Does hi-viz motorcycle gear work?
28 Feb 2019
Intuitively one would think fluorescent clothing would make a rider more visible, but the jury is out on this point.
The fully comp minefield
17 Jan 2019
If you hear words like this from your fully comprehensive insurers: ‘it sounds to us like it was a non-fault accident. Do not use your fully comprehensive insurance, it is much better for you to use our approved repairers, do not claim on your insurance and save yourself the policy excess and having an accident […]
Fighting off the bike gangs
29 Nov 2018
This may be a tiny bit London-centric, and if people being pushed off their motorbikes to have their bikes stolen is not yet a problem for you, in your local area, then I am genuinely happy.
Flip-up helmets and the law
18 Oct 2018
If you have a modular or flip-up helmet warm weather can tempt you into riding flipped up, as it does most of the Metropolitan Police in the summer. But is it legal?
When ‘advanced riding’ isn’t
07 Jun 2018
The skills advanced riding gives you are definitely worth having. At their most basic, you position yourself to look through bends, react to what is in front of you, and ride within your braking distances. However, does it make any positive difference in the cold and hard analysis of Judges, if things go pear shaped?
The trouble with kids and horses…
24 May 2018
In English law there are classes of road user defined by The Highway Code as vulnerable. We are one of them along with cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders and children. The concept extends to the elderly, the disabled and learner drivers.
Insurance and the aftermarket
26 Apr 2018
If you are, or soon will be, buying a new bike the odds are that sometime during the process the sales person will come to you with an accessories catalogue and your bank account will cringe.
Track day issues
08 Mar 2018
Some of you may have heard that road traffic insurance is compulsory for track days following the European Court of Justice’s decision in a case called Vnuk.
Prosecution by mobile phone
25 Jan 2018
I am sure readers of Bike are wise enough not to use apps that show on social media their riding patterns, or otherwise invite thieves to know the exact pattern of movement of their motorcycles. But such apps do exist, for the dull witted.
Filter tips
14 Dec 2017
At the risk of sounding like a full-fat law dweeb the Court of Appeal said, back in 1972, that a motorcycle filtering outside of a temporarily stationary queue was ‘entitled so to do’
They look, but they don’t see…
09 Nov 2017
The Highway Code speaks of drivers ‘looking but not seeing’ motorcyclists. It suggests, rather differently, that high visibility clothing might help but beyond that is there anything we motorcyclists can do to make ourselves more visible, and if we do not is the law unsympathetic?
The curse of gravel chippings
12 Oct 2017
The biking season coincides with the Councils ‘top dressing’ the carriageways. This is a process by which the top 30 to 50mm of the road surface is replaced with small granite chippings.
Ticket (not) to ride
07 Sep 2017
Riding on the continent is usually a very enjoyable way of spending your summer, but if your souvenirs include a speeding ticket can you safely ignore the penalty, and what happens if you can’t?
It’s a sign of the lines
20 Jul 2017
The attraction of technically challenging tarmac is catnip to most riders. A new twisty road, with some nice black top and the little black and white chevrons is an invitation for riders to play.
Feet first or suffer the consequences
15 Jun 2017
The most common injuries I see in my job are injuries below the knee. I have to admit I am not one of those people who pops down to the shop wearing full body armour.
Illumination for the nation…
25 May 2017
As many adventure riders will tell you auxiliary lights seem to make riders more visible to car drivers. I certainly notice I seem less visible on my enduro bike than I do on my BMW GS with the semi obligatory auxiliary light.
The overtake and the law
13 Apr 2017
Remarkably the law says little about overtaking. The acceleration and manoeuvrability of a motorcycle has long been recognised by the Civil Law and drivers, contrary to urban myth, actually have to look before they change their position in the road potentially moving into the path of an overtaking motorcyclist.
Riding in groups: the pros and cons
17 Mar 2017
There are some old pre-war cases which place a high duty on leading riders and this has led to some strange advice and some odd prosecutions for motorcyclists riding in a group.
