Riding vs Flying -- How many here ride?

Skywise wrote:

Matt Whiting wrote in
:


John Gaquin wrote:


"Skywise" wrote in message


Another favorite tactic is white lining. In a perfect
scenario I white line to the front while everyone is stopped
at a red light. ........The upshot is that
I am only near other vehicles when they aren't moving.


And every time you pull that sort of stunt, you leave in your wake
50-100 car drivers highly ****ed at the next motorcycles they
encounter. That's high school crap, and has no place in the repertoire
of a responsible driver.

Baloney. It is simply a good idea that hasn't yet come to fruition in
many places in the US. Encouraging motorcycle riding by allowing lane
splitting is at least as good an idea as having bus and car pool lanes.


It's has it's pro's and con's. There's a time to do it, and a
time to refrain. There are many times I don't do it because of
an increased risk. I particularly hate starting down the line
and having the light turn green before I get to the front.
Drivers have this awful habit of swerving back and forth as
they accelerate.

I'd like to also ad that I have heard from multiple sources,
including a few cops, that white lining is encouraged for
motorcycle officers. Supposedly it has been found to be
safer than staying back and getting squished between the car
in front and the drunk behind that doesn't see the stopped
traffic.




People should be rewarded for saving fuel, especially when it doesn't
harm others. Allowing motorcycles to lane split doesn't really have any
significant adverse impact on the cars stuck in the line so what is the
harm assuming it is done prudently and safely? I'm not talking about
riding 60 MPH between a closely spaced line of cars, but most
interstates provide at least 6' between cars and that is plenty for a
motorcyle to ride in at 15-20 MPH.


This is an exampel of when white lining should not be done.
Except on rare occasion, my personal rule of thumb is if I
can maintain 4th gear on the freeway, I go with the flow.
And if I do whiteline on the freeway, I keep it to no more
than 10mph faster than traffic. That way if something happens,
like the idiot who decudes to change lanes without signaling
or looking - or the asshole who doesn't liek motorcyclists
whitelining - I only have to lose 5-10 mph to avoid an
incident.

I was talking about riding in stopped traffic.

Matt

"Skywise" wrote

I'm reminded of somethign Donald Rumsfled said about intelligence.
He said there's three kind's of intelligence (information). There's
what you know you know, what you know you don't know, and what you
don't know that you don't know. It's the third one that causes the
problems.

Guess your problem is that you are only smart enough to have a heartbeat
while driving, and nothing more. You can tell from the reaction here, that
nearly everyone thinks that what you are doing is not safe. Where does that
put you? Are you the only sane one, and the rest of the world is crazy?
That is usually not the case.

Continue as you like. In states where it is legal, continue to ride between
cars. In the states where it is not legal, don't drive by me.

Your actions are not going to save you. They will catch up to you, some
day, somewhere.

Drive sanely, and be prepared for the unexpected, and you will be more safe,
than what you are doing. Other people are not expecting you coming past
them, and they *may* not be expecting the unexpected, and do something to
nail you.
--
Jim in NC

In article , Matt Whiting
wrote:

otoh - he isn't disregarding a rule because he thinks he is more important
than me. His stated reason is that he believes he is safer. Let's not
lose sight of the fact that four wheel drivers are a major risk for
motorcycle riders.

That is nothing but a bunch of bull. He does it because he can get away
with it. The other (because it is safer) is just an attempt at
justification.

I'm amazed at how many of you can't read.

Reading isn't really the problem. It more an apparent inability to understand
that there can be many possible motivations for a behavior.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

"Philip S." wrote


If you're referring to noise complaints about aircraft, there's really no
comparison. It's not like I chose to live next to a motocross track or
something.


I'm pretty sure that he is comparing Jake brakes on trucks and straight
pipes on motorcycles.

Do you know what Jake brakes are?
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Bob Noel" wrote

otoh - he isn't disregarding a rule because he thinks he is more
important than me. His stated reason is that he believes he is safer.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that four wheel drivers are a major
risk for motorcycle riders.

That is nothing but a bunch of bull. He does it because he can get away
with it. The other (because it is safer) is just an attempt at
justification.

Like I said, if everybody else drove properly I would not
feel the need to do what I do.

You seem to be under the impression that I do this all the
time every time. I don't. I use white lining tactfully,
and never do if it may endanger others. I'm not some speed
freak who thinks I'm God's gift to the road and everyone
else can eat my shorts. No, I grew out of that stage a
long time ago, and I was never as afflicted as 90% of the
population with that disease.

