How in the world do you guys/gals do it?  By  burggyrider (Read 2,884 times)

As said by others above, experience is the key. Leave yourself plenty of room to stop and maneuver, don't tailgate, ride within your comfort zone and you will be there soon. Like Prodigit, I feel safer on the freeway. City traffic is way more dangerous with all the intersections and distractions vying for attention. There are a few stretches of highway I avoid though: Atlanta, DC, Orlando and other metro areas that are highly congested around rush hour. I have had plenty of close call in town and only a few on the highway.

It did not take me much time at all to get on the highway, I had to to get the bike home. A 65 zone and I did 70 mph my first ride on a first time motorcycle license.

HOWEVER this highway is semi heavy traffic, it was at off peak and it is out at the end of the suburbs.

I still have yet to get on the major freeways in town, especially during anywhere near peak traffic. Don't need to to go anywhere I want to go, and does not suit my riding style which is occasional commute, local errands and joyriding.

I do plan to take some rural highway down a scenic river about 150 miles this summer on an overnight just for fun.

The freeways near me are four lanes each direction and to much weaving traffic. I guess I am not scared to do it, but have no reason to. Everywhere I want to go has more scenic routes along a waterway that I'd rather drive anyway and don't care to mix with weaving idiots. I am not scared of the speed, I am leery of the other drivers. I have taken the bike now up to mph on a rural road and decided that was enough , but the speed never scared me as the bike is stable and confident. But watch some teen make a triple lane change without putting down his cell phone and looking at traffic and you don't need to even take a chance.

NEVER ride outside of what you feel comfortable with.

If it is just two lanes in each direction, fine with me, don't care how fast. It is riding in the middle of four lanes with traffic cutting in from either side that bothers me. People drive horribly here at different speeds. Get on a four laner and some people are doing 55, some 75, some 65, and weaving and mingling all over the place. If I decide I want to do 65, some moron in an SUV will get a car length behind me and follow at the same speed. The people going seventy five and weaving might want to cut in front of the suv behind me while weaving and not see me. That is what the cage is for.

Some people say, just always be passing and you don't have to worry about traffic coming up behind you. In my limited experience, the ego manicacs around here that get passed by a scooter suddenly want to give chase and hang around close to you to prove something. Try to do eighty, then they suddenly want to do 82 once you passed them. Slow down to 65, your tailer does the same and suddenly you are in a pack of idiots all around you texting and munching french fries. No thanks.

Traveling in two lanes is just fine, but four lanes moving in the same direction you have to account for idiots from behind, in front, both directly and to either side. Since this is not my only form of transportation and this would not be much fun, the three and four laners get the car.

Hey BG then you need one of these. (does a great job of clearing the road.)


www.amazon.com/Chrome-Dual-Tone-Motorcycle-Air-Horn/dp/B003JO2AAC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1363932323&sr=8-4&keywords=stebel+air+horn

A couple of thoughts.

A business park or industrial park is a fine place to practice if you live in a busy urban area. They are pretty quiet on weekends.

Freeways. The way I see it it's somewhat more predictable than city streets. Everyone goes the same direction, at similar speeds. Sure, there are jerks, but they don't turn left in front of you (Gee officer, I never saw that lil moped!) and they rarely just stop and back into a parking space. Almost no one opens a door into me on the freeway. Not too many red light runners crossing in front of me. Here in California we can lane split, and that's an entirely different experience, much more risky and much more fun, but wait a while until you feel ready for it. Otherwise, take a spin on a freeway on a Sunday morning and get a sense of the speed and the sound. You'll be amazed that you survived, and you'll understand that it can be done.

I commute on San Francisco Bay Area freeways every day on an old Honda 250 Elite, and so far it's been OK. I'm 67 years old, I'm not a complete jerk, and I don't think it's crazy.

There's a lot of those horror stories told.
A lot of people are ignorant, not because they want to, but just because they don't know what a scooter is and how traffic goes.
I often ask people:
How many accidents did you make inside your car?
Most of them would say none, or one small one.
Well, that's about the same for a scooter.

Very few people actually have experienced a big accident resulting in major damage (both collateral as bodily) or fatality.

Sure, a scootard is less protected against the elements around him, but if an accident is eminent, he often is able to do things, a car can not (like slide, corner sharp, steer between or away from an obstacle); just because a car is so much wider, it is more prone to get damaged, where as a scooter may perhaps squeeze in between the two cars in front of him.

Where a car would hit another car and cost thousands of dollars to get it fixed, a scootard, with the right protective gear, usually ends up paying a few hundred bucks for replacing tupperware, and/or a few other thingies, and has a scare by sliding over the road. Perhaps a few bruises too, but most of them have nothing lasting.

First what are you riding? Have you taken the Motorcycle endorsement course? Has anyone a lottle more experience riden your scoot. I am wondering if perhaps your scoot is not quiet right. Sounds like it might be a little squirly. But you instincts are right. Believe me it take nothing to couss you hurt. A peble in the rong place can tumble you. A small handful of sand. Even just a trivial rut. So tgake you time, be careful. wear good protective gear and enjoy.

Good luck. Do not rush getting on the freeway or on high speed streets. Avoid rush hours and night riding for now.

Good lousk and keep in touch. But please get an experience rider to ride you scoot and make sure it is not got a handleing problem.

Lefty2