Almost had a crash today on the 401. How should I prepare? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Almost had a crash today on the 401. How should I prepare?

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Those urban rush-hour commutes are the anti-thesis to what motorcycling should be about: clutching in and out in first gear for most of the way, constantly wary of all the assassins around you piloting 5000-lb weapons, and all the while, being surrounded by drab, ugly, concrete structures as far as the eye can see... and when there's a break in traffic, the road is as straight as an arrow wearing down a flat spot in the middle of your tires.

I remember there was a guy on here that said commuting on a bike basically killed his love of motorcycles.
 
Quite a few others have mentioned this so consider this a re-emphasis. Be very, very cautious about situations where you are going much faster than what's in an adjacent lane, and look for any sign that a vehicle is going to pop out of that lane into yours in order to get ahead. At the same time, be alert to the risks of going much slower than someone behind you may be expecting (or hoping).

Tailgating and riding in blind spots is normally a no-no ... but using another vehicle as cover can sometimes be an option. Anyone popping out of line will have to go through them to get to you.

Be prepared for changing lane position or going for the breakdown lane.

I don't like riding in heavy traffic.
 
sburns said:
You could just avoid the 401 completely. Unless this is your main mode of transportation. For me 401 or any rush hour around the GTA is bad for bikes, cars as well. Why bother with it if you can avoid it. Like today I had to be down by the exhibition grounds around 6 pm (in the car). It was a disater the whole way there. I can't imagine having to do this day in day out, never mind on a bike. It would suck the life out of me.
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Stopped riding for a few years because of this. The 401 killed any enjoyment of riding during that time.

When I looked at the bike it wasn't that I saw fun, escape, enjoyment, or any other myriad of positive emotions. I associated the bike with the commute from hell.

Now I'm back to riding again, and the drive from Mississauga to Scarborough on a motorcycle...on the 401...both ways...eff no.
 
Lightcycle said:
Those urban rush-hour commutes are the anti-thesis to what motorcycling should be about: clutching in and out in first gear for most of the way, constantly wary of all the assassins around you piloting 5000-lb weapons, and all the while, being surrounded by drab, ugly, concrete structures as far as the eye can see... and when there's a break in traffic, the road is as straight as an arrow wearing down a flat spot in the middle of your tires.

I remember there was a guy on here that said commuting on a bike basically killed his love of motorcycles.
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That was me...or at least one of us.
 
Lightcycle said:
Right, I remember now.

And now you're sick of the bike, not the riding! Interested to see how this story ends, whether you end up buying sburns HD or scubas Duc...
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As others mentioned...maybe I'm the problem!

Sburn's HD isn't for me, and Scuba's Duc is too much out of my range (trying to keep new bike around 8k...whatever it is in the end).
 
mimico_polak said:
Scuba's Duc is too much out of my range (trying to keep new bike around 8k...whatever it is in the end).
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Stretch goals @ $10K - and maybe try to talk him down a little bit.

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Pretty much the best Monster they ever made, IMO... tasteful upgrades, looks to be in good condition and fairly low mileage...
 
Lightcycle said:
Stretch goals @ $10K - and maybe try to talk him down a little bit.

www.kijiji.ca

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.
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Pretty much the best Monster they ever made, IMO... tasteful upgrades, looks to be in good condition and fairly low mileage...
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Very nice!

I'm pulling the X out today to wash it.

Too many things going on at once lol.
 
Lightcycle said:
Stretch goals @ $10K - and maybe try to talk him down a little bit.

www.kijiji.ca

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.
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Pretty much the best Monster they ever made, IMO... tasteful upgrades, looks to be in good condition and fairly low mileage...
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The anti-boredom bike. I like it.
 
How heavy on maintenance are these things? My Italian ex-gf was a piece of work...was fun until she pulled a knife one day for reasons unknown.

I'm sure a Ducati won't try to kill me...right!?
 
mimico_polak said:
How heavy on maintenance are these things? My Italian ex-gf was a piece of work...was fun until she pulled a knife one day for reasons unknown.

I'm sure a Ducati won't try to kill me...right!?
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The Monsters won't kill you, but the older ones tend to steal money from your wallet at night. And during the day as well...

