What to say to moto haters?

[motomeek]

I was on a Facebook haitus for about 5 years until I moved. I guess I still don't understand how all the things work, because I thought I set my things to be viewed only by my friends. Alas, a random person (I guess not so random, we have ONE friend in common which I now understand is how he saw my video as this common friend commented on my post–and yes, I now know the setting I have allows friends of friends to see things) decided to comment on my moto-related [HASH]TBT. Here's what I posted:
 
[instagram url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BQlib3UgSwk]
Random Person's response: "That's one of the reasons I don't like motorcyclists!"
 
I've asked him to clarify. But I just thought I'd ask amongst my peers what you'd say to those that just don't like us. 
 
I'm not saying that the situation depicted could've been handled differently. It was a lapse in judgment to trust that a double yellow line would "protect" me. 
 
 

[go4geoff]

@motomeek I just replied on your IG page haha. In our beautiful riding state of California you were in your legal right. Regardless of saying you may have been lane splitting too fast, it was completely the van drivers fault. If he had hit you it, the police and insurance reports would state he failed to notice traffic and an incoming rider in his side/rear view mirrors. Making a lane change without proper safety distance from another vehicle already in travel. Him crossing those double yellows is a huge no no! The double yellow is what would f*ck him worse in court. Especially with all the rain here today in LA, so many riders have been getting into accidents yesterday during our last nice day of riding weather. Woke up to like 5 accident reports and to check my riders when I woke up yesterday. For that guy to say this is why he hates motorcycles he's an idiot. He's the asshat prius driver that thinks he's entitled to the road and will prob clip a rider one day himself. Tell that guy whether he likes motorcyclists or not you could give a damn about his opinion. Only thing I care about is they pay attention on the road to see me riding by. But know if he hits me off my bike and gives me attitude that it's my fault... I'm making sure someone is going to the hospital that day. I'm always down to educate ignorant drivers who think they know how to drive with my full carbon race gauntlets, leather padded jacket armor, and battle helmet with gopro on lol. They better have good insurance!

[hippiebikerchick]

Ha! I've never met anyone that flat out said they don't like motorcyclists. I think they are secretly jealous of our maneuverability. To answer your question I would ask for clarification like you did and probably not say anything more after that.

[reboot]

I would just ignore him. Van was 100% at fault,not even a blinker. You are legally lane splitting at the posted limit(Or lower,not sure if the limit is higher there) and other than diving to the other side of the road to keep from crashing you were riding predictable and visible.
 
And on top of it, it looks like that van moved across two lanes to do that too..
 
Side note,I wish it was legal to lane split here in OR.

[phicurious86]

Damn.... head's up move there. Glad you came out alright, but that's one obvious reason to be super cautious when lane splitting. Yeah the van driver was at fault crossing a double yellow and didn't have any signals, but to be fair I doubt they could have seen you coming until it was too late and likely had no intention of causing an accident with a bike.
 
I get why non-motorcyclists don't like having motorcycles on the road. Motorcycles are hard to see compared to cages and accelerate quicker than most cagers anticipate. Makes em nervous that they're going to cause an accident without intending to. I felt that way when I was driving a car in downtown Chicago with bicyclist. The cyclists made me nervous because of how close they road to cars and how often they'd just zip through traffic with only a quick headcheck as a signal.
 
To your question about anonymous haters, who cares? If a facebook friend of a facebook friend doesn't like riders, ok. Your conversation with this joker is extremely unlikely to change her, or his, mind about motorcycles or riders and chances are good that this person has no interest in talking about the merits of their belief. Probably just looking to leave a quick judgment and move along. Spend your cares on the opinions of people who actually mean something to you and that you can have a proper face-to-face with when your opinions on things you care about differ. That's good advice for all social media interactions.

[jhonore]

First, did a great job getting out of the way. Don't mind the idiot commenter. Most people, at least in cali don't really mind motorcycles. They usually move out of the way if we are lane splitting, mostly because they don't want us to hit their car lol. I don't think I have ever been harassed by anyone when I was lanesplitting. Not that I would pay attention to them anyways. I do however get a close call at least a few times a week. Reminds me to stay on my toes. You could educate the commenter/hater that it is "officially" legal for us to lane split and that cagers should be more cautious about making lane changes. If he wants to argue with you about it then just ignore him.

