First time lane splitting (at speed, sort of)

[Z3roFlaw]

Soooo work is letting me out early today since our building power is being shutout for some maintenance. This means I'm going to be getting out during prime time going home traffic.

I've lane split before, but mainly on surface streets and only when coming up to a red light and only if I'm like 3-5 cars back. I've never really lane split on the freeway before because to be honest, even though lane splitting safely is legal in California, it makes me SUPER nervous.

I don't even like riding in the carpool lane when all other lanes are at a crawl because there is always someone riding in the fast lane, by themselves, who can't wait in traffic any longer and jumps over the double yellow line and goes right into the Carpool lane.

I think the main reason lane splitting makes me nervous is because I'm worried about someone quickly changing lanes on me after not having noticed I was coming up on them or maybe even a car door being opened on me (this most likely won't happen on the freeway though).

It's only 3:40pm right now and I don't get off for another 2 hours, but traffic is already crap lol. This makes me really want to move our of California so bad. Our freeways suck hard!!!!!

 

[JT]

I hear you I don't usually lane split only when tragic is at a crawl.


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[MNGreg]

WOW!!! Theres ALLOT of lanes of cars there!

I am only used to 3 lanes wide each way....Sometimes 4 lanes.. I think I would be shaking with that much traffic! LOL

 

[flyingminno]

I've been riding for about 7 years and have lane split when necessary the entire time. It can be done safely when you know what to look for and not push your limits. Always leave enough room at speed to stop. My dad has been riding almost 40 years and has done it safely the entire time.

Personally, I feel more safe splitting through traffic than sitting in a lane. When I have sat in a lane with traffic, I have had so many cars try to merge into my lane and a few have gotten very close. There will always be pros and cons, but it boils down to your comfort level.

 

[RooKie]

This could be you :thumbup:

 

[Z3roFlaw]

Haha that picture is awesome!!!

I made it home! I did have to split lanes but I made sure that when I did traffic was doing less than 20 and I would cruise by at around the same speed of traffic or less.

Everything was good and I had no close calls. However, there were a few douche bag cagers who actually moved over to block me from riding by. And one big ass SUV was riding my ass SOOO close when I was taking my exit ramp and he rode my ass all the way through the turn. I seriously wanted to toss a metal object over my shoulder at the ass.

/endrant

lol



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[oyamyers]

I've been riding for over 20 years and moved to Cali about a year and a half ago. When I first got down here I wasn't sure if I would lane split. After some experimenting with surface streets, I decided to give it a go on the freeway. I was slow at first and always let faster bikes go ahead of me. Now, 18 months later, I usually run between 30 and 40mph through stop and go traffic. Most people around here move over, some to the extreme and almost scrape the barrier. There are those few who try to squeeze me out, but I pick my spots to get around them. Helpful tip, fold your mirrors in. That will prevent you from kissing those SUV mirrors. Done that a few times. As always, ride within your comfort zone.

 

[dmkun]

You have got to use your own judgement and do it when its necessary to feel more visible, secure and comfortable.

 

[will415]

Slipping.

Ya fold the mirrors buys smaller ones or dont hit them with these bikes i noticed i have to be more carefull then when i had my R1 cause of the dam bunny ears lol i have came so close to hitting them so many time while slipping lanes. But i agree in South Bay or even easy bay i noticed that people do move over more for bikers than they do in the Fresno area in Fresno i have been Punched on my helmat i have been spit on, i had a guy one time open his door and close it fast then laugh as i was going by to try to scare me, so as i went through i kicked his fucken door, i had someone try to grab my backpack one time as i was going through i kinda hate fresno to be honest with you lol but im from San Francisco so i know that over there the riding is a bit different.

 

[0150r]

I don't lane split much, but when I do, I make sure to keep it in a gear lower than it needs. I want my bike to be a little louder so people hear me while I am near them for safety. Would work better if I had a TBR though.

 

[cezell09]

I've been riding for about a month now and I've had to lane split the 405 and the 91 at rush hour. Well, I didn't have to. But it was hot and since sitting in traffic made it hotter I decided to go for it. It is very scary but not as difficult as I had anticipated. I still will not lane split when traffic is actually going faster than 30 though. That still scares me way too much...

 

[SkyOrDie]

Lane splitting. Instant relief from the commuter blues. No matter how crappy the drive or the job is, passing 10,000 cars on the way to work makes the world a little brighter! I did a 100 mile round trip commute for about 50,000 miles several years back. Did a lot of lane splitting. My attention dial was set on 11 and I was never bored.

You're legal for 10mph over the flow of traffic. Don't go slower than that. I see some crawling through cager's blind spots and that's just asking for trouble. Turn your headlights on high (during the day) to put a flicker in their rear-view. If you're splitting HOV-#1, drop back into a lane when you lose the double yellow. The cagers go schizoid there. I hate duallys. They're as wide as a semi, but the drivers don't have the skills to know where they're at in their own lane. Beware.

-Stan

 

[Perdurable]

WOW!!! Theres ALLOT of lanes of cars there!

I am only used to 3 lanes wide each way....Sometimes 4 lanes.. I think I would be shaking with that much traffic! LOL

the most around here is the interstate with 2 lanes...lol

 

[Spunky99]

Those douche bag cagers that try to block you are actually using the car as a deadly weapon and if they hit you they will be charged with 245 (a)(1) and go straight to jail. Most of them are from out of state and don't know what you are doing is legal but that doesn't give them the right to enforce what they think is the law with their vehicle just as using a gun isn't legal to scare people for littering. For commutes, I swap my work (dress) shoes for my riding boots with magnesium toe sliders and I will use them along the sides of cars that play the block game.
Of course I ride with a cam so when push comes to shove, I'll take that misdemeanor charge for damaging their paint while they get arrested and have to bail out for 25G's and pay an attorney another 25g's to defend themselves. I've hurt my knee and hand trying to knock off their mirrors so I don't do that anymore. You have scraped the side of the car and are long gone before they can react anyway. Hopefully they will leave bikers alone next time. It's a bully behavior and the only to deal with a bully is kick their ass so hard they won't ever think to screw with you again.

Another public service by Spunky....

Haha that picture is awesome!!!

I made it home! I did have to split lanes but I made sure that when I did traffic was doing less than 20 and I would cruise by at around the same speed of traffic or less.

Everything was good and I had no close calls. However, there were a few douche bag cagers who actually moved over to block me from riding by. And one big ass SUV was riding my ass SOOO close when I was taking my exit ramp and he rode my ass all the way through the turn. I seriously wanted to toss a metal object over my shoulder at the ass.

/endrant

lol



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[Roaddawg]

Lane splitting. Instant relief from the commuter blues. No matter how crappy the drive or the job is, passing 10,000 cars on the way to work makes the world a little brighter! I did a 100 mile round trip commute for about 50,000 miles several years back. Did a lot of lane splitting. My attention dial was set on 11 and I was never bored.

You're legal for 10mph over the flow of traffic. Don't go slower than that. I see some crawling through cager's blind spots and that's just asking for trouble. Turn your headlights on high (during the day) to put a flicker in their rear-view. If you're splitting HOV-#1, drop back into a lane when you lose the double yellow. The cagers go schizoid there. I hate duallys. They're as wide as a semi, but the drivers don't have the skills to know where they're at in their own lane. Beware.

-Stan

Right there with ya Stan. I use to commute 100+ miles round trip into San Francisco.....I split 60+ miles of that commute. I actually felt more nervous sitting in traffic than splitting. If you do it at a safe speed and be hyper-vigilant, you can make it through no problems.

 

[Mork201277]

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WOW!!! Theres ALLOT of lanes of cars there!