[abcnate]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently moving from New York to LA - my stuff was picked up by the movers last saturday and I hopped on my black S2R two days later to make the trip myself (shipping the bike just didn't seem right). I'm down in the south now and will keep making my way west over the next week. Anyway, I have a few questions that I would really appreciate if some people could give me feedback on about riding in LA:

1) Theft - in NYC, theft is a pretty strong possibility. You basically have to lock your bike to some immovable object because in the summertime the people drive around in a van looking to lift your bike quickly into it and ride off. What is the theft/security situation in los angeles?

2) Parking - in NYC, I often park right on the sidewalk and haven't had any tickets - of course, i try to put it out of the way, because i find that parking between cars on the street results in people dinging the bike or knocking it over. What is the theory with parking in weird places like sidewalks in LA?

3) Driving - I hear lane splitting is legal in California (i used to do it in NY too, as long as you're not an not a very nice person about it, it seems to be ok). Are there any other interesting driving differences for a bike in California?

If anyone has any other comment on the above, I'd be grateful to hear it. I'm moving downtown in LA so would love to hook up with some of you for weekend rides when I get settled. Thanks for the help!

--abcnate
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PS - those of you wondering what my gear, mods, and clothes for this trip are:

Clothing (all worn at the same time for cold parts of the trip): boots from ridegear, normal socks, 3 pairs of long underwear for skiing, one pair of jeans, ski pants, 2 long sleeve undershirts, one Jett heating vest (battery operated), one leather jacket, one ski jacket, one puffy down jacket, one outer ski jacket, gloves from revit, an arai AstralX helmet, one scarf

Bike mods: carbon fibre termis, frame sliders

Other equipment: Garmin Zumo GPS, one S2R fitted saddlebag, tank bra and tank bag from ducati, tire patch kit, mini ratchet set

 

[ducman851]

Hey everybody, Dans replacement is on the way ;D


Welcome to the SoCal board

If you survived NY then LA shouldnt be too difficult. Where in LA?

 

[Red Baron]

He could leave Dan the S2r and have a sweet M1000 once those mirrors get removed. [laugh] [laugh]

Forgot to answer.

1. Depends on where you are, where will you be staying?

2. I wouldn't try the sidewalk thing, they have more parking enforcement than street cops. Nothing like NYC.

3. Splitting is the only way you'll move and stay alive.

Pics?

Have a safe trip and look forward to meeting you when you arrive.

Steve

 

[Red Baron]

Where in LA?

. I'm moving downtown in LA [/i]

 

[erkishhorde]

Welcome to the area.

Theft really depends on where you are around here. LA is pretty big so you need be a bit more specific on where exactly you're gonna end up.

Parking... Some guys will park between parallel parked cars along the street. If there are meters, sometimes a metermaid won't like this. I don't spend a lot of time actually IN LA but where I am not many people park on the sidewalk but when they do I've never seen them get a ticket. In large shopping centers I'll sometimes park in front of the handicap spaces between the 2 rows of cars by the blue hatched area so I can still get out. Seems to work out alright.

Lane splitting in NYC was probably worse than here. I don't usually see many people split surface streets unless it's at a stop light/ sign. You usually see splitting on the freeways. Depending on where you are people tend to split the carpool and #1 lane. There are some that prefer splitting the #1 and #2 lane instead so watch out for the other guys regardless of which one you prefer since a car may see the other guy and not you and jerk into your path to avoid the other rider. I would recommend not splitting the freeways your first week or couple days on them since you don't know what the conditions are like. Some areas will have that nasty thick slippery paint that makes splitting annoying while other areas will have big seams in the road right between the lanes where you want to split so look out for those.

