to quote Rick:

If somebody starts a discussion, conversation will happen

 

riding bikes is self-selecting; some have it and some never will. I’ve been riding for 13 years, 11 of which were my only vehicle. Riding in SoCal is not as alarming as some would make it seem. No, you’re not in a car with all its protections and complacency, but you can be safe on a bike. I learned SoCal drivers habits pretty well, and they differ depending on which freeway you’re on.
my commute was 10-605-105; double white-line barrier between carpool and the other lanes the entire time. Easy commute. All you gotta do is pay attention near interchanges cuz you will inevitably and consistently have the “oh shoot that’s my exit I gotta switch 5 lanes right now”

LA drivers are pretty predicable IMO; they swap lanes the moment the lane next to them is moving 1 mph faster. if I was LAX I’d still be riding without a doubt

 

Learned something (surprising) today. This amazes me. Encouraged/accepted by whom? Is there at least a legal limit on the speed differential when passing between cars in line abreast?

In NoVA I-95 traffic, I've never seen a motorcyclist do this in a way that even appeared to be responsible and safety-conscious. They always seem to be traveling at least +30+ mph as they zip by between cars, and I never see them coming until they are passing (startling) me. I actually see it more when traffic is moving smoothly but at/under the speed limit, more-so than stop-and-go bumper-to-bumper. (If the argument is that it would be done safer if it were legal, I think that's a stretch....)

Personally, I don't think it's safe (for either of us) regardless of the speed differential, as the mass of moving metals is just too unpredictable, and it only takes one car (which could be me) swerving at 40 mph to miss a road alligator to ruin both our days because he needed to pass me at 70 mph to save 5 minutes on his 45-minute daily commute.

The idea that one would think their riding experience with a particular area provides them with a matrix-like spidey sense to continuously sense and predict the actions of highway drivers? I sincerely wish your luck never runs out... because that's what you're really reliant on, whether you realize/admit it or not.

Even in California, I think it's a good bet that most drivers don't realize it's legal. Even if they do see you coming up behind, even slowly, I'd worry about that one ***hole that is already frustrated with traffic and life enough that he "feigns" a swerve just to mess with you.

(caveat: this is my opinion only, as I'm not a rider and never have been. admittedly, my comments are not transactionally responsive to the OP's query, but rather intended to be conversational.)

 

the law is to only filter when speed is less than 40mph and with only a 10mph differential. If you stick to that, it’s really not that difficult to see car movements.

 

When I was LAX/SNA/BUR/ONT based I would commute to day trips/turns on a bike. For longer trips I'd Uber, no realistic way to put a suitcase on an XR650R supermoto.
I lived in Inglewood so LAX was easy. The others took a bit more commitment.

 

I've been riding 40+ years, know some people who had bad outcomes. Even one on a cruiser.

Weekday traffic in LA actually is fairly predictable as you say, there's just a lot of it. It's on weekends and holidays where it turns into a real poop-show in my observation.

 

The rest of the civilized world does this, and it's fantastic. I wish the rest of the US would wake up, lose the "What's in it for me" attitude when driving, and realize that splitting is not only safe when done properly, it saves everybody time. The idea that a motorcycle has to take up an entire lane/space the same size as a car is ridiculous. Bikes filter to the front at lights or in slow traffic, allows more cars behind, and removes the rider from the dangerous position of being stuck between two vehicles when stopped.

The morons you see zig zagging through traffic at 100mph are not what we're looking to do. Go to England, Italy, Germany etc and you'll see proper lane splitting with proper discipline. The reason it won't work here is because we're not educated on it, and when you're on a bike, for some reason people will actively try to kill you without thinking they're committing attempted murder. In places like CA, the drivers are used to it and expect it. If you do it in another state, the driver won't be expecting, and if you have some dummy who wants to play "hero", they'll even actively try and hit you or block you. I don't lane split in my state because it's not legal, but once I had a bike that was overheating while sitting in stopped traffic, so I filtered to the front so I could get off the road. Before I made it to the front of the line, a truck purposefully turned to the right as I approached to block my path ahead. Those are the morons that keep lane splitting from being a thing here.

 

Flew with a guy that did this in SEA. When he mentioned he got front row parking for free in the garage I briefly entertained the fantasy of buying a bike and doing that just to avoid the fourth circle of heck known as the employee bus.

Then I remembered I live in Seattle and went back to my nice dry car.

 

There's nothing cooler than airline pilots.

Except airline pilots who ride motorcycles.

(I tried the motorcycle thing at Wally World Regional Airlines when I lived in a rented box apartment and made $13k/yr. Didn't work then, won't work now.

Why in god's name would a Delta pilot consider this? Just watch that Tom Hanks movie "The Terminal", live in the airport, and you'll have a smoking hot C Zeta-Jones fa eating out of your hand in no time.)

 

Some people enjoy motorcycling, and there are definite benefits in certain domiciles. As mentioned, in LA you get free covered parking immediately next to the terminal instead of a 20+ minute bus ride or mile walk. Combine that with a little bit of joy and the hassles can make it worth it sometimes