Lane Splitting - Yeah or Nay...

I have been riding for almost 7 years now and have recently been having some heated discussions on "lane splitting" (in those places where it's legal) and my take on this has always been "no way no how".  I personally don't seen any reason to do this....particularly on a busy, backed up, California Highway.  Anyone have a take on this?  I'm wondering if there is some logical reason why a person would put themselves into what I consider a dangerous position......  

Impatience. Risk taker.  

how about it's 116 degrees outside...

how about it's going to take 3 hours to go 20 miles...

I would do it more if my handlebars and engine guards were narrower.  I do it sometimes at red lights if the light is long.  Sometimes I do it if the traffic is under 15 mph on the highway.  

I do it all the time over here in England when traffic gets really bad.  It really isnt a lot of risk if you arent zooming past the stopped cars and you keep scanning for people changing lanes.  If you just putter right through the middle at a reasonable speed, most peole will actually move to their side of the road to let you pass.  The roads over here are actually quite a bit more narrow than they are in the states.  Its actually a nice feeling to be moving while others are stationary!  

Well, I guess my big concern is that a select few are doing this on a regular basis for sheer fun (or perversion, I'm not sure)....I live in Denver and yes, I can see thinking about puttering down the center lane when traffic is backed up...but these folks apparently do this on a regular basis regardless of whether traffic is backed up or not....merely because they can and they think it's fun.  Add to this activity these same people using the shoulder of a highway on-ramp to pass cars (on the ramp) while getting onto the highway.  However, on the rare time I have contemplated 'splitting lanes'... all it takes is one moron diving from the left lane to an exit ramp (which is frequent here) through an opening barely big enough for a VW to change my mind.  

Well , like so many other things , lane slitting can be abused by some . But it is a necessary legal alternative to just setting in a traffic snarl  and letting your engine overheat .
I use it on occasion and have seen others do the same thing .
 I will not stay there behind soccer mom setting there happily texting while stopped on the freeway  in her Escalade amongst  a sea of other cagers all stopped for who knows what or for how long if I have other options. Motorcyclists shouldn't have to ! IMHO

Terry  

I guess i should have clarified.  I dont agree witht he people who split lanes at 70 mph, when traffic is flowing smoothly.    

I have and ONLY do it when traffic is at a dead stop or barely moving and never go above 15 mph, because I dont want to overheat and break down. It is always at my own risk. Only once did I have a jerk open his door trying to make me wreck, but luckly a cop saw him, walked over and gave him a ticket ! ROFLMAO, he was pissed !  

I've never been in that much of a hurry. Back when I was young enough to still believe in working (G) and I occasionally got caught in traffic, I used to enjoy the looks I'd get from cagers as I walked the bike along with the engine shut off, keeping my place in traffic.

regards,
Joe  

I'll admit it, I have used the breakdown lane. 90 degrees, sitting for 4 miles of backup. 2-3 hours of that, and riding partner (separate bike) and I would have collapsed from the heat before we got clear. We watched a couple of bikes motor past in the breakdown lane, and we pulled over. We didn't do more than about 5mph the whole way. Didn't piss off the drivers by blowing by, and kept us slow enough to react to a road rage.

Sometimes it's a safety issue. sitting in traffic can be dangerous.

Joe is right, if you're doing it because you're in a hurry (and, the additional baggage is "I'm better than the rest of the people") then, you might want to get off your high horse. They pay the same taxes to use the same roads.

If you're doing it because not doing it is going to do you harm....  

I live in Texas and absolutely understand the pits that sitting in traffic is on a bike that seems to do nothing but get hotter and hotter. According to Ride Texas magazine, Texas doesn't allow lane splitting but doesn't permit it, either. IN my MSF class, the instructor said lane splitting is verboten in our fair state, but he was a former motorcycle cop from California and maybe was passing that tidbit on because the state doesn't specifically permit it. Though I've been tempted at times.

However, people here drive bad enough and aren't used to anyone lane splitting, so it definitely would be a taking-your-life-in-your-hands situation. I know it's OK in California, and I guess people there are used to it (except for out-of-staters like me).

But I like Joe's all-too-common-sense approach of turning your bike off and walking it. Would definitely freak people out here, and I can't wait to try it!

Haven't used the shoulder yet for fear of ticking off a cager, and there's enough road rage and bad driving here to not provoke things, but those are things to keep in mind should those strategies be needed.

Question...I've only been riding a year and am not the most mechanically minded person, can overheating damage the engine? What can happen?

Ride safe, watch out for cagers on cell phones, and thank The Man Upstairs for every safe ride...  

Overheating can damage the engine, but you have to ignore the symptoms for the damage to occur. Initially, overheating doesn't really get you into temperature ranges that are harmful to the engine, but multigrade organic oil that is overheated turns back into single weight oil. If you overheat that 10W40 oil it turns into 10W oil. Overheating it even more will burn the oil. If you run a multigrade organic oil, overheating the engine should always be followed as soon as possible by an oil change. Most synthetic oils are far more heat resistant than organic oil is.

In a water cooled bike, the symptoms you ignore would be steam coming out of the bike or coolant spraying out the overflow hose. Bikes have much less excess cooling capacity than cars do, so any loss of coolant is a reason not to ride the bike until it is replaced. Riding the bike with inadequant coolant wil not only overheat the engine, it will continue overheating the engine to the point where oil burns and bearings sieze up, rings and valves break, cylinder wall coatings fail...

In an air cooled bike, setting in traffic, overheating can lead to vapor lock as the fuel in the hose simply boils and turns to a gas. This comes from the outside of the cylinders/heads getting too hot. Since you can't ride the bike until it cools down enough for the vapor lock to go away, you won't do the extreme damage that you can do to a water cooled bike, but if you continue to ride with damaged oil, you will get early wear to all engine parts. If you routinely ride a bike with an air cooled engine in stop and go traffic, it's a good idea to keep track of the time spent in traffic jams and replace the oil about every 20-25 hours or use a single weight oil. That's why so many of us old shovelhead riders ran straight 60W oil.

regards,
Joe