Also, in case you didn't know, there is a "legal" wa and an "illegal" way to split here. Technically it's called lanesharing in the law so you're supposed to be sharing the lane w/ the cages. This means no riding on the dashed white/ double yellow for prolonged time. You're also not supposed to cross back and forth over the double yellow if you're splitting the carpool and #1. You're not supposed to weave back and forth across the dashed white to get around cars that are hugging the line since this counts as multiple lane changes w/o signalling. In some areas you see a solid white line and a double yellow dividing carpool from the #1. A lot of people like to ride in this little cushion but technically you're not in a lane if you do that so a CHP can give you a ticket for that. Finally, don't split more than about 15mph faster than traffic is moving and I wouldn't recommend splitting traffic that is moving faster than 45. If a cop cathes you doing either of these you'll probably get a ticket since it counts as wreckless endangerment and speeding (remember that speeding is a "suggested" speed that is deamed safe for normal, ideal traffic conditions).

All that being said, you can't get a ticket if there aren't any cops around. > Do what you think is safe. ;D

 

[ducman851]

Shadupa you face, I missed that ;D

 

[lucazuma]

...welcome!

and you better have a camera with you and take TONS of pictures!!!!!

ride safe!

 

[duc_748]

Welcome to Socal, I did the exact move you are doing a few years back, and pretty much had all the same questions. First of all, leave
your NYC ideas behind you, LA is a VERY different place than NYC. Dont get me wrong, LA is great, but everything is very different if you are
used to living and riding in NYC. I hope these help, this is sort of what I have learned so far.
1. LA is the best motorcycle city anywhere, you can ride all year, it hardly ever rains, and there are amazing canyon rides 20 miutes from downtown.
2. Lane splitting is legal, totally amazing. It took me a awhile to get used to passing cops while lane splitting, so fun. There is a some sort of speed limit, something
like you can't lane split over 50mph, and you cant go 15mph over the speed of traffic, my facts are not spot on, but most of the time you just go, no worries.
3. Cars drive F#$#ing crazy in LA, its way more dangerous than NYC in terms of cagers. The main reason is there are just so many cars. So many strip mall parking lots. So many cell phone/makeup applying kooks driving them. Also no one in Socal uses a blinker, so sudden lane changes are common. Also its somewhat common to see large pieces of debris on the freeway; like living room couches, chairs, trash cans, ladders, everything, so keep your eye out for that.
4. Cagers in crappy Honda civics drive 90mph or more. Hi speed car driving is common, so for me I ride pretty much90mph+ on freeways, since I do not like to be passed
by cars.
5.Cops. Per person, per mile, LA hardly has any cops compared to NYC. Honestly, its crazy, you can drive all day an not see a cop. Also they do not seem to hide on the side
of the road as much as they do on the east coast. The cops on motorcycles drive crazy fast so you need to keep an eye on rearview for those dudes. Knock on wood here, but I have been in LA almost 3 years and have never been pulled over by a cop. I drive pretty much 90mph all the time on freeway, and very fast around town. Really its
not like NYC.
6. Bikes do get stolen here but I would think your S2r would be pretty safe. I think theives tend to target apartment complex garages, which are pretty easy to get into, but I often leave my S2r on the street around LA and so far so good.
7. Parking on sidewalk, a great NYC tradition. In LA I do park on the sidewalk but it depends on what part of town I am in.
I hope that helps. I am actually making a Ducati website right now which will have tons of bike info on both NYC and LA, so perhaps when you get here that might be up.
You can email me if you need more info.
Have a great ride!
[email protected]

 

[abcnate]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks a lot for all of the detailed responses - I really appreciate it, but you will have to clue me in on who Dan is?

I made it to LA last night after driving through absolutely horrible conditions (snow, massive wind, and fog) on the I8 about 75 miles east of SD....I didn't bother to read the weather report because I wasn't going to take that highway and I assumed it would be sunny. Anyway, made it safe and I am proud to say with no mechanical problems, accidents, or speeding tickets the whole way! Bravo to Ducati for making such an insane machine. I didn't get to take too many pictures but I have a few that I will try to get up here in the next couple days.

I am guessing that metermaids can't ticket a bike on the sidewalk as it is not technically on part of their jurisdiction? Or do they just ignore these bikes.

Other than downtown, I'll probably spend most of my time in Hollywood and West LA (other than a few potential further away places such as orange county and Tarzana).

