angrybob at motorcyclebloggers.com posed this question to his readers, and asked others to do the same.

Lane splitting is currently only legal in California. Do not confuse this with lane sharing, which is two motorcycles riding side by side in the same lane. Lane splitting involves riding on the striped line between lanes, and between the cars that are involved in the congestion. Lane sharing is legal in a lot of states, but not lane splitting.

Advocates of lane splitting in California cite several reasons, including the fact that a lot of motorcycles are air cooled, and subject to over heating in the stop and go traffic sometimes involved with big city commerce. One I have not heard of actually happened to me when I was stationed in California back in the early seventies. I frequently was riding in rush hour traffic in San Francisco, and even then resorted to lane splitting to minimize my need to stop, then go, then stop.

One day, though, my parents had come from Montana to visit me, and we went into San Francisco to do the routine tourist things. Since Mom and Dad were going to Lodi to see an uncle after the visit, and I had to report back to my ship, I rode my motorcycle while they followed me in their car. We ran into the stop and go, and, because Mom and Dad were following, I was forced to stop and go with the traffic. After about 4 miles of this, my clutch cable snapped. Luckily, I was carrying a cable fixer, and the down time was short, but we said our good byes for the night and I continued to my ship, lane splitting the rest of the way.

So, here is the poll, and I would really be interested in your comments for or against, as well as any personal experiences with splitting the lanes with your motorcycle.

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The Panama City News Herald wrote a good story on this rally yesterday. There was no negativity in the story at all, a welcome relief from some of the other rallies I cover. This story discusses things like how this rally is expected to “pump more than $30 million in sales into the local economy primarily in lodging, restaurants and retail sales”, and how it has grown so much that a sixth venue was added this year at Frank Brown Park on the north side of Back Beach Road. Also noted is the fact that local charities benefit from the motorcyclists who attend.

Rap Peavy, VP of Thunder Beach Productions, Inc., was quoted “We’ve promoted this as the Southeast’s most friendly and free rally”, and from the writeup and what I already know about Panama City, he is right.

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But it was not quite as bad as we imagined. The MRI did show that pressure buildup was indeed occurring, but the doctor only wanted to increase his medication levels to treat the swelling, not surgery as we feared. Jack will have some additional testing, but for now it appears that we caught the problem in time to avoid more serious consequences.

Jack has severe internal brain trauma, and it is obvious from the MRI films I saw, but the films also showed evidence of a lot of healing that has already taken place. So again our hopes are elevated.

If Jack ever rides his motorcycle again, and he says he will, it will be with a helmet (by his choice, not our politicians). He has also asked me to tell his story as we go along to help others who have the freedom to choose to at least make an informed decision on helmet usage. He will not say that the helmet would have prevented his problems, but he feels it may have.

In related news, I talked with the people at Social Security about his SSI. It has been temporarily suspended while they determine if he is still disabled. (Somehow they can do this without even coming to see him, but I am not quite sure how) They have said that the process takes about 120 days, and until then, no payments. Now me and the wife have vowed that we would see this through no matter what, but I don’t mind telling you that the $600 a month we just lost, while a small portion of the expenses of caring for Jack, was a much appreciated aid, and we will miss it sorely. But we will deal with it, and watch Jack as he grows stronger. If anyone wants to help us help Jack, we also will very much appreciate that.

I will keep everyone up to date using this blog as important news springs. Until then, Ride safe, and consider Jack’s suggestion on motorcycles and helmets.

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Gives a whole new meaning to “in the wind”, doesn’t it?

Maybe, if I had a lawn mower that looked as much like a motorcycle, I would not have started hiring my lawn work out. The front end comes from a dirt bike, the tank is from a Sportster, and it has a 42″ deck. This original model took Olsen “50 hours of building time and 300 hours of thinking time”, but he has more in store, and the time required will come down.

And, if you want to get your hands on them, it may come soon. Olsen says “I’ve put these together to see if other people are interested in them. If there’s a market for them, I’ll start making them when I retire next year.”

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We were getting ready to lose this rally. But this community thrives on it. It’s a real moneymaker.

My initial thoughts were “Wow, a town politician that actually admits that the biker community can offer more than they take! Someone realizes the economic benefit of being the host to a motorcycle rally.” But some things did not quite add up.

If this was the third annual Hawgs of Texas motorcycle rally, that means that it held its first in 2005, about the same time that Mayor Tommy took office. The article says that Tommy had been associated with the Dawgs on Hawgs rally for nine years, until a private investor bought the rally rights in 2004. The Dawgs on Hawgs rally continued through 2006, and was only canceled this year because the US Army Corps of Engineers revoked their permit. Could one politician use his influence to drown out the competition?

Was there competition in the first place? The article stated that the mayor had worked with Dawgs on Hawgs for nine years. Then why was this years’ seventh annual rally the one that was canceled? Was there a Hawgs of Texas before the Dawgs on Hawgs, which might explain the difference of two years on the annual for both events?

Questions only, but I would really like answers. Anyone reading this that can enlighten me?

Anyway, glad the rally was saved; I will definitely keep my eye on it.

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This tragedy could have been the subject of this post, but I have already discussed defensive riding and motorcycle fatalities in previous posts. While This does not mean I will not go into these subjects more, after my long absense, I more felt like discussing something a little more upbeat.

So why did I start this post the way I did? Well, in the article, it mentioned that the biker was riding a “Big Dawg Chopper customized bike”. I was searching for more interesting information about Big Dawg Motorcycles when I came across a Big Dawg commercial on youtube. While I never had an experience quite like the biker in this commercial, I can always dream!

By the way, I guess I should explain my extended absense. Last week has been extremely hectic. It started with my brother-in-law Jack having another seizure, and the resulting doctor visits from that. To top that off, over last weekend we celebrated Jack’s birthday, with two sisters, an uncle, and some friends of his from Charleston coming to our house. And finally, my server crashed, and most of my blog files were lost, taking about two days to recover from. No excuses, but still a lot to be interfering with my free time.

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All the stocks I own through that IRA send me their annual report, but the one I really look forward to receiving is the one from Harley Davidson. This report is filled with the reasons I ride anyway, pictures of some great looking bikes, some beautiful riding scenes, and news about my favorite motorcycle.

Harley Davidson does an excellent job in their annual report of entertaining the reader, while still giving the data stock holders should have. On the page where a lifetime HOG membership couple from Sweden state “It’s a big world but Harley Davidson brings us all together, a bar chart shows how HD international sales grew 18.6% in 2006. And where a Harley Davidson dealer says “We don’t just deliver bikes, we deliver experiences” is another bar chart showing sales in the United States increasing 5.9% for the same period. You also find that 48% of the motorcycles over 650 cc that were registered in 2006 in North America were Harleys.

This information can be found on the Harley Davidson website as well as other places, but having it delivered to your door is great! You don’t have to be a huge stock holder to get it, one share is all it takes. If you are interested, One Share would be glad to help you get that one share, or you can do it like I did, and buy a little more, either in your IRA or other investment portfolios.

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