Yeah, on my way to work I ride that line through about 6 miles even thru turns. Being in Cali it's legal so I get to work much faster. As for grip, thats a common sense deal, the lines are usually coated with reflective coating. The speed bumps are even worse, I see people with broken driver side mirrors because they were too close to the line while a biker was coming thru.

 

[sm=badidea.gif]

Maybe those slips and jerks are a sign to STOP RIDING ON THE CENTRE LINE!!!

(just my thoughts, don't get killed buddy)

 

One thing we don't take into consideration from the states, People in the UK are MUCH MUCH MUCH better drivers than the states. I was there for 2 weeks abouth a month ago, first time there. Picked up driving on the Left not too bad. Only reason it was easy because the drivers there were such extrordinary drivers compared to the absolute morons we have here in the states. Literally it's a biker's paradise wherever I drove (in a car). When I got back to the states, it was really scary because you have no idea what anyone is going to do ever... people are such insanely awful drivers here, splitting lanes is dangerous... In a better driving environment where bikes are more common, I can see it might not be such a big deal.

If you've never been to the UK, if for nothing else, go for the driver's paradise, it's incredible.

 

Thanks Ocelaris! But us bikers here in the Uk still considerate a dangerous place to ride. People on Phones, playing with their sat Navs etc etc. You have to be pretty much on the ball all the time. Did you see the range of bikes on our roads? England I think are the biggest sports bike buyers in Europe. For some strange reason we love our sports bike. The amount of people I see on R1, R6, CBR blades and 600, GSXR, Ninja and even ducati and Aprilla all commuting to work. Its mad!!! Even in this weather(even talking about my self). The nice-est thing of all is when you see other bikers is that it doesnt matter what they ride we are all very couteous to each other. In summer when you filter your way to the front of the traffic lights you and meet another biker there you exchange a few words, "Nice bike whats it like to ride?". I always get to work happy, chirpy and early. Its all good. Apart from the white line when its wet.

ameersak: hey goretex will keep you pretty warm and dry. i normally ride with just a T-shirt underneath. But I think Dubai is way to hot to ride. With those nutters out there I am not going out with just a T-shirt on.

 

In rippn's defense, nowhere in your original post did you mention that you were lane splitting, only that you were riding the painted line. I was confused also that is why I did not post a reply. So, just a friendly suggestion, I would review my question before I post. I would agree with you that rippn is an entertaining guy. I personally thing he should write a novel. About what? I have no idea but I would definately buy it.

 

I did notice that there were alot of sport bikes, I saw maybe 1 or 2 Harleys at all... Great! Lots of bikes we don't have here, alot of the same basic bikes, but more naked bikes too. Here 3/4s of all bikes are Cruiser style, harley... I haven't seen a sport bike rider commuting to work ever that I recall, maybe 1 or 2 ducati riders, but never a honda spot bike...

If you've never experienced both countries, it's just simply amazing, If you put an American in the UK, they'd think everybody was a fool and they'd take over the entire highway swerving and hooting and hollering like they just won the world series. It's like walking into a country where animals aren't afraid of people because they've never had contact with them. You can't Imagine what a Hummer driver would do to your roads... I sometimes think about the seemingly innocent "shire" when a Yank Tank is bearing down on me... I mean it's a 500 pound bike versus a 9000 pound Hummer H2... May I point you to this wonderful website while I'm spouting off...

http://www.fuh2.com -an entire website dedicated to people flicking off hummer H2s...


The bigger the car, the smaller the frontal lobe and/or phallic item... I would say 95% of Americans have never sat on a motorcycle, so they think they can tailgate, and treat them like a car, trying to out run/corner etc... The number of regular bike riders in America is so miniscule, you could ride for days and never see a bike... When we were in London it was like 60/40 or 70/30 cars to bike/scooters/mopeds/bicycles ratio. Even on the highway we saw tons of bikes... Just have 1 shot of some UK bikes when we were in London:

 

to answer your Q the reason it feels thats way is the road is not as flat as it looks all the way across when you pav a road you only pav one lane at a time and no one takes the time to time to get what they call the loop perfect so there for one lane is just a touch higher than the other plus when they paint the stripes on the road they get one layer of paint then a layer of very hot melted plastic with very tiny pieces of glass mixed in sprayed over the paint so its kinda thick to

 

Have you ever rode the center line in stop and go tarffic? You would be surprissed at how much room is in there. I live in SoCal and most poeple give you plenty of space and so far I have only had one close call in 19 years of riding.

 

When filtering you dont have to actually ride on the white lines. If drivers give you room then there is plenty of space so that you dont have to ride on the line and risk loosing grip. But isnt this what biking is all about? a bit more risk, a bit more fun and a bit different from driving? There are always risk in life, bikers I assume are less boring than the rest.

 

alt i love that color scheme on the bike, i live splitting lanes, even when theyre moving!