Ryan's right but filtering is wrong for me

I can't ride the way this guy rides.

 Everyone loves the motorcycling videos by Ryan of FortNine. They're informative, thought provoking and, best of all, funny. 

His recent video on "filtering" was all three of those. But it left me feeling that filtering, the practice of sneaking through lines of cars stuck in traffic to get ahead, is not for me. 

In the video we see Ryan "F9" delivering his praise of filtering while actually squeezing his motorcycle past cars, trucks and buses stopped in traffic. It's a demonstration that filtering works. 

His justification for passing up automobile drivers who must wait dutifully in line is simple: he's not hurting them. They'll get where they're going just as soon as they would have anyway. 

But he will get where he is going faster. No one loses, but he wins. 

One-plus-one is three in this calculation. 

There's also some evidence that not waiting in line is safer for motorcyclists, who are sometimes hit from behind by inattentive drivers.

I concede it all, but I still won't do it.

For one thing, I am no where near as skilled a rider as Ryan. I quail at the sight of an endless line of exterior rearview mirrors sticking out to grab my handlebars.

Trucks and big SUVs take up a lot of room in their lanes, leaving not very much for me.

And then there is one BIG thing that necessitates my caution. I ride a famously slow-poke old Royal Enfield Bullet. That wouldn't seem to matter, since the automobile traffic at rush hour is essentially going zero miles per hour.

But it does matter.

Because the LAST THING I want to do is make my way to pole position, putting behind me 50 lead-foot drivers eager to pass. 

Experience shows that those guys will do anything to get by me, including cutting into my lane and then slamming on their brakes in front of me at the next light.

Remember, my Bullet is not only slow, it has drum brakes, actuated, on the front, by a bicycle style cable. The danger is that I will ram them from behind.

Some might comment that, so, I ought to get a "real" motorcycle, so I can cut and slice my way through traffic. That will work for many; but it's not why I motorcycle.

See what you think. This his his video: