Portland Motorcycle Living

Both my motorcycles sit in the garage because we don't allow lanesharing. I drive a Ram 1500 pickup during the week instead. Without any motorcycle specific advantages like lane-sharing, why would you sit in gridlock in the pouring rain or heat while everyone else gets to look at their phones in a climate-controlled box? Recent efforts to make a version of lanesharing legal have bi-partisan support in the state legislature but a single legislator who is the chair of the transportation committee won't let it come up for a vote. Even though lane sharing is safer for motorcyclists, reduces congestion for everyone, and reduces motorcycle related emissions by 3% they don't like it for some unknown reason. Hopefully it can move forward in a year or two now that Utah is allowing filtering at stop lights and lane sharing has been officially legal in California for a few years now.

I used to commute year-round on my motorcycle in Seattle before the traffic got too bad. Use of the carpool lanes up there made motorcycling viable until the mid 2010s when traffic got so bad it didn't matter anymore. Oregon doesn't even have any carpool lanes except a few miles right before you cross into Washington on I5, so that advantage doesn't exist. Street parking costs the same even though we take up 1/3 of the space.

You will need Hippo-Hands, Heated Grips and preferably a bike with a fairing/windscreen. An aerostich roadcrafter is nice too to save all the time of getting in and out of raingear. Also make sure your helmet has a pinlock visor because anything else will fog up instantly 3/4 of the year.

FYI there is a portland specific motorcycle subreddit: r/PDXrideit

I ride daily on a shorter 20 min commute. The only time I don't ride is during thunderstorms, snow and ice. On cold days I wear warm winter gear and do fine. If I had a longer freeway commute I'd need to invest in heated gear for the fall and winter. I used to live in a studio in inner SE without a garage and had to park my bike on the street. I kept it covered but it was knocked over twice. I then moved into a 2 bed duplex with a garage in south tabor and paid about $1400 in 2015 (not sure what rent would be now). Currently I own a home with a garage.

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It is disheartening how most Oregonians do not support filtering or lane splitting even though there have been studies showing it is safer as most fatal and severe injury motorcycle accidents are from being rear ended. I think that one time you were passed by the idiot squid doing 120mph on the shoulder gives everyone a bad name and that's what Oregonians picture when lane splitting and filtering come up for a vote.

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https://www.cycleworld.com/2015/06/02/ama-study-finds-lane-splitting-increases-rider-saftey/

My soul dies a little bit every time I sit in traffic on my moto. Especially when there's a clear opening for me to squeeze through between cars at red lights. If you can work your schedule to avoid rush hour, it won't be nearly as bad. The thing that makes it worth it for me is free parking and the ride home.

I commute to downtown on it about 3 days a week and use Trimet the other days. My commute to work is about 10 miles and a little longer on the way back because I purposely take the fun way home. I don't ride in the rain, take Trimet instead.

Good luck finding a place.

Lanesplitting is a no-go here, but I've found that "responsibly navigating gaps in the flow of traffic" is tolerated, even if Karen in her minivan might blare her horn at you, if she puts her phone down long enough to notice, that is.

I've commuted year round from SE Portland to Hillsboro, SE to West Linn, SE to PDX, SE to Aurora, Troutdale to PDX, ect. Last couple years I've had a car for the real shitty weather but the only thing I'll truly avoid is ice and thunderstorms. I've been fortunate to not have my bikes stolen in the 3yrs prior to having a garage but I would not trust your luck on that. I hate when people say 'i stopped riding cause people drive worse now', but riding is a personal choice/risk assessment - you do you. I find many benefits to commuting by bike. The largest being that I can often maneuver myself out of traffic (interpret how you want) or escape to an alternative route when in a car, your often committed and stuck. With that being said, your quality of life will dramatically increase if you keep the commute below 30min (car or bike). These days I refuse commutes longer than 45min and keep an avg of 30min.

Glad to see most of these comments are pro-moto here. Fingers crossed that ridership increases and lane sharing is legalized in the near future.

Try looking for a 2br duplex or even a small house with a garage. In my experience they were in the same ballpark as a 1br w/garage.

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I quit riding on the streets because people suck at driving these days, in quite a few ways too so it’s harder to avoid getting hit. More moto commuters is the responsible thing to do, but currently it’s an all risk with no reward system.

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