I totally get it. I was around motorcycles since I was a kid, as they were very popular in the 1970’s, from the larger 4-cyl bikes like the CB750, to the motorcross bikes like the Honda Elsinore. Lots of the “ring-a-bing-bing” in my neighborhood. Some of my peers learned how to ride motorcycles before they learned their ABC’s!
I did ride 2-up as a passenger when I was a kid on my uncle’s 1978 Kawasaki KZ200. That was cool, but I don’t think that’s what got me hooked on the motorcycles, although since that time I have indeed ridden that bike as the rider. I think part of it was when I got the grease-monkey bug when I was 10-11 years old and learned how to work on small engines. That engine work eventually crept into motorcycle engines, and testing my mechanic work meant I was to ride them to make sure they ran right. As such, I’ve ridden MoPeds and scooters, as well as larger bikes, and the tried-and-true Trail 90 and 110 “step-throughs,” of which I own one of each. I commuted on my 110 from 2003 to about 2022 on weekdays. It’s got almost 11,000 miles on it.
“All of the stress and pressures of life are alleviated by the constant focus on not getting killed by someone in a car not paying attention.” You’re not kidding here. As a cyclist, you’re the “Mosquito” out on the road. Nobody’s looking for you or sees you. As such, you must assume you’re invisible and ride accordingly. Leave more distance. Assume everyone’s going to run the stop sign. Also assume people don’t know you’re stopped when you’re waiting to make a turn. That move is crucial, as I almost got run down by a kid in a tan F-150 who didn’t realize I was stopped, awaiting a left turn. I think he pissed his pants. Good! Maybe he learned something, but if I wasn’t assuming he was going to misjudge the speed, I would have been seriously injured, if not killed. But rather than stop riding, I chalked that up to a learning experience.
Another benefit of riding, based on the above comments, is that you carry over that diligence to your automotive riding, particularly if you ride on a regular basis like I did. On a motorcycle, as you note, you develop good riding/driving habits by necessity, and that carries over into your automotive driving. I’ve caught people blowing stop signs and red lights that I might have missed otherwise.
“On a twisty road, there are few opportunities to pass, and inevitably these drivers would speed up when the road straightened out then slow down once they leave the passing zone. Maddening. And for some reason, our culture has lost the ability to pass.” Believe it or not, I have passed slow motorists on my 110!!! No jest. You are correct, that people crawl through the curves and stomp on it on the straights, only to slow back to a crawl for the next set of curves. I have found a good way to pass is to lay back when you know a straight stretch is coming, and when it comes into view, accelerate hard. If there’s oncoming traffic, you can simply slow back down and stay behind the slowpoke, but if you have a clear road, you will have at least 15 MPH on top of the person in front of you when you initiate the pass, so you’ve already overtaken him by the time he starts speeding up. I’ve started doing that, even with my slower vehicles (my Ranger with the 2.9L and mud tires has acceleration that can best be described as glacial, and I’ve succeeded in passing cars this way.) I’ve had people tell me that motorists that speed up when they’re being overtaken are being aggressive, and I think a few might be that way, but I think most are in zombie mode and simply speed up because a car next to them is also accelerating and they’re subconsciously matching the acceleration. I’ve don’t this a lot on I-5, where I’m in the center lane on cruise control and coming up on a slower motorist, and I signal into the left lane to pass the slower motorist only for that person to speed up and match, not pull away, just match. Then I accelerate, and they accelerate with me. When I accelerate hard to pull away and get clear of them, they stay with me for about a quarter mile, then Ping! They snap back to their old speed, then I do the same, and I continue to pull away. Weird facet of human behavior.
“I’m definitely not a year round rider. I didn’t spend all that money just for the experience to suck, and I have zero *ahem* about what other riders think. The so called hard core bikers ride in all sorts of weather. Not me. For this I do not embrace the suck, as my military friends would say.” The coldest I’ve ridden in is either 22 or 24 degrees. Dry pavement. I’ve also ridden in complete downpours because I wasn’t paying attention to the weather forecast (or more commonly, they got it wrong.) Riding in a downpour is NOT fun. You can’t see well, you’re soaked, I don’t care what you’re wearing, and with the totally wet pavement, you KNOW you’re not going to be able to make an emergency stop without putting the bike on the ground. You just know it. So you’re playing it super-safe, and if possible, you’re taking roads with less traffic. Fortunately I haven’t had a situation where I’ve put the bike down in traffic. But you’re right. You can’t worry about what others think when you ride.
