- This topic has 5 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 16 years ago by megaspaz.
Cloverleaf highway on-ramps
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April 21, 2008 at 3:30 am #1295megaspazParticipant
Since I’ll be doing riding on the highways of California, I need to ask if any of you other Cali riders have tips on getting on incline/decline cloverleaf on-ramps… especially those on ramps that have meters at commuter times. Thinking about this, it seems like there would be situations where you would be doing a lot of no-no’s… I suppose the easiest solution would be to ride to non-cloverleaf on-ramps, at least for now, but I figure I’m gonna have to do these sooner or later.
Thanks!
April 21, 2008 at 4:18 am #5721BenParticipantHey Megaspaz,
I actually live in the CA bay area and commute from San Jose to Mountainview so I think I know what you are talking about. Are you worried about a big line of cars or something? Usually if there is a line and a meter I just ‘share lanes’ all the way up to the front of the line, and if there are no cops I just keep going. If there are cops, then I tend to stop at the light, but I find that most drivers don’t really like this since I am sort of cutting in line.
When I split on the onramp I make sure to do so on the inside curve and not the outside, I find that the inside shoulder is pretty wide and mostly free from debris. I’m not sure on the legality of doing that maneuver since I think to properly split lanes you have to do it on a dotted line, not a solid one. But I usually just take my chances because…
1. It lightens the load of traffic and gets me to my destination quicker. Win/Win for everyone.
2. If I do happen to pass a cop car while I am splitting chances are I will be way too far ahead of him in gridlocked traffic and he won’t bother trying to pull me over.
3. If I do by chance get pulled over, I explain #1, smile, and get a ticket if they deem it necessary. Whenever I take risks on my bike like splitting in that situation or speeding, I know that there is a chance my luck will run out and I will get a ticket. So far it hasn’t happened, but I am always aware of the possibility.
Does that answer your question?
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminApril 21, 2008 at 4:48 am #5725megaspazParticipantYeah, it’s the big line of cars of drivers who might’ve had a crappy day that worry me. Or if it’s in the morning, the long line cars of drivers who might not have had their morning coffee yet… heh heh.
But the Lawrence on-ramp onto 101N has a diamond lane which is a plus, but the stopping at the meter at the end of curve has me worried… not a whole lot of distance for get upright to properly stop… at least not from what my noob eyes can see. And even taking the inside shoulder seems pretty daunting as you’ve probably noticed, drivers have a hard time staying between the lines on the on-ramp, me included!
I think I might be looking more for technique, control/braking tips for handling these things… like throttle open/closed, clutch closed and “coast”, etc…
I wish they covered this situation at MSF at least here in Cali… I wish I thought of asking it at MSF…
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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…April 21, 2008 at 4:05 pm #5735megaspazParticipantI took the declining cloverleaf on-ramp onto 101N from Lawrence Expressway. It wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t perfect either. It was successful, but lucky also. I shall now bore you with the details…
Took the diamond lane of the on-ramp in 3rd with the throttle slightly open.
Everything’s going smooth 1/2 way down until a comcrap support van decides he wants in on the carpool lane with no carpool! He pulls a quick signal with an immediate merge.
I let off on the throttle and close the clutch and apply a little front brake. I comfortable cruise behind him trying to time his stop and the green light. I was just going to follow his green light, but he doesn’t go immediately on the green. So I had to stop and when he decides to go, I’m not in the right gear to start… I open the throttle and it putt-putts and stalls. I’ve got some slight momentum and was still balanced, so I hit the start button, the bike starts up, I crank the throttle and I’m off.Most definately, not the smoothest of getting on the freeway, but I survived it, luckily. And thinking on it, there’s a couple of things I’m pretty sure I should’ve done, like:
1. Lane split on the inside of the carpool and non-carpool lane, and gunned it as I did do a good job of timing the green light. Not too many escape routes on an on-ramp behind another vehicle in the diamond lane.
2. Made sure I was in a low enough gear since I stopped.
There’s probably other things as well, which I’m sure people will comment on.
*Disclaimer – The details of the incident might not be entirely correct as I started deeply thinking of the situation when I got to work and safely parked my bike.
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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…April 21, 2008 at 10:47 pm #5739BenParticipantSounds like quite the adventure! You seemed to handle yourself well and not panic even when you bike stalled. I had a friend who stalled his bike at a green light and was so paniced that he couldn’t get his bike started again until the light started to turn yellow. Needless to say he made the light, but the cars behind him weren’t so lucky haha.
The only thing I could recommend is maybe to count gears that way you know you are in the correct gear for your speed. I personally tried to get in the habit but it never took with me. All I do now is if I’m slow enough to stop I always stomp down a few times on the shifter to make sure that I am in first. Not the most elegant way of solving the problem, but it works
Ben
~Best Beginner Motorcycles AdminApril 22, 2008 at 1:56 am #5744megaspazParticipantIs what I normally do when I know I’m going to have to stop… but for some reason, I just did not think about it. Might be due to me being in the frame of mind of my original intent… I’ll probably dwell on it a bit more…
One things for sure, it sure is nice to have the carpool lane during carpool hours on 101…
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If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now… -
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