I used to be the same I would never lane split and then I was talking to a friend of mine who is an ambo too (theres a few of us here that ride) and he explained to me that its one of the safest things to do. At first I thought it was a bit strange as I always thought it would just be flat out dangerous and stupid but when he explained it I changed my mind completely and will always split now.zx'er wrote:Even though I am not a big advocate of lane splitting I have had to do it a few times on the 12 and I can safely say that no it's not too wide. Maybe a bit heavier then the 9 but still light enough to move it around quickly when needed. the longest trip i have done is around 400k's with frequent stops and my bum is still pretty ok by the end of the day. My younger brother also has a 12 and he rode up to Cairns on it. Stopped every 2 hours for a rest and a smoke but made gladstone on the first day, mackay on the second and then an 8 hour run up to cairns. He loved it. In my opinion...go the 12, but then I am biased.
Until then I always got shitty when bikes went up the middle, I now realize it must have just been jealousy!!
Basically if you get hit from behind you are finished, in the traffic there is always someone in a cage that is going to stall it or do something stupid and cages can stop quicker than bikes can, often people are just paying no attention on the road whatsoever and are likely to brake at the last second and if you are behind them bam your front end is gone. Also once the lights go green you gun it off the line and no cars around you to worry about at all, it can be dangerous going up the middle but I wont ever do it at any more than about 15ks anyway and wont do it when cars are moving.
What does everyone else think?
of course there is also the *minor* issue of almost 190hp at full noise.......
