James
Staff member
Some of you may know I ride a sportbike to work everyday. I have been riding sportbikes for over 10 years now here in southern california. Well over 100K miles under my belt. So, we'll say I have a firm grasp on 'Lanesharing.'
There are abusers and fools out there that do not laneshare safely, I am not trying to defend those assholes in any way.
I feel proper lanesharing is the safest manner in which you can ride a motorcycle in traffic. I think it's only an option for narrow, overbraked motorcycles. Any standards, choppers, touring bikes, harleys need not apply.
EVERYTHING ON A MOTORCYCLE IS LOOKING FOR AND ASSESSING YOUR ESCAPE ROUTE. If everything stops in front of you, you need to know where you're going ahead of time.
Let's start with the math of the road.
Each lane must be legally 12 ft wide. The average car is 6-9' wide, and semi trucks are 10' wide. SO. if you were to encounter a 5 lane freeway where every lane had a stopped car/truck in it. On average, you'll have a 40% escape route. 40% of the road would not be blocked by a stopped vehicle.
That's alot of road to choose from. Especially because a sport bike is about 2% the width of the road.
Lane sharing puts the rider in control of the situation. You sit much higher than the cars. Visibility is great up there.
Sometimes instead of lane'sharing' I like to call it lane'taking', because mostly, cagers (term for a car driver) never knew I was coming. I assess the situation and make my move accordingly. If you didn't know I was there, even better.
This requires a learned sense of traffic. Traffic truely breathes. You can see it breathe, and anyone not with the flow stands out like a sore thumb.
Cagers have a tell. Every single one.
Some will look over their shoulder and signal.
Some will drift the opposite way before merging, and that's all the notice you'll get.
It is learned and takes many years of cautious lanesharing to learn how to do it safely.
I have had 2 accidents lanesharing. One more serious than the other. But it happens.
The slower the traffic is going, the more dangerous lane sharing is. I'll say it again. The slower the traffic is going, the more dangerous lane sharing is.
Why? More chance of a door opening. More chance of a vehicle to merge more quickly to avoid being cut-off. Merging at slow speed in a car makes the vehicle block more of the lanes, as you are seeing it more broadside. A car is 2-3 times as long as it is wide.
The slower the traffic is going, the more dangerous lane sharing is. Caution!
Here is a video of some light traffic lane sharing.
Things to note:
1. I'm not weaving. Weaving is stupid. Weaving takes away your ability to steer the bike in case something occurs right in front of you. If you watch close, I sit right on one side of the line or the other. And stay there. It's 'lane sharing,' not 'do-what-the-fuck-i-want.'
2. I am constantly turning my head, looking in mirrors, signalling with my hands. This is an active sport. You have alot of information to process. Get all the info available!
3. I touch other vehicles... not recommended...get over it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RfV4WUJMPg
-BIG DAN
Big D, every video I try to watch of yours on my iPhone I get the following error message
Big D, every video I try to watch of yours...
I agree 100% with this. I would only lane share if Traffic is stopped or 5-10mph. I just wish we could.I spit lanes all the time when traffic is slow and jammed up but I also do it carefully and only 5 or 10 mph faster than the cars. I can not see sitting like a clown going nowhere while riding a bike. What pisses me off are the idiots that split lanes when traffic is already moving at 40mph or more and they go by at 60 or 70. These guys are the ones that can cause an accident because nobody is even thinking that this may occur a these speeds. 90% of of the time it is some bonehead on a crotch rocket that does this. It is like everything related to moving vehicles, speed is always a main factor and splitting lanes can be very safe as long as you are not going too fast. These studies will take 100 accidents because the rider was going foo fast to avoid a car changing lanes and rule that it is not safe to do.