Am I just asking to die? Bike riders opinions wanted...

[Sharkey]

Regarding Arizona's new motorcycle law allowing lane splitting at red lights, that's just plain stupid. As is lane splitting in general.

It's bad enough motorcycle rides don the helmet of invisibility, but to add lane splitting to that equation makes zero sense to me. And yes, I'm an experienced street bike rider, I know cagers don't pay attention until it's too late.

Wasn't there a study done showing cycle riders get hit more in stop n go traffic? Not only that, your breathing car exhaust and it is hotter than hell on a blacktop road at 4p in AZ. Cycles also overheat easily on stop n go traffic. Europeans have been doing it for awhile. If cagers take issue, that tells me they are already crap drivers and prone to road rage.
Can cycle riders abuse it? Some will and I think a year long campaign is a good idea.
We've tried to pass it here in TX but no luck yet.

I am also a rider and a "professional" driver. The amount of asshattery on DFW roads is hellacious.

 

[Sharkey]

At most every traffic light you can watch motorcycles driving between cars to get to the front of the traffic

How is that crazy? That is typically called filtering. Lane splitting is usually riding btw two lanes at reduced speed during stop n go traffic.

 

[Sharkey]

Bikes setting people like that off are begging for problems.

And women wearing mini skirts are asking to get raped. If it is lawful and drivers are getting "set off" then the driver has poor impulse control and probably shouldn't be driving.

 

[Nosferatu]

I've found parking lots are riskier places to be riding than filtering between a few stopped vehicles at a light where I can now accllerate when it turns green and get away from all those psychopaths frothing at the mouth wanting to kill me.

 

[Nosferatu]

Also, FWIW, had lane filtering been legal in AZ back when I lived there, I wouldn't have been rear ended by the distracted driver.

 

[billdeserthills]

How is that crazy? That is typically called filtering. Lane splitting is usually riding btw two lanes at reduced speed during stop n go traffic.

Looks crazy to see a bunch of bikers riding to the front, seems like they are 'taking cuts'...

 

[Spitpatch]

Looks crazy to see a bunch of bikers riding to the front, seems like they are 'taking cuts'...

"Dammit! Dropped my sunglasses outta the window again! Guess I'll just open my door and snag 'em off the pavement."

 

[billdeserthills]

"Dammit! Dropped my sunglasses outta the window again! Guess I'll just open my door and snag 'em off the pavement."

I was wondering who was going to pay for all the broken side mirrors?

 

[Mikej]

They still are a great escape and fill your brain with sounds, smells and views you don't get in a cage.

I remember the smell of the exhaust, gasoline, heat from the motor right under you. Smell of hot sagebrush out in the desert. Smell of the forest.

 

[nwslopoke]

I remember the smell of the exhaust, gasoline, heat from the motor right under you. Smell of hot sagebrush out in the desert. Smell of the forest.

You take the good with the bad. Part of my 45 min commute home in bumper to bumper traffic (it would take 1:45hr Fri in car), was passing this massive strawberry patch. You smelled it coming up to it plus it lingered. Passing the coast in LA, with a bit of clean air. Stuff like that made life on a bike worth the heat and cars almost hitting you.

I remember lane splitting from Long Beach to Corona 50ish miles, with a CHP behind me. A lot of cops lived in Corona at the time. We weren't going slow. At some point I figured out he didn't care.

 

[trevi]

Don't really care for bicycles on the road....

Where I live we have lots of bicycle riders...which would be fine if...
The roads were designed for them as well as cars.
Most of the time...the roads are too damn narrow for both and it makes for some impatience drivers , who zoom around the folks riding a bicycle.
Or...a long traffic back up while getting to spot where a car can safely pass the bicycle.

And then there are the folks who ride bicycles and don't obey traffic laws.
Now the above is not to say that every bicyclist doesn't obey traffic laws...just those who don't , sure make it tough for those who do.

