Question for California Commuters:

[James Burleigh]

The other day in San Francisco I happened to notice a young woman on a scooter shoot out into an intersection when the light turned green. She caught my eye because I realized she had pulled up to the right of the car in the right of two lanes, then shot out ahead into the intersection. Being a scolder (Fang's word) by nature, I shook my head and uttered, "Stupid."

Similarly this week, I've been passed by riders diving full speed up between lanes of tight knots of freeway traffic sweeping through a curve (where cars don't tend to hold their lines). "You are one crazy SOB! Be careful out there."

Anyway, it made me think about what my own boundaries are, what I will and won't do. I've listed below the ones that stand out in my mind. I think we know what a lot of us WILL do (I'm reprising in the link below an earlier-posted commuting compilation video). But for my edification, consideration, adoption, safety, etc., I'd like to hear what other California commuters' boundaries are:



What won't you do out there in the Land of High-Density, Weaving, Speeding Metallic Cages (aka, The Meat Grinder)?


What JB Won't Do:

• Pass on the right shoulder
• Lane share next to a moving truck or bus or otherwise long vehicle (car with trailer for example)
• Illegally go around traffic in a way a car could just as easily, if the driver were a prick (see JB's Principle of MC Advantage)
• Cut to the front of a line on the right next to the curb (when not intending to turn right)
• Throw something at a car, smash a mirror, or tweek an aerial
• Pass between a fast-moving car on the left and a line of slower or stopped cars on the right (mostly HOV lane issue)
• Weave through traffic at excessive speed

Compilation Commute Video
Jb

 

[madmike2]

Since I drive for a living, I've seen more than the very frightening and bold moves you hae described. All we can do is wait for Darwin's Law to be ruthlessly applied and pity the witnesses who will live with the memory of carnage. :dribble:

 

[James Burleigh]

Since I drive for a living, I've seen more than the very frightening and bold moves you hae described. All we can do is wait for Darwin's Law to be ruthlessly applied and pity the witnesses who will live with the memory of carnage. :dribble:

In a recent Friction Zone, the CHP contributing cop mentioned a bumper sticker he saw on the back of a semi that he thought said it all:



Left Side: Passing Side


 
Right Side: Suicide
Hi, Mike! How ya doin'?!

 

[Old Michael]

"and pity the witnesses who will live with the memory of carnage."

I gotta say, that when I witness a "motorcyclist"- especially one not wearing proper gear, doing something idiotic and suicidal,

I selfishly hope I'll be far away when he goes down and bloodies up the road. I don't want to have the image in my mind

for my remaining years on the planet. Like most of you other old *******s out there, I've seen my share of **** and bloodshed, and I'd

rather not post a fresh photo in my brain.

Yeah, I'm off topic, but it would take too long to list the things I'd not do on my Feejer.

As my old man used to exclaim - "HAVE SOME SENSE!"

 

[Old Michael]

And Mr. Burleigh, what did I miss? The avatar change?

 

[James Burleigh]

And Mr. Burleigh, what did I miss? The avatar change?

Through an Internet ambush glitch, I somehow accidently (have I used enough qualifiers?) linked in some **** on the Forum. I am feeling ashamed.....

I don't want to know what we all won't do on an FJR, I want to know what people's commuting limits are in dense urban traffic. You have to be aggressive if you are going to get in that mix, and I want to know where folks aggressiveness limits are.

Thanks for your post.

Hey, you're close by. When we gonna ride together in the foothills with your fellow Sack-a-Tomatoes cronies?

Jb

 

[painman]

I don't commute but when riding in that type environment where lane splitting is required or desired, I don't split (share) if traffic is going faster than 35 mph. Abide by this rule and you will stay out of BIG trouble. Also know some who are employed by the CHP and this is the threshold they go by for writting up spliltters (sharer's). Though I have wittnessed motorcops doing just the opposite. I think mainly they are looking for anyone who is riding/driving faster than what the conditions allow or what is safe. So IMO the idea is to not draw unwanted attention eh. PM. <><

 

[James Burleigh]

I don't split (share) if traffic is going faster than 35 mph.

Thanks for the note, Pain. I personally will not cruise in line with traffic going 35. I need to get closer to 50 or 60 before I get in line and mellow out, but to be honest I don't really notice the speed (I can't read the GD speedometer, which is why I painted my speedometer with whiteout dots at 60, 80, 100, and 120).

Jb

 

[Silver Penguin]

As always, a nice piece of camera work JB. The music was perfect. Had you not shared lanes, that would have been a couple of hours rather than five minutes of footage.

My limits are similar to yours but the speed varies. PM has 35mph as his limit. If all the traffic is at 35 or so, I'll stay in line but if only the 'cautious' driver in the HOV line in front of me is at that speed, I'm gone.

I will not share lanes between HOV and left lane, where there isn't a solid line. While I'm fully aware that morons can enter and exit the lane anywhere, the majority will stay to the legal spots. The majority will NOT do a head check to look for motorcycles.

I will not share lanes when I'm tired. The level of concentration needed is high. Sometimes, I need to give all I've got towards being defensive.

Jill

 

[James Burleigh]

As always, a nice piece of camera work JB. The music was perfect. Had you not shared lanes, that would have been a couple of hours rather than five minutes of footage.

Thank you, Penguini.

I will not share lanes when I'm tired. The level of concentration needed is high. Sometimes, I need to give all I've got towards being defensive.

Gunny on that. You make an excellent point. On my commute home I am MUCH less aggressive than I am in the morning. I am tired and the other commuters are tired. The margin of error is reduced, not to mention the gathering (this time of year) darkness. Just the other night I realized I was distracted and tired, and I was slogging it along behind cars going 35 MPH. Two bikes passed me who have a different threshhold....

