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Thread: Driver anger, L plate or not

  1. #1
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    2nd July 2012 - 10:04
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    Driver anger, L plate or not

    I just got my restricted a week ago and was extremely happy to finally get rid of my L plate. "There go the days of people tailgating me all the time", I thought. Oh how I was wrong..

    Has anyone noticed this during the transition? The first week I was on a bike with Ls I was tailgated incessantly. When I finally figured out what I was doing and was able to keep up with everyone else it didn't seem so bad anymore, with the odd person still doing it. Now it seems I get it twice as bad as when I first started, and I easily ride faster than I did then.

    The worst cases are when I split to the front of queues (a touchy subject, but it's mainly to avoid a rear end) and take off in front of the line of cars to only be raced by the one at the front whilst the others take off at a normal pace.

    Not just that, but on the motorway I seem to get tailgated also. Not because I'm holding up the fast lane or anything, but it's happened a few times in the slow lane even. Yesterday a guy tailgated me in the slow lane for a good few minutes before almost missing his offramp..

    It all just seems a bit strange. Is it something else, or do people just really hate motorcycles?

  2. #2
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    30th June 2011 - 14:30
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    Hi neighbour (I live in weymouth).

    I dont have a problem, but then I ride a big black bike and try to look as intimidating as possible.
    "If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France
    "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't." - Anatole France
    ZRXOA #9170

  3. #3
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    27th February 2005 - 08:47
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    Are you one of these twats that split to the front and then proceed to dawdle at 10kph under the speed limit? If so, i would try and run you over as well. If not, its probably due to the fact you live in auckland.

  4. #4
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    3rd January 2013 - 19:46
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    I don't think I ever had problems due to my L plate (in all those loooong...3 month of it ). I only have people tailgaiting me when I'm too slow, but then I just let them pass and problem solved.

    Hehe, maybe I should just leave it on for the next 10 years or so until cars have automatic sensors that will force them to keep their distance.

  5. #5
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    31st March 2005 - 02:18
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    Quote Originally Posted by f2dz View Post
    It all just seems a bit strange. Is it something else, or do people just really hate motorcycles?
    Generally, kiwis are crap drivers.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jane Omorogbe from UK MSN on the KTM990SM
    It's barking mad and if it doesn't turn you into a complete loon within half an hour of cocking a leg over the lofty 875mm seat height, I'll eat my Arai.

  6. #6
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    9th January 2011 - 23:31
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    Ride at your own pace. I took a trip to Mokau and was sitting smack on 100 the whole way. Got overtaken by every man and his dog. Its not a big deal. Move to the left and wave them past.

    Just dont be like a certain lady that decided to overtake by trying to cross the centreline as little as possible.
    I never get lost. I go on adventures

  7. #7
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    6th May 2012 - 10:41
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    you're in auckland.
    aucklanders have no spatial awareness or reasoning. they also think it's perfectly reasonable to sit three abreast on a motorway, all travelling 20km under the speed limit, and don't realise that it's not actually normal to have a queue of cars behind you, when they get onto country roads,
    get a shotgun scabbard for the forks on your bike, and a shotgun, obviously. if they don't get the point, give them the point.

  8. #8
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    12th February 2012 - 16:34
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    Perhaps get your Speedo checked, you might be going slower than you think.
    I'm still on my learners, I am able to sit my restricted now but i have never had a learners plate, i also never get tail gated. If someone tailgates me on the bike and im doing to speed limit i make sure they can see that im not happy about.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by iYRe View Post
    Hi neighbour (I live in weymouth).

    I dont have a problem, but then I ride a big black bike and try to look as intimidating as possible.
    Howdy. If you ever commute north on the Southern then we've probably seen each other.

    I ride a blue Ninja 250, white and black helmet.

    Quote Originally Posted by nodrog View Post
    Are you one of these twats that split to the front and then proceed to dawdle at 10kph under the speed limit? If so, i would try and run you over as well. If not, its probably due to the fact you live in auckland.
    Definitely not me. I try to take off as quickly as I can to not hold up traffic at all. That's why it surprised me when I take off with my usual promptness only to see a car ride on my ass while all the rest of them are still back at the lights.

    Quote Originally Posted by Asher View Post
    Perhaps get your Speedo checked, you might be going slower than you think.
    I'm still on my learners, I am able to sit my restricted now but i have never had a learners plate, i also never get tail gated. If someone tailgates me on the bike and im doing to speed limit i make sure they can see that im not happy about.
    Maybe. I've gone past a few of those digital speed checking signs and have been surprised by how less they tell me I'm actually going. I've done that before too; turned around and gave them a quick stare before looking forward again. Of course while making note I have a good run of clear road ahead of me first. A good stare at em through a tinted visor usually scares em a bit..

