BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

i can confirm the mirrors are the same height as the average car mirror,  and the plastic mirror cover comes off quite easily but does remain attached to the bike..  Car mirror remained intact.  :alas:

Maz12 wrote: i can confirm the mirrors are the same height as the average car mirror,  and the plastic mirror cover comes off quite easily but does remain attached to the bike..  Car mirror remained intact.  :alas:

When I met with a car mirror the bike remained intact but sadly the car mirror died not

A few years ago on one of our tours we were struggling with heavy traffic getting to the Dover ferry. One of our group having decided that the car in front was attempting to stop him filtering past squeezed up to its mirror with the intention of pushing it forward and riding past.  He pushed it too sharply and it disintegrated.  He quickly rode past and 1/2 an hour later was sat on the ferry.  Suddenly his name came over the System telling him to report to the Pursers office immediately.  Ashen face off he went expecting to meet up with a friendly policeman.  No police just a request to report to the car ramp to confirm to immigration that the biker there with his wife's passport was who he said he was. 

On a bikesafe weekend with Mersyside a guy there told of a similar tale
A lone bloke in his car attempted to stop him filtering,  he sat patiently to next to the rear of the car,  when the traffic started moving he lent over and opened the rear passenger door..  Then set off
Leaving the twat in the car to unbuckle and exit the car to close the opened door,  still makes me chuckle when I think about it  :kacsint2:

Fair one,  but as far as I know, its not compulsory to let bikers filter. If someone is stopping me filter then fair does, just accept he is a prat, but is not doing anything wrong. So by retaliating we are just confirming bikers are what he is expecting them to be. IMHO of course - chill  8)

Casbar wrote: Fair one,  but as far as I know, its not compulsory to let bikers filter. If someone is stopping me filter then fair does, just accept he is a prat, but is not doing anything wrong. So by retaliating we are just confirming bikers are what he is expecting them to be. IMHO of course - chill  8)

Not compulsory  but recognised in the Highway Code  Rule 88 says Motorcyclists should  "Take care and keep speed low", Rule 211 specifically instruct drivers to "look for motorcyclists filtering".  Rule 168 says you "should not obstruct someone wishing to overtake"

exportman wrote:
Not compulsory  but recognised in the Highway Code  Rule 88 says Motorcyclists should  "Take care and keep speed low", Rule 211 specifically instruct drivers to "look for motorcyclists filtering".  Rule 168 says you "should not obstruct someone wishing to overtake"

Maybe so, but there are loads of drivers who do not actually know that filtering is legal. It also says in the highway code though shalt not speed, but who takes any notice of that. Lots of car drivers do move out of the way and most of us acknowledge as a courtesy and say thanks. Not sure what view the law would have if we damaged another vehicle because the driver was being inconsiderate. There are plenty of knobs who drive cars and plenty who ride bikes as well, thats life.

Casbar wrote:
There are plenty of knobs who drive cars and plenty who ride bikes as well, thats life.

Don't forget "frequent the internet"  :enjoying: :silence: :))

I think I already posted this in another thread but I guess it's relevant again...

In 2010 I did a Bikesafe course with Cheshire Police. As you might expect, one of the questions that came up was around the legality of filtering. The answer was that it is legal but is considered to be high risk, meaning that if you are involved in an incident then the onus is likely to be on the motorcyclist to prove that it was not their fault. I took it to mean that an accident while filtering is a bit like rear-ending someone - it's basically always going to be seen as your fault unless you can prove otherwise.

Paggers wrote: I think I already posted this in another thread but I guess it's relevant again...

In 2010 I did a Bikesafe course with Cheshire Police. As you might expect, one of the questions that came up was around the legality of filtering. The answer was that it is legal but is considered to be high risk, meaning that if you are involved in an incident then the onus is likely to be on the motorcyclist to prove that it was not their fault. I took it to mean that an accident while filtering is a bit like rear-ending someone - it's basically always going to be seen as your fault unless you can prove otherwise.

absolute nonsense...


as per earlier post "[size=11px]Highway Code  Rule 88 says Motorcyclists should  "Take care and keep speed low", Rule 211 specifically instruct drivers to "look for motorcyclists filtering".  Rule 168 says you "should not obstruct someone wishing to overtake"[/size]

If everyone followed the."Highway Code" there would be no accidents, right?

richardbd wrote:
absolute nonsense...

as per earlier post "Highway Code Rule 88 says Motorcyclists should "Take care and keep speed low", Rule 211 specifically instruct drivers to "look for motorcyclists filtering". Rule 168 says you "should not obstruct someone wishing to overtake"[/size]

If you note I was merely quoting the information provided on the Bikesafe course. You are entirely welcome to apply a different interpretation but I have to say that yours seems overly naive. Legal judgements are made on the actions of individuals involved in an incident not on some very simple extract from the highway code.

But if you want to start quoting rules, let's take rule 163, extracts of which state;

"Overtake only when it is safe and legal to do so. You should...
- not get too close to the vehicle you intend to overtake
- only overtake on the left if the vehicle in front is signalling to turn right, and there is room to do so
- stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues. If the queue on your right is moving more slowly than you are, you may pass on the left"

So if I were to choose to interpret that (which I am doing merely for the purposes of debate) I would pull out the following key points:
- Overtaking has to be safe
- You must not get too close to the other vehicle
- Only overtake on the left if the vehicle is signalling right and there is room to do so
- Stay in your lane if traffic is moving slowly in queues

So as a car driver all I need to do is argue that your 'undertaking' was unsafe and came too close to my vehicle. Then you have the whole bit about not passing someone on the left unless they are indicating right and that in slow moving queues you should stay in your lane.

Any of this could be used to make an argument in court that the motorcyclist is the one at fault. But the bottom line is that we are the ones who instigated the manoeuvre, not the car driver. So we have an obligation to ensure that it is executed in a safe manner.

I absolutely agree filtering is legal and if safe we should be able to do continue to filter. My point is, if a driver is hell bent either by ignorance or being bloody minded not to let you by, you should just sit it out and not retaliate. Easy to say of course if the red mist arrives. But confrontation nearly always leads to escalation and more issues.

Me thinks this is going to be the topic of the week. There is alternative way of avoiding dumb drivers which I have come across a lot in France and Belgium.  They just put on hazards and shoot down the hard shoulder. Not something I would ever consider doing in UK of course but I have been known to use the hazards and every light possible.

Casbar wrote: I absolutely agree filtering is legal and if safe we should be able to do continue to filter. My point is, if a driver is hell bent either by ignorance or being bloody minded not to let you by, you should just sit it out and not retaliate. Easy to say of course if the red mist arrives. But confrontation nearly always leads to escalation and more issues.

I completely agree with this. In fact, it was interesting when I picked up my RT as until then I hadn't realised just how aggressive I had become with filtering on the GS. I have definitely dialled it down a notch or two since getting the new bike and have booked an IAM course to see if there are any other bad habits that I need to sort out.