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  • Locked thread
M42
Nov 12, 2012


Xovaan posted:

For those wondering about generic 3m silver reflective tape:




Pictures don't do it justice. It's really, really bright. In daytime the stuff's so bright that it looks completely white.

Neeeeeeerd!!

Is that the SOLAS stuff?

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Knot My President!
Jan 10, 2005

M42 posted:

Neeeeeeerd!!

Is that the SOLAS stuff?

I have a TF2 sticker on the other side. I'm the worst really. :negative:

Just plain 'ol 3m!

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotchlite...reflective+tape

It's really bright. I'd think anything brighter would be a bordering on shiny and truly a road hazard.

I'd say get the 2 inch roll and just cut it in half since they're both the same lengths. That way you'll get twice as much for like a buck more. I mainly got it for daytime visibility since it breaks up the solid black color of my riding attire but it definitely does its job for its intended purpose and the tape holds on pretty drat strongly.

edit: apparently one can purchase 165 feet of SOLAS fabric for $180. i think this is the most logical option.

Knot My President! fucked around with this message at 10:26 on Dec 11, 2012

AngryGuy
Sep 30, 2008
Almost loving bought it to a car pulling out in front of me last night when I was coming home. A few blocks from my house on a road where the speed limit is about 45. I see a guy pulling up to a stop sign from a residential cross street on my right and I had a feeling he was just going to go and cut out in front of me so I let off the throttle and started covering my brakes. Sure enough, he waits until I'm really close and then pulls out directly in front of me to make a left hand turn. Luckily I was ready for it but I still came really close because of how close I was when he decided to pull out. He also made the decision that his best course of action once he realized he'd made a mistake was to stop directly in my lane. I could have reached out and touched his loving car.

Speaking of riding at night and visibility, I really can't believe I have not changed the headlight on my Daytona 675 after all this time, the stock headlight is completely pitiful. I still might do it even though I'm planning on selling it sometime soon.

Gay Nudist Dad
Dec 12, 2006

asshole on a scooter

Xovaan posted:

I have a TF2 sticker on the other side. I'm the worst really. :negative:

Just plain 'ol 3m!

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotchlite...reflective+tape

It's really bright. I'd think anything brighter would be a bordering on shiny and truly a road hazard.

I'd say get the 2 inch roll and just cut it in half since they're both the same lengths. That way you'll get twice as much for like a buck more. I mainly got it for daytime visibility since it breaks up the solid black color of my riding attire but it definitely does its job for its intended purpose and the tape holds on pretty drat strongly.

edit: apparently one can purchase 165 feet of SOLAS fabric for $180. i think this is the most logical option.

Don't forget there's also Scotchlite fabric, like what's on a lot of nicer moto jackets and such. Like the tape it's probably not as bright as SOLAS stuff but it also doesn't have the texture, if you wanna be all aesthetic-minded about it. A friend of mine just bought a bunch from a local fabric store, so it may not be hard to find.

Also this site has reflective tape for cheap.

aventari
Mar 20, 2001

I SWIFTLY PENETRATED YOUR MOMS MEAT TACO WHILE AGGRESSIVELY FONDLING THE UNDERSIDE OF YOUR DADS HAIRY BALLSACK, THEN RIPPED HIS SAUSAGE OFF AND RAMMED IT INTO YOUR MOMS TAILPIPE. I JIZZED FURIOUSLY, DEEP IN YOUR MOMS MEATY BURGER WHILE THRUSTING A ANSA MUFFLER UP MY GREASY TAILHOLE

AngryGuy posted:

Almost loving bought it to a car pulling out in front of me last night when I was coming home. A few blocks from my house on a road where the speed limit is about 45. I see a guy pulling up to a stop sign from a residential cross street on my right and I had a feeling he was just going to go and cut out in front of me so I let off the throttle and started covering my brakes. Sure enough, he waits until I'm really close and then pulls out directly in front of me to make a left hand turn. Luckily I was ready for it but I still came really close because of how close I was when he decided to pull out. He also made the decision that his best course of action once he realized he'd made a mistake was to stop directly in my lane. I could have reached out and touched his loving car.

