Its a stop sign, here at least you are expected to stop for 3 seconds, completely. You fail driving tests if you don't and can get in trouble about it likewise if you don't.
I don't agree with both feet down, personally I think thats a bad practice, even if your putting it into nuetral, but a single foot down is a must for a stop.
As others have also said its a stop sign because they have decided its a bit more dangerous than the normal give way intersection, possibly thanks to lack of vision or parked cars. They aren't always right, but better safe than sorry. I actually will stop at give way intersections because alot near where I live don't have proper vision and I don't want to be balancing the bike while I'm trying to make sure its totally safe. I think a large part is knowing the difference between what a bike can do and how it does it, and how that may or may not be represented by the road rules.
In the end with a officer behind you however, I'd always do things by the book.
Saying drivers don't stop is also no excuse for doing the same thing. Firstly most drivers are retarded, and secondly they are surrounded by a metal shell that means when they do something stupid they probably live through it. On a bike you can try and use that mentality but I hope no ones relying on you family or financially-wise.
Also if you where driving past a side street with a stop sign and someone just rolled through and ran into you, would you be saying "Yea, no probs mate, I do it myself all the time" or would you be furious at the persons bad driving?