I had a SBK from that era, it wasn't too too bad, but more $ to maintain than a Honda. Goes without saying, though, right?

Newer ones have pretty long service intervals (15K kms)... but they do pop up a service reminder every 12 months regardless of if you hit the service mileage or not which is pretty high on the annoying scale.
 
Too many motorcyclists get onto the 400 series and then veer across three lanes to the far left.
I rode the QEW in stop & go down from the Gardiner to Dualsport Plus all in the right hand lane, it was fine.
 
The 400 series highways near the GTA are treacherous enough in a car. I used to commute by motorbike down the 404 to work up to 8 years ago. Used to leave early in the morning, fun ride. Way home was stop and go but after hwy 7 it got better. In the last 8 years it took the fun out for sure. Summers were more fun as traffic was 30-40% lighter. Now it might be 10% at most.
I noticed today on the 404 many riders were in the middle lane, right track. I’d want to be in the right lane for most of the time. A few were blasting in the HOV lane, and weaving out of the left.
Those big roads stress me out as I grind my teeth and my neck is going side to side like a windshield wiper.
 
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voyageur said:
Well, be careful and aware. Mississauga and Brampton is slowly getting there, it's all our people lol. I would say in the last couple of years the quality of driving has gone terribly bad, terribly terribly bad. So has many other things including random violence, real estate prices, so on and so forth. Canada is the 5th country that I'm staying (long term) and no country have I seen so much deterioration in such a short amount of time. It's really sad.

If you have ridden in India, just use the same principles of awareness here along with whatever defensive driving you learnt in M1 exit. And, ride with a huge margin of safety. All the best!

PS: I personally stopped commuting on motorcycle. Tires are expensive and I have put a lot of miles commuting in my life that I no longer feel the urge to ride on highways and straights, unless I need to. Too many idiots want to race, cut me off or tail gate.
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In 2008 I took my dream ride through the states to Mount Rushmore and back through Manitoba and top of Superior. Nothing but smiles all the way until on the way back I passed Barrie and the stench of Toronto drivers became obvious.

Toronto hasn't been fun for decades but I seem to have noticed a new level of A**holeism when interest rates started to go up and more people went into crisis. I'm not saying it's OK to be an Ahole but the accumulated lack of foresight by every level of government on almost every field of their mandate is taking its toll.
 
GreyGhost said:
Lane position, awareness and speed control are your friends.

I don't care what the speed limit is. If I am going far faster than the lane beside me, your brain should be in code red or yellow as the odds of someone doing something stupid are very high. A few years ago a cruiser rider was killed in the hov lane by someone crossing the solid lines to try to gain some positions. I'd switch to the right wheel track in your situation. Gives you a little more visibility (ie you can see better) and space if someone comes out. I also really hate going much faster than the lane beside me. Not blasting down the ramp lane will only add a few seconds to your commute and may save your life (more time to react and a gentler crash).

Dashcam is interesting but meh. You need to avoid the crash not document your death. Depending on what it captured, it may help you avoid charges (or get you charges).
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I disagree with getting in the right wheel track. It gives you more time to react, but it also makes you less visible in their side-view mirror making the situation ore likely to happen.
I agree with adjusting your speed however, now that he's become hyper-aware of this possibility. Slower speed means longer commute, but the alternative is a possible end to commuting...forever.
 
nobbie48 said:
In 2008 I took my dream ride through the states to Mount Rushmore and back through Manitoba and top of Superior. Nothing but smiles all the way until on the way back I passed Barrie and the stench of Toronto drivers became obvious.

Toronto hasn't been fun for decades but I seem to have noticed a new level of A**holeism when interest rates started to go up and more people went into crisis. I'm not saying it's OK to be an Ahole but the accumulated lack of foresight by every level of government on almost every field of their mandate is taking its toll.
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In "Long Way Round", the only traffic accident involving Charley Boorman and specifically Ewan McGregor, involved being hit from behind by a (I think) teenager driving a Honda Civic near Calgary. They survived riding across Europe and Siberia, only to be rear ended in Canada.
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