Annual check in
Hey guys,
Hope you're all doing great -and still riding safe and having fun.
Haven't been on the forum for the last 16 months; crazy busy with work -- the whole tech company sale, integration, post integration layoff, rehire by selling company and happy thoughts and cash all the way around.
Me: Still having a great time riding my el-cheapo "proof of concept" 1994 Concours (not my first bike and not recommended as one). I'll have to put together my annual costs for those who care, but guarantee that my mileage is more than paying for the fun I'm having and for all the commute time I'm saving -- and newbies can check my past messages to see that I'm highly skeptical of the "new MC saves me money" argument.
Lots of learnings the past year or so. Putting about 11-12K miles on the bike. Daily rides through the mountains -- got some winter gloves for the snow and splurged on a perf leather jacket for the Augusts heat. Had some fantastic rides up the coast with my son on the back (even at 13, still a favorite outing -- though I know I'll pay the price soon with the "why can't I have my own bike" argument). Riding a bit faster than before, but still getting passed in the lane split by guys who are in a bigger hurry and must have to be home sooner than myself -- haha.
Anyway, hope all my old BBMC friends (Elwood, Ben, Munch, Weapon0, Mega, Ranette, Sangria and others) are keeping the rubber side down and riding safe.
Take care and ride safe,
SCRider
Re: Annual Check-in
Welcome Back!
I'm not here often either any more due to the lack of activity on the board, but am still commuting ~70 miles a day, 5 days a week on my GSX650F.
Re. the lane-splitting, there's no shame in letting the "fast guys" go past and it's just good riding etiquette to pull over when convenient (to you) in order to let them past if they've caught you up. Actually, I'd rather they went past as if they're in that much of a hurry (as they often are), that's better than you wondering if they're some squid who'se going to pull some stupid stunt in order to get past you.
I've been doing my motorcycle commute for about 5 years now and have pretty much seen it all on the roads that I travel. I think that the fastest lane-splitters are probably the least experienced, or most brave (and stupid!), and just don't realize the dangers. Having been (deliberately) hit by a car once during lane splitting, I know I'm a lot more cautious and slower when doing it these days.
Although I used to do this myself (newbie bravado), those guys whizzing past slow or stop and go traffic on the freeway at 40-50 mph are really asking for trouble as many car drivers just don't check their mirrors before zipping into that space that's just opened up in the faster-moving lane .
I know when I'm driving my car that most of the time, I don't even see or hear those "fast guys" until they're whizzing past my left ear. If you go slower, say ~25 mph, and with your full beam on, those car drivers *do* see you coming because, often, they will pull over a little to make more space for you. They don't do that when you're whizzing past slow or stop/go traffic at 40-50 mph because they only periodically check their door mirrors (if at all) and just don't see you coming.
A headlight modulator can help a lot in lane splitting (they think you're a cop coming through), and it can result in a parting of the waves, but I'm sure (from prior experiences) that sometimes, a driver mis-interprets a quick glance at the flashing, as being your consent for them to change lanes in front of you! So I have mixed feelings about modulators and on balance, removed mine. Now I just switch to main beam for lane splitting.
Get some heated grips for the cold weather, you'll never want to be without them thereafter.
Anyway, like I said, welcome back and keep the shiny side up.