My first wipeout on my MB...

[Mountainman]

oh well -- go ---------- RIDE THAT THING

this girl i know laura, is just like that. its actually really really scary to drive with her. she will turn around and chat with the back and not look at the road at all... people likeher should not drive.

wooo -- that's worse than talking on the cell phone while driving

ps -- wouldn't let her ride your MB

a - let's say friend -- let this young lady without a license ride his
Harley a while back
his bike is still in the repair shop

I don't lend my bikes to anyone

got off the subject -- oh well -- go --------- RIDE THAT THING

 

[waylow]

Well, serious wipeout today on my MB, and it was not my fault!

I was cruising along in the shoulder of a road (one lane in each direction) going about 15mph when a white car passed me and quickly slammed the brakes on and pulled into the shoulder and partway into the grass.

This left me no choice but to hit the brakes and go off into the grass. Well hitting the grass at 15mph was ok I was thinking, BUT the first bump I hit hard was enough to loosen the handlebars and send me catapaulting over the now loose handlebars and hitting the ground left shoulder first and then the bike flipping ontop of me and burning my right leg a little until I got it off me.

Well, after a minute or so I was able to get up with a very badly bruised shoulder, sizeable burn on my leg, cut open hand, and a busted open knee from some part of the bike that busted me open.

Needless to say the white car pulled away as I was laying on the ground.

I was a solid 10 miles from home with no one to help me during the day, so I had to slowly cruise back home with my tail between my legs and recover.

And to top off all the injuries..... the first thing I did when I got home was roll her inside to tighten the handlebars nice and tight.... and wouldn't you know it that the bolt seems to be a metric allen head that I do not have!

Bad luck for me today.....

It is stuff like this that makes me want to carry a hand gun. I bet if you pumped a few rounds into their car and back tire, they would have stopped.... lol however maybe not, I do live in Texas. lol

 

[stealthc9]

i don't know i hope when i get my bike up and running no jack*ss runs me off the road intentionally. i had that happen in my car when i had my license, the kid found out fast i work as an armed security officer, then punched me while i was sitting in the car. i got out cuz he was harassing me too. he said something about a knife so i knocked him out and took off and called 911. well i'm no longer an armed security officer (laid off due to lack of sites) but i still carry concealed so no ones going to deliberately try to cause harm to me or there gonna be escorted out of there vehicle by gun point and handcuffed til proper authority gets there.

 

[try1897]

I've had several close incounters of the auto kind . I haven't actually made contact ...YET...Like most of us I ride on the shoulder to the right of the white line and I wear a floresent orange vest and my bike is bright colors and I do everything pos. to be seen .But they don't seem to be paying attention . What happens is that as I'm going along and chance incounter a car that is trying to turn left in front of me they look up and see me but they don't realize that I'm doing 30 plus MPH and when they finally pull out I'm there.I've had them then stop right in my path and cause me to have to swerve hard into and across oncoming traffic in order not to T bone them. This has happened several times and one time caused me to impact the ditch and bend up my springer forks and cause damage to the frame , wheels and engine mount.It wasin't really there fault. They didn't realize the speed that I was traveling. It seems I'm going to fast to avoid them but not fast enough to ride with them. I've slowed down a bit .........More room would help.....Tom in W.V.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

I have a hard-line attitude toward cagers who behave stupidly and put bikes, not to mention peds, dogs, etc, in peril.

But the concept of MBs being faster than people realize makes things a bit more difficult, doesn't it? It's a bit harder to blame them. Still, it's their DUTY to look ahead and "estimate" the situation they are about to find themselves in. It saddens me, a bit, that our society spends so little effort stressing this to drivers.

I see that you're from the DC area (and others), Tom. It's always seemed to me that Washington gets a bad rap. Yes, the south-east "quadrant" is a typical American inner-city type place. But the whole rest of the city, rather large, feels like a huge University town. But not over-run by students. I've never lived there, but I've hiked DC more times than I can count. So I kinda know the place. And it's one of my favorites.

Sorry for going off-topic a bit. But I get the impression that people think our nation's capital is one big slum. So I feel an obligation, sometimes, to point out that there really is another side to the story.

 

[waylow]

No kidding why are american drivers so crappy and unfocused? laid back, one hand on the wheel, stereo turned way up.... When I drive, I am in full racing position, both hands on the wheel unless I am shifting, attentive and ready for anything... it makes driving more fun! haha. and safe.

 

[Technocyclist]

The problem with most drivers is that they know how to drive, but don't how to use the road, nor share the road. Knowing how to drive and how to use the road are 2 different things. People should learn how to use the road first before learning to drive. I had 3 close calls. 1 truck boxed me in, good thing I was still able to brake in time or else I would have been road carcass. 1 car sideswiped me very fast on an ordinary road and hit my front wheel, then 1 SUV made a sudden left turn as if I was'nt there and hit my front tire. I wear a reflective jacket, blinking lights on my helmet, and on my bike, so you think they don't see me?

I was able to catch up on one occasion on one of these freaks when the traffic light was still red, and I knocked on their window and shouted at him that he better watch out how he drives, he just stared at me and said 'why? what?' he did'nt even realized it that he almost killed me...Well, the problem here is that I cannot speak their language here, and very few of them knows how to speak english. I think even some of them just knows how to drive, but cannot read nor write.

Maybe a bazooka, or an automatic rifle strapped to my shoulder would change their mind, even if it's just a toy...

So what's up with these people?

 

[bluegoatwoods]

That's a good point: the difference between knowing how to operate a car and how to properly use the road. In our society people are taught (and spend some time thinking about) how to operate a car. Some are better than others (and some are pretty lame about it), but their attention ends at the front bumper.

People are NOT taught, and not many people even think about, how to use the road. An example would be the way that cars bunch up, bumper to bumper, in places where merging is about to be absolutely necessary. The selfish idiots are not even helping themselves since the traffic they are in is going to stop as "the gears" get jammed up.

I would suggest that words like "criminal" or "sinful" are not too strong to describe our society's lack of attention to matters like these.

 

[HERPER]

i think people tend to be too shy and afraid to drive.. i live in the boston area and we've been called m*******s and everything else. but to be honost we drive so efficiently its great.. sure traffic occurs but that tends to be the people who cant drive.

for example if there is traffic i can weave my way up the line and continue on my way or get into a side road and do the same..

many people will sit there and be terrified to merge and switch lanes and when it comes to an exit the process is so painful i dont get it.

people in general always seem to lack confidence
my site says new hampshire because i go to school up here.. im from medford though which is right outside boston