One R1 LE... down

[Sijray21]

What about driving on the shoulder to get by bumper to bumper traffic?

unused pavement - check
relatively safe - check
not inconviencing others - check

not very safe IMO.

i had to do it before and i'll do it again if i need to. I was overheating on my bike, my battery was dying (had to shut it down due to heat and then clutch start it on 495 traffic), and i'll be damned if i'm going to be stranded on 495 in traffic in swealtering heat. You do what you need to do though and it was, IMO, and emergency situation so i used the shoulder to get to the nearest exit.

i wouldn't call it relatively safe though mainly because of the excess debris and the fact that people driving "know" that it's not being used unless for emergency so they'll assume that no one will be occupying that lane (much less a small motorcycle that isn't always clearly visible).

I'm also an individual that believes that motorcycles should be allowed to lane-split in traffic, but that's just me.