I am surprised to hear that drivers here are more dangerous than NYC? In New York, the cabbies are ****ing insane - they swerve in and out of traffic and drive really close to a bike as if we don't exist. That combined with aggressive pedestrians, makes it fairly dangerous.

Thanks again everyone, I'll try to fire up some pics in the next little while and look forward to riding with you soon.

 

[darylbowden]

I am guessing that metermaids can't ticket a bike on the sidewalk as it is not technically on part of their jurisdiction? Or do they just ignore these bikes.

Oh no, they can and they will. It is very much part of their jurisdiction. Anything parking related, registration related is their territory. Some places you can get away with it, others not so much. You'll kinda get a feel for it when you get settled a bit. A good rule of thumb is the higher the income in the area, the more likely you are to get ticketed by a dumbass meter maid.

 

[erkishhorde]

I am surprised to hear that drivers here are more dangerous than NYC? In New York, the cabbies are ****ing insane - they swerve in and out of traffic and drive really close to a bike as if we don't exist. That combined with aggressive pedestrians, makes it fairly dangerous.

Cabbies in NY might drive really close to you as though you don't exist but they do know that you're there and they are trusting that you won't spaz out start swerving and hit them. The drivers here will do the same but they actually won't notice you're there until they hit you. The same goes for pedestrians. Depending on where you are you'll get random people crossing the street in the middle of the block or wherever right in front of you without looking.

 

[aprilmaybe]

Hey glad you made it, that sounds like a hell of a trip. You'll get used to it here pretty quick and no its not usually this cold.

 

[Red Baron]

you will have to clue me in on who Dan is?

http://www.ducatimonster.org/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=6384

 

[Privateer]

Some places you can get away with it, others not so much. You'll kinda get a feel for it when you get settled a bit. A good rule of thumb is the higher the income in the area, the more likely you are to get ticketed by a dumbass meter maid.

good tip there.
It varies city to city. Some cities generate a large portion of their operating budget through traffic and parking enforcement. With the cities all contiguous it's hard to tell when you're in one or the other so best bet is to play it safe and follow the rules. Example, at least in OC, city of Brea is notorious for fierce speeding and right-on-red enforcement. Reason: Brea is one of those cities lots of people drive through to get somewhere else. Beach (HB, Costa Mesa, Newport, etc) cities tend of have robust parking enforcement because of all the visitors parking illegally. Play it safe, ask the locals/neighbors.

welcome to SoCal.

regards
P

 

[Bad Dog]

And,


Newport and Irvine will cite you for anything...it's their hobby of choice !

 

[lawbreaker]

I work in HWD...... olice:.... The metermaids here ARE ruthless

 

[danrogy]

Is it too late for these?

-Dan

 

[kvocal]

We would all love to see so photos of your trip.

 

[abcnate]

Hi there,

No, not too late for anyone to add any information they think would be helpful - I really appreciate everything everyone has written to get me a little more used to the city.

I had my first near ticket experience but surprisingly it didn't happen - I parked on the sidewalk in front of Swingers diner on Beverly Bldv and the meter maid got out of her car and ticketed the car I was parked beside but ignored my bike a foot away on the sidewalk which was cool.

I'm also noticing that left lane turns can be really time consuming when you are behind a number of people - do you guys just race ahead on the right side and cut in with the lead turner at a signal light?

What about riding on the highways - if you're lane splitting you seem to need to be driving over the metal bump dividers which is annoying - do you guys just do it anyway?

Last question - any recommendations on the best place to take the bike in for service? I did the ducati dealer search - anyone know whether the beverly hills ducati dealer is good?

Thanks a lot.

Ok, I'm going to post this and then see if I can figure out how to post a few pics...

--abcnate

 

[darylbowden]

Yes, I do dart pass then in the left hand turn lane. Lanesplitting - the highways are funny, but you'll learn to deal with them. As for service, Motoservizio - Scotty Waters is an independant mechanic down in the LB area and he's amazing and reasonably priced.