When I wrote my article analyzing rush hour motorcycle accidents, I discovered that 70% of M.C. accidents that occur during rush hour occur in the EVENING rush hour. Nuff said....

Thanks for your post.

 

[madmike2]

I will not share lanes between HOV and left lane, where there isn't a solid line. Jill

Jill, we don't have "solid lines" for the HOV lane as you do in the L.A. basin. We have broken lines all the time which has "freaked out" some of my relatives from SoCal when they visit up here. They just can't believe we can enter and exit the HOV lane "at will". Thus, we have to be aware all of the time.

 

[Silent]

You've watched me split before Hans

I follow the same basic rules you do with the exception that if someone does piss me off enough, I WILL smash there mirror. No one has been able to piss me off enough yet, but don't rule it out B)

 

[Kevin Daly]

God, just watching that makes me wonder why anyone would have an FJR in the city. i never have to think about crap like that!

 

[twowheelnut]

I followed Fairlaner once doing 80 MPH. And sharing lanes. While going 80. mg: That skeered me. I'll not do that again. Come to think about it, I should never follow Fairlaner again, either! :lol:

 

[Silver Penguin]

Jill, we don't have "solid lines" for the HOV lane as you do in the L.A. basin. We have broken lines all the time which has "freaked out" some of my relatives from SoCal when they visit up here. They just can't believe we can enter and exit the HOV lane "at will". Thus, we have to be aware all of the time.

During a recent rebuild of the Garden Grove Freeway, the enter/exit at will HOV lane was introduced as an experiment. I don't ride that freeway often enough to be able to comment on the difference it has made. However, it does make me nervous. I believe that a lot more solo drivers will use the 'bonus' lane for overtaking.

Andy doesn't lane share when I'm with him (and prefers that I don't either), so I have limited experience with the skills. My commute is at 6am and 8pm when the traffic is usually moving. I did however get an introduction to advanced lane sharing when I followed Fairlaner through LA morning rush hour traffic. He was kind enough to slow down and wait for me periodically. That was a thrill ride!!!! (Not to mention the triple digits on PCH and 90mph through the twisties).

Jill

 

[twowheelnut]

I will not share lanes between HOV and left lane, where there isn't a solid line. Jill

Jill, we don't have "solid lines" for the HOV lane as you do in the L.A. basin. We have broken lines all the time which has "freaked out" some of my relatives from SoCal when they visit up here. They just can't believe we can enter and exit the HOV lane "at will". Thus, we have to be aware all of the time.

This is a good point on the type of lanes you can share... Never share a lane where a solid line exists. That will get you a ticket. I can't seem to find the proper link, but sharing in those lanes is verboten.

 

[Silver Penguin]

This is a good point on the type of lanes you can share... Never share a lane where a solid line exists. That will get you a ticket. I can't seem to find the proper link, but sharing in those lanes is verboten.

IIRC, lane sharing in the HOV lane, with the solid line is not illegal, as long as you don't cross the line. Even a brief dalliance over the solid yellow is expensive. Andy got ticketed for just that. He was sharing the lane with a ******* who drifted towards him forcing an evasive manoever. A swerve, some gas and another swerve prevented the impact but a ticket was issued for crossing the line. The offense was not the first swerve, but the second.

I was taught in MSF class that lane sharing is not illegal, but not legal either. It is a gray area legally. When done prudently, with good sense, you will not draw attention to your riding. And the opposite applies too. However, the rider remains responsible at all times for his/her actions.

Jill

 

[James Burleigh]

I was taught in MSF class that lane sharing is not illegal, but not legal either. It is a gray area legally. When done prudently, with good sense, you will not draw attention to your riding. And the opposite applies too. However, the rider remains responsible at all times for his/her actions.
Jill

Where are all these cops giving out all these hypothetical tickets for lane sharing unsafely? The only commute ticket I ever got was for doing a first gear cross-over from a "left lane must exit" lane back over the solid white to join bumper to bumper traffic.

I seldom see any cops on the freeways when I'm commuting, and frankly don't ever imagine I'd get pulled over for my average style of routine motocycle lane sharing in a crowded California urban area. Not saying it couldn't or wouldn't happen, just that it seems unlikely given the scarcity of cops and how innocuous I am compared with all the psychos out there.... ('course I thought crossing over that solid white was pretty innocuous: "Shouldn't you be out chasin' bad guys, officer?" :glare: )

 

[twowheelnut]

I was taught in MSF class that lane sharing is not illegal, but not legal either. It is a gray area legally. When done prudently, with good sense, you will not draw attention to your riding. And the opposite applies too. However, the rider remains responsible at all times for his/her actions.
Jill

Where are all these cops giving out all these hypothetical tickets for lane sharing unsafely? The only commute ticket I ever got was for doing a first gear cross-over from a "left lane must exit" lane back over the solid white to join bumper to bumper traffic.

I seldom see any cops on the freeways when I'm commuting, and frankly don't ever imagine I'd get pulled over for my average style of routine motocycle lane sharing in a crowded California urban area. Not saying it couldn't or wouldn't happen, just that it seems unlikely given the scarcity of cops and how innocuous I am compared with all the psychos out there.... ('course I thought crossing over that solid white was pretty innocuous: "Shouldn't you be out chasin' bad guys, officer?" :glare: )

Jill, I'll have to find that blurb about the solid lines.

JB, there's a gent on ST.n that has, I believe, 3 tickets brought on by lane sharing. I few months ago, I actually got a wave by by a cage CHP at about 30mph. He waved, smiled and everything!