Don't do it. You'll shoot your eye out.



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I wouldnt do it at high speed but slow speed in a traffic jam would be reasonable to me. Just want to keep moving and not get too hot.

 

Technically, it is not "legal" in Cal. It just isn't "illegal" and it is "tollerated". At least that is how it was still on the books as of last year. There is a long history behind this one. It all started with the CHP motocops a while back and has been a way of motorcycling in CA ever since. The DMV highly discourages it, saying it "is not safe", but none the less it happens all the time. It would be nice if was legal / tollerated through-out the US. I believe it would lead to greater acceptance by drivers in cars. The worst is tourists who come to CA and have never seen it before. That or Santa Cruz, where they seem to hate motorcyclists in general.

Me? Yep, I do it quite frequently, particulary in SF on 19th when traffic really backs up. Slow and easy, but I do it. I also make sure I give a friendly wave to The Man sitting in traffic when I split right by him / her and an extra friendly [sm=thanx.gif] to those who move over and give me room. I have some people get really pissed [sm=shootshoot.gif] at me in Santa Cruz however.

 

that's why I ride the shoulder instead of splitting lanes. end result is the same but less risk

 

Decades ago when I lived in Southern Cali I did that in stopped or very slow traffic.

Don't have that much traffic here in Mississippi, and even when I do get in an occasional traffic jam, I am just not in that big of a hurry that I will trust others to stay where they are as I pass between them.

If I truly was experiencing an emergency, I would put the flashers on and ride a shoulder or center lane, before lane splitting.

 

When I was stationed in S. Calif in the 70s, splitting lanes was a regular thing to do on the freeway. Airconditioning in cars wasn't as common then anda lot of drivers would have their windows rolled down with their arm resting on the open window ledge. I would occasionally reach out and touch peoples arms as I went by.

 

Riding the shoulder is illegal in CA.That's what really pisses people off, when they see some asswipe(cage or bike) riding in the shoulder.You'll get a ticket here real quick.

 

Been lane splittin for almost 40 years. Love to follow the CHP. Gets ya where ya are going real quick.

 

For 10 yrs in my younger days I rode regularly in Houston rush hour, splitting lanes and using the service lanes to work my way thru traffic at 60-90mph speeds. I felt safer in those days leaving problems behind me, it was easier to deal with what I could see vs what I couldn't behind. My ride at the time was a tweaked RD400 Cafe' bike that had the accel/braking power to deal with it(not to mention I rode like an idiot).
I don't have to ride in that kind of traffic any more and If I did my Evo chopper would not have the agility to do a lot of that kind of crap. I am an old fart and my reactions are not as sharp as when I was younger. You'll find me cruising the backroads of East Texas and getting my thrills nailing it to pass slower traffic. No more Houston rush hours for me!

 

I've done it alot in the past, now onlywhen needed