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Where should I park my bike?

J

jjackson

New member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Location
Fremont
Moto(s)
2006 Honda Reflex
I'm brand new (just took the classroom portion of the MSF last night) and have a question about parking. At the MSF the instructor said something about how he usually parks on the sidewalk. Is this legal around here?

I've done a little googling and it seems many riders discourage parking in regular stalls because it makes people mad or likely to try to mess with your bike. As a lifelong "cager" I can say I am sometimes annoyed when a motorcycle takes up a whole parking space and I think "there must be somewhere else they can park." Of course I'm never tempted to do anything to someone's bike, but I want to be a courteous rider. If there is a better place for me to park than a regular stall I want to do it - but I want it to also be legal and safe.

So...where do I park?
 
use your common sense. some cities come down hard on parking violators. some dont.

If there is an out of the way place, not in the middle of pedestrian foot traffic, and maybe a bit out of sight, to park my bike off the street, I'll park it there.

If there is no place to park other than a car space, park to one end or the other of it. A compact car should still be able to share the spot with you.

And always snap a pic of the parking receipt with your cell phone.
 
Haven't parked on a sidewalk since I got a ticket years ago.

Other than that I've never had any issues parking my bikes on the street.

Mind you I've never left any of my bikes parked in a City overnight; that's usually when bad things happen from what I gather here.
 
pt65 said:
And always snap a pic of the parking receipt with your cell phone.
Click to expand...

And if you're sharing a space with a car, it's a good idea to take a picture of your bike parked and the car's license plate. In case your bike gets knocked over, it's good to have some evidence of who was parked next to it.
 
Yes, parking on the sidewalk is pretty much illegal everywhere.

That being said, in places like Best Buys, stripmalls with BedBath+Trader Joe, they have SPECIFIC corners, nooks where they tell you to put the bikes. Sometimes there is a guard that helps with that, b/c they don't want you taking a car space in a crowded environment. At best Buy, some people park along the wall. The important part is not to mess around with other people's walking.

Final point is-- if it is just for getting a 'pack of sodas' and there is no one around, do whatever you want to do. Just like your instructor told you; don't complain if you get a ticket though--so think for yourself, your instructor from MSF hasn't been thinking of all cases. Like I said, parking on the sidewalk it is illegal.
 
some places have designated spots for motorcycle parking. Plazas and such that dont, i park in a stall. there shouldnt be a problem parking in a stall; what's the diff between a motorcycle parking in a stall and a isngle person in a cage parking in a stall? it still takes up a spot? if anything, it leaves room for another biker to park there.

Up in the city, if there's ample space, i park between cars. if overnight, i park in a garage. Japantown has designated spots in front of their malls. I rather park in a garage tho - i've seen too many tipped over bikes in the city and teriyaki sauce on my seat to warrant parking in the street unless its for short periods of time.

I dont park on the street, like Gaj, been there, done that, dont like tickets. This was at a university, i parked next to the bicycle rack, got a ticket.
 
Got it, thanks for the clarification. I wasn't clear if he was endorsing sidewalk parking or not...wasn't clear if it was legal or not either. I'd rather not do something that could possibly get me a ticket just because I don't want to walk a few hundred feet.
 
Don't know if the suggestions and answers would get better...But...
Could you be specific? Parking Where? Streets are one thing, and area's of cities and which city, compounds that.

Apt parking lots? Shopping parking lots?

Just asking because I've never had an issue..Where ever I'm at, the variables presented a no problem answer,
and I've never gotten a ticket.
 
The legal way to park your bike on the street is to park perpendicular to the curb. You have to either have your rear wheel touching the curb or have a part of your bike overhanging the curb. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc22502.htm

Sidewalks are illegal to park on. Now, there is a gray area between illegal and unenforced. There are plenty of nooks and crannies on public sidewalks that are out of the way that you can take your chances with. All it takes is an irate wheelchair bound person or stroller mom to call out the tow truck so be mindful of the sidewalk users. We would not put up with a pedestrian in the middle of our freeways so think about what parking a vehicle on a sidewalk is like for pedestrians.