Interestingly, the 2-wheeled vehicle I’m most likely to dump? 50cc scooters! The neighbors get a kick when I come down the main road and turn onto my gravel road with too much speed and too tight an angle for those tiny wheels, or when I do a u-turn on the road. Same thing. The scooter goes one way and I go another. I’m just too big of a gorilla for those tiny scooters. A couple of them I had to reassemble the fairing, actually gluing one back together. They’re not meant for big galutes, but at the same time, I have to test-ride them. They’ll do 30-35, but along with their tiny frames and tiny tires are tiny brakes. And they can’t quickly stop a vehicle where the rider weighs almost twice as much as the scooter. I’ve gotten more cautious with them, but never underestimate the danger of even “dorky” scooters.
“let those who ride, decide.” Agreed, from all angles. I know what you’re talking about.
There is one thing I absolutely hate, both in my car and on my bike. Someone pulling out to make a left hand turn on a busy road with a center turn lane, and using the center turn lane to merge into traffic. I hate it with a passion and I can't for the life of me fathom why it's legal. It's especially bad when said car merges into traffic, not seeing that motorcycle already occupying that lane. The safer way to do it is to turn right into traffic, and then enter the center lane to turn left into a parking lot, or just make a u-turn. Or, better yet, plan ahead and use the side street intersections with lights. I've been almost run over 3 times because of drivers merging into my lane and almost running me off the road.
“Someone pulling out to make a left hand turn on a busy road with a center turn lane, and using the center turn lane to merge into traffic.”
I’ll be honest with you – I don’t know if this is legal or not. I do know it’s an innovation over the last few years, as I don’t remember anyone doing anything like this until the late 2010’s or so. And I generally see it up in the Tacoma area and north, not in my Centralia area. This might be a new rule that was passed by our Legislature, but more likely, as we both know, people have a knack for inventing their own rules of the road and following them religiously, and honking their horn and giving “digital signals” when people don’t respect THEIR rules. And people tend to follow, assuming that if they see a person doing something, that it must be legal. There’s a reason why we have driver’s licenses and agreed-upon rules of the road. Stop signs, speed limit signs, turn signals, driving/riding in the right lane, right turn on red light after full stop, etc. That’s the only way we can get from point A to point B safely and efficiently. I know this sounds like Sesame-street level talking, but as you say – not only people not following the rules of the road is irritating, it’s dangerous. Potentially deadly dangerous.
And yes, I’ve been run off the road in traffic. Right at Harrison Avenue in Centralia. And the woman had the gall to chew me out for being in her way. I was so pissed that she said that and wouldn’t shut up that I… well, I did something that she really didn’t appreciate. Fortunately, traffic was heavy enough that she didn’t come after me in her Explorer. Another lesson learned – road rage and motorcycles are a VERY bad combination.
It is actually legal in this state for some reason. From google:
Yes, in Washington State, you can use a two-way center lane to stage a left turn and then merge safely, but you must only use it for turning, not passing, for no more than 300 feet, and complete your merge into the appropriate lane. You turn into the center lane from the main road, then merge right into traffic when safe; it's meant for left turns in either direction, but not for driving or passing.
Key Rules for Two-Way Left Turn Lanes (RCW 46.61.290):
Staging Turns: You can enter the lane from the roadway to make a left turn onto a side street or into a driveway.
Merging In: Drivers coming from a side street or driveway can turn left into the center lane and then merge right into traffic when safe.
Limit Distance: You cannot travel more than 300 feet in the center lane.
No Passing: It's illegal to use this lane to pass other vehicles going in your direction.
Signal: Always signal your intentions and ensure the maneuver is safe before merging.
How to Use It (Example: Turning Left from a Side Street):
Signal Left from the side street.
Turn Left into the center two-way turn lane.
Wait for a safe gap in traffic.
Signal Right (or left, depending on which lane you're entering) and merge into the traffic flow.
