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Splitting lanes....pet peevs..

Nothing better than a few bad actors getting plastered all over Roadshow or the Chronicle to add more fuel to the "motorcyclists are all terrorists" sentiment that frankly seems to be getting worse, along with the squidly and frankly stupid behavior among us two-wheelers.

I'm starting to get really annoyed that every squid on the planet is making me look bad, because people in cars? 95% of them don't see a squid. They see a motorcyclist.

Everywhere I turn online, it seems that I hear more and more of "lane splitting at eleventy miles per hour scaring me dangerous people on motorbikes!!!!" (as if someone merging into me while I'm lane splitting safely and sanely would have to worry about a lot of damage to their car, I guess, nevermind the human life involved) or "OMG, moturcylurs scared me going by so fast...it's dangerous"...etc.

Sorry; in a bad mood today, and some jackass in a blue suit almost ran over me yesterday as I was leaving San Francisco. Stupid me, I was not already going 85mph when I passed the Caltrain station, so I guess I deserved the buzz.

A lot of motorists are seriously hacked off at motorcyclists because of stunts like that. We can call it jealousy all we want, but it isn't helping. And Roadshow's forum is such a bully pulpit that every single article with the word 'motorcycle' in it gets in on the moto-bashing/scary stunts/lanesplitting should be illegal BS.

The lanesharing privilege is going to be gone before you know it. All it takes is two jerks: one to screw up or with the wrong person, and one to inflame the public ire about "reckless motorcyclists" on the back of his political ambitions through our wonderful initiative process. Making lanesharing LEO only might be what's next with the wave of dangerous behavior I've seen the past six months.

</vent>
 
kangaroo said:
If someone catches up, moving over won't ruin your day. :teeth
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And inversely; If you catch up to someone who's 'thrown out the anchor'; it shouldn't ruin your day to go around or wait. :laughing

The only thing that bugs me is other riders harassing cars, while in front of me. :teeth
 
Lapaki said:
...The other thing I see a lot is bikes splitting different lanes cause cars to abruptly move over (being curtious) and squeezing a bike that is riding in the appropriate lane.
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yes, that is some severe douche-baggery, but you could always follow them to where they park and steal their "Rick Perry for Prednisone" bumper stickers.

my peeve, any thread about lane splitting, when it should be referred to as "lane sharing"...
 
moto-rama said:
yes, that is some severe douche-baggery, but you could always follow them to where they park and steal their "Rick Perry for Prednisone" bumper stickers.

my peeve, any thread about lane splitting, when it should be referred to as "lane sharing"...
Click to expand...

That's like saying this is not a thread, but a webpage with words.
Everyone knows the technical term is sharing, but we all refer to it as splitting.
You don't need to keep reminding us.

My Pet Peve is people reminding us its not called lane splitting.
 
slurpd said:
my biggest pet peeve…when slow asses don't check their six when in the split…and i am forced to move to the 2-3 split to pass their slow ass then back to the 1-2. i will follow for a couple miles before i get all macho and make the pass. really folks, ain't that hard to check your mirrors and be courteous. move the fawk over…thank you very much.
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Damn, you have a hell of a lot more patience than I do!! :laughing
 
slurpd said:
my biggest pet peeve…when slow asses don't check their six when in the split…and i am forced to move to the 2-3 split to pass their slow ass then back to the 1-2. i will follow for a couple miles before i get all macho and make the pass. really folks, ain't that hard to check your mirrors and be courteous. move the fawk over…thank you very much.
Click to expand...

Splitting in heavy commute traffic often requires the first rider to "part the sea" of cages and trucks. Its typically much easier to follow than to lead - and a lot less risky as the cages know you are there.

I am usually more than happy to let any impatient wanker behind me take over the role and the risk :thumbup especially if they are riding a "Hardly Able-to" with obnoxious pipes.

That said, pretty much every time I do, I end up stuck behind them as they slow down to a crawl taking over the task of parting traffic. :p :ride
 
Jakemate said:
Depends on the situation. I check when it's safe. I don't rail through cars anymore. So, if someone is 'stuck' behind me for a bit, fuck them.
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+1 THIS :thumbup
 
vought said:
Nothing better than a few bad actors getting plastered all over Roadshow or the Chronicle to add more fuel to the "motorcyclists are all terrorists" sentiment that frankly seems to be getting worse, along with the squidly and frankly stupid behavior among us two-wheelers.

I'm starting to get really annoyed that every squid on the planet is making me look bad, because people in cars? 95% of them don't see a squid. They see a motorcyclist.

Everywhere I turn online, it seems that I hear more and more of "lane splitting at eleventy miles per hour scaring me dangerous people on motorbikes!!!!" (as if someone merging into me while I'm lane splitting safely and sanely would have to worry about a lot of damage to their car, I guess, nevermind the human life involved) or "OMG, moturcylurs scared me going by so fast...it's dangerous"...etc.

Sorry; in a bad mood today, and some jackass in a blue suit almost ran over me yesterday as I was leaving San Francisco. Stupid me, I was not already going 85mph when I passed the Caltrain station, so I guess I deserved the buzz.

A lot of motorists are seriously hacked off at motorcyclists because of stunts like that. We can call it jealousy all we want, but it isn't helping. And Roadshow's forum is such a bully pulpit that every single article with the word 'motorcycle' in it gets in on the moto-bashing/scary stunts/lanesplitting should be illegal BS.