[jhonore]

Also looking over your shoulder before making a lane change is the basics of driving, taught me that at 15 in my drivers ed class. SMOG Signal Mirror Over the shoulder Go

[avanti]

Why say anything?

[Mr.Puss]

Why say anything?

Word. You beat me to it.  

[jeffkisthename]

Tell him to eat your shorts.

[CarGuy7a]

I don't think you had a lapse in judgment at all. If anything you were completely aware of the situation, handled it perfectly and escaped un-injured. Props to you. Like others said the guy in the van is a complete idiot. Double yellows are not to be crossed. I wish cops would start stripping licenses from drivers that do this stuff or at least give them a good hefty fine. That could have seriously injured you or God forbid killed you.

[motomeek]

First, did a great job getting out of the way. Don't mind the idiot commenter. Most people, at least in cali don't really mind motorcycles. They usually move out of the way if we are lane splitting, mostly because they don't want us to hit their car lol. I don't think I have ever been harassed by anyone when I was lanesplitting. Not that I would pay attention to them anyways. I do however get a close call at least a few times a week. Reminds me to stay on my toes. You could educate the commenter/hater that it is "officially" legal for us to lane split and that cagers should be more cautious about making lane changes. If he wants to argue with you about it then just ignore him.

I am one to always want to educate others, which is solely the only reason I asked him to clarify. 
Anyway, update on the situation – the guy hasn't responded. 
 
 
 

[jhonore]

Why say anything?

Word. You beat me to it.

 
 
Some people are just ignorant, and if you don't educate them. Any further ignorance could be blamed on you for not educating that person. Ijs that's why I would say something.

[avanti]

jhonore, I spent 35 years as a teacher, professor, and trainer trying to "educate" people, WAAAAY too often against their will and it's like the proverbial "...leading a horse to water..." I'll happily let YOU and others with more motivation for such than I, at this point, try to do so! ALL the best of luck!!!

[Mr.Puss]

Word. You beat me to it.

Some people are just ignorant, and if you don't educate them. Any further ignorance could be blamed on you for not educating that person. Ijs that's why I would say something.

Hey by all means if that's your thing, say something. Best of luck to you there. IMO the problem is these people, especially those in the wrong is that they even have the audacity to spew their nonsense. The simple fact of the matter is ignorant people are ignorant and will always be pigheaded, embittered and ignorant to their own ignorance. Ignorant people like this don't want to be told, lectured, or reasoned with. People like this are a complete waste of bloody time because one cant 'fix' the ignorant, self-righteous or the stupid. You'd have just as much luck trying to convince a group of neo-nazis that their views are 'wrong'. Again, they dont want to hear and couldnt give a sh*t about your lecture/reasoning as to why their opinions, in your opinion are wrong, more often than not this results in shame. Bitter people want nothing more than the chance to be confrontational. Any attempt by you to change their  heavily reinforced view is a complete waste of breath. Forgive me here but attempting to "educate" people in any manner is naive, they just dont give a sh*t. 
When people feel shame it manifests itself in many ways...in cases like a driver f'ing up, more often than not its a build up of bitterness and stubbornness while they brace to face off with an angry rider,  and trying to break through that driver's shame goes nowhere, their defenses are up and impregnable, its never worth the time or effort. 
 
 Its easier to give them a blast with the horn, a thumbs up, and continue along your merry way.
 

[Beemer]

Now is a good time to start to live and let go of the dumb things people say as well. He/she is either a troll just waiting for a response from you or they're just plain stupid and it doesn't pay to argue or explain anything to either, they will just come back at you with a more stupid or smart-ass reply. BTW, nice move to the left! You didn't just panic and lock up the brakes like some people do. Careful of how fast you're passing people while lane splitting though, it could be dangerous and against the law.
 

[Beemer]

Some people are just ignorant, and if you don't educate them. Any further ignorance could be blamed on you for not educating that person. Ijs that's why I would say something.

