Saw a dude wipe out on his motorcycle this evening

myf16n said:

I've continued to ride 500-750mi a month over all those years, including trackdays and racing motorcycles. I didn't ride like an ass-hat prior to marriage and kids, and just kept that up with the kids. It helps that there isn't a riding season where I live, cars see us everyday.

I think a lot depends on the location and drivers. I loved riding when I lived out on the coast in Mendocino, CA. Curvy single-lane roads with minimal or no cross traffic. PCH was turn 3 after leaving my driveway. Drivers were relatively attentive and not aggressive. My biggest fear was debris in the middle of blind corners.

Also appreciated that CA lets you lane split and filter, and that drivers are used to that. Contrary to popular belief, that makes things a lot safer for riders.

I'd still be riding if I lived in low-density NorCal. Possibly even if I lived in a CA city.

But since moving to Columbus, OH. I gave it up. Riding was more stressful than rewarding. Roads are all straight and flat. Weather is changeable. Drivers are oblivious, and I don't have the same power to control my positioning in traffic.

I was told that after I did a few projects and saved up the money that I could buy a murdercycle.  I achieved those goals just about the time we moved from PA to SC.

Once in SC, I decided not to get a bike.

There is NO WAY I would ride a murder cycle here.  I have been almost hit numerous times, on my bicycle, while crossing the road WITH a walk signal or green light just going from sidewalk to sidewalk.

I see people running red lights all day everyday.  Everybody is on their phone, not paying attention.

Plus, the roads are all flat and boring.  

The juice ain't worth the squeeze.

I am starting to see more lane splitting being done in Florida by some motorcyclists, with how bad it is to drive in Florida, feels like a death sentence...

Sitting in Dale Mabry Traffic right on the Busch BLVD overpass, I saw a motorcycle go through the shoulder, about 10 minutes later just up the road, I saw the same guy and bike on the ground. Not sure what happened, but that same shoulder I've seen cars go through it to get ahead only to get pulled over...

aw614 said:

I am starting to see more lane splitting being done in Florida by some motorcyclists, with how bad it is to drive in Florida, feels like a death sentence...

If done properly, lane splitting is safer than sitting in traffic. Your two biggest dangers on a motorcycle are: a car not seeing you stopped and rear ending you; a car making a left turn not seeing you and running into you.

Properly lane splitting is: ~10mph faster than traffic that is going <25mph (or close to those numbers). You should be passing on the dashed yellow between lanes. When traffic gets above 30mph, merge back into the line. If you follow those guidelines, you are then have much more control over your situation which can benefit you if you are aware and riding proactively. You effectively remove the risks of being rear-ended, and greatly diminish the risk of a driver mistaking you for a gap in the accordion and merging into you.

This is much less effective if drivers are unused to riders lane splitting. Many will get angry and want to exact "justice" against you for breaking the law.

The rider you described was not following the guidelines above.

Lane splitting should just be legalized. Not only does it make riding safer, it also gives a very strong incentive to commute on a bike - not getting stuck in traffic. More people riding bikes would greatly reduce congestion and benefit everyone.

In reply to aw614 :

I'm seeing lane splitting in Atlanta now, which is not legal. It is also insane considering how people drive here (and shoot at each other).

Last time I was in Florida I saw a guy wreck his bike for the last time ever. Full Florida-man mode: shorts, tank top, sport bike, pinned throttle, blackout level drunk (per the autopsy report). At least he had a helmet, although when it hit my windshield it was launched into the stratosphere never to be seen again. He had shoes on at least, you can see one of them under my car but the other landed down the road.


Since this was the second drunk driver to have hit me head-on in my life, I'm hoping the odds of a third are now astronomical.  Don't drink and ride folks.

I'm a novice rider.  Both my bike and I are antiques.  I was on a bone dry 35 mph 2-lane road when a motorist stopped suddenly ahead of me.  I was well back, but I sorta panicked and stomped the rear brake (reacted, didn't think any) and locked the rear, stalled the engine.  Didn't come close to laying it down, but felt pretty goofy having to re-start it.

While splitting does drastically reduce (eliminate?) the risk of a read-end collision, I don't agree that lane splitting is safer than sitting in traffic. Motorcyclists are simply reducing one risk and increasing others. When I was younger I used to lane split as though I was required to do so (everywhere, all the time, every time), now I am much more selective. Is there a benefit at this moment and does that benefit reduce or increase my risk? While I no longer split everywhere, I generally find that I split at least once on each ride I take.

The California Vehicle Code (Note there is no speed limit.):

21658.1 (a) For the purposes of this section, “lane splitting” means driving a motorcycle, as defined in Section 400, that has two wheels in contact with the ground, between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, including on both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways.

myf16n said:

While splitting does drastically reduce (eliminate?) the risk of a read-end collision, I don't agree that lane splitting is safer than sitting in traffic. Motorcyclists are simply reducing one risk and increasing others. When I was younger I used to lane split as though I was required to do so (everywhere, all the time, every time), now I am much more selective. Is there a benefit at this moment and does that benefit reduce or increase my risk? While I no longer split everywhere, I generally find that I split at least once on each ride I take.

Exactly. Having that as a tool you can use selectively is valuable. It gives riders more options to actively manage their risk. Statistically it has been shown that when lane-splitting and filtering* are legal, it reduces the risk to riders.

The speeds I listed are not laws, but the guidelines they taught us at the MSF class of when/how to practice lane splitting safely.

* For those who don't know, "filtering" is the practice of - when coming up to a red light, riding between lanes of parked cars to get to the front of the line. This is a big one for me, especially on offramps.

