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Lane Filtering


Pasta Burner

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So I exercised my right to lane filter for the first time today.  I’ve gotta say it’s a very odd feeling the first few time.  Luckily I did’t encounter any aggressive cages.  Honestly I’m so used to not being able to filter I often forget it’s legal and encouraged.

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@Freebird Utah.  It’s actually been legal for two years but the first year I wasn’t riding due to knee surgery and last year I completely forgot about it.  I only remembered because the other day when in my cage I saw a rider do it.  It appeared though that someone got mad at him for doing it because I saw some hand gestures.
 

@Motorcycle Mike that’s the exact reason to do it and why it’s encouraged.  A large purpose is to protect the rider from being rear ended by distracted and stupid drivers.

The biggest problem I see with it is lack of education and awareness.  Like I said even as a rider I went a whole season because I forgot.  The local news did a clip on it a month or so ago but it only focused in that it’s legal and to expect it.  They NEVER mentioned WHY!  So cagers think a bike is just cutting in line and they get aggressive.  It’s a well known fact telling someone what to do and WHY is tenfold more effective than just barking an order.

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I would think it wouldn't be advisable with the Venture because most cagers don't give much room between each other to go between. It's not allowed here (Ontario Canada) and have never seen anytime that I could have gone between anyways.

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I am originally from California and lane split on the freeway on my venture anytime the traffics was slowing down to around 45 or less. Especially stop and go traffic. Because cagers  in California grew up with motorcycles splitting lanes is is not only accepted practice but many times assisted by giving more room. My wife and I would go to Santa Barbara on 101 and since it was always stop and go during the summer, the cages would literally move to their left and right and open a huge lane for the strings of motorcycles going by. It was only the occasional inattentive driver that would hug the inside of their lane or a Dick 20 something in a convertible BMW with 4 of his male friends blocking on purpose. I live in Oregon now. When the bill was close to passage I posted a thread on Nextdoor. Believe me, you don’t want to lane filter in Oregon. They openly threatened to open doors, block lanes etc. the common EGO response was “ they should have to wait in line like the rest of us”. 
FYI I never clipped a mirror in all the years of splitting. Although I found myself not breathing as I slide between the cages, I felt safer than getting rear ended. 
VentureFar…

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@sleepy2 My apologies I should have clarified that I did this on my sport bike.  The venture will be a progressive step in this practice.  I actually last week almost knocked my sport over not realizing / paying attention to how wide the venture is in the back; just pulling her into the stable.
 

My local PD put a Facebook post about it when it came about and @VentureFar there are a lot of posts being negative and aggressive toward bikes that Filter.  I say instead of being uninformed or “jealous” go get a bike and join us :)

Edited by Pasta Burner
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I've lived in CA since '89 and when I first moved here, I thought motorcyclists were nuts for splitting lanes.  Then I started riding and found the perspective from inside the car is dramatically different than on a motorcycle.  There is much more room than you realize.  That said, there are speeds and circumstances where it is not safe.  When I had my 1st venture in the early 2000's, I had no problem splitting lanes, even with my wife on the back.  But, this was with traffic at a near stop or a crawl and I was not going much faster myself.  I have not done any lane splitting since getting back into riding last year.  I no longer commute and not sure I would trust today's drivers who care more about their phones than anything else, didn't have that issue back in the day.

Somewhere back in my faded memory cells it seems that a cop told me that lane splitting wasn't technically legal, but the law allows two vehicles in one lane if they safely fit, or something like that, so if you were not being safe (i.e. weaving in & out of lanes @ high speed) could still be ticketed. 

The only close call I can remember was going to work one morning and someone opened their door to dump out their cold coffee one car ahead of me.  I'm pretty sure he did not look before doing so. 

As a side note, I was nearly hit by a distracted driver today on my bicycle!  She missed my rear wheel by about a foot.  I was going through a 4-way stop, she was rolling up seemingly ready to stop, looked to her right, didn't see any cars and blasted through the stop sign - right at me!  I tried to speed up & yelled to get her attention to which she got the OH SH** look and swerved around me. 

All my prior years of motorcycle riding taught me to be defensive and anticipate such an event.  A murphy's law approach that if a driver can do something stupid, they will - expect and plan for it.  Glad I didn't take my eyes off of her because she never saw me.

 

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 Agreed....And I've learned the hard way that making eye contact with a driver doesn't mean it's actually registered in their brain that you're there.

  Looked a fella eye to eye and had him pull out in front of me.   He had a stop sign and I was on a thoroughfare....slowed down when I saw him there...made eye contact...figured I was good...then he pulls out.

  Lesson learned....

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It's excepted.. neither legal or illegal.. here in California where I've been riding two wheels for 65 years, and I've yet to split a lane..  It's amazing how narrow that space is between vehicles except when you're in one.. Then it's... I gotta try that until the next time you're on 2 and the eye of a needle is wider...  Kinda the same thing on the size of the bike when it's upright or laying on it's side....  LOL

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Well...I just can't see myself doing it. To many idiots out there and getting worse every year!

To the air cooled idea....yes I get that. In 1969, I was riding outside of Parsippany, NJ, when traffic stopped due to construction. It was a hot June summer day. I was riding my Yamaha YDS6C. Air cooled 250 street scrambler. Daytona racer derivative for the street. I shut the motor off and sat in traffic. Finally decided to go to a gas station, take off riding gear and get a coke. I pushed the bike on the shoulder to the station, about 150 feet. Parked her and took off helmet and jacket..

Cop pulls up and gives me a ticket for driving on the right side shoulder. Really???

Thankfully a lady friend's mom was a judge there. One phone call and mom was laughing. She told me don't worry about it and wished me a safe journey. I was heading to Mississippi from New Hampshire to help a buddy build a house for his wife's parents. 

Motor off. Aluminum engine. Pushing bike. Ticket. Ok....

D

638b_3.jpg

Edited by videoarizona
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6 hours ago, videoarizona said:

Well...I just can't see myself doing it. To many idiots out there and getting worse every year!

To the air cooled idea....yes I get that. In 1969, I was riding outside of Parsippany, NJ, when traffic stopped due to construction. It was a hot June summer day. I was riding my Yamaha YDS6C. Air cooled 250 street scrambler. Daytona racer derivative for the street. I shut the motor off and sat in traffic. Finally decided to go to a gas station, take off riding gear and get a coke. I pushed the bike on the shoulder to the station, about 150 feet. Parked her and took off helmet and jacket..

Cop pulls up and gives me a ticket for driving on the right side shoulder. Really???

Thankfully a lady friend's mom was a judge there. One phone call and mom was laughing. She told me don't worry about it and wished me a safe journey. I was heading to Mississippi from New Hampshire to help a buddy build a house for his wife's parents. 

Motor off. Aluminum engine. Pushing bike. Ticket. Ok....

D

638b_3.jpg

Kinda like Puc and Tippy getting a ticket for impersonating a cop because Tippy was wearing a white helmet.  

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It is actually legal here in California, it is called lane sharing. Most riders do not follow the actual law while doing it though. Technically it is only legal when the prevailing flow of traffic is 25 mph or less, and riders are not supposed to go more than 5mph faster than the prevailing flow. When I first moved here I didn’t know what the heck was going on with all the motorcycles, so I looked it up.

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