Quote: (12-12-2015 10:09 PM)Dilligaf Wrote:
I've had extended family in Redondo Beach since before I was born, lived there for 6mos in my 20's, and I only have two things to add.
1) People in Greater LA are stupid.
2) Get your motorcycle license. {Lane Splitting}
And the roads are filled with idiots.
I grew up near NY, and lived in California 15 years.
People from the East Coast (esp Boston NY) are signficantly more sophisticated about art, culture ( except of course movies) and philosophical stuff.
TECHNOLOGY wise California is leading the way, but in depth of culture it's behind. Playing my weird, minimalist music got a good response in NY, but in California it was like they were waiting for Guns 'n' Roses to start.
GNR were great, but California's into the surface.
LA is trackless, it seems like there's hundreds of square miles of suburbs that are all indistibnguishable, I guess rents are somewhat lower.
And yes you can lane-split but you shoudl REALLY know what you're doing and shouldn't ride a motorcycle if you are in a rush or tired anyway.
I've gotten in two accidents that way/
If you DO lane split, be aware that it is signficantly more dangerous when cars are moving slowly than when they are stopped.
People do what I call "irritation lane changes", lane changes without signaling and if you are coming by at 25 and they zig into you path at 5 MPH, well, welcome to my accident story.
However, if they are stopped there is more chance they will open a door.
That could be picturesque.
I try not to go more than about 15MPH faster than the cars I'm passing. If they are going 5-10 MPH that means you're at 20-30 and will be much more pleasant than inching along with them. And stop and go traffic sucks because you have to STOP. With a MC you usually can just slow down and start lane splitting.
But the good thing is it's never too cold to ride a MC in LA if you've got good rain clothes. That means you can always get where you're going without help from anyone, even if it is only at 25 MPH.
..and riding through the mountain roads and hills under the cool California moon on a Harley, well... New Yorkers never find out what that's like.
There's a sense of expansiveness in the West, it's where the people went who didn't quite fit in or wanted MORE.
There's a sense of refinement and healthy cynicism in NY that California necessarily lacks.
I wonder how many people go BACK. My guess is not many. If I was rich I might, I have enough trouble paying California rents. Why pay MORE money to freeze and not get to nature as much?