Riding in the city... | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Riding in the city...

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Matt Rain said:
Someone’s been reading Kerouac. :p

Love riding in the city but I have the luxury of a non-9-to-5 job. 10am to 3pm are fine as is 8pm and later.
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Coming back from the country after 3:00 one places themselves in the path of the homebound zombies. Take a two lane and prepare to be forced off the road by a car coming at you in your lane or take a 400 series and get stuck in traffic because of a fender bender.

It takes me 30 minutes to get to somewhat relaxed riding. A friend in Caledon gets there in 30 feet.
 
Toronto has made, or...or awaken an aggressive rider. I'm the mildest kinda person there is, but downtown is a eat or be eaten kinda playground. I'm glad I only really deal with it on my commute to entertainment/financial district as i don't get to get the full on experience (like queen/king st craziness, etc)
The only real fun part of my commute is that ONE bend after jameson/british columbia fiasco where, once in a while, it opens up and i can WOT in the turn. Otherwise gotta say, i'd never want to drive down to the city willingly, on the daily. Riding is the only thing that makes it okay (and the free parking clause too). Taking the GO is just too damn expensive and boring, it dulls my mind and i get to work tired, whereas on the bike i get to work real alert lol

I kinda missed the open road this summer as i got injured and baby 2 has arrived... but there's always next year :)
 
Matt Rain said:
Someone’s been reading Kerouac. :p
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PP was on the mark. I was hoping to suggest an Inrebian style, but I'll take whatever compliments I can get.
 
ddusseld said:
Nope, just you.. :)

Riding in the city just provides a different environment to have fun. Been commuting into downtown Toronto by motorcycle for 20+ years. I find it nice to be able to spend a couple of hours a day enjoying my hobby whilst commuting... :)
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You've been commuting downtown for 20 years, you must have 9 lives... Im constantly in close call situations when I ride downtown...
 
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Paulee said:
You've been commuting downtown for 20 years, you must have 9 lives... Im constantly in close call situations when I ride downtown...
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A lot of the onus is on us to see situations about to go south. Just double check you`re correctly blocking the lanes, looking far enough ahead, watching for those gaps in traffic where people always try to turn into, etc. Having the brake and clutch covered isn't a bad idea either, you'll gain a second in reaction time.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best.
 
Paulee said:
You've been commuting downtown for 20 years, you must have 9 lives... Im constantly in close call situations when I ride downtown...
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As a rider you will eventually start to see potentially bad situations before they ever happen, so you avoid the problem before it begins. That, and as mentioned, making sure you're not putting yourself In bad situations to begin with (riding in blind spots, or where you're not visible enough to others is the biggest two) to further reduce or eliminate issues before they ever start.

I have about 17,000KM on the bike this year and around 15K last year both in and out of big cities and (knock on wood) have had zero close calls. A few dumb moves on behalf of cars, sure, but nothing that put my life at risk. Keeping myself out of those situations before they started has contributed a lot to my safety I'm sure.
 
You and I probably define "close call situations" differently... :) I'm rarely involved in any situation I deem dangerous. That said in my commutes I've crashed twice. Once totally my fault in following too close and then over braking in the rain. The other I was sideswiped by a driver. There is a certain risk in riding in traffic that you either accept or not. I make no claims about being able to spot situations before they happen, wish I could. :) I do, however, believe that aggressive riding keeps me out of a lot of potential close calls. I'm generally moving faster then the rest of the traffic and the bike allows me to be where I want to be at a given point in time...

Paulee said:
You've been commuting downtown for 20 years, you must have 9 lives... Im constantly in close call situations when I ride downtown...
Click to expand...
 
Paulee said:
You've been commuting downtown for 20 years, you must have 9 lives... Im constantly in close call situations when I ride downtown...
Click to expand...

I basically learned to ride downtown. Commuted for decades. I've had a handful of issues, but never really a close call where I thought I was in danger. Keep your head on a swivel and look for danger.
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