In regards to motorcycles...
They are fun ...and can get you around with using a lot less gas than a car.
They do take a "driving" to a new level of awareness.
Like anything it requires skill , practice and mastery of the skill.
If you got a motorcycle and were just planning on using it for trips around town...I would suggest something in the 350- 500 cc range.
Andy

It is more often the 4-wheeled operators who do not obey traffic laws, too. I am a cyclist year round and i see it all. Got hit in March 2024 and the driver kept going. See TOO MANY texters behind the wheel, and people hogging the bike lanes. Experienced cyclists know how to ride, it is the novices i worry about.

 

[Nosferatu]

"Dammit! Dropped my sunglasses outta the window again! Guess I'll just open my door and snag 'em off the pavement."

"Oops, the spiked handlebar end on Snakes' Shovelhead just gouged the crap out of your tin-can Prius because you keep fumbling your sunglasses rather than wearing them."

Anyone who would do that because they are jealous someone is legally taking advantage of their diminutive size and superior maneuverability deserves to get his sunglasses stomped on and inserted where the suns luster is poor.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

It is more often the 4-wheeled operators who do not obey traffic laws, too. I am a cyclist year round and i see it all. Got hit in March 2024 and the driver kept going. See TOO MANY texters behind the wheel, and people hogging the bike lanes. Experienced cyclists know how to ride, it is the novices i worry about.

Sorry you got hit...and WTF for the driver to keep on going.

Texting and driving is a problem for sure

As for the rest of my post...
I still stand by it , even though this is an old thread.
My post...still applies for where I live.
Andy

 

[Sharkey]

Looks crazy to see a bunch of bikers riding to the front, seems like they are 'taking cuts'...

So do you go by your feelings as well?

 

[Sharkey]

"Dammit! Dropped my sunglasses outta the window again! Guess I'll just open my door and snag 'em off the pavement."

Yeah, that's a good way to get shot.

 

[Nosferatu]

Looks crazy to see a bunch of bikers riding to the front, seems like they are 'taking cuts'...

They are. So what? Are we still in the 3rd grade cafeteria?

If anything, it reduces the amount of traffic and clutter around you.

 

[Mikej]

They are. So what? Are we still in the 3rd grade cafeteria?

If anything, it reduces the amount of traffic and clutter around you.

Once in awhile the wife and I will see a cycle going up through slowed traffic. She kind of freaks out some. I don't. I explain that's their thing. They want to do it, that's fine. As long as they don't hit me, or I them. It's all good. They won't be the ones holding me up like all the horrible drivers I'm stuck with.

 

[Spitpatch]

"Oops, the spiked handlebar end on Snakes' Shovelhead just gouged the crap out of your tin-can Prius because you keep fumbling your sunglasses rather than wearing them."

Anyone who would do that because they are jealous someone is legally taking advantage of their diminutive size and superior maneuverability deserves to get his sunglasses stomped on and inserted where the suns luster is poor.

If assumptions about motivations are the order of the day, they are at a surplus. Detection of humor is at a severe shortage, it seems.

Opening a door on a car is not something I would do, or advocate doing. The thought of it is what keeps me from snaking between cars and riding alive for 55 years.

 

[Nosferatu]

If assumptions about motivations are the order of the day, they are at a surplus. Detection of humor is at a severe shortage, it seems.

When no other indications are given, it gets taken at face value.

Opening a door on a car is not something I would do, or advocate doing. The thought of it is what keeps me from snaking between cars and riding alive for 55 years.

Is lane splitting legal in Oregon?

I suspect there are many other factors in your prosperity. Getting killed lane filtering is about as likely as some nutjob going postal while you're at the range.

I don't go to shooting ranges. Maybe that's why I'm still alive!

 

[Spitpatch]

When no other indications are given, it gets taken at face value.


Is lane splitting legal in Oregon?

I suspect there are many other factors in your prosperity. Getting killed lane filtering is about as likely as some nutjob going postal while you're at the range.

I don't go to shooting ranges. Maybe that's why I'm still alive!

I figure the door opening thing is probably more likely to happen in front of me from a parked car. A rider can establish some distance there.