Using the brake pedal at traffic lights?

neilmcl

Road_Hog wrote: »

Good to see that driving instructors are moving into the real world.

Yep, I think that's what I posted earlier on.

I sit at traffic lights with the handbrake on, in neutral and with the start/stop system engaged, never delayed another driver yet, in fact I often get away quicker than most drivers alonside. There's plenty of time to put the car into gear and drive off on green unless you're the sort of driver who likes to jump the lights.

Amanita_2

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Are you one of those annoying people who drive at 40-50mph in a 60mph zone, effectively tripping me up as I walk on your heels? Most annoying!

Actually no - I'm more likely to be sat at a safe distance behind you wondering why on earth you are dawdling around the bends! Most annoying

Road_Hog

neilmcl wrote: »

I sit at traffic lights with the handbrake on, in neutral and with the start/stop system engaged, never delayed another driver yet, in fact I often get away quicker than most drivers alonside.

Sorry, but it's impossible to be away quicker (especially if you are the lead car) if you've got to disengage handbrake, and then put the car into gear, compare to someone that has their foot on the foot brake and possibly still has it in gear (assuming the drivers are of comparative ability).

You're talking c0ckwaffle.

bloss0m

It doesn't bother me I tend to use the handbrake so it can putt less strain on the battery and charge it up a tiny bit

One of the most annoying things I dislike is meeting a vehicle on your side of the road parked with lights fully on at night so they temporary blind you. I had on idiot last night parked just around the sharp corner whilst partly on kerb with lights full on you dont need lights full on only dipped if you park temporary if you have to face traffic

Trebor16

Cash-Strapped.T32 wrote: »

Close enough for me.
To avoid being told off for going o/t I won't talk too much about one single bike, but yes, you're pretty much correct - ish.
(then again, the thread has gone on about auto cars for long enough so I suppose I'm not going too far o/t)

It doesn't have a gearbox at all, the crank powers a simple drive-belt (hard-wearing, I got over 20k miles from my last one), which runs to the final drive so in auto mode it is literally just like a scooter in operation - at traffic lights you let go of the throttle & the bike just sits there, idling.

The "geared" mode uses the same hardware, the drive-belt snaps to pre-defined positions on the variator to give the ratios which emulate 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc (exactly like the derailleurs on a mountain bike, as opposed to the gearboxes that your or I might think of).

There is no clutch lever (the left-hand bar has no lever at all) and the rider changes gear using a foot-shifter, or alternatively +/- paddles on the handlebar, like one of those sequential paddle shifters you get in some cars.
It sounds complex to explain, but when you see it disassembled, and when you use it, it's immensely simple, and practical - I can't believe that it's not more common, and I'm kinda ashamed that it took the Italians to do it on a modern bike (not counting 70's Hondamatics )
/essay ends

Thanks for the explanation, really useful indeed!:beer:

Cash-Strapped.T32

Road_Hog wrote: »

You're talking c0ckwaffle.

To be fair to the poster, considering that so many drivers don't bother to get ready until the car in front actually starts moving, I bet it's at least possible.

If everyone could be ready to move when the lights changed colour, the entire line would move in concert and far more people would get through, but as things are you often see the driver in front only reach for their handbrake until the car in front of him begins to move, and then the next one does the same & so-on, creating that elastic-band sort of effect that so winds me up. :mad:

missile wrote: »

rare beast for a good reason ......... it is a dog.

Oi! Shut it Fonzie
Nah, I see where you're coming from, it's not a sporty bike, the fairly sit-up & beg position doesn't lend itself to the sportier end of riders, & unless you replaced the relatively heavy wheels, non-adjustable forks etc.. with say, RSV4 kit (which I have seen done) then it's certainly not a trackday monster, and putting out 78bhp (by comparison it's sister bike the manual 750 Shiver puts out 84/86bhp) means it's hardly among the fastest or lightest bikes in it's class - I certainly wouldn't want to try & beat the Fazer/R6/etc.. boys on it. :eek:

But that said it's mechanically simple (very little to go wrong other than the ecu/tcu's & other leccy gubbins that most modern bikes all use), easy to work on, very reliable, and gives moderate to good MPG for it's size - and feels very well planted the way I ride which is quite conservative; I'd far rather make the 180mi round trips I've been doing lately on a mana than the bad-boy bikes above.

kingstreet

Automatic car driver here.

If at lights and expect to be there for no more than a couple of minutes, I follow the advice in my Saab owner's manual and remain in drive, with foot on brake.

If any longer, I would engage park and handbrake.

I'd like to apologise to any manual drivers who haven't a bloody clue what's going on.

And yes, with PRND21, an automatic driver selecting drive after park, would indeed give you a quick burst of the reverse lights as they go through "R" on the way to "D."

Sorry. Clean kex normally found in top drawer.

Lum

You would think that these days, given the amount of pointless electrical gubbins and computer equipment that sits between the light switch and the bulb on a modern car, some car designer would have thought "I know, lets put a 0.5 sec delay on the reverse light on all our automatic cars" or "lets only have the reverse light come on once the autobox has actually selected reverse".

This would be a lot more useful than non-latching indicators, or the 3 flash thing or any of the other crap that designers have come up with to overcomplicate car lights.

neilmcl

Road_Hog wrote: »

Sorry, but it's impossible to be away quicker (especially if you are the lead car) if you've got to disengage handbrake, and then put the car into gear, compare to someone that has their foot on the foot brake and possibly still has it in gear (assuming the drivers are of comparative ability).

You're talking c0ckwaffle.

Not all. There's enough delay between red, red/amber and green for me to get into gear and advance. Like I said, unless you're the sort that likes to jump the lights.

ScratchandSniff-->[X]

missile wrote: »

If YOUR handbrake won't sufficiently hold the car on a steep hill you should get it fixed asap.

And don't buy a Kia Sedona ever...