I totally get it. I was around motorcycles since I was a kid, as they were very popular in the 1970’s, from the larger 4-cyl bikes like the CB750, to the motorcross bikes like the Honda Elsinore. Lots of the “ring-a-bing-bing” in my neighborhood. Some of my peers learned how to ride motorcycles before they learned their ABC’s!
I did ride 2-up as a passenger when I was a kid on my uncle’s 1978 Kawasaki KZ200. That was cool, but I don’t think that’s what got me hooked on the motorcycles, although since that time I have indeed ridden that bike as the rider. I think part of it was when I got the grease-monkey bug when I was 10-11 years old and learned how to work on small engines. That engine work eventually crept into motorcycle engines, and testing my mechanic work meant I was to ride them to make sure they ran right. As such, I’ve ridden MoPeds and scooters, as well as larger bikes, and the tried-and-true Trail 90 and 110 “step-throughs,” of which I own one of each. I commuted on my 110 from 2003 to about 2022 on weekdays. It’s got almost 11,000 miles on it.
“All of the stress and pressures of life are alleviated by the constant focus on not getting killed by someone in a car not paying attention.” You’re not kidding here. As a cyclist, you’re the “Mosquito” out on the road. Nobody’s looking for you or sees you. As such, you must assume you’re invisible and ride accordingly. Leave more distance. Assume everyone’s going to run the stop sign. Also assume people don’t know you’re stopped when you’re waiting to make a turn. That move is crucial, as I almost got run down by a kid in a tan F-150 who didn’t realize I was stopped, awaiting a left turn. I think he pissed his pants. Good! Maybe he learned something, but if I wasn’t assuming he was going to misjudge the speed, I would have been seriously injured, if not killed. But rather than stop riding, I chalked that up to a learning experience.
Another benefit of riding, based on the above comments, is that you carry over that diligence to your automotive riding, particularly if you ride on a regular basis like I did. On a motorcycle, as you note, you develop good riding/driving habits by necessity, and that carries over into your automotive driving. I’ve caught people blowing stop signs and red lights that I might have missed otherwise.
“On a twisty road, there are few opportunities to pass, and inevitably these drivers would speed up when the road straightened out then slow down once they leave the passing zone. Maddening. And for some reason, our culture has lost the ability to pass.” Believe it or not, I have passed slow motorists on my 110!!! No jest. You are correct, that people crawl through the curves and stomp on it on the straights, only to slow back to a crawl for the next set of curves. I have found a good way to pass is to lay back when you know a straight stretch is coming, and when it comes into view, accelerate hard. If there’s oncoming traffic, you can simply slow back down and stay behind the slowpoke, but if you have a clear road, you will have at least 15 MPH on top of the person in front of you when you initiate the pass, so you’ve already overtaken him by the time he starts speeding up. I’ve started doing that, even with my slower vehicles (my Ranger with the 2.9L and mud tires has acceleration that can best be described as glacial, and I’ve succeeded in passing cars this way.) I’ve had people tell me that motorists that speed up when they’re being overtaken are being aggressive, and I think a few might be that way, but I think most are in zombie mode and simply speed up because a car next to them is also accelerating and they’re subconsciously matching the acceleration. I’ve don’t this a lot on I-5, where I’m in the center lane on cruise control and coming up on a slower motorist, and I signal into the left lane to pass the slower motorist only for that person to speed up and match, not pull away, just match. Then I accelerate, and they accelerate with me. When I accelerate hard to pull away and get clear of them, they stay with me for about a quarter mile, then Ping! They snap back to their old speed, then I do the same, and I continue to pull away. Weird facet of human behavior.
“I’m definitely not a year round rider. I didn’t spend all that money just for the experience to suck, and I have zero *ahem* about what other riders think. The so called hard core bikers ride in all sorts of weather. Not me. For this I do not embrace the suck, as my military friends would say.” The coldest I’ve ridden in is either 22 or 24 degrees. Dry pavement. I’ve also ridden in complete downpours because I wasn’t paying attention to the weather forecast (or more commonly, they got it wrong.) Riding in a downpour is NOT fun. You can’t see well, you’re soaked, I don’t care what you’re wearing, and with the totally wet pavement, you KNOW you’re not going to be able to make an emergency stop without putting the bike on the ground. You just know it. So you’re playing it super-safe, and if possible, you’re taking roads with less traffic. Fortunately I haven’t had a situation where I’ve put the bike down in traffic. But you’re right. You can’t worry about what others think when you ride.
