart from the occasional getting trapped in stop-start hell…).
I just did my CBT, and got a 125cc bike for commuting into work. I didn’t fancy paying out £2K or more for a bike, and not having much mechanical experience I preferred the idea of a new bike since then I wouldn’t have to run the risk of buying a bike that’s due for the knackers yard. I decided to take the other ‘risk’ and pick up a chinese import – I’d read around and while some warned all who’d listen to steer well clear of them, most of those who’d bought one were pretty happy with it. I’ve only just started commuting in by bike (a little over 100 miles so far, almost all from 14-mile each-way commute in London traffic). So far, so good, and Europa Trading International was who I bought from, with the X-Stream Crusader Classic (a cruiser style learner) costing just £640 otr, including a cheap jacket, gloves and helmet. They’re really your main alternative option if you want to make sure you don’t get something too battered, although there aren’t many race-replica ones – it’s mainly custom/cruiser styles. If you want to know about the 125’s around, pick up a copy of Used Bike Guide, it’s got a 125cc section, so you can see basic ratings for the most common bikes with normal used values, which will give you a good starting point for picking up a 2nd hand bike instead.
The impression I got is that (at least with the chinese imports) if you buy a new bike, the supplier of your bike can generally get a pretty good quote (I contacted some of the major insurance brokers and they couldn’t match the quote – incidentally the insurance was actually with Rampdale, in case they’re good for provisional licence holders generally). I’m 28, so would be classed as less of a risk, but 3rd party fire and theft was £295 with no no claims bonus, an estimated mileage of 7000 miles, commuting included, and living in a somewhat dodgy area for vehicle theft, with a provisional held for just 1 month and a shiny new CBT, only the age difference would really push up the quote.
Other quotes I got were often much higher. Your age would be a factor, but by shopping around you can get widely different quotes (I tried quotes for another bike I was considering and got between £250 and £800 for the same cover from different brokers). One particular trick is to get a quote via the supplier of your bike, and then phone up one of the others to see if they can beat the quote. (Note, if you opt for a chinese import, you’ll have to phone insurers because their online systems probably won’t have the make in the list).
Don’t forget to budget for picking up things like a rain cover (if it’s not garaged), clothing (2nd hand is OK on some of it, just not the helmet – budget £50 or more for a new helmet), chain and lock, oil and petrol, etc.If you’re used to off-roading then you’ll have a head-start over me (deep end straight into commuting). Someone else mentioned DAS, but since cost sounds like a consideration, I’d just look at a 125cc for the moment – cheaper to insure and when you have some no claims bonus and some more experience, then you should find the insurance quotes a bit more reasonable to be able to afford something whizzier.
