Question...

[kyle]

The instructors in my class didn't tell us to glance back, but its one of those things that I realized while riding.

A motorcycle can stop in a much shorter distance than any four wheel vehicle, due to the fact that its just so much lighter.

Add on top of this the delay in reaction time between the driver behind you seeing your brake light (assuming he sees you at all) and then applying his brake, and if you're doing an emergency stop in tight traffic, well.... you're about to get run over. Which is why when following a motorcycle in my truck, I usually leave about a 3 second delay, and watch the car in front of him. And when on my bike, I assume the guy behind me isn't doing these things. Start braking early, frequent glances in the mirrors to see where he is, and once stopped, a glance back to check out the rest of the traffic in the lane.

[TheReaper]

I really seem to notice the vehicles behing me when I ride as well. Maybe due to my interest in bikes I've never had a problem spotting them, but it just amazes me how surprised people are when they see you. Like it's totaly unexpected to see a motorcycle on the road.

[blues2cruise]

I can't believe how many motorcyclists I see stopped about 6 inches from the bumper of the car in front of him.
A good habit to get into is to stop at least a car length behind the car in front of you. This would allow you some room to maneuver in the event the car behind you doesn't see you in time. This is of course assuming you looked back.

[blair]

A motorcycle can stop in a much shorter distance than any four wheel vehicle, due to the fact that its just so much lighter.

Nominally, yes, but my VLX and my Lexus GS-400 have about equal stopping distances, 60-0. Which tells you a lot about the brakes on both of them.

In fact, because of the relative lack of safety in sharp braking (especially combined with engine braking) on a motorcycle, I will risk running a red rather than panic-stopping on a close yellow, whereas with the Lex I'll just mash the pedal and start downshifting and toe the crosswalk every time.

Debris and bumps make it all the more certain I won't care about the light.

Not the best of all possible worlds, but it's the one I have to survive.

[Telesque]

Blowing a red because you can't stop on a yellow is (while still ilegal) a different story than just gunning it through a light you know you can't make (or that's red long before you approach it) on purpose.

[blair]

It is different. This isn't an opportunistic thing, nor a matter of convenience, and it's fairly rare, occurring for only certain lights, speeds, and distances.

I see the light go yellow, know I could stop in my car (remember, it's a Lexus GS-400, with some of the best brakes ever made for a mass-market vehicle) and probably I can stop with my bike, but there is the very large additional risk of crashing the bike if I skid.

The worst I'll do in the car is enter the intersection well before cross-traffic can get started. Which will be embarassing but not very dangerous. Not nearly as disruptive as a motorcycle and rider lying in pieces in two roadways.

As for illegal, I like my skin more than the $295 the cop will hit me for. If there's ever a cop (or a camera) around to catch it. Laws are made in a vacuum, and sometimes the risk from following them is greater than the risk from breaking them. Very rarely, though, and there's a lot of discussion with judge and jury that has to be done after the fact to determine whether I'm right or wrong about it.

I'm not real proud of it. And maybe some extra intensive practice doing panic stops from upper gears on this bike (MSF BRC teaches it without downshifting, so you don't get the "ERT!" at each shift with the rear brake applied) will reduce the judgment zone until there's no question of doing the legal thing. And who knows? I might get a chance to recover from a potential high-side while I'm practicing. That'd be a hell of a skill to have. And a nasty thing not to win at...