Interestingly, the 2-wheeled vehicle I’m most likely to dump? 50cc scooters! The neighbors get a kick when I come down the main road and turn onto my gravel road with too much speed and too tight an angle for those tiny wheels, or when I do a u-turn on the road. Same thing. The scooter goes one way and I go another. I’m just too big of a gorilla for those tiny scooters. A couple of them I had to reassemble the fairing, actually gluing one back together. They’re not meant for big galutes, but at the same time, I have to test-ride them. They’ll do 30-35, but along with their tiny frames and tiny tires are tiny brakes. And they can’t quickly stop a vehicle where the rider weighs almost twice as much as the scooter. I’ve gotten more cautious with them, but never underestimate the danger of even “dorky” scooters.
“let those who ride, decide.” Agreed, from all angles. I know what you’re talking about.
Keep the rubber side down, Brother.
There is one thing I absolutely hate, both in my car and on my bike. Someone pulling out to make a left hand turn on a busy road with a center turn lane, and using the center turn lane to merge into traffic. I hate it with a passion and I can't for the life of me fathom why it's legal. It's especially bad when said car merges into traffic, not seeing that motorcycle already occupying that lane. The safer way to do it is to turn right into traffic, and then enter the center lane to turn left into a parking lot, or just make a u-turn. Or, better yet, plan ahead and use the side street intersections with lights. I've been almost run over 3 times because of drivers merging into my lane and almost running me off the road.
“Someone pulling out to make a left hand turn on a busy road with a center turn lane, and using the center turn lane to merge into traffic.”
I’ll be honest with you – I don’t know if this is legal or not. I do know it’s an innovation over the last few years, as I don’t remember anyone doing anything like this until the late 2010’s or so. And I generally see it up in the Tacoma area and north, not in my Centralia area. This might be a new rule that was passed by our Legislature, but more likely, as we both know, people have a knack for inventing their own rules of the road and following them religiously, and honking their horn and giving “digital signals” when people don’t respect THEIR rules. And people tend to follow, assuming that if they see a person doing something, that it must be legal. There’s a reason why we have driver’s licenses and agreed-upon rules of the road. Stop signs, speed limit signs, turn signals, driving/riding in the right lane, right turn on red light after full stop, etc. That’s the only way we can get from point A to point B safely and efficiently. I know this sounds like Sesame-street level talking, but as you say – not only people not following the rules of the road is irritating, it’s dangerous. Potentially deadly dangerous.
And yes, I’ve been run off the road in traffic. Right at Harrison Avenue in Centralia. And the woman had the gall to chew me out for being in her way. I was so pissed that she said that and wouldn’t shut up that I… well, I did something that she really didn’t appreciate. Fortunately, traffic was heavy enough that she didn’t come after me in her Explorer. Another lesson learned – road rage and motorcycles are a VERY bad combination.
It is actually legal in this state for some reason. From google:
Yes, in Washington State, you can use a two-way center lane to stage a left turn and then merge safely, but you must only use it for turning, not passing, for no more than 300 feet, and complete your merge into the appropriate lane. You turn into the center lane from the main road, then merge right into traffic when safe; it's meant for left turns in either direction, but not for driving or passing.
Key Rules for Two-Way Left Turn Lanes (RCW 46.61.290):
Staging Turns: You can enter the lane from the roadway to make a left turn onto a side street or into a driveway.
Merging In: Drivers coming from a side street or driveway can turn left into the center lane and then merge right into traffic when safe.
Limit Distance: You cannot travel more than 300 feet in the center lane.
No Passing: It's illegal to use this lane to pass other vehicles going in your direction.
Signal: Always signal your intentions and ensure the maneuver is safe before merging.
How to Use It (Example: Turning Left from a Side Street):
Signal Left from the side street.
Turn Left into the center two-way turn lane.
Wait for a safe gap in traffic.
Signal Right (or left, depending on which lane you're entering) and merge into the traffic flow.
Preach it my brother.