Hey by all means if that's your thing, say something. Best of luck to you there. IMO the problem is these people, especially those in the wrong is that they even have the audacity to spew their nonsense. The simple fact of the matter is ignorant people are ignorant and will always be pigheaded, embittered and ignorant to their own ignorance. Ignorant people like this don't want to be told, lectured, or reasoned with. People like this are a complete waste of bloody time because one cant 'fix' the ignorant, self-righteous or the stupid. You'd have just as much luck trying to convince a group of neo-nazis that their views are 'wrong'. Again, they dont want to hear and couldnt give a sh*t about your lecture/reasoning as to why their opinions, in your opinion are wrong, more often than not this results in shame. Bitter people want nothing more than the chance to be confrontational. Any attempt by you to change their  heavily reinforced view is a complete waste of breath. Forgive me here but attempting to "educate" people in any manner is naive, they just dont give a sh*t. 
When people feel shame it manifests itself in many ways...in cases like a driver f'ing up, more often than not its a build up of bitterness and stubbornness while they brace to face off with an angry rider,  and trying to break through that driver's shame goes nowhere, their defenses are up and impregnable, its never worth the time or effort. 
 
 Its easier to give them a blast with the horn, a thumbs up, and continue along your merry way.

Wow! Got condensed milk? I'm joking of course. I always enjoy reading what you have to say, long winded or not. 

[Mr.Puss]

Hey by all means if that's your thing, say something. Best of luck to you there. IMO the problem is these people, especially those in the wrong is that they even have the audacity to spew their nonsense. The simple fact of the matter is ignorant people are ignorant and will always be pigheaded, embittered and ignorant to their own ignorance. Ignorant people like this don't want to be told, lectured, or reasoned with. People like this are a complete waste of bloody time because one cant 'fix' the ignorant, self-righteous or the stupid. You'd have just as much luck trying to convince a group of neo-nazis that their views are 'wrong'. Again, they dont want to hear and couldnt give a sh*t about your lecture/reasoning , more often than not this results in shame. Bitter people want nothing more than the chance to be confrontational. Any attempt by you to change their  heavily reinforced view is a complete waste of breath. Forgive me here but attempting to "educate" people in any manner is naive, they just dont give a sh*t. 
When people feel shame it manifests itself in many ways...in cases like a driver f'ing up, more often than not its a build up of bitterness and stubbornness while they brace to face off with an angry rider,  and trying to break through that driver's shame goes nowhere, their defenses are up and impregnable, its never worth the time or effort. 
 
 Its easier to give them a blast with the horn, a thumbs up, and continue along your merry way.

Wow! Got condensed milk? I'm joking of course. I always enjoy reading what you have to say, long winded or not.

HAHA thanks! Yeah I do tend to enjoy the writing part and blather on a bit sometimes. Had to "educate" this person "as to why their opinions, in my opinion are wrong". Sh*t now they're making me do it. Oy vey  

[duenan]

NBA player Kyrie Irving believes the world is flat (no, he truly believes it- the round planet was conjured up as a means of conspiracy LOL). I think that is all you need to know about arguing with grown adults about things.
 
By the way, did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams that you would come across so many insanely stupid ADULTS in your life?  I never fully imagined what my adult life would be like, and how many morons I have to be exposed to.  Its saddening when you realize all the idiots are breeding like there is no tomorrow and all the smart people aren't.
 

[jetgirl]

No one has ever said anything like that to me before. That was a jerk thing to say. If he were a friend and didn't agree with how you were riding  then he should have expressed concern. Scary thing to watch. Someone did something similar to me last spring. I was doing 55 and passed a car that was going well under the speed limit. He turned left just as I got even with the back door. Going too fast to back off. Went way to the left and zipped by. He just missed me. I thought about that for days. You handled that well. I do kind of think that people who hate motorcyclists are secretly jealous because they don't have the guts.

[markstertt]

Be careful, a lot of type A's out there, you could end up in the divider or taking rounds...seriously.
I must ask, were you where you were supposed to be? I guess I'm not up on my lane markings but at first look it would appear you had to cross dbl. yellows to be where you were. Please correct me if I'm wrong because I need to know. I'm not sure I would have expected to see a biker there, I've been riding for a long time and even though I look out for bikers, I'm often abruptly surprised, when in my car, and "bam" all of a sudden there's an open piped Harley at my window, never saw him coming and at his increased speed and lane splitting in and out, he's all of a sudden not where I'd expect someone to be. So much for 'loud pipes save lives', I just shake my head and say 'damn man' pay attention, you could have taken that guy out, followed by 'damn man, be careful, I'm a biker and I never saw you coming'.
 
