Filtering on a R3 R - is it too wide?

[Mighty Mouse]

Well after spending 1.5 hours of my 4 hr. trip splitting traffic due to construction and ungodly traffic every friggin where in California up and back total 8 hours with 3 hours splitting on my GT and I can say YES. It is the perfect bike to split traffic even with Panniers on. I saw a few HD struggling to split and some of the sports bikes split traffic like butter and the GT was plain easy to split mile after friggin mile. One guy on a Harley looked like he was taking his bike for a walk sort of splitting traffic trying to balance his bike. His little chaps covered legs got a work out.

 

[hogfest50]

I think it all depends on the kind of bike you're used to riding. I've ridden a lot of "wide-bodied" bikes and so lane splitting with the R3R is not a problem for me. In fact, the low center of gravity and instant torque makes it easier to maneuver than the other wide-bodies I've ridden, and comparable even to some of the naked sport bikes I've owned or ridden. I've had nothing but fun on the New R 3 no matter what I've done on it, including lane splitting. My suggestion is to pick a more negotiable spot and give it a try - you may be pleasantly surprised!

AGREED i'm used to wide bar Harleys never had a problem ,just know your limitations these are wide but my widest was my Boss hoss those were 40 inch wide but because everybody heard me coming they generally moved aside hence loud pipes have their uses

 

[Guffer]

Got over my fear of filtering (splitting) on the R3R over the summer. It’s not an issue now.

Those DRL’s certainly help. Traffic seems to notice me more with those than my loud piped bikes in the past.

Are dual carriageway roads in the UK generally narrower than those in the US?

 

[Bigjaype]

I think here in Victoria, they have the filtering laws about spot on.
Only at 30km/h or less
Only between vehicles (not between vehicle and curb)
Not between vehicles in opposing directions.
I have found that a lot of drivers will try and make extra space when they see you coming, but of course, there are the idiots that try and close the gap too.
When I commute on my bike, it shaves about 30% of my time off the trip.

 

[maurice]

I think here in Victoria, they have the filtering laws about spot on.
Only at 30km/h or less
Only between vehicles (not between vehicle and curb)
Not between vehicles in opposing directions.
I have found that a lot of drivers will try and make extra space when they see you coming, but of course, there are the idiots that try and close the gap too.
When I commute on my bike, it shaves about 30% of my time off the trip.

Was looking at a YouTube bike review video of an fjr in CA. And was amazed at the time saved in a huge line of cars. Wish it was legal in AZ as I would be willing to get used to it.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

You save a ton of time. I can't imagine sitting in stop and go traffic and not splitting. If it's a short duration I stay in my lane but if it's commute then off I go until I smell freedom. It's a perk of riding a motorcycle and the Rocket is a fantastic bike to do it on.

 

[Bigjaype]

Takes a lot of concentration and can be quite tiresome if you have to do a lot of it and I don’t particularly enjoy it.
It’s great at traffic lights but filtering through long lines of slow moving traffic creates several potential opportunities for having an incident.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Takes a lot of concentration and can be quite tiresome if you have to do a lot of it and I don’t particularly enjoy it.
It’s great at traffic lights but filtering through long lines of slow moving traffic creates several potential opportunities for having an incident.

I agree you have to be on your toes and after a while quite tiresome although the idea of sitting in commute traffic for extended amounts of time while having the ability to exit the traffic I will always split. If I want to sit in traffic I'll take my car but once again it does get sketchy if your not paying attention while traversing through traffic. Like most if I don't feel like it I won't. To each his own.

 

[Tripps]

I really never ride anywhere that lane splitting would even be a thing. Advantages of rural living #243