Sidewalks on private property (like at the supermarket) are up to the discretion of the property owner and their agents. If they feel like calling a tow truck they can.

Parking a moto is not hard. If you need to park on the sidewalk, you are not being creative enough.
 
In my apt I just share a parking spot with my van. I was thinking more about on the street or in shopping center parking lots - grocery store, mall, etc. Just general parking etiquette.

Right now I only ride my bike on weekends and basically only park at home or at work, so right now my parking questions are more "in theory" than a felt need. In a couple months I will be using it as my daily ride.
 
jjackson said:
In my apt I just share a parking spot with my van. I was thinking more about on the street or in shopping center parking lots - grocery store, mall, etc. Just general parking etiquette.

Right now I only ride my bike on weekends and basically only park at home or at work, so right now my parking questions are more "in theory" than a felt need. In a couple months I will be using it as my daily ride.
Click to expand...

As someone else said, on private property, (shopping center, grocery store), I have parked on a sidewalk but made sure there was enough space for TWO wheelchairs to get by.

Never had a problem with that probably because the bike is there for 15 minutes or less.

The ticket I got was a dozen years ago for parking on the sidewalk in downtown Santa Rosa during the Christmas Rush.

I thought I was doing people a favor by not taking up a valuable street space but the city saw it otherwise.
 
Shopping center parking lots (commonly) have a vacant (because too small for a car, but generously big for a bike) area that is at the end of the line for car parking.

Choose the end that is close to the store (not the far end away from it).
And park well within the painted lines, especially away from the last car space, so they (and kids) can get in the wide open doors of the car.

Sure it wasn't intended to be a parking spot..but Your not taking up a spot a car could park in, either.
Win Win for everyone.
 
If there is a motorcycle-specific parking spot I'll park there (as long as it's not full).

Otherwise I take a regular parking spot and don't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. If you can find one where the vehicle (usually huge truck or SUV) next to the spot is hanging over into the space, making it difficult to get a normal car in there, all the better. I usually park in the exact center - front to back - or closer to the entrance of the spot to make it easier for distracted drivers to notice the "empty" spot down the row actually has a motorcycle in it.

If I'm parking next to the curb where there are no marked spaces (e.g., at Folsom Library), I'll make sure the rear tire touches the curb and that I'm right at the end of whatever space is available to make it easier for others to fit in.

Most of the time that my bikes are parked, they're either in my garage or in a motorcycle-specific parking area.
 
And if you're using the sidestand be sure to leave the bike in gear to make it harder to knock over.
 
Park where you can see it. There you will find the answers you seek. And avoid San Framcisco at all costs..! ;)
 
Generally, if there's any doubt whether it's legal to park somewhere, it's not. You can often get away with it but it's a crap shoot.

Also the hash-marked areas next to handicap parking are strictly off limits.
 
also, maybe 7 out of 10 stolen bike posts here on barf, the bike was in condo or appartment shared parking / carports overnight.

car parking in front of it, locks, alarms, none of these seem to matter, still they were jacked
 
Yesterday at the gym I saw someone park their bike right on the sidewalk by the front door. Not really in anyone's way, but I've seen bikes get ticketed parking there. Happened to bump into the guy in the locker room, and told him there was moto parking and that I've seen other people get ticketed for parking on the sidewalk. He seemed more concerned about parking his shiny red Ducati right up front. Oh well, I guess if you can afford a Ducati, then a $50 parking ticket is chump change. :dunno

/coolmuthaf*ckinstorybrah
 
MikeyRocks said:
Yesterday at the gym I saw someone park their bike right on the sidewalk by the front door. Not really in anyone's way, but I've seen bikes get ticketed parking there. Happened to bump into the guy in the locker room, and told him there was moto parking and that I've seen other people get ticketed for parking on the sidewalk. He seemed more concerned about parking his shiny red Ducati right up front. Oh well, I guess if you can afford a Ducati, then a $50 parking ticket is chump change. :dunno

/coolmuthaf*ckinstorybrah
Click to expand...

Not for the reasons you claim. A parking ticket is cheaper than the deductible on the insurance of a "shiny red Ducati" and still better than waiting for new parts, and fairings from Italy..!
 
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