I know it's semantics, but in CA there is no difference between splitting and filtering. When the law was being considered a few of us that sit on the state motorcycle safety committee met with the CHP & DMV tried to have them agree to 'lane sharing' rather than splitting, and some others wanted 'filtering' defined as well. They refused saying they are the same. We considered it a minor miracle that they stepped back from setting a speed limit, and didn't want to push our luck.

In reply to slefain :

Is that a clavicle just aft of your rear wheel?

P3PPY said:

In reply to slefain :

Is that a clavicle just aft of your rear wheel?

No, amazingly the guy was still in one piece. My PTSD would probably be a lot worse if he'd come apart.

slefain said:

P3PPY said:

In reply to slefain :

Is that a clavicle just aft of your rear wheel?

No, amazingly the guy was still in one piece. My PTSD would probably be a lot worse if he'd come apart.

Given the vicinity of the impact, I suspect it was bad enough as it was.

One time, while on a Southern California freeway in work traffic doing mid sixties, a Cam-Am came lane splitting past me.

The guy was about as smooth as 24 grit sandpaper with his throttle and steering control and I thought "please, please, please just make it a few more car links so I'm not involved in your imminent demise".

 What a total dumba$$

Edit...

One of my friends once had a guy lay down his Gold Wing on Mulholland Drive while coming the other way and slide, head first, right under his car...the two were locked in eye-to-eye contact for the last couple of seconds.

The police were thoughtful enough to declare the time of death as when the rider hit the road so my friend technically just ran over a corpse.

I watched a guy dump his Harley on the way to work. One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

He pulled across traffic into a parking lot, came to a stop and then just slowly fell over.

Then, he took of his hat, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Like a cartoon.

It made my day.

SWIMBO wants to get a motorcycle. I don't want her to, because, I like her. More than I like anyone else. She's my favourite human.

I won't stop her, she's a grown up, but I will worry every time she rides it. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, the guy on the motorcycle usually come off worse.

Never really understood the appeal of driving half a car anyway.

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

It's better to be shot out of a cannon, than squeezed out of a tube.

Living in Daytona Beach means that twice a year, every single dentist pulls their 800 lb. bike out of storage and learns to ride it again. In the heaviest traffic of the year. While drinking.

Case in point: I was behind a dude on a Harley bagger a few years ago in the left turn lane going into my neighborhood. He, of course, tipped over at 1 mph and couldn't pick his bike back up because he'd never learned how to pick up a bike. So I hopped out of my car in traffic, picked it up, then turn around only to realize he was blackout drunk. Before I could say anything, he jumped on the bike, dropped the clutch and sped off. Probably on his way to a much worse accident.

Bike Week is fun....

As far as why bikes: They're fun! That's about it. 

AClockworkGarage said:

Never really understood the appeal of driving half a car anyway.

I felt that way too, until I gave it a try. It's one of those "If I have to explain it to you, you won't understand" things. 

It probably helps that I live in a place where there are a lot of back roads that aren't heavily traveled. Add in that I usually ride Sunday mornings while most people are sleeping one off or sitting in a pew somewhere and it increases my safety greatly.

I've wanted to get a bike for forever but after 7 years of living in Daytona with Bike week and Biketoberfest, I have seen how drivers treat bikers but also how one out of touch biker can domino effect in a big accident. Maybe I'll get a bike in the distant future when I'm not living in Daytona anymore but who knows. 

AClockworkGarage said:...

 

SWIMBO wants to get a motorcycle. I don't want her to, because, I like her. More than I like anyone else. She's my favourite human.

...

I taught my wife to ride.  If I had known how nervous it would make me I never would have done it.  She was a very safe rider but I was never able to relax and really enjoy myself when we were riding together.  I wasn't the least but sad when she decided that she didn't want to do it anymore.

In reply to RX Reven' :

In my former province, you can buy one of those "big boy tricycles" and use it to pass your motorcycle license test without having to take the low speed maneuvering part of the test. Then you buy a real motorcycle once you have your license.

It shows in the riding skills of the people who started on one of those things.

I dislike riding with other folks, save for one or two guys I know really well. I absolutely will not participate in a group ride with idiots on those things. Just go buy a convertible and be done.

Appleseed said:

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

It's better to be shot out of a cannon, than squeezed out of a tube.

A cannon is a tube...

Appleseed said:

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

It's better to be shot out of a cannon, than squeezed out of a tube.

"That's why god made fast motorcycles, Bubba."

ShawnG said:

Appleseed said:

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

It's better to be shot out of a cannon, than squeezed out of a tube.

"That's why god made fast motorcycles, Bubba."

Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.

I'd like to get a Ducati after putting close to 40k miles on an R6 when I was much younger. But the way people drive now, totally zoned out looking at their phones. 

But the two big things, I was in a wreck on the street years ago where I watched a good friend get killed. The gas/oil/coolant from his bike hitting a truck put 3 more of us on the ground. Surprisingly I was able to ride my bike home. 

Then I had a wreck at Hallett during a track day. Post-concussion syndrome is absolutely terrible.........I guess that tends to happen when you bounce your head off the ground at 70 mph. By the time I got my bike back together, my now ex, asked if I would go back to playing with cars. 

It's pretty typical that someone tries to merge into me on the street here in Colorado.  On my last ride, friend and I were doing a combo of off road/on road.  On one of the on road sections someone in a built out Sprinter van almost put me into the median.  He hadn't bothered to look in his side mirror or do a head turn check.  Thankfully I was able to get clear, but it's not all that unusual.

I mostly ride off road, much different scenarios.  You can lane filter here now and it's been a god send, particularly in the dead heat of the summer.