I was in Monteal this past weekend (not on my bike), and they were setting up for the Jazz Festival. I parked my car at the hotel and didn’t touch it again, but they had closed down several city blocks for the festival. I wouldn’t have wanted to be on my bike for several reasons. I speak very very little french, so road signs were sometimes tough to decipher. I’m still more comfortable in my car, so figuring out directions (with a navigator in the passenger seat) was way easier. We got in late (11 pm), so the darkness would have made the motorcycle navigation harder.
I ride in Boston regularly, and it’s that bad during rush hour or if there’s some special event going on. But yeah, I definitely find that if I’m stuck in traffic in the city, I’ll get quite sweaty. I always throw a second shirt in my tank bag for when I get to my destination. I won’t lane split for regular rush hour traffic, but if there’s a parade or something and everyone is detoured and traffic is backed up forever, I’ll lane split (only if traffic is at a dead stop). I once saw a motorcycle lane split by a cop in that situation and the cop looked at him and just didn’t care, so I don’t worry too much about the law in that case.