Be careful out there my friends...

[Owen]

Two bikers died this weekend in Houston. In separate wrecks, both were caused by cages turning left into the path of the oncoming motorcycle...

[Reddog170]

Add another one in Highland Il, cager backed out in front of him. Be alert, be ready.

[LilBeaver]

Be careful and watch those mirrors for sure.

 

My friend and I almost got smoked by some dude in his monster truck last weekend (maybe 2 weekends ago). We were literally in the middle of nowhere (somewhere between Lubbock and Spur, Texas) going to make a left onto another FM road. I signaled a few hundred feet before the turn, so did she; I watched in my mirrors as he approached from behind. I continued to slow and as I was getting ready to turn I had noticed that it didn't look like he was slowing down. It got to that decision time where I needed to decide to just make the hard left turn or make a run for the shoulder/ditch and hope my friend was paying enough attention to follow suit. Just as I had decided to make the run for the ditch I did a final check and saw him switch lanes and pass us on the left.

We then completed the turn and I pulled off to make sure that she was okay and aware of what just happened. I figured it would be a good learning experience if he surprised her as much as I thought he did. It turns out that she saw him coming and didn't know what to do so she just sort of froze up.

 

Just goes to show it never huts to constantly play those 'what if' games to prepare yourself for that last minute and split second decision; not to mention WATCH THOSE MIRRORS and ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS!

 

Ya'll ride safe, ya hear?

[Eddie]

Add another, I guy died on a bike by me Saturday night on M59. He hit the back of a minivan so hard it flipped the van.

[CaptainJoe]

LILBEAVER,

DID YOU GET HIS LICENSE PLATE AND DESCRIPTION OF VEHICLE AND DRIVER?

 

MORE IMPORTANTLY DID YOU CALL IT IN?

 

sOUNDS LIKE THIS GUY IS A WRECK LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAPPEN.

 

 

NOT SHOUTING JUST TOO LAZY TO RETYPE...lol

[naturbar]

"Just goes to show it never huts to constantly play those 'what if' games to prepare yourself for that last minute and split second decision; not to mention WATCH THOSE MIRRORS and ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS!"..............

 

one of the safety elements taught in the MSF class is the S.E.E. strategy - (e.g.) Search, Evaluate and Execute. that becomes sort of a mantra i play in my head when i am riding. Search out potential problems.....Evaluate the possibilities to avoid the problem...be prepared to Execute your plan. anticipating a "dumb move" of another vehicle can go a long way in saving your butt. i am really happy Beav that your outcome was good. best of luck to all this riding season and enjoy each mile.

[Ebabe]

I try to signal fairly early and use my hand signals. My antenna flags are made of a real silky material and tend to flutter a lot. Also wear bright yellow/black/white jacket. Reallized right away how much more visible I was when wearing it. Really pretty incredible. Anything to ride another day.

[etcswjoe]

Went riding this weekend with a friend from work and he almost rear ended a lady that turned with no signal quickly. He had to brake really hard and came close to hitting the car. I had just looked left at a car pulling out of a driveway to make sure it was not coming across and if I had not been far enough behind I would have smacked the car in front of us when it turned. I guess my point is that you pretty much need another set of eyes to watch out for poeple. I hate to admit it but it seems the older I get the slower my reflexes are, I have to really put in an effort to stay back farther than I use to (2 second rule to about a 6 second gap). I also make an effort to cover the brake and horn at intersections and sway just a little so cars waiting to pull out see me.

 

Be safe a be vigilante.

[PEIslander]

It's not just cagers that pull stupid moves. I was out for the first time this spring yesterday and was on a secondary road with a 60kph limit. I was behind a car and a Hyabusa was behind me and laying back several car lengths, Anyway when the speed zone ended I checked the busa in my mirror and he was still there so I signalled and began passing the car and when I reached the drivers door the busa was passing me like I was standing still. This was on a 2 lane road with no paved shoulder, If I wandered to the left a foot we would have tangled. I was tempted to go after him but decided it wasn't worth it, as he may not last long with his bad habits and a bike that powerful.

Rick

[SilvrT]

It's not just cagers that pull stupid moves. I was out for the first time this spring yesterday and was on a secondary road with a 60kph limit. I was behind a car and a Hyabusa was behind me and laying back several car lengths, Anyway when the speed zone ended I checked the busa in my mirror and he was still there so I signalled and began passing the car and when I reached the drivers door the busa was passing me like I was standing still. This was on a 2 lane road with no paved shoulder, If I wandered to the left a foot we would have tangled. I was tempted to go after him but decided it wasn't worth it, as he may not last long with his bad habits and a bike that powerful.

