I've heard this quite a few times John.
I don't do it on my bike because it runs the starter. Not a nice sound to hear while underway.
??? Only if your clutch handle is pulled in or you’re in neutral. Perhaps your clutch switch is bad? I’d fix that.
I use the starter switch to blink my headlight often, several times a day on my commute, to let other drivers know that I see them wanting / signaling to change lane and they are clear to go ahead and do so. I also use it like a jerk, with the high beam, flashing at a high rate, meaning “ get the $*#Â¥ out of the passing lane already, you’re camping out there, holding up traffic”. My morning commute is complete darkness and I’m thankful for that.
The vast majority of my close calls are in the afternoon going home, with the sun heading down and in our eyes.
Creeping lane wanderers, looking at their phones... sudden lane changers without looking properly and not signaling.
Proper lane positioning helps. If in the hammer lane, keep to the right tire track near the white lane lines so you are visible in their side mirror. Just the opposite if in the right lane, stay in the left tire track closer to the white lane lines so they feel uncomfortable passing you. When they do pass you, decelerate enough that they get by much more quickly, then blink the headlight when they can move back to the right in front of you (as if THAT ever happens, lol).
Swerve into that right lane right tire track when approaching an intersection where a car is waiting to cross traffic or pull out in front of you. I do that with vigor and then blaze the high beam and do the SMSM (see me swerve maneuver) if they creep.
I have a lot of strategies that I use to stay alive in the Tidewater area traffic. We have a diverse population from all over (Navy town). Many don’t drive well.
One of my frequently observed pet pet peeves is the phone user that races up to catch you but doesn’t pass you, then sits there, aft and almost beside you (or another vehicle) in the fast lane and paces you using their peripheral vision to navigate rather than watching the road. I have literally slowed from 65+ steady speed to below 45 and watched hammer lane traffic back up behind these “fools”, then accelerated smartly away clearing the path. Usually, well south of the I64 mess on Hwy 17, I can decelerate significantly and they get a clue and go by. But with heavy traffic, it isn’t a safe move.
Be careful out there, I ride as if every one of them is trying to kill me with their complacency.
Sometimes, that makes me look like a jerk, but knock on wood, I’ve done 5+ years @ >30,000 MC commuting miles/year without getting wrecked.
