PARKING! - Some Pointers...
Parking etiquette – an often, overlooked, facet of riding.
Now I know every Kiwi Biker on here knows how to park a bike but some riders out there could do with a few pointers (hopefully you’ll visit the site and read this).
These points focus on situations where shared parking is of a concern i.e. in the city.
#1. If you’re the first rider to arrive at a ‘Bike’ parking space:
It’s a better option to park your bike at either end of the space available as opposed to parking in the middle. Parking in the middle often creates a space between two bikes that is a ‘bees diddle‘ too small, which someone undoubtedly will try to squeeze into and end up scratching your precious.
#2. If you’re running late and not the first rider to arrive:
Presuming every other M’Fr has parked up in an ordered manner then simply follow suit and park your bike next to the bike in the line. Try not to be a TWAT and park 1 and ½ bike widths away from the next – some city parks are crowded so you need to be SPACE conscious.
#3. Parking ‘next to’ and in ‘between bikes’:
Leave sufficient space between your bike and the bike on your immediate left so that when he/she has to leave before you, they can tilt their bike off the stand without carving a line in your tank with their ‘tungsten tipped’ bar-ends. The bike you’ve parked next to should have enough room to swing their leg over their bike, tilt it upright and exit their space without clipping your wing mirror, handlebar or worse, your tank.
On the other hand, don’t leave too much space between your bike and theirs’ that would tempt somebody else, when desperate for a park, to squeeze in between you and the other bike. Obviously this creates some undue stress for somebody at the end of day when they have to steer out of their park with one hand, holding their sphincter tightly, whistling like Roger Whittaker.
#4. Park it like a ‘TWAT’:
Park it like a ‘TWAT’ is something you should try to avoid. If you do park like a TWAT then you may have parked your bike in any of the following ways:
o Your bike is parked at an angle dissimilar to any other in the parking space and subsequently you could be taking up valuable space that two bikes could potentially occupy – what a TWAT!
o Your first to arrive and parked your bike ½ a bikes width from the end of the parking space leaving the other half unavailable for anyone to use – what a waste of space! You must be a TWAT!
o You ride a scooter and park like you just don’t care. Your beastie shows evidence of being ‘down the road’ on more than one occasion and is happily leaking oil on shared bitumen. You pull up and park up, exciting the vicinity within 6secs of arriving and haven’t bothered parking nicely like the rest of us. You may have a small bike but that doesn’t make you any less of a TWAT!
o Essentially you respect other bikers sharing the parking space and park accordingly but wait,… for some reason you never put your steering lock on and the front is turned in the opposite direction to everybody else? Hey it’s your precious, do what you want but unfortunately you still come under the category of being a TWAT!
o In other circumstances, outside the scope of this rant, people may refer to you as being a TWAT for parking in an unsatisfactory manner. Please ask them, “what the F___K is your problem mate!” and hopefully they’ll be able to give you some good advice about parking your motorcycle, TWAT!
Additions or mordant comments on the above are of course welcome.
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Originally Posted by vifferman
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