The lanesharing privilege is going to be gone before you know it. All it takes is two jerks: one to screw up or with the wrong person, and one to inflame the public ire about "reckless motorcyclists" on the back of his political ambitions through our wonderful initiative process. Making lanesharing LEO only might be what's next with the wave of dangerous behavior I've seen the past six months.

</vent>
Click to expand...

+ 1 and this :thumbup :thumbup

If the "asleep at the desk" EU politicos can get away with seriously curtailing the rights of motorcyclists in countries where far more people ride - then we really should be concerned about asshattery screwing up our rights here.

It already happend to mountain biking and dirt bike trails :(
 
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Jakemate said:
You're probably just old and cranky, like me. :|
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Yup - and lived long enough to remember all my "invincible asshat" buddies who became organ donors :thumbdown

Quite honestly - I should be the last one to complain about riders speeding on the streets given what I get up to.

So to put it another way - if anybody finds themselves behind me while splitting in heavy traffic - SLOW THE FCUK DOW 'cause I'm already going too fast :teeth :thumbup
 
I'm a pass 'em (when I'm sure they know I'm there) or let 'em pass guy. Ego shouldn't cloud your decisions about risk. And you rarely know why someone is going fast or slow.

My concern is the "must switch lanes" places like the downhill approach on the Waldo grade to GG bridge. I've seen people sharing between #2 & #3 at speeds high enough that I may not have the opportunity look back far enough to see them before I enter the gap. Then, who's fault would that be if I got hit?
 
ThermalStone said:
Checking for other bikes behind you when cutting into a lane to split is one of the most difficult things you can do on a motorcycle. I just give riders trying to merge in front of me the right of way because they may not see me, even if they looked. I hope you all do the same
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^^^ This sentiment exactly.

My fuggin mirrors VIBE like crazy so all i see behind me are giant blurs from time to time.

Secondly, there are a lot of guys splittlin' lanes well beyond the current speed delta.

When i share and come up to a bike in front of me, i give him space & right of way - most of the time, they will go back into a lane to let you pass. It's just EASIER that way than to expect people to check their mirrors.

there's no reason to ride so close behind another rider... if that rider cant squeeze between a space in front of them, they will brake, sometimes hard.
 
crick said:
My fuggin mirrors VIBE like crazy so all i see behind me are giant blurs from time to time.
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My mirrors are pretty useless. I have to move my arms to check my 6 and if I'm sharing I'm mostly watching what's going on in front of me.

If I want to get around a bike regardless of sharing a lane, freeway carpool lane, or twistie road I try and get into the riders mirrors so they have a chance to see me and move or speed up if they want to.

A guy shared a lane with me getting off the freeway this morning and I had no idea he was there until he was almost right next to me.

Speaking of mirrors and sharing, I got this last week splitting up to a red light between two trucks with big mirrors. Sorry :blush
 

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Just wanted to add that sometimes a little patience when coming up behind a rider lane sharing at a slower pace is warranted. It's not always safe to immediately dive to one lane or the other so another rider can go by.

Try to give that slower rider a few minutes to:

1) See that another rider is behind them...sometimes riders get fixated on what's ahead while lane sharing.
2) Find a safe spot to slot into traffic so the faster riders can go by.

Now if the slower rider hasn't moved over in about 5 miles, then I think it's safe to assume they're just being an a$$hat. ;)
 
I almost duck over and let faster splitters go by. I do have a small rant. When I first started riding (Had been riding for a little over a month) I was going down Saratoga Ave to meet a friend for lunch. I was at the front of the light at Prospect and Saratoga in the #2 lane. Light turns green and off I go. I managed to get maybe five feet into the intersection when this guy comes sharing through on a blue R6 at about 50mph and clipped my left mirror and took off.

Scared the piss out of me and had me swearing the whole way to lunch. Thankfully have some cheapo convex bar mirrors and he didn't break it, just flipped out so it was unusable until I could adjust again. I was in the left third of the lane, like I usually am when I pull up to a light because I feel that is where I'm the most visible. Between that and the guy that clipped my back with a merc mirror by over taking me in a left turn because the light just turned green I'm starting to think planting myself in the middle of the lane would be better. Either way have sympathy for the newbies out there sharing. Sometimes they don't know any better.
 
bigpoppa said:
Just wanted to add that sometimes a little patience when coming up behind a rider lane sharing at a slower pace is warranted. It's not always safe to immediately dive to one lane or the other so another rider can go by
Try to give that slower rider a few minutes to:

1) See that another rider is behind them...sometimes riders get fixated on what's ahead while lane sharing.
2) Find a safe spot to slot into traffic so the faster riders can go by.

Now if the slower rider hasn't moved over in about 5 miles, then I think it's safe to assume they're just being an a$$hat. ;)
Click to expand...

These are good points, but really if they haven't noticed you within a 1/4 mile (10 seconds max), it is because they lack good splitting skills, and are poor riders.

In fact, I think if they were paying attention like they should, then they should have seen you coming and already be out of the way.

It takes a fraction of a second to glance into a mirror. I just can't get my head around how a dude going 30mph is incapable of knowing there is a bike RIGHT behind them. It shows a lack of situational awareness. Just my opinion.

But, I appreciate your patience!:laughing
 
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