[Pretender]

I feel compelled to analyse every aspect of my riding both good and bad to try to learn from it and grow as a rider. People have been telling me that I am invisible and that everyone on the road is out to kill me... I thought I understood what they meant. Apparently I didn't.

I have now put 8000k miles on my bike and was following my girlfriend back from the dealer where they had just completed my 8k service. Everything is going great until she passes a bicycle rider going the same direction we are. I guess he wanted to cross the street and so as soon as she goes by him he whips right out in front of the invisible man. Time slows down and our eyes meet and I can see him say, "oh s**t"! Before I even can think my tires are locked up and I go into a loud skid. He dodges one way and I release the brakes and dodge the other and I manage to miss him.

I suppose I should have anticipated that cross over move and I'm sure I will in the future. Lesson to be learned here is INVISIBLE doesn't just apply to motor vehicles! I know that now.

 

[Lantesh]

Pedestrians, bicycles, etc...

 

[Pretender]

Pedestrians, bicycles, etc...

Cats, Dogs, Democrats... :wink:

 

[EZ Rider 53]

I feel compelled to analyse every aspect of my riding both good and bad to try to learn from it and grow as a rider. People have been telling me that I am invisible and that everyone on the road is out to kill me... I thought I understood what they meant. Apparently I didn't.

I have now put 8000k miles on my bike and was following my girlfriend back from the dealer where they had just completed my 8k service. Everything is going great until she passes a bicycle rider going the same direction we are. I guess he wanted to cross the street and so as soon as she goes by him he whips right out in front of the invisible man. Time slows down and our eyes meet and I can see him say, "oh s**t"! Before I even can think my tires are locked up and I go into a loud skid. He dodges one way and I release the brakes and dodge the other and I manage to miss him.

I suppose I should have anticipated that cross over move and I'm sure I will in the future. Lesson to be learned here is INVISIBLE doesn't just apply to motor vehicles! I know that now.

This is why I am now a believer in Loud Pipes.

I watched a girl driving a car start to pull directly into the path of my son while I was riding a little behind him. She didn't see him either (she was fiddling with her cell phone).

He has a 1200 Sportster with V&H pipes, and it is LOUD! When he cracked the throttle, she stopped completely, looked up with a scared expression on her face, and we just waved as we rode safely by.

That bicyclist may not have seen you (probably wasn't looking)...but if you had loud pipes, he would definitely have heard you, and stopped to saved his own skin (and probably would have had to go home to change his underwear).

Mrs. EZ also goes on record that loud pipes save lives. She likes my new pipes for that reason only.

My $0.02.

 

[Nehalem Dave]

We always give a blast with our 125 dB horns to tell the spandex people (a) I am here and (b) get the ***** off the road butthead.

 

[Lakota]

Even when they can see ya . . . had the driver of an 18 wheeler look straight at me last week and aim his nose right at the bike as he accelerated from a stop sign.
Pissed me off, but I moved.

 

[Notorious]

I had a jacked up 4x4 Dodge RAM with a stinky Supercharged Cummins Diesel do his absolute best to run over me in the middle lane of the freeway last night at 10:15 PM. I'm absolutely certain he saw me, and I'm sure he saw me chasing him trying to get his license plate after I made a panic dive into the right lane to avoid being splattered from here to h3ll and back, because I couldn't catch him at WOT in 5th gear over an 8.5 mile stretch.

That being said, I filled my tank this morning and got 43.7 MPG doing it.

Psh, whatever. I lived.

 

[pixelpusher]

A head light modulator can increase your visibility in the day time.

 

[RichardL]

We always give a blast with our 125 dB horns to tell the spandex people (a) I am here and (b) get the ***** off the road butthead.

Do the coastal spandex people respond any better than the Portland spandex people? The buttheads this side of the hill think they are invincible and have permenant right of way.

 

[Windwalker61]

They do seem to be of that opinion, don't they.

 

[RWB3353]

I ALWAYS ride with the thought that...I AM A ANT....in a World of Shoes

 

[instygator]

Mrs. EZ also goes on record that loud pipes save lives.

I am afraid I would be in trouble if I refered to my wife as Easy

 

[MikeAstringer]

Maybe a little informal poll here but those of you who have had close calls would you agree that most of the time the person causing your heart to race was on a cell phone? Even before I started to ride again I noticed that almost every idiot doing something stupid in a car or on a boat is on a cell phone.

