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Parking lots for Practice

W

wangjoshuah

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
2004 Ninja 250
2013 Honda CBR 500R
2018 Triumph Street Triple R
I live in Japantown and was wondering if there are nearby parking lots that are empty on weekends to practice in over the weekend. I’ve been to the one at City’s a college near Balboa Park but that’s pretty far to drive just for some practice. What are some areas to practice low speed maneuvers in the city?
 
Not really any closer, but I've found the lot behind the United Artists theater at Stonestown to be empty almost always. I haven't had any issues with security, and the lot is pretty large. I live in the Haight so I'd be curious to know if there are any closer parking lots too.
 
Stonestown lot is good

I went to SFSU and the Stonestown lot was a large enough one to practice in.
 
try schools I dont live by jap town but Ive just been going to Malcolm X parking lot and Kipp high school if you have any schools nearby try going late weekends..
 
I took my MSF course where it says "Old Alameda Point" on Alameda Island on Google Maps, and there is a large space there. I think the MSF course has riding classes there every saturday and sunday for most of the day, but to my memory they only used half or less than half the space.

The pavement isn't incredibly smooth, but not bad either. I've been meaning to check it out for a while.
 
Why not go to the Presidio? There are a ton of parking lots and fairly empty on the weekends.
 
Kiqstart said:
I've done quite a bit of searching for a location using Google Maps for vehicle testing, and although I haven't been there yet it looks like Mission College off of 101 in Santa Clara has a large parking lot and as a bonus they have some lane and corner markings. Check out parking lot A and B in the link below:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/mission+college/@37.3937317,-121.9802506,126m/data=!3m1!1e3
Click to expand...

They actually do riding courses there on weekends. They have a f-ing massive parking lot and its more or less empty when school is out.

If you are in SF I would say your best bet is City College, the lower parking lot is wide open.
 
Buy a pitbike, ysr50, nsr50 or similar. You can set up a small course in almost any empty parking lot to practice, and if you get a group together then it gets really fun.
 
Also don't forget your local DMV. It's got painted circles just for motorcycles to practice on. And on the weekends the DMVs lots are fairly empty.
 
Anyone know if any parking lots on the peninsula have opened up while we're in phase 2? I imagine that there should be some empty offices with empty parking spaces right now, but the ones I've checked before SIP had security patroling on the weekends.
 
Best not to use private lots. Stick with public facilities like schools, DMV, county fairgrounds, etc. They usually don't have security that runs you off.

I taught my wife to drive stick at Mission College lots. One time cop stopped by to see what we were up to, then went away.

Taught her to ride at Evergreen College. Campus cops drove by and watched for a while. Then they got bored and drove off.
 
I think most DMV are still shut down and parking lots are still empty right now. I was bored a couple weeks ago, brought a couple cones and was doing some figure 8's. It was fun.
 
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SpicyCactus said:
I took my MSF course where it says "Old Alameda Point" on Alameda Island on Google Maps, and there is a large space there. I think the MSF course has riding classes there every saturday and sunday for most of the day, but to my memory they only used half or less than half the space.

The pavement isn't incredibly smooth, but not bad either. I've been meaning to check it out for a while.
Click to expand...

I'm just getting back on the bike after a really long time and I checked out this parking lot this weekend. It's huge, and I called Bay Area Motorcycle Training who holds the classes there and they don't care if you're there while they're having a class (it's so large, you're nowhere near the class).

There are no clear lines or markings on the lot, but there are these circular cement things that I practiced u-turns on.
 
Mission College is where I practiced with my friends. The security patrols are mixed reactions. Some are indifferent and others will ask us to leave.
 
Looking for a parking lot to practice anywhere in Napa or Sonoma Counties that has at least a ~60' wide turning diameter and cleanish pavement.

I tried Sonoma County Fairgrounds, but the asphalt condition was poor and the parking space paint lines were slippery.

Tomorrow I'll check out Santa Rosa DMV and Santa Rosa Junior College.

If anyone knows of any sweet spots, please shout 'em out! :)

Thanks in advance.
 
I scoped out some places on my way back up 101N from San Rafael. As previously mentioned, public lots have tend to not kick you out like private facilities. I bring couple of cones with me to set up exercises so it's obviously an educational opportunity:

- Civic Centre area at N. San Pedro Rd. There's lots of big lots in that area. Also Lagoon Park has huge parking lot. County Fair lot on other side of Lagoon also has lots of huge lots.

- Sears Point Sonoma Raceway. Outside parking lot by charging-stations is plenty large. Empty on weekdays.

- Sonoma State University

- Napa Valley College

- Phoenix University in Cordelia next to Costco has huge lot that's always completley empty since their programme is mostly online.
 
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