I too put many miles on the freeways of the l.a. basin on an older thumper.

i agree completly with the riders observations.

i only add this to the equation because i like to keep it real simple..

"YOU ARE INVISIBLE TO ALL CAGES"

plain and simple.

here are several other tactics that didnt make his list but are undersood by freeway riders/lane splitter.

watch heads and front wheels they will be the first indicator of a lane change.

a cell phone user with phone in right ear drifts right, left ear drifts left.  generally......

obscure the license plate, that so when you pop sombodys mirror, or scrape the side  they dont have it when they call 911 complaining about a minor incident. this also applies the to occasianal steel toe to door panel, or when adding to the "antenna" collection.     ok i'm not proud of it but i do have a few.  on the l.a. freeway its "war out there" for the daily commute. and the m/c is the lowest on the food chain.  plus cages hate that we get to move at 25 - 30 mph when they only are doing 5 - 10.  ever try riding 5 -10 mph for miles on end.. you quickly become a lane splitter.
i've been the head of 20 bike snake over mullholand in rush our many times.  i've has chp's move over to let a smaller bike lead. when the cages feel the snake moving by they generally move over just a tad.  that's generally..

Well that didn't seem to work  ???  oh well lets try it again http:www.flamesonmytank.com.za/navigation

Paladin. wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:


Maybe some people do not use their mirrors very often, but with your headlight on you are at least taking the opportunity to be seen by the car ahead.  If you drive in their blind spot you are contributing to your own "invisibilty".  This also positions you so that oncoming traffic can see your headlight....especially for the person wanting turn left in front of you.  

There are 2 ways to look at this, and I choose the proactive one.

Quote:


This is simply a good defensive driving attitude.

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The best tactic is to position yourself to see and be seen.  Drive defensively, but not aggressively.  Just because some cagers are unpredictable or even stupid, doesn't suggest that a motorcyclist should be as well.  Some cagers do not discriminate between bicycles, pedestrians, cars or bikes. That is their problem, but it doesn't have to yours.

Don't take a bad attitude out on the road.  Don't follow too closely, scan ahead through traffic, use your turn signals and always be prepared to react.  Just drive smart.

Savage_Rob wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:


It may be legal in NC, I'm not sure.  I've seen it done, but personally, that practice scares the crap out of me.  Too many negative possibilties.

sluggo wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:


Seems like it is probably safer to do in L.A. where people are more used to it than somewhere where people don't see it every day.

I may have missed it but I have been through the DPS and other state sites and tried to find anything referring to lane-splitting and came up completely blank.  However, I would find it highly inadvisable.  For the most part I am content with HOV lanes, where they exist.