Why ride street bikes?

[ericm979]

I have failed to see some bikes recently. Maybe it's not clueless drivers. Maybe it's the nature of the driving beast, coupled with a vehicle that can easily hide behind the wide Post/Pillar of a modern vehicle. I guess, having a pillar big enough for a bose speaker, is more important than visibility.

I saw too many bikes on the weekend, all out making a terrible racket. The law should put an end to that. I hardly think that the bikers are making friends with that behavior.

Modern car and truck pillars are wider and stronger for improved rollover safety. They're also made from extra strong steel now. When roof pillars got wider I started moving my head to reduce the size of the blind spot behind them. Modern cars and trucks have more things in them to distract drivers, such as touch screens and nav systems. It's still incumbent on us as drivers to make sure we're paying attention to the driving.

Loud pipes are already illegal for motorcycles (and cars and trucks). For some reason the Harleys, which are often the worst offenders, often get a pass from the police. I've seen CHP set up road side checks where they inspect all the sport bikes and cite those with modified exhaust but wave the Harleys through. I've had modified exhausts on some bikes, but not that much louder than stock. Now that manufacturers have figured out how to make motorcycles and cars meet the sound limits and not sound terrible I don't feel the need to modify the exhaust.

 

[Streetcar]

It's legal to share lanes in California. Fault in an accident is determined like it always is. Drivers in CA expect lane sharing motorcycles on urban and suburban area freeways and multilane roads. Many move over to let them by. Generally the right side of the leftmost lane is the lane sharing section. The CHP published guidelines on safe lane sharing: http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/docs/CHP-lane-splitting-guidelines-California.pdf

All of the motorcycles that I have seen split lanes violate these standards

 

[Jstpssng]

I pulled out in front of a bike a couple of years ago, crossing an intown road. I looked left, looked right, looked left again as I crossed the northbound lane; looked right, then forward as I creeped out into the southbound lane. I looked right again and- "Where the +--- did he come from?!?" I stopped as he was reaching for another gear and before he even saw me; he was probably doing about 40 in that 25mph zone and accelerating. He had plenty of room to get by me but still gave me the one finger wave. I visited that intersection several times over the next few weeks trying to figure out what I should have done differently; even considering going to the PD to see if it was possible to view the camera footage at the intersection that he had come around. The only conclusion I have ever come to is never to try to cross there again, and I haven't.

 

[HEC]

I live in Maine and rode bikes on and off for over 50 years here and thank God never an accident . I gave it up a couple years back as I was getting older (76 now ) and seems everyday the wife tells me of another biker getting killed or seriously injured here in Maine . I started to pull out in front of a biker once and it scared me half to death after I realized what I almost had done , I can just imagine how the biker felt .

 

[Ritothebull]

I live in Maine and rode bikes on and off for over 50 years here and thank God never an accident . I gave it up a couple years back as I was getting older (76 now ) and seems everyday the wife tells me of another biker getting killed or seriously injured here in Maine . I started to pull out in front of a biker once and it scared me half to death after I realized what I almost had done , I can just imagine how the biker felt .

Almost sometimes can be a good thing, it keeps us on our toes.

 

[savageactor7]

Back in '06 when I was assigned to a Med team they called 'em 'Donor cycles'.

 

[k0ua]

I will just speak for myself. I used to ride. I don't ride any more and a few years into getting a wife and kid, I gave it up. Just too many close calls with idiot drivers not paying attention. I saved my self a couple of times by quick thinking and quick action, and one was by the grace of God and good brakes on a Corvette that saw me at the last second. When it happened all that went thru my head was "I'm dead." I thought about it and I loved to ride, but I sold it and never looked back.

One of my friends, was in a bad street bike wreck when a ground hog of all things ran out in front of him and he tried to avoid it. He wound up in a nice ditch and was going to just keep on going and drive out of the ditch when he hit a hidden boulder. Well that broke a bunch of things, including some bones in his body. The bike was estimated at $6000 to put it back on the road. He healed up in about a year and repaired the bike himself, with e-bay parts (Harley) for about $2000.

So he starts riding again, After 2 or 3 months of carefree riding on his nice hog, a 10 wheel truck pulls in front of him... The truck driver just didn't see him. The good news is he is alive. The bike is dead and mostly scrap. He may never be the same. He is still getting around on his cane and improving every day, I think. It has been many months and he is still going to PT. There will be more operations. He was my tower climbing guy. He may never be able to do that again. It is sad, he misses it, but he says he is done with motorcycles. I sure hope so. In my mind he got his warning call with the ground hog and the resulting wreck. But he didn't pick up the call.

I am just never going to ride nowadays with all the people texting, and the fact there just are more cars on the road than when I was younger. I had my time, I had several bikes, and got out of it without serious injury. What you want to do with your life is your business, none of mine. I just know I will never ride again.

 

[LouNY]

Why ride street bikes, why get up in the morning

 

[MossRoad]

Why ride street bikes, why get up in the morning

I get up in the morning because I love life. The feel of the warmth on my cheeks as I close my eyes and face the sun is good enough for me most days.

While I really, really enjoyed scraping my knees on the pavement leaning into turns, plain jane street riding is boring as heck! Maybe touring would be different. I may try that in a few more years. But once you've gone all road-racey, it's hard to top the thrill. Drag racing was very fun! Even if it is just 11.92 seconds at 119mph from a 25 cubic inch motor.

 

[4570Man]

I haven’t read the whole thread but I think the OP is being too hard on car drivers. Motorcycles are hard to see. Especially if the light conditions are poor. A lot of motorcycles ride recklessly on top of that. Anyone who gets on a street bike knows the risk and it’s stupid IMO. It should be a federal offense to ride with someone not old enough to have a drivers license.