Motorcycles in your bus lane

Stupid Boris seems to be implementing all the wank ideas that people were worried about (including the daft £200M desalination plant on the Thames, so that now you can have ultra-pure, ultra-energy-hungry water leaking all over the streets instead of good old fashion tapwater).
I really hope this daft motorbikes scheme doesn't cause any accidents.

Surely they use a little bit less? What about if they hooked it up to a solar panel to charge up?!
Fair point tho. Let's just not think too much about the energy used in bicycle production... :-(

Or the amount of hot air generated here talking about bikes

I can guarantee there's more energy used in production of an engine based vehicle + our bikes don't require as much energy to keep us moving.

Boris is a fucking wanker. There, I've said it.

Almost ALL electricity is generated using unsustainable resources that threaten the future of our energy-reliant economy, and generate heat and gases that threaten our plane t= Electric vehicles are just as bad as petrol ones.

The concentration of emmissions in specific ares is a good thing. It will make our cities cleaner and more sophisticated scrubbers can be used to deal with the emissions from a power station than can be used to deal with the emissions from a vehicle.

Also the introduction of electric cars and the appropriate infrascturcture to support them now will shorten the period between the adoption of clean power generation and a negligible carbon emission country being realised.

Who you calling a scrubber?

I ride both an overpowered motorbike for city streets ;-P and bikes, moped bods are twats, because they view and use a moped as a bicycle with an engine, and so are careless and unaware of the risks they are taking when they use their moped as such.
I've always wondered why motorbikes/mopeds/scooters couldn't use bus lanes, filtering down the outside of traffic usually involves, me, if the oncoming lane is clear riding in that, just to avoid the possibility of being taken out by someone turning right without indicating, pulling a uie, or generally just moving round an obstacle.
The issues that relate to cycling in town are pretty much the same for being on a motorbike, except you're going faster, and it hurts a lot more when you come off, both physically and financially (especially if you're trying to keep your no claims bonus).
With the explosion of people on two wheels, both motorised and pedal powered, I think opening up the bus lanes to motorbikes isn't necessarily a bad thing, we're road users, vulnerable road users yes, but road users nonetheless and I don't think we should be so quick to get on our high horse about having to share a bus lane with other two wheeled transportation.

I'll tell you what worries me.

What the future may hold.

How will I next fuck up?

Have I lost my wallet or did I leave it at home.

Will I find a campsite this w/e?

Have to throw my two pence here

I'm a motorbiker too, and have full license and one of the bigger bikes, and indeed, mostly use it on longer routes as in the centre it's pointless, but can see the appeal of sometimes taking it to work out of laziness or convenience etc.

Still, as a cyclist i get sometimes so annoyed with other motorbikers- passing way too close, blocking gaps pointlessly, and don't even get me started on the teenagers on mopeds.
But i'd say i could point out a big bunch of idiots who are shit cyclists and don't have any understanding of other road users too, so i guess it goes both ways.

Have to agree though, that surprisingly often the bigger the motorbike they have the less they need to show off on the road hence the more calm and easy they are on others - maybe it's got to do with more years of experience. And mopeds are a nightmare for other moto users too, if i could i'd shoot them all.

Re. bike lane - can't be objective here, i'm cool with it, win-win.

I can guarantee there's more energy used in production of an engine based vehicle + our bikes don't require as much energy to keep us moving.

I drive to work most days here in the north east but I get such a good feeling at the end of a week without using the car at all. It's the cost saved on petrol and the knowledge that I powered my vehicle getting me to work on bananas and shreddies and not a liquid that costs £1.10 a litre.

They did the first trial in Brixton Rd - which I didn't know, thought they were allowed in anyway and to be honest it's not that bad. I cycle it twice a day and they never cause any problems, they tend to just use the main road unless there's big traffic jams, although you do get one or two weaving in and out like dicks
It only gets hairy when you get the hybrid bike/flouro tabbard mob cycling at 5mph holding everyone up and it gets a bit congested with people jostling for space

It's a complicated case, Maude. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have yous. Fortunately I've been adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep my mind, you know, limber.

But i'd say i could point out a big bunch of idiots who are shit cyclists and don't have any understanding of other road users too, so i guess it goes both ways.

Hey i'm not on some "holier-than-thou bikes are better than motorbikes thing". Most cyclists are wankers too.

Its all about the guy I saw riding up goldsmiths row on a horse a couple of weeks ago, no saddle, no helmet, no brakes mothafucka!

Almost ALL electricity is generated using unsustainable resources that threaten the future of our energy-reliant economy, and generate heat and gases that threaten our plane t= Electric vehicles are just as bad as petrol ones.

