The point of making signaling a habit is that you don't think about it at all. It becomes an automatic action that just happens, without affecting your focus.

I have also ridden motorcycles for many years, and I am very familiar with the assumption that nobody on the road knows I exist. I still signal, all the time, every time, because it is a habit which requires no thinking. It would distract me more if I had to decide whether signalling was necessary in each case.