June 25, 2019 1:44 PM PDT
As long as its safe to do so....yep, I lane-split where ever I go. I'm from Socal, you have to do it or not ride, and that's not an option. I was in D.C. last year and it was hot, muggy, and traffic was as bad as in LA. After awhile, my bike started getting hot so I began lane-splitting. There were some real jerks who tried cutting me off but I was able to get around them. I was only doing about 10-20 mph. I came upon a State Trooper, pulled up next to him and said I was from SoCal and asked if lane-splitting was legal or not. He said no, it's not legal....then said to be careful because drivers there are real jerks and will block you on purpose. No kidding! In essence, he gave me permission to lane-split. This past year I was on the Run For The Wall and we hit Phoenix during rush hour. Since we were an advance party, we had no LEO support and had to ride in traffic. It was stop-n-go for over 10 miles in 120 degree plus temps. All our bikes got extremely hot. One of the riders had a temp gauge and it showed over 300 degrees. Another on a water-cooled BMW overheated and he had to take the median to get some air on the motor. My clutch overheated and I had to pull over and get towed to Chandler HD.
Lane-splitting should be legal and optional in all 50 states, IMHO. I'm not going to fry my engine (or me) because some jerks dont' like the idea of someone getting ahead of them in traffic.