I agree, whilst decent electric motors might have an efficiency of 85 - 90% (toolbox) the electricity used to power it more than likely comes from a big gas turbine power station which will have an efficiency of around 50% (I think) giving an overall efficiency (not considering losses in transmission and electric cars just being generally shit) around 42 - 45% which is roughly the same efficiency as a Petrol engine. So no real point (apart from the fact that Gas turbine power stations are a bit cleaner) If you want a green lifestyle, go to new zealand. I think they are the only country with a carbon neutral power plant.

Who you calling a scrubber?

Scrubber

whos up for popping a cap in bj's ass?

I hope this isn't prison talk..

It's a complicated case, Maude. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have yous. Fortunately I've been adhering to a pretty strict, uh, drug regimen to keep my mind, you know, limber.

that's just like, uh, your opinion man

Its all about the guy I saw riding up goldsmiths row on a horse a couple of weeks ago, no saddle, no helmet, no brakes mothafucka!

hipster

its a shit idea. Boris is a wanker

its a shit idea. Boris is a wanker

Agreed, I really have no idea how he got into office.

We are living in a city of idiots.

I ride both an overpowered motorbike for city streets ;-P and bikes, moped bods are twats, because they view and use a moped as a bicycle with an engine, and so are careless and unaware of the risks they are taking when they use their moped as such.
I've always wondered why motorbikes/mopeds/scooters couldn't use bus lanes, filtering down the outside of traffic usually involves, me, if the oncoming lane is clear riding in that, just to avoid the possibility of being taken out by someone turning right without indicating, pulling a uie, or generally just moving round an obstacle.
The issues that relate to cycling in town are pretty much the same for being on a motorbike, except you're going faster, and it hurts a lot more when you come off, both physically and financially (especially if you're trying to keep your no claims bonus).
With the explosion of people on two wheels, both motorised and pedal powered, I think opening up the bus lanes to motorbikes isn't necessarily a bad thing, we're road users, vulnerable road users yes, but road users nonetheless and I don't think we should be so quick to get on our high horse about having to share a bus lane with other two wheeled transportation.

+1 well put sir. I'm also a motorcyclist with a big bike that gets used both in London and out of it, I've also despatched in London on a motorbike (many moons ago) and don't see what's happening as a bad thing. Just avoid the flids on peds that are high on Lucozade and e-numbers and you should still be safe.

I ride my bicycle, scooter and various big motorbikes round London on a daily basis.

When i am on my bicycle the twats who get to me are the people who have just gone and bought a hybrid commuter for the summer and have no idea how to ride and get in the way of everyone else, along with the f++ck wits on scooters who ride up the inside of cars by the curb rather than filtering on the outside as they should do . .

When i am on my scooter the thing that f@@ks me off more than anything else is when some c@nt of a cyclist decides to cycle down the middle of the road in slow traffic, getting in the filtering space of motorcycles. Not only are they slowing me down, but they are putting themselves and other road users in danger . .

When i am on my Motorbike the thing that f++ks me off the most is the idiots on the scooters who have done a days training (cbt) and have no concept of how to ride safely on their underpowered 50cc pieces of sh!t, and are a danger to me and themselves . .

My point is that every other mode of transport is in your way whatever you happen to be riding/driving/pedaling . . though i would say that the most dangerous group of road users is cyclists, because we are the ones who take no notice of the majority of road laws, and also have no common training which means road users know how each other will behave. I have lost count of the number of cyclists i have nearly killed on Clerkenwell road in rush hour who cut in between cars and in front of filtering motorbikes without looking first. A lot of the accidents i see, and a lot of the accidents that my cycling friends have are by their own admissions avoidable if they hadnt been riding like a twat. I know that when i ride my bike i take way to many risks, but to me that is part of the buzz of riding around London.

I was at Bristol Uni when they bought in the same Bus Lane rules in, and it made no difference to riding my bike, and made motorcycling a lot safer. There has been a nation wide campaign run by MCN, the UK's biggest motorbike rag for the past decade to get this law in various cities. I think this is a great move, and cannot see how it is going to make my pedaling life any more dangerous, as from what i can tell the roads are in such a state of chaos already that it doesnt matter what you do, its still a lottery as to whether you end up in a hospital bed or your own bed at the end of any journey.

Having worked as a motorcycle courier , i can tell you that they are probably amongst the most considerate road users out there, and thier rivalry exists with taxi drivers, not cyclists.

Rant over

I cant really see a problem with this to be honest. However, I do think they should be limited to 20mph. But then again I think all London traffic should be limited to 20mph during the day.

Scooters are ridden by cu**s wherever they are so as long as you know your enemy it should be ok

Put it this way, I think I'm the same as most people in that when I'm using the road on or in a vehicle of any type I curse the stupidity of pedestrians who wander out and cross the road just meters away from a crossing, or stand in the middle of the road because it was too busy to cross both lanes at the same time. And when I'm a pedestrian I sometimes find myself cursing impatient traffic while I saunter across the road to stop in the middle until its clear, only meters away from a pedestrian crossing...