Spinopsys

Most serious motorcyclists don’t ride in bike lanes for the same reasons I don’t like them. Too great a risk of dooring and other SMIDSYs. However, new scooter owners are another thing altogether. You often see them wobbling in and out of bike lanes, especially near intersections.

Many of these riders are people who don’t have the skills to survive if you were to put them on a full power motorbike. They are like the wobbliest of dual suspension huffy bike commuters, without the effort and the sweat.

I know it’s unfair to paint them all with the “those idiots” brush, as this is also what a lot of people think about cyclists, but damn.. I see some stupid and dangerous crap.

I do like it when I drop them off an intersection though

phew…rant over

Too right, it is more likely that the newly minted Vespa brigade will be a more dangerous add on to cycling lane traffic than the ‘real’ motorcyclists.

If this proposal gets up we’ll have a combustive combination of shaky scooterists joining an already nervous population of cyclists in shared space.

You can leave a message on Mr Magg’s voicemail if you want..
http://mraa.org.au/forum/modules/liaise/

Thanks for that Nicholas, I’ve just sent Mr Maggs an e-mail inviting him to expand on his public comments here. I’d love it if he responds, we need this type of conversation to occur.

What it sounds like is that the MRAA wants to use bike lanes in much the same way that impatient drivers use service lanes on clogged multi-lane highways: to overtake the bunch. And what is the characteristic of all those “special” and “important” people who abuse the service lane in this way? They are impatient and think everyone is holding them up – consequently they exceed the service lane speed limit.

Surely Dale Maggs doesn’t seriously think that someone who is in so much of a hurry that they “need” to get past all the other traffic is going to stick to 30kph?

Perhaps, just perhaps, mind you, we should be open to the suggestion of allowing some forms of motorised bikes to use the bike lanes, eg, the growing number of scooters, as long as there was a reasonable speed limit that could be effectively imposed. It occurs to me that this is one lobby group that is likely to have the numbers and the voice to be heard, and perhaps we might benefit in the end by gaining more bike lanes.
We would certainly benefit in the initial stages by highlighting the current dangers of illegal bike lane use, and not just by motorbike riders.

That would put something like the Piaggio 500CC scooter (i.e. the “no honey you can’t have a motorbike but I guess a scooter is ok” model for “Real Men” ) in a bike lane.

Don’t you think we have enough to worry about in bike lanes without 500CC scooter riders with big inferiority complexes ?

It’s just one more thing to scare off potential cyclists. I say no.

Does anyone know of any existing incidents where cyclists and motorcyclists have collided in a bike lane?

Here is my e-mail to Mr Maggs.

Hello Dale, I read your comments in today’s paper about a proposal for motorcyclists to use bicycle lanes. Obviously as a cyclist I see this as an apalling idea given the scarcity of cycling amenities and the need for cycling (as does motorcycling) to develop and an important part of our transport infrastructure.

I don’t necessairly see this as an us against them scenario, in fact there is much that is complementary in what both cyclists and motorcyclists experience on our roadways on a daily basis, this is why I see your proposal as surprising.

Anyway, I could go on, so instead I’d like to invite you to comment more deeply at my site regarding your comments. Hopefully we can get an interesting thread of discussion going.

As you can see I do believe we have some coinciding issues. So Pedallers view about working together has some value.

I might add that two of the bicycle industrys biggest wholesalers are both motorcycle wholesalers, and I also know that there is at least one m/cycle retailer keen to get into bicycle retailing.

This is something I would see as a positive for the industry.

I totally agree we face a lot of the same issues. SMIDSYs, doorings, irrational hate from motorists, lane splitting etc

One of the commenters on my blog is a motorcyclist, he sees a lot of similarities.

Cycling groups and motorcycle groups working together could be a really good thing, because we have similar objectives it is an easy way to boost numbers in a lobbying situation.

However, I don’t think that the answer is sharing a bicycle lane. Perhaps if there was infrastructure designed for both, that might be a different story. But, why don’t we just all use normal traffic lanes

Why not indeed use normal traffic lanes, Damian, afterall, bicycles are normal traffic. That has always been my preferred option.

Obviously being seen as normal traffic and using the normal roads is the goal, but as Damian says, what about potential cyclists?

As I see it and misguided though it is, dedicated cycling lanes serve as a kind of psychological propaganda, there to serve a longer term interest or goal in terms of getting more bums on seats.

Anyway, here’s a radical theory. BNSW joins the peak m’cycle body. After all, today’s political environments do make for stranger bedfellows.

It’s all about shared interests isn’t it?

Bicycle lanes are L plates for road/commuter cyclists?

Neat spin Lela….I like it.

Maybe advocacy groups can use that as the sound bite for the 6 o’clock news where the Wiulliam St bike lanes are concerned.

“Tell them to pedal, get fit then apply”

Another great sound bite for the six ‘o clock news.

Coming from the “other guys” group (I’m the motorcyclist that Damian mentioned) and of course, being a Damn Yankee you might be surprised that I completely agree with your point of view. I ride a 1500cc GoldWing. My Wing is barely above idle at 30 KPH. I certainly haven’t left first gear. I would not want to ride in the bike lane. I’m just going to have to weave my way around all of you and run the risk of killing someone. Heck, if I hit you, you might cause me to go down too, and that would really suck.

I’ll admit that, being from the States, I don’t know anything about your traffic, but I do have a pretty ugly traffic jam in my commute every day here outside Seattle. But I really have no idea what your MRAA is thinking. Bicyclists and Motorcyclists do have a lot in common, getting disdain from cagers while seeking to enjoy the open air experience, we really should work together more to protect our rights from being curtailed by those on four wheels.

If we’re going to share lane space, then it really needs to be made into two lanes, for both our sakes.

My experience of motorcyclists using bicycle lanes has been positive. I’ve yet to have a motor cyclist run me off the road, in a bike lane or out of a bike lane. I can’t say the same about users of other forms of road transport.

Hi as a commuting motorcyclist I would like to put my views forward.

Motorcyclists would only use a bike lane if the traffic is at a stand still. In the past we used to split through the traffic but as bike lanes have come into being Vicroads have narrowed the road lanes making this dangerous and difficult close to the CBD. Speeds would be limited, we hurt as much as you if a car door opens on us, OK not as much we wear protective gear but you get the idea. Our exhaust noise and day time running lights would also give an alert for slack cagers who might like to pull out on a bike. Enforcement of speed limits would be pretty bloody easy.

Having motorcyclists on board may go against the “green” credentials of pushbikes but we are also doing our bit. We should be encouraging scooters and motorbikes as alternative forms of transport, and yes I hae cycled to work but can’t now as I live 65kms away from the office. So the person who said get fit and apply needs to wake up to himself.

Anyway don’t dismiss the idea because it infringes on “your rights”, there are no rights on the road only responsibility.

Oh and the MRAA is not the peak body for motorcyclists, just one that is noisy.