As for the rest of yuor post, you also seem to be under
the impression that I white line amongst moving traffic.
Although I have done this, I don't do it often and only
with good reason. As I stated in my post, I try to do
this only when traffic is stopped at a light.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

Matt Whiting wrote:
Newps wrote:



Morgans wrote:

"Newps" wrote


Nope. In this house the boys have known since day one that any road
vehicle they are interested has a four wheel minimum. Motorcycle?
Don't even ask. Same goes for tattoos and earrings.




You may someday learn that parenting sometimes has to pick and choose
which battles to fight. One of those may not be worth fighting,
someday.



I'm well aware of that and make those decisions daily, like any
parent. But these are absolutes.


And absolutes only make teens try absolutely as hard as possible to get
around them.

Actually that's not the case. My kids ridicule kids with tattoos. They
see the idiot teenage motorcycle drivers and know that's why they won't
be on one. The rules make sense and they can see that. It's not even a
battle.

(John Clear) wrote in
:

In article ,
Morgans wrote:

FlipSide wrote

But isn't the reason those drivers get upset is because they are
impatient, in a hurry and jealous that the motorcyclist is now ahead
of them?

It is all about playing by the rules, and the ones who think that they
are better than everyone else, and cutting to the front.

The rules depend on the location. In CA, lane splitting is legal,
so the motorcyclist who passes cars at a light is following the
rules. Even the motorcycle cops in CA lane split.

The only ones who **** me off are the ones that lane split at 70mph+
when traffic is rolling at ~40mph during rush hour. I just hope
they've signed their organ donor cards.

I agree. My goal is to be goign no more than 5-10mph faster than
the mean flow of traffic. This means that if something happend
unexpectedly, I only need to lose that 5-10 mph.

See, I don't do this stuff with reckless abandon like some
young testosterone driven buck in his flip-flops and shorts
while showing off to his girlfriend on the back that he can
do wheelies at 80mph on his brand new rice burner.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

"Morgans" wrote in newsd_pg.3581$YN4.1028
@fe03.lga:


"John Clear" wrote

The rules depend on the location. In CA, lane splitting is legal,
so the motorcyclist who passes cars at a light is following the
rules. Even the motorcycle cops in CA lane split.

Cal is strange. (there's a news flash ! g) It is illegal to buy acetone,
but you can zoom between cars on a bike.

Really? I can go down to my local Home Depot and by acetone
by the gallon.

Snipola
I'll be the one out beside the others, forming the rolling roadblock, to
keep ALL of the traffic moving at a good speed.

Geee...what an ass. You might get run off the road or shot
at for doing that. And here I'm the bad guy for whitelining,
which does not interfere with other's driving.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

Newps wrote:


Matt Whiting wrote:

Newps wrote:



Morgans wrote:

"Newps" wrote


Nope. In this house the boys have known since day one that any
road vehicle they are interested has a four wheel minimum.
Motorcycle? Don't even ask. Same goes for tattoos and earrings.





You may someday learn that parenting sometimes has to pick and
choose which battles to fight. One of those may not be worth
fighting, someday.




I'm well aware of that and make those decisions daily, like any
parent. But these are absolutes.



And absolutes only make teens try absolutely as hard as possible to
get around them.


Actually that's not the case. My kids ridicule kids with tattoos. They
see the idiot teenage motorcycle drivers and know that's why they won't
be on one. The rules make sense and they can see that. It's not even a
battle.

If your kids have no desire to ride a motorcycle, then the rule makes
sense, but is also irrelevant. If your kids have a desire to ride, then
it makes no sense and would be relevant and would be ignored. I had a
strong desire to ride from a very young age. I learned off-road on a
small minibike and worked my way up slowly. I bought a street bike when
I turned 16 and have been riding, safely, ever since and that was more
than 30 years ago.

My kids have never shown any interest in flying so I could ban them from
that and they wouldn't give a rats behind. However, if I banned them
from using IM or similar, they'd just use it at friends homes and I'd
likely never know. I'd rather they use it under my supervision where I
can point out the dangers in addition to the benefits.

We all have our own philosophies.


Matt

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
ups.com:

But as I sit typing this on a peaceful Sunday morning in a quiet,
suburban neighborhood, I feel it is incumbent upon me to remind you all
of something: a lot of you are really LOUD. How do I know when the guy
five streets over has decided to go riding? Because I have ears.

The next time some motorist behaves rudely or callously towards
you--behavior which I certainly do not condone, by the way--consider
that their nerves may be on edge from lack of sleep, or having the
peace of a Sunday morning shattered. As I just did in the middle of
typing this.

Absolutely, 100% agree. Motorcyclists with straight pipes are no
better than truckers who use their "jake brakes" around town -- they're
inconsiderate morons.

Personally, I would support the death penalty for both offenses -- but
I seem to be in the minority.

What about your loud plane?

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?