One afternoon I was driving my car and a young girl pulled out of a neighborhood almost taking out the entire front end of my car. I was RIGHT THERE! It was daylight and she clearly would have seen me if she was paying attention to her driving not her cell phone. After that I started paying closer attention to idiot drivers and idiot boaters and like I said most of the stupidity I see on the roads or on the water are because the person is on a cell phone.

When NJ banned cell phone usage (I live in PA but spend a lot of time in NJ) I was pissed. When Philadelphia banned cell phone usage I was pissed again. In the last several months of my own informal driver/boater idiot poll I've completely changed my opinion on driving and cell phone usage. My car has a Bluetooth speaker and now I use it - all the time. I bought my wife one of those little Bluetooth gadgets for her car. I've told my kids that if I see them on a phone while driving I'm selling their cars - and I am serious.

If you haven't noticed try doing your own informal poll and I'm sure you'll agree. While we all think that we drive safe while on the phone the fact is many people get distracted while on the phone and do very stupid things behind the wheel.

 

[Usualdosage]

We always give a blast with our 125 dB horns to tell the spandex people (a) I am here and (b) get the ***** off the road butthead.

a) Bicycles have as much right to the road as you do.
b) They're not powered by anything but legs and physics, so you should yield to them out of courtesy.
c) You think you're invisible on a motorcycle? Try riding a bicycle to work every day.

Cyclists are required to ride on the road. Sidewalks are for pedestrians. Motor vehicles are required to give them a 3 meter berth when they pass.

Live and let live.

Legal status of bicycles:
(Sections 316.003(2), (10) and 316.2065(1), F.S.)

 

[tubes_rock]

Gonna get slapped for this, but until a bicycle has to pay as much in road taxes, registration and insurance as I pay for my Shadow, I have more right to that road than they do.

--Justin

 

[instygator]

Gonna get slapped for this, but until a bicycle has to pay as much in road taxes, registration and insurance as I pay for my Shadow, I have more right to that road than they do.

--Justin

I hate to go down that road, auto drivers may start thinking of motorcycles in this way and semi drivers will be thinking of everything on the road like this....slippery slope.

 

[Usualdosage]

Originally Posted by tubes_rock
Gonna get slapped for this, but until a bicycle has to pay as much in road taxes, registration and insurance as I pay for my Shadow, I have more right to that road than they do.

--Justin

That exact same mentality from cage drivers is what gets motorcycle riders killed every day.

 

[tubes_rock]

I hate to go down that road, auto drivers may start thinking of motorcycles in this way and semi drivers will be thinking of everything on the road like this....slippery slope.

Agreed. I wasn't making a comparison of dollars to dollars, ie, the more you pay, the more right you have. I was attempting to say that a person who pays has the right to be on the road. Be it $10 for a moped or thousands for a big rig. Bicycles pay nothing and yet they get special bike lanes, the right to cross in pedestrian crossing, the apparent right to not have to obey traffic lights and the apparent idea that I want to see someone's spandex-wrapped junk while sitting in traffic.

If bicycles had to be registered and carry plates to have road access, I think we'd see a lot less stupidity from those on pedal-power.

--Justin

 

[rieckena]

That exact same mentality from cage drivers is what gets motorcycle riders killed every day.

Absolutely right! Bicyclists have the same rights in the public right of way that cars and motorcycles do. Sure some of them can be dicks but that is because they're human, not because they're bicyclists!
I ride my motorcycle, my bicycle and (when I have to) my car. Whatever I use for transportation, I try to respect other people on the road and do what I can to protect those on two wheels.

 

[rieckena]

Agreed. I wasn't making a comparison of dollars to dollars, ie, the more you pay, the more right you have. I was attempting to say that a person who pays has the right to be on the road. Be it $10 for a moped or thousands for a big rig. Bicycles pay nothing and yet they get special bike lanes, the right to cross in pedestrian crossing, the apparent right to not have to obey traffic lights and the apparent idea that I want to see someone's spandex-wrapped junk while sitting in traffic.

If bicycles had to be registered and carry plates to have road access, I think we'd see a lot less stupidity from those on pedal-power.

--Justin

Some municipalities DO require bicycles to be licensed/registered. Maybe it's unfortunate that is not more widespread, but it is the case in some places.
By the way, it pisses me off when they cyclists don't obey traffic laws. I always come to a complete stop at stop sign and lights (and I usually have to wave some bewildered SUV driver through the intersection because they can't believe I stopped!).