Rick

 

Some bike riders have the "look at me everyone" mentality.

[SilvrT]

LILBEAVER,

DID YOU GET HIS LICENSE PLATE AND DESCRIPTION OF VEHICLE AND DRIVER?

 

MORE IMPORTANTLY DID YOU CALL IT IN?

 

sOUNDS LIKE THIS GUY IS A WRECK LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAPPEN.

 

 

NOT SHOUTING JUST TOO LAZY TO RETYPE...lol

 

For what it's worth, and if you have MS Word or Open Office, you can select your text and choose Format | Change Case (Shift F3 in Word).

[LilBeaver]

LILBEAVER,

DID YOU GET HIS LICENSE PLATE AND DESCRIPTION OF VEHICLE AND DRIVER?

 

MORE IMPORTANTLY DID YOU CALL IT IN?

 

sOUNDS LIKE THIS GUY IS A WRECK LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO HAPPEN.

...

 

I did have a detailed description of the vehicle, vague description of the driver and a partial plate. However, no cell signal in podunk Texas not to mention the fact that the description of the pick-up and drive would match about 1/2 of the ranchers/farmers in west Texas so it wouldn't do much good anyways. On top of that all that really could be cited would be failure to yield right of way and possibly improper lane usage. I would have gladly signed a sworn statement to have the citation issued but I also knew for sure that I couldn't positively identify the driver as my look was not THAT good.

 

One of the reasons I like the 'middle of nowhere' roads is that I usually don't see too many people which I suppose may make it that much more dangerous (to some extent).

 

We are okay and that is really what mattered to me at the time. I'm just glad I am in such a good habit of watching my mirrors so closely and doing those regular shoulder checks REGARDLESS of where I am. I also have to say that I am glad I was leading that stretch because after we had chatted a bit after it happened she had admitted that she had no idea what was going on other than she saw my bike get a bit squirrelly as I started my sharp weave to dodge this goofball. It was a good lesson for both her and me; something I know for sure she won't forget which is handy since NEXT time evasive action may be required to avoid being a hood ornament.

[LilBeaver]

I try to signal fairly early and use my hand signals. My antenna flags are made of a real silky material and tend to flutter a lot. Also wear bright yellow/black/white jacket. Reallized right away how much more visible I was when wearing it. Really pretty incredible. Anything to ride another day.

 

+1 to this. I use my bike mounted signals AND hand signals (most of the time). I also wear a silver/reflective jacket and the back of my bike has some extra lights on it that can be seen on a sunny day. I can only assume that every little bit helps...

[MikeWa]

We lost one here in Puyallup Washington as well. The bike was going 100+mph in a 45mph zone on River Road. He crossed the centerline and hit a cage head on. Half of the bike was embedded in the car. The other half was a mangled mess strewn across the highway. The rider was thrown over 450 yards (4 plus football fields) and died at the scene.

Mike

[treeman]

Truck pull out in front of Motorcycle Sat in Effingham, il. Killed Motorcycle Rider & Wlfe Hurt bad. Cages said did not see him coming ( No Head Gear ) Driver of Truck got a ticket

[ddoggma]

I have put over 1000 miles on the bike in the last two weeks. My van blew a headgasket and I have been running around all over. Looking for a replacment. Heavy traffic, fast slabs the works. Most days somebody gets too close. But today I had two aholes do stuff infront of me that could have gone bad. If I wasn't looking out for them. Be safe out there is right. and if you ride alot dont get complacent. You can get so in the zone, that you can get suprised by the weight of the bike if your not thinking about keeping your feet in the right spot to keep from tipping over. I almost went over the other day...lol:backinmyday:

[GAWildKat]

I was visiting a friend today I'd not seen in almost 4 yrs, she ran out her house crying and clung to the hubby. A coworker she's known years was killed in a motorcycle wreck near Stone Mountain GA. Put a damper on hubby bragging about his class M endorsement.

[etcswjoe]

I have put over 1000 miles on the bike in the last two weeks. My van blew a headgasket and I have been running around all over. Looking for a replacment. Heavy traffic, fast slabs the works. Most days somebody gets too close. But today I had two aholes do stuff infront of me that could have gone bad. If I wasn't looking out for them. Be safe out there is right. and if you ride alot dont get complacent. You can get so in the zone, that you can get suprised by the weight of the bike if your not thinking about keeping your feet in the right spot to keep from tipping over. I almost went over the other day...lol:backinmyday:

 

I think that is what happend to me I had just got too comfortable on the bike and was not as vigilant as I should have been.