    I don't think Auckland drivers are that bad on the whole. I really didn't have a problem up until taking my L off. Generally people are pretty aware while I'm riding, just seems like there's more cagers out to get me now that I'm L-less.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by f2dz View Post
    Howdy. If you ever commute north on the Southern then we've probably seen each other.

    I ride a blue Ninja 250, white and black helmet.
    Hey, yo..

    Hmm.. rarely use the southern, usually the south western - because I can detour out to the airport, then ihumatao-Oruarangi-ambury-mangere waterfront on the way to work for some corners :P (same way I ride my bicycle - which I also ride out your way to clevedon then up twilight and back)

    If you saw me I might look like this:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    or this:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    "If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France
    "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't." - Anatole France
    ZRXOA #9170

  11. #11
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    3rd October 2010 - 16:50
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    Quite simpily, it is Auckland. We tailgate, even when we dont need to. We slow right the fuck down to gork at an accident, or someone pulled over by the cops. We cant keep constant speeds. We are just crap drivers, end of story. Spend a few days in a truck driving around Auckland, you will never stop being amazed at the stupidity. Of course, none of that applies to me, because I am the best driver in Auckland, mind you thats what every Aucklander thinks.

    I got over taken on the bike heading upto warkworth yesterday by a diesel 4x4, on the bend part of the passing lane before the sharp corner, then theres the passing lane straight after it. She didnt go any faster, and only held me up when she came up behind a truck who would kindly pull left every chance he got, but she couldnt over take, and I was stuck behind her. Once I got back in front of her, she was gone, and I was sitting dead on 100. Plain aragance. Cant expect anything more from an Aucklander.

  12. #12
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    14th November 2012 - 19:14
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    hey mate, I'm also a neighbour over in weymouth lol,you'll just have to get used to it ae,people just don't care about others.'I too split and go to the front,take off quick etc,99% no probs but there's always that 1%.sometimes I get chased down,other times they take off while the lights red and cut me off,other times they speed up the right hand turn only lane then cut me off.best thing ive found is dark screen,good gear and ride aggressively to the point where you play chicken if you have to. I had a guy tail me up the sw the other day,wouldn't get off my arse even after id pulled way ahead of others and he had more than enough space, I knew he was watching my brakes cos I had a finger on the front lever to light up the brakes and he'd slow a bit then speed up so last resort I jumped on the anchors and was ready to be hit.he slammed on his and locked up,skidded sideways a bit and then never came close to me again

  13. #13
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    8th March 2010 - 19:59
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    It's just the shit Auckland driver thing, I get tailgated all the time, when I was on my plates, Restricted and now on my full, always when I'm sitting between 100 and 110kph indicated.

    Just today doing 107kph indicated I was getting tailgated up the Northern motorway by an erratic driving Aston Martin Vanquish owner. That was out of the norm, normally it's assholes in Audi's tailgating me for no apparent reason!
    It wasn't me officer, I swear!

  14. #14
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    Something I have found to help is to find a good spot (slight downhill helps), pull the clutch in and gently wave your right hand backwards and forwards a few times (straight arm, fingers down) as if to ask them to ease back. I find that 8 or 9 times out of 10 they will wake up and give me more room. No need to be aggro about it, just remind them that you'd like a safer gap to be kept.

    My current theory is that they are not really registering your bike as a vehicle, so they are half-pie following the vehicle in front of you, as if you are not there. The 'ease back' wave seems to wake them up a bit. Could be worth a try..?

    It's not foolproof and they're are some total arsehats out there. For those, either leave them behind or make it easy for them go around you.
    Last edited by chasio; 12th February 2013 at 17:33. Reason: Mixed tenses in second paragraph were bugging me!

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oblivion View Post
    Ride at your own pace. I took a trip to Mokau and was sitting smack on 100 the whole way. Got overtaken by every man and his dog. Its not a big deal. Move to the left and wave them past.

    Just dont be like a certain lady that decided to overtake by trying to cross the centreline as little as possible.
    Sorry but I really DO have an issue with this 'move to the left' thing..... Advanced/safe riding ' OWN YOUR BIT OF ROAD' a bike needs as much room as a car, you should be positioned approximately 2/3 or. level with a car driver for road position. moving to the left simply encourages people to use 'bully' tactics. Especially if a fuckwit (WRXGTSEVO) driver is following and observes it. A car does NOT 'move to the left' of its lane when being overtaken.
    Secondly, by moving to the left you have automatically removed any manoeuvring space you had, in the event of...... thats my view, and I'll stick to it
    If the road to hell is paved with good intentions; and a man is judged by his deeds and his actions, why say it's the thought that counts? -GrayWolf

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