Want to share a related story a few months back on one of my trips to Seremban.

I was riding around 1 or 2pm in the afternoon and somewhere near the Nilai exit, I saw three vehicles on middle and right-most lane 'racing'. One was a blue pickup (Isuzu, I think?), and two sedans whose make I can't remember. They were weaving through traffic more aggressively than kapchais, forcing people to give way, and I thought to myself: "That's just begging for trouble."

Lo and behold, around 10~15km later, past the Nilai North exit, there was a long ass traffic jam. I slowly lanesplit to the front and what do I find? The blue pickup had collided with one of the sedans and a third vehicle, which was a white VW Golf, IIRC. All three were wrecked, and I think the Golf was carrying children, who were crying by the roadside but thankfully okay. Not sure if anyone was seriously injured as I had to move along to give way to the PlusRonda.

This kind of road bullying and aggressive driving is not limited to 4 wheels. Bikers can be pretty aggressive too, especially on motorcycle lanes and narrow paths. Just a few days ago I saw them cucuk one of those three wheeler kapchais used by OKU that was also carrying a passenger...on a toll-side motorcycle lane. Like come on lah, be more considerate.

Hard to stop this kind of bad driving and riding unless there's more enforcement. Our road users are just naturally unconcerned with the well-being of others, so it doesn't surprise me that we're 3rd on that list.

Problem here is always enforcement. Laws can be introduced, but must be enforced to make sure people follow. To make things worse, Malaysian mentality is always 'it's fine as long as I don't get caught'.

Imagine if they introduce a law against filtering to either limit filtering speeds or eliminate filtering outright...it would be hell to enforce because bikes are everywhere.

This is why I try to avoid using Federal on a motorcycle when I can. Even when going to Shah Alam, I'd rather use the long, traffic-light filled route through Glenmarie.

There was a diagram shown on a facebook video that showed two kapchai riders colliding first, and the CBR500 rider + pillion swerved to avoid them, causing the crash into the sharp steel barrier.

Not sure if I'm allowed to link, but it's under Oh Bulan or some FB news portal. Should be one of the videos that pops up when you search Federal Highway accident on facebook's search bar. The diagram itself was from Harian Metro I believe.

As someone who avoids using those lanes, I can't say much except that in the times I did decide to use them, they were harrowing experiences. The narrow lanes and claustrophobic tunnels, coupled with almost 90 degree turns were clearly designed for smaller bikes like kapchais and scooters, but I feel even those bikes would have trouble navigating these lanes at their usual speeds.

Yeah, I saw the full photos on fb. Really gruesome.

Real reminder not to take unnecessary risks as a motorcyclist. The activity is dangerous enough as it is.

There was a big multi-bike crash yesterday involving 4 riders returning in a convoy from Yamaha GenBlu event. Videos are all over facebook.

Hoping for the best for all parties involved...

1. What bike are you using? Do you mean cornering at speeds above 20~30km/h or just turning at low speeds under 20km/h?

2. I've had my bike for nearly a month and still cannot filter properly, lol. I'm slowly getting better, but while I continue to adjust, I just find a space in the traffic jam where I can go in to let those faster riders pass. After it's clear, I begin to filter again. Those faster riders wait for no one, so there is no point letting them pressure you into an accident.

This post has been edited by blackbox14: Aug 9 2019, 12:43 AM

Yes, you definitely need to countersteer at that speed.

Assuming that this is filtering during traffic jam or near-standstill, do take care while doing this. In some cases, the car you end up behind will suddenly brake, or the car behind you doesn't notice that you've slipped into the gap. Occasionally there will be other cars from the other lanes that want to fill the gap as well.

The key is to find a big enough gap so that the riders tailgating you can pass. It's actually safer for you to be filtering at low speeds in a traffic jam because you're at less risk to be rear-ended by a driver who wasn't paying attention, or worse, sandwiched between cars.

On bigger highways like PLUS, you can opt to use the emergency lane instead of filtering, which is much safer bar the uncommon douchebag driver who will dive into the emergency lane. The use of that lane by motorcycles is sort of a grey zone though so do mind that.

Lately haven't been confident in overtaking cause my view of the right side rear view mirror is blurred. Difficult to judge how fast cars and bikes are approaching. Found out today my right eye astigmatism got worse.

Anyone have any advice for the type of frame for glasses best suited for full face helmet? Normally I don't wear my glasses for riding.

This post has been edited by blackbox14: Sep 7 2019, 01:29 PM

I saw titanium frames at the stores, definitely out of my budget haha.

Currently using the HJC CS-15 which has the small openings for glasses, but my aluminum frame glasses have those plastic bulging sections at the ends of the arms. Makes it very difficult to get them into the slots.

EDIT: Tried asking about contact lenses also, but the optometrist said the right eye's required power is so high that they don't make contacts like that.

This post has been edited by blackbox14: Sep 9 2019, 07:43 PM

Ideally spectacle. I just got the helmet so don't plan to change it for a while. Hard for me to find a comfy helmet below RM 500.

Basically doesn't apply to most Malaysian road users. Riders yes, but I've experienced being tailgated by cars quite a lot too, and usually expensive ones like Honda, Audi, Mercedes, etc.. This often happens if I'm slowing down and about to exit highway or a road.

Still, doesn't mean we shouldn't learn the concept and try to practice it.

I don't dare to get that close to any lorry and stay there some more. Usually when filtering and overtaking I try to get past them as quickly as possible, and do it as far away from them as possible.

Their blindspots are just too big. And they need minimum movement to cause possibly fatal damage to a motorcyclist.

Going back again to the topic of space cushion above:

What is the best way to deal with riders who tailgate very close when you are slowing down from main road and about to turn into a junction?

I run into this problem a lot because many entrances to neighborhoods in Malaysia are sharp turns from a main road. It's even more dangerous when there are those who want to turn into the same junction as me, because they tend to tailgate me very closely through the turn.

I'm not comfortable going through these 90 degree turns at high speeds (above 50km/h) since there tends to be gravel/potholes/debris on the side or sometimes even in the center of these junctions. But that puts me at risk of being rear ended by these guys when they end up behind me.

I have tried letting them overtake by braking and giving way, but they still insist on sitting uncomfortably close to my bike's rear.

This post has been edited by blackbox14: Nov 27 2019, 11:53 PM

The situation I'm talking about usually involves only a single lane, and even if I hug the left side of the lane, they will not overtake. I also brake and signal very early.

Cars in this case are not as bad as the bikes, especially if the other bike wants to turn into the same junction. Not sure why they won't overtake before the junction and try to force me to go through the junction faster.

Saw a kapchai kena by another kapchai a few days back at Damansara Uptown. It's a scarier situation because both these bikes were turning right and have to cross the oncoming lane to enter the junction.

It was very close to collision as the one at the front had to emergency brake due to cars speeding up at the junction. The guy behind was probably 10cm or less from hitting the front guy's rear tire. If he had hit, would have launched the front guy into the path of those oncoming cars...

Anyway, I have and will continue to at least give opportunity for these guys to pass me. Whatever their hurry is, I don't want to be involved in an accident because of it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the reason these guys ride so recklessly is because they don't want the customer to give them a bad rating?

Malaysian customers can be quite demanding, especially when it comes to getting food. I hear the driver sometimes kena just because the restaurant got the order wrong.

Yeah, I agree. I too wish that there was more safety awareness among the food delivery riders' community...

However, that's the reasoning that I've heard from acquaintances who run these jobs. I don't think there's much we can do to change their minds unless the authorities increase enforcement.