By Admin
Popular YouTube vlogger Cager on Two Wheels joins us this week from Lisbon, Portugal. We discuss the differences between the riding environments in Europe and North America — culturally, legally and geographically. Our conversation progresses to how those differences shape which bikes become popular in various markets, and dream riding destinations.
Here are a few links to websites mentioned in this episode:
Cager On Two Wheels YouTube Channel
Tanshanomi’s Kansas Spyder Trip Time Lapse
The Smackdab Summer Soltice Ride website
Schaff’s YouTube Channel
False Neutral – Cager on Two Wheels
Jeff Glucker 
William Byrd
Lane splitting is not explicitly legal in California. It is not forbidden, but the police don’t consider filtering inherently reckless here. There’s a state bill, AB51, that’s been floating around Sacto which would explicitly allow splitting.
And yeah, we all call it splitting out here. I often use the word filtering, but that’s definitely me copping a more European term.
(And Cager’s filtering doesn’t bother me, but I spent a decade as a bicycle commuter in the Bay Area before picking up motorcycling, and splitting is the same skill on both machines. And, yep, I subscribed to Cager’s channel on Pete’s suggestion. 🙂
It’s terrifying in CA. My first experience with it was on a loaded rental Tiger 800, with panniers attached. I picked the bike up on Sepulveda and then headed north on Hwy 1. It soon became clear that I’d packed everything for my trip except adult diapers.
I started riding here, so it feels normal to me (and it’s even worse on a bicycle). Hwy 1 this weekend was pretty chill, but admittedly, I ran it from the Presidio south to Monterey, rather than starting in LA and heading north.
when I went to paris in like rush hour was so terrifying to drive a car because it was like bikes everywhere and alot of them always passing so close to the cars
The gaps are bigger than you think, so the trick to driving with bikes splitting around you is to hold your line (or: don’t swerve), be predictable and use your turn signals obsessively when changing lanes. The motorcyclists who have any sense of their own mortality will assume you cannot see them and not run between you and your hole in the other lane. Do keep checking your blind spots and mirrors, and keep us in mind when you do; the people who don’t see us are the ones who are only looking for cars.
I was in alot of traffic and not driving but I’m saying like the amount of bikes passing was like mind blowing at least +100 likes on 15 mins
awesome!
Graduated licensing could help save motorcycling in North America – maybe a topic for a very contentious future episode of False Neutral?
**edit** Alternate topic: Honda hates NA customers and that’s why we can’t have the tricolor CRF1000L
I would definitely support graduated licensing. Putting 1500 miles on a 200cc bike before getting a 700 was definitely a good idea. And if we pick a cutoff that other countries have (say, 400cc), manufacturers won’t have to adjust model lines to provide bikes for new riders.
OTOH: there are a decent number of riders that pick sensible starter bikes in California. When I search CL for “starter bike” in the Bay Area, the results aren’t too ridiculous (the first few hits are Ninja 250s and Honda Rebels).
Unfortunately, licensing is up to the individual States here, so it would be unlikely to gain traction until a critical mass of legislatures decided it was a good idea here.
I said I’d support it. Not that there was any political will to make it happen. (I also think of California as largely separate from the rest of the union with respect to motorcycle laws, because, you know. 😉
Actually “bus lane for motorcycles” topic could be interesting for some people internationally. For example we had such project rejected in Warsaw (capital of Poland) just recently. Would be nice to know how it’s solved in other countries 🙂
I’ve finally caught up with all the False Neutral episodes. Great stuff! It’s funny to hear a voice that belongs to someone you’ve only known via teh internets.
I don’t split lanes in moving traffic around here (Seattle), but I’m happy to be the first off the line when the light changes. Plenty of shade thrown, stink-eyes received, and more than a few things yelled at me while doing so, but SPD seems to have better things to worry about than motorcyclists taking advantage of size.