Is the classic sport-touring motorcycle doomed to extinction?

dduelin said:
In this case the correct width was from the horse's mouth but what you used for your information was not complete therefore not correct.... ;)

Don't go for the first hit a Google search gives. Vet it, usually only takes a minute.
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Well it was 'correct' for some models. :biggrin:
At the end of the day, I don't know that 1/2 to 1 inch matters a whole lot on motorcycle 'widths'. ;)
If it's 1/2 to 1 inch for that close filtering, I wouldn't be filtering ....
 
When I rode out to California on my ST 1300 I knew lane splitting was legal. We got caught in traffic between San Fran and San Jose and I scooted over on the line, looked up between the row of cars where I was supposed to ride and said .... Nope, I'm not that brave ! It looked way too narrow to me.
 
the Ferret said:
When I rode out to California on my ST 1300 I knew lane splitting was legal. We got caught in traffic between San Fran and San Jose and I scooted over on the line, looked up between the row of cars where I was supposed to ride and said .... Nope, I'm not that brave ! It looked way too narrow to me.
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I've split on the LA and SanFran freeways, all over Europe (and in London) on ST1100s and ST1300s (with saddlebags in place).
The nice thing across the pond is for the most part they expect the motorcyclists to get ahead and get out of the way.
The craziest one was in Antwerp Belgium - pretty wild traffic patterns.
The big issue I encountered in California was the 'tourists' who were determined not to let you 'get ahead' of them! ;)
So it is not without 'risks' - just ask @SupraSabre .. .
 
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Uncle Phil said:
The big issue I encountered in California was the 'tourists' who were determined not to let you 'get ahead' of them!
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This what makes my blood boiling. How stupid can one be to think that they'll get any sooner to where they're going if you just stayed behind them... Or the jealousy cas they can't do that, so you shouldn't too.
Only human stupidity and the universe are infinite. And I'm not sure in latest - Albert Einstein
 
Uncle Phil said:
Well it was 'correct' for some models. :biggrin:
At the end of the day, I don't know that 1/2 to 1 inch matters a whole lot on motorcycle 'widths'. ;)
If it's 1/2 to 1 inch for that close filtering, I wouldn't be filtering ....
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Well, the reply was to the supposition from an 1100 rider that a Wing was excessively big for filtering or lane splitting as compared to other sport tourers. That wasn't from you :)
 
the Ferret said:
When I rode out to California on my ST 1300 I knew lane splitting was legal. We got caught in traffic between San Fran and San Jose and I scooted over on the line, looked up between the row of cars where I was supposed to ride and said .... Nope, I'm not that brave ! It looked way too narrow to me.
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It's sort of an illusion. Interstate and arterial surface street lanes are 12' wide filled with cars 6-7' wide and SUVs and pickups 8' wide. The brain might see a solid wall of steel and brake lights but actually two lanes have an alley 4 to 6' wide between them - a motorcycle typically about 3' wide has plenty of room. As long as the speed differential is 10-15 mph or less the risk seems acceptable...... not that I have much experience with the practice ;)
 
dduelin said:
It's sort of an illusion. Interstate and arterial surface street lanes are 12' wide filled with cars 6-7' wide and SUVs and pickups 8' wide. The brain might see a solid wall of steel and brake lights but actually two lanes have an alley 4 to 6' wide between them - a motorcycle typically about 3' wide has plenty of room. As long as the speed differential is 10-15 mph or less the risk seems acceptable...... not that I have much experience with the practice ;)
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Yea when you are used to using the whole 12', cutting it down to 4' looks pretty dang narrow for a 3' wide motorcycle. That's only 6" on each side ;)
 
Finally got to experience lane splitting in CA a year ago November, bringing the 1250 GSA home from RawHyde. The GSA is NOT a tiny bike, y'all.
It took me just a few minutes to become comfortable with it. (Remember, I had a spare tire lashed to each side - but no panniers.)
Traffic was well behaved, and many cars actually moved away from the middle, giving me even more room. It was GREAT! in heavy, slow traffic.
I was only riding a few mph faster than the traffic.
 
Larry Fine said:
Yes, but they move. There's nothing to keep each one from coming within 6" of the center line - simultaneously.
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Exactly. Keep the speed differential to a safe amount and when the alley closes up you sit tight on the dotted line until it opens up. If the driver is bent on blocking you just zip to the other side when it's safe and shoot past him on the other side. Not that I have any such experience with that....
 
the Ferret said:
Yea when you are used to using the whole 12', cutting it down to 4' looks pretty dang narrow for a 3' wide motorcycle. That's only 6" on each side ;)
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Much of it is pretty dry reading but in the book The Upper Half Of The Motorcycle the brain expert author B. Spiegel takes a chapter talking about how the brain sees or doesn't see our surroundings and how most drivers/riders lock up the front wheel and go down or center punch the trunk of the slowing car ahead because all their brain saw a solid wall of steel and brake lights in a panic instead of seeing multiple escape routes. Key is always being aware of such routes and playing the "what if" game often enough that seeing escape routes becomes subliminal and not a get-it-right the first time that requires a ton of brain activity we don't have time for in that situation. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
 
St-Gerard said:
Look where you want to go! Best advice I was ever given that I use.
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I have experimented with that. In a curve, I intentionally looked down and my brain instantly started to try to micro-manage, and it went, "Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!"

When you're looking close ahead of you, you have very little time to react to what you're seeing. When you're looking farther ahead, the brain is much more relaxed.
 
Uncle Phil said:
The big issue I encountered in California was the 'tourists' who were determined not to let you 'get ahead' of them! ;)
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In my area "entitled/superior beings" (i.e. EV operators) and Talahons bear the highest levels of threat... but they're mostly easily recognizable, so when you plan ahead you'll dart by so unexpectedly they can't even react...
 
Larry Fine said:
I have experimented with that. In a curve, I intentionally looked down and my brain instantly started to try to micro-manage, and it went, "Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!"

When you're looking close ahead of you, you have very little time to react to what you're seeing. When you're looking farther ahead, the brain is much more relaxed.
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I'm also a cyclist so I'm habituated to looking much closer to the road ahead since a bicycle can't handle poor road surfaces nearly as well as a motorcycle nor lean as far.

When I'm on the motorcycle I have to make a semi-conscious effort to look further ahead, but sometimes I can still get too easily distracted by something directly in my path.
 
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