common practice for motorcycles to stop traffic?

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yesterday morning I was in a truck pulling a large trailer, two lane highway, blind curve. some clown on a Harley pulls a "Jax Teller" and is in the center of my lane heading right for me, passenger waving her arms. It's all I can do to stop the truck and trailer without hitting them - we stopped about 3-5 feet from each other. I'm expecting an accident up ahead? no, they state that there is a "motorcycle rally ahead". rally? at this point I see 4 or 5 bikes that want to pull out from a side street. then he attempts a 3 point turn and I hear his passenger yell "look out!" then I hear and feel a thud. of course, they take off right away. damaged my truck and left the scene of an accident that they caused. not to mention they risked their lives by driving head-on into my lane.

regardless, a co-worker said that their group does this a lot.
 
I've posted about 2 years ago I saw about 80 bikers at a gas station and a few Harley riders had blocked traffic so all 80 could pull out of gas station and ride as a group.
 
Bunch of hooligans who make responsible motorcycle owners look bad. Unless they had police there to stop traffic, it was just a bunch of fools trying to own the road.

Doesn't matter if it's Harleys, ATVs, Supermotos, or Rice Rockets. It's a freaking nuisance and law enforcement needs to find a way to make it stop.
 
I went up to atlanta a few years ago and we had over 200+ bikes, and one guy would do this at every red light so we could all go through.

Very common IMO, but def not my style. Id rather play catch up then hold up traffic as much as we did. Very common with sport bikes, can't say for cruisers
 
I've seen it a few times, and once watched an old lady play chicken when them when they blocked the intersection to run a red light.

I've been tempted to photograph it, but it wouldn't cause the police to ticket them, so what's the use? Cyclists did it all. the. time. in S.F. Even blocking pedestrians from using the cross walk while a few hundred disrupted traffic. I took to carrying thumb tacks in my shoulder bag. One good turn deserves another, after all.

As for the lady: She won, though I think that if they hadn't moved she wouldn't have let up on the gas anyway. It was all throttle and horn for that little old lady. She was not going to be late to bingo.
 
This kind of behavior will continue until some old boy in an old pickup kills a couple of bikers.
Sad but true.
 
Like bicyclists, they have an inflated idea of what they deserve relative to the rest of traffic. I've been riding for about a year and only expect the space I'd be given if I was in a car. Any maneuver I make in the bike that isn't in accordance with what everyone in traffic would expect if I was in a car, I only do if there's no one else around that could be forced to change their intended path because of it. I enjoy the conversation and friends a motorcycle can bring, but expecting your group's bike "procession" to have priority in traffic is stupid and goes along with the biker "credo" or whatever it is that I find somewhat repulsive. Like the outlaw gangs that ride into town in classic Westerns and force all the townsfolk out of the path of their hord.
 
Those weren't bikers. They were [censored]. I was riding with some off duty motorcycle cops on their personal bikes. They pointed to the nearest car and pulled out in front of them at a busy intersection. They weren't in uniform and the motorists had no way of knowing who they were. I was afraid to pull out until traffic cleared. Those guys were used to "owning the road" but on their personal bikes??? Jeez.
Yesterday I was at a VA hospital in WV where over 3000 bikes road down from Pa. Cops escorted them to I 81 where they were on their own until the destination exit where cops shut everything down to let them through to the hospital. Some told me they had some trouble on 81 with cars cutting into their lines etc. but I know that all riders don't maintain proper spacing on the highways.
 
Even in a legitimate emergency vehicle with the appropriate light and siren, we could only ASK for the right of way, legally we weren't allowed to take it until it was yielded. A personal vehicle with no authority or warning devices has no right to anything beyond normal traffic right of ways.
 
as you can tell from my sig, I ride. every day when its above 45. I would never pull a stunt like that. I presume he was drunk. especially after damaging my truck and taking off. yes, I got the plate nbr. yes, I filed a police report. Yes, I will make a claim against his insurance. I hope he got ticketed for obstructing traffic and leaving the scene of an accident. although he probably did not.
 
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I see motorcycle cops escorting oversized loads they come out of nowhere and stop l in the middle of the intersections so the truck can go through the red light. I think it's totally unsafe and unnecessary.
 
It might be common practice for imbeciles, but it's not for any experienced rider with common sense that I would be willing to ride with. IF they are a uniformed Officer officially directing traffic, that's one thing. If it's just some clown making all of us Motorcyclists look bad, I want no part of that group.
 
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I am with Lorneyder. These are probably off duty cops. I see them pull this stuff in Florida and even seen them in "Dress Up" flash a badge to stop motorists to pull out because they don't want to wait. Jerks.
 
I did not know this stupid behavior was so common.
I rode motorcycles for years, so I know what it is like to be on the road riding one, and because I did ride, I always look out for them.
About two weeks ago I was driving through a small town one hour east of Austin, and there were about 20 outlaw bikers just cruising through a intersection, completely disregarding the stop sign and traffic. They all their little costumes on, to let everyone know they are bad-[censored] criminals. No stop sign for me, so I keep on going! One idiot swerved to miss me, then I see the moron in the middle of the intersection, like he was a cop directing traffic. No lights on, not hi-viz vest, barely saw the moron, went by him close enough to see the oil leaking from his H-D. One would think that after the Waco Twin Peaks incident, the biker trash would be more careful, their numbers are dwindling by the day.
 
I've got a lotta nice things to say about those guys. Had a run in with a road train of Mongols a while back in Utah. One of them drifted into the median grass and wiped out. I tore --- getting out of there.
 
Yesterday I was towing heavy equipment down a tight back road and could only muster slow speed on the hills and I had the most responsible biker behind me. He restored my faith in safe driving respectful bikers. Most here are jerks!
 
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