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Parking etiquette

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innominate

innominate

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Dec 3, 2008
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Want to get y'all's opinions. I downsized a couple years ago to an apartment and brought my stable with me. Currently have 3 bikes and a scooter. I've been in the same parking spot for almost 2 years. I came out to find this blue scooter parked this morning. My first thought was wth? There are quite a few spots to park a scooter in or garage. Am I wrong in thinking this is poor form?

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Scooter owner probably intended to be courteous by not taking another spot. I would bet they have no clue that all of the bikes in that space belong to one individual.
 
Yes, I agree with Gary and synthlegend. I'd guess he decided to park by fellow cyclists rather than take up a whole space for a car. If you have easy room to get out then no harm, no foul. If he blocked you in somehow, then it might be worth a polite note for the first time. Of course, I'm assuming that the spaces are not reserved.
 
Y'all could be correct. It bothers me that the scooter is beat to ****. There was more room between the vespa and the other 2 bikes that are cable locked together. I can just imagine the person rocking forward off the center stand into my bonnie. Across from that spot is our walkway to the apartments. There's a large marked off area that has room for a couple bikes.

The spot is not reserved. I would get a reserved spot but those are the vehicles that the pigeons do#2 on.
 
I get it. It's an invasion of your space. First reaction is "get outta here!"
Try leaving a note to the effect that all four bikes in that spot are yours and you ride them all on a regular basis so please do not block any of them, even for a short time. To keep it 'friendly', you could say they are welcome to share the space with you (with the aforementioned constraint) or park over by the marked off area by the walkway. There's much to lose by being hostile or inhostpitable. Afterall, you have four targets that this person knows exactly where to find.
 
dukey33 said:
There's much to lose by being hostile or inhostpitable. Afterall, you have four targets that this person knows exactly where to find.
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I get that. I don't want to escalate a non situation. I'm going to move the bonnie next to the 2 cabled bikes when I get home. I was just taken by how they parked and where. There were better places to park even in "my" space.

Also in the time I've lived there I have found my vespa on its side on 2 occasions. It was parked on its own in a different spot on those occasions.
 
It's pretty awesome how that does become "your spot" unofficially. All your bikes are parked there, but you only take one out at a time so it's always reserved for you. Well played!
 
IMO, you are wrong to think that.
There is no assigned parking, that is not "your" spot. I can easily see someone seeing 4 bikes in 1 spot and seeing room there and parking there, thinking that it is the "bike parking" for the complex.
I do agree that maybe they should have parked on the other side of the scooter, but it is not like you are blocked in.

if it really bugs you, park the bikes parallel with the lines staggered 2 wide.
 
Maverick2076 said:
... Don’t park in the same space with another bike if you don’t know the owner.
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Why not?
It is not blocking anything, still space to get all bikes in and out, did not hit or move bikes to park. Just seems someone saw several bikes in the same spot with the ability to also park there without impeding the other bikes. All while saving a parking spot somewhere else for a car.
I park next to bikes in a parking lot if they are parked to one side, and by me parking next to them they are not blocked in.
If they are center parked or I would block them, then I would not park next to them.
 
If I saw what you posted OP, not knowing the rules/regulations for that parking garage/apartment complex, I'd pull in and park, just like the scooterista did. To me, it looks like there is some kind of a sport-type bike, the red Vespa, and some kind of standard/cruiser. I wouldn't assume that they all belong to the same person. I'd make sure I wasn't blocking any one in and oogle the exposed bikes while taking my gear off.

I've been unfortunate that some of the apartment complexes my friends live in have weird rules when it comes to motorcycles and parking. I remember one being the ultimate Catch-22. I couldn't park in visitor parking because the regular parking spaces are for 'motor vehicles' (later defined as 4 wheeled vehicles) only. I couldn't parking in their little motorcycle lot because I did not have a parking permit. I couldn't get a parking permit because I was not a resident there.

So, because of my past history, I try to park as close to other motorcycles as possible. If it means sharing a space like in the OP, then so be it. I'd assume it's okay for motorcycles to park there.

As far as parking in the same space, I've done it and I've had it happen to me. I usually try to park in a such way that drivers can see there is a motorcycle in the spot, but another motorcyclist can park there if they choose to do so.
 
The bike isn’t even close enough compared to other parts of the world regarding motorcycle parking. Share the spot. If you aren’t blocked in, it’s fair game.

One of my peeves with Texan riders is when we ride to a restaurant and it’s two bikes per slot, sometimes just one. We can fit 4 bikes.
 
Maverick2076 said:
That would piss me off. Don’t park in the same space with another bike if you don’t know the owner.
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That's me, internally. It would tick me off. But externally, I'd try to act like the guys above said, to be neighborly.

I park in my own spot unless I'm riding with people then I'll share a spot.


blupupher said:
Why not?
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Because no one knows what my situation is when I have to maneuver my bike, and now they've seriously inconvenienced and stressed me. They don't know my skills (conversely I don't know theirs), and they don't know my challenges or if I have a specific way I need to do things to get the bike out of the spot (and I've probably parked it specifically in order to set up the exit). If there is another bike in the spot there's now less room and someone else's property I have to be careful of. Gets worse if vehs are on all sides.
I might sound like I'm over analyzing the situation, but counting up my factors I have to account for and work with when riding or which bike I'm on, I'm now in a more difficult position to execute a simple exercise. Following that down the rabbit hole, now there's stress, inconvenience, pressure, worry about how will I accomplish this? If I could be weak and whiny for a sec, but they just made my life harder and it's hard enough already.

Like I said, maybe over analyzing, but that's my world. People can't know that unless they know me. So I extend the same thinking to others, I don't know someone's situation and I respect people's space, that includes vehicles and property too.
 
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innominate said:
Want to get y'all's opinions. I downsized a couple years ago to an apartment and brought my stable with me. Currently have 3 bikes and a scooter. I've been in the same parking spot for almost 2 years. I came out to find this blue scooter parked this morning. My first thought was wth? There are quite a few spots to park a scooter in or garage. Am I wrong in thinking this is poor form?

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yes, you are wrong.
why dont you downsize some more
 
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