Last night, I had a few minutes to waste to get to an event, so I parked on North Williams Avenue to practice motorcycle traffic (like we do).
If you’re new here (welcome!), People on Bikes is a series of portrait galleries from BikePortland introduced in 2011. Basically, it’s a way to appreciate cycling’s enchanting diversity and broaden a deeper understanding of cycling culture in an exclusive location. . In addition to Portland’s busy motorcycle lanes, we share galleries from New York, Miami, Amsterdam, Colombia, and Copenhagen.
You can take whatever you need from those images. Personally, I find it appealing to get a sense of what runners look like at any given time and place. As I browse the gallery, I observe the type of motorcycle other people use, how they drive, what kind of gadgets and accessories they use, and what type of user is on the motorcycle.
What do you see when you look at those photos? Do other people use electric motorcycles or fast road motorcycles?Are you studying or just coming home from work?Or both? Are they black, white, brown, small, big, tall, or small?How many women? Are Maximum passengers young or old?Do they use panniers or backpacks? Are their motorcycles expensive or cheap?Do they look happy, relaxed, or stressed? Do they wear bike-specific clothing?Helmets?
The location is North Williams Avenue in Tillamook and I was there from approximately 5:50 to 6:10 p. m. last night. Please note that this is a random sampling and that I have not exercised any editorial judgment on the images I have selected. I tried to photograph each and every user who passed by. If someone didn’t create the gallery, it’s because the symbol isn’t good.
Check out the 32 images below (remember that if you click on the first image, you can use the arrow key to move through the gallery):
– Cycle through more galleries of other people on motorcycles here.
Jonathan Maus (Editor/Editor)
Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Owner and driver of the car. If you have any questions or comments about this site or my work, please feel free to reach out to me on @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email on maus. jonathan@gmail. com, or by phone/text. at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and enjoy this site, we will support you.
Nice collection of bikes and people. Lots of cool old school and semi-custom metal motorcycles. If we’re in the third year of the e-bike revolution, that’s not happening. . .
A stable build on disc brake bikes from past sessions.
BB: Yes, this pattern contained only 3 e-bikes (9%). It’s also less than I would have imagined for a trip.
If Jonathan had done a similar count in front of our relatives’ house (while we gave him wine, crackers, and cheese) on the Columbia Street Bike Highway PBL (Vancouver). . . It is estimated that e-bikes would have accounted for more than 30% and up to 50% of all bicycles.
It’s on a commuter road to downtown. I know the address I follow, which leads me to my children’s daycare. I know many more parents who send their kids on shipping electric motorcycles. Because those little toddlers are getting heavy. See NE Going Street or Alameda for examples. There are a lot of electric motorcycles out there. Although it’s possibly selective memory, I don’t know.
I estimate that about 50% of the commuters who walk up Greeley Hill/Adidas Bike Lane are e-bike users.
Great combination of bikes and setups. I enjoy looking for other combinations of baskets/backpacks, frame bags, handlebar bags, etc. Also of note is a DIY electric motorcycle (??) (#22) like the battery fixed in a Peugeot, but maybe it’s a Peugeot.
It’s a renewal. Classic.
Good drum brakes too. It’s useful if you get that electric power and want disc prevention force/more brakes in rainy weather, but you have optional rim brakes.
Do other people know that the seat height is adjustable on maximum bikes?
In the short time I’ve been working in motorcycle retail, I’ve been surprised to see how many consumers care more about having their feet flat on the floor when sitting (and moving) than they do about the exact seat height when pedaling.
As a cyclist, my experience has been that there are a lot of things you never find out about unless you study them in particular, and it’s hard to know what to look for. I didn’t find a motorcycle that had compatibility until recently (late 30’s) and until then, the only thing I knew about motorcycle compatibility was adjusting the seat height so that my legs would get bigger more commonly if I have my heel on the pedal. And I only heard this when buying a motorcycle, at REI, so if you didn’t, you’ll guess for yourself.
Fun gallery. There are a lot of great motorcycles there. I have to say I’m amazed at how many unique gears I see!I rely a lot on gears for any incline.
I only see 3 of them, one of which is an e-bike conversion. I guess it’s subjective, but 2 or 3 out of 32 doesn’t seem like that many. I used to see much more consistent gears when it was a trend.
Dutch-style motorcycles almost have hubs with internal gears.
Ah, okay, inner centers make sense. I thought they were gears.
There are still no other people driving at single speed around Portland mdr.
Surely helmets are missing.
KC: Yes, some adults ride without helmets in Portland. (It’s Oregon’s law like Vancouver, WA’s. . . which is NOW the largest city in Washington state with such a law, since Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma repealed their adult helmet laws).
https://www. spokesman. com/stories/2023/nov/06/shawn-vestal-spokane-city-council-quietly-repealed/
https://downtownonthego. com/about/no-helmet-requirements
If we take those images as an informal “statistical sample,” then 27 out of 33 runners (82%) wore a helmet. That’s a fairly typical percentage of searches beyond Portland (that I can remember) and much higher than the maximum for cities.
27 of the 33 runners are helmeted
It’s still, as someone said about the Williams motorcycle trail a few years ago, a sausage fest, i. e. 25% women featuring racers, down slightly from ~29% for N. Portland in last year’s motorcycle count. There is still work to be done for all of us!
Yes, but for that we need safer streets. Every study on what helps prevent women from riding bikes indicates that protection is the most important factor.
Re: Race: At the end of the day, the fact is that there is a lot of racial diversity in Portland, so it plays a big role in the composition of ridership.
Take on attractions in Los Angeles or the Bay Area and see a more varied crowd. It has to do with the demographics of the city and that racial demographics often need to have a critical mass of representation to be really comfortable showing up in real numbers. .
The layout of the track itself may have something to do with it. Every block of the motorcycle lane becomes a “Sharrow in a turn lane” situation, putting you in direct collision with drivers. I can see how this would discourage other people. who would be more likely to be abused by drivers to avoid it in Rodney’s favor.
Breaking News: Are There Cyclists Riding in North Williams?! ?
What surprised me was that I didn’t see at least one Portland BikeTown motorcycle in the skipper’s photos. I would have realized that 20% of the motorcycles may have been shared in this neighborhood.
From my anecdotal experience, and when using shared motorcycles, Nike motorcycle users tend to stick to greenways. Either that, or they drive on the sidewalks of the arteries they use to get around.
That is an attractive observation. I’d like to see an investigation to see if the anecdote holds up. If there are significant differences in steering selection between bikeshare users and other people who primarily use their own bikes, this can be a very useful point of knowledge to take a look at. in the gaps in our infrastructure.
I BP had published the Biketown heatmap in the past. It can be appealing to see how it compares to Strava or RideWithGPS heatmaps.
Come to think of it, it would also be interesting to see if Strava or RideWithGPS can separate e-bike heatmaps from your classic heatmap. I’d be interested to see if there are any significant differences in steering selection depending on whether passengers have electric assistance (sorry if it’s already done).
I wish other people on motorcycles were more frequent. . .
I need to know what percentage of other people knew they were being photographed but didn’t say hello. No. 18 seemed to be one, and I guess the 17 and 23 must have looked away because they’re probably famous.
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