 
When learning to fly, one of the caveats is to be consistently where you are supposed to be, especially when approaching and in an airport traffic area. It's very hard to spot other aircraft but when they are flying a prescribed and consistent pattern, at least you know where to look and if you are where you are supposed to be than even without visual contact you and other aircraft have a certain expectation of separation until you make visual contact. What makes this work is that you are where you were 'expected' to be.
I think we need to realize that a lot of drivers (non bikers) don't expect to see us where we sometimes end up such as in lane splitting at freeway speeds, I think our subconscious mind expects and sees cars and trucks but filters out something smaller such as bikes, this is the only way I can explain why so many cars pull into the path of bikers and say that they never saw the bike. I don't know, just an opinion.

[jhonore]

Some people are just ignorant, and if you don't educate them. Any further ignorance could be blamed on you for not educating that person. Ijs that's why I would say something.

Hey by all means if that's your thing, say something. Best of luck to you there. IMO the problem is these people, especially those in the wrong is that they even have the audacity to spew their nonsense. The simple fact of the matter is ignorant people are ignorant and will always be pigheaded, embittered and ignorant to their own ignorance. Ignorant people like this don't want to be told, lectured, or reasoned with. People like this are a complete waste of bloody time because one cant 'fix' the ignorant, self-righteous or the stupid. You'd have just as much luck trying to convince a group of neo-nazis that their views are 'wrong'. Again, they dont want to hear and couldnt give a sh*t about your lecture/reasoning as to why their opinions, in your opinion are wrong, more often than not this results in shame. Bitter people want nothing more than the chance to be confrontational. Any attempt by you to change their  heavily reinforced view is a complete waste of breath. Forgive me here but attempting to "educate" people in any manner is naive, they just dont give a sh*t. 
When people feel shame it manifests itself in many ways...in cases like a driver f'ing up, more often than not its a build up of bitterness and stubbornness while they brace to face off with an angry rider,  and trying to break through that driver's shame goes nowhere, their defenses are up and impregnable, its never worth the time or effort. 
 
 Its easier to give them a blast with the horn, a thumbs up, and continue along your merry way.

 
 
I didn't mean that I would argue with the guy, or write an essay ^^^^^^ lol, I read it all tho lol. I just meant I would make a statement saying something like "what I was doing was legal, and the guy wasn't making a legal move and could have killed me. So it pays to follow traffic rules and look over your shoulder because it could cost someone's life" something simple.

[Mr.Puss]

Hey by all means if that's your thing, say something. Best of luck to you there. IMO the problem is these people, especially those in the wrong is that they even have the audacity to spew their nonsense. The simple fact of the matter is ignorant people are ignorant and will always be pigheaded, embittered and ignorant to their own ignorance. Ignorant people like this don't want to be told, lectured, or reasoned with. People like this are a complete waste of bloody time because one cant 'fix' the ignorant, self-righteous or the stupid. You'd have just as much luck trying to convince a group of neo-nazis that their views are 'wrong'. Again, they dont want to hear and couldnt give a sh*t about your lecture/reasoning as to why their opinions, in your opinion are wrong, more often than not this results in shame. Bitter people want nothing more than the chance to be confrontational. Any attempt by you to change their  heavily reinforced view is a complete waste of breath. Forgive me here but attempting to "educate" people in any manner is naive, they just dont give a sh*t. 
When people feel shame it manifests itself in many ways...in cases like a driver f'ing up, more often than not its a build up of bitterness and stubbornness while they brace to face off with an angry rider,  and trying to break through that driver's shame goes nowhere, their defenses are up and impregnable, its never worth the time or effort. 
 
 Its easier to give them a blast with the horn, a thumbs up, and continue along your merry way.

I didn't mean that I would argue with the guy, or write an essay ^^^^^^ lol, I read it all tho lol. I just meant I would make a statement saying something like "what I was doing was legal, and the guy wasn't making a legal move and could have killed me. So it pays to follow traffic rules and look over your shoulder because it could cost someone's life" something simple.

Haha quite!  I enjoy writing!  I was listening/watching the myriad of MC morons on Utube, they were once again interfering with my usual "calm and collective" manner by getting my cortisol levels up.   (rofl)      

[crsnhppr]

Learn how to do dank wheelies, ignore hate and pop one

[762mm]

obviously the car is at fault, but I have to say lane splitting at that speed show lack of judgement and a you tube crash video waiting to happen.