Speaking of riding at night and visibility, I really can't believe I have not changed the headlight on my Daytona 675 after all this time, the stock headlight is completely pitiful. I still might do it even though I'm planning on selling it sometime soon.

Please say you laid on your horn or yelled or something

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor

aventari posted:

Please say you laid on your horn or yelled or something

I have always disliked the position of the horn on most autos. Basically, I have to remove my hand from the wheel - or another control - just to alert someone of my presence.

I enjoy that every motorcycle I've seen has the horn button right next to my left-thumb; in this case I do not need to remove my hand from the clutch, the steering mechanism, the throttle, or other vital control.

In short, I absolutely love that I can blast some inattentive or moronic driver while still being able to take full evasive action.

Safety Dance
Sep 10, 2007

Five degrees to starboard!

Wulframn posted:

I have always disliked the position of the horn on most autos. Basically, I have to remove my hand from the wheel - or another control - just to alert someone of my presence.

I enjoy that every motorcycle I've seen has the horn button right next to my left-thumb; in this case I do not need to remove my hand from the clutch, the steering mechanism, the throttle, or other vital control.

In short, I absolutely love that I can blast some inattentive or moronic driver while still being able to take full evasive action.

One of my bikes has the horn above the indicators, and the other has the horn below the indicators. I alternate bikes most days. What this means is that about 10% of the time, I'll hit the horn trying to cancel the indicators, and about 10% of the time I'll wind up covering the indicators when I mean to be covering the horn.

Sagebrush
Feb 26, 2012

ERM... Actually I have stellar scores on the surveys, and every year students tell me that my classes are the best ones they’ve ever taken.
I still have another thumb button available that used to be connected to my electric starter. Still haven't figured out what exactly to put on there. Big powerful air horn? Unshielded arc lamp? Exhaust pipe flamethrower? So many choices.

Wootcannon
Jan 23, 2010

HAIL SATAN, PRINCE OF LIES

Sagebrush posted:

I still have another thumb button available that used to be connected to my electric starter. Still haven't figured out what exactly to put on there. Big powerful air horn? Unshielded arc lamp? Exhaust pipe flamethrower? So many choices.

Skyfall's scene with the shotgun shells wired to the light switches gave me so many ideas.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?

Shimrod
Apr 15, 2007

race tires on road are a great idea, ask me!

Sigh, had a stupid, impatient moment today that almost saw me down.

Going down a road (obviously) and a SUV stopped to turn into their driveway, the blue sedan behind them chose to stop instead of just going around them (oncoming lane was clear). I was about 80m away at this point, as I got closer I saw the blue sedan stopped. The area was a 70km/h zone, but I was probably doing about 50 because I'd slowed down to check out what the drivers were doing. Seeing that the Sedan had stopped completely (wheels not even moving slightly) I decided to just go around them and be on my merry way as I was in a bit of a hurry, as I come up next to them the blue sedan decides to go around the 4wd who was taking forever to pull off the road, forcing me to go off the side of the road into a dirt driveway, I skipped over the hump of the driveway and then into some more dirt and over another driveway the same condition. Felt like I was on a dirtbike going over ruts.

Luckily I let go of the front brake (I had it on a bit to slow down when I was checking things out and then reapplied it when I saw the blue car start to move again) and focused on the road, not the ground in front of me - I have no doubts that if I had fixated on the ground or left the front brake on I would have had a facefull of dirt. Skipped back onto the road (literally, the bike got airborn a little bit a few times because of how rough the dirt was) and continued on my way, shaken up a bit but more pissed at myself for not just stopping behind the sedan.

Lesson learnt: Even if a car is stopped, they will still decide to randomly move if they get sick of sitting there for another second to let the car in front of them pull off the road.

On the flip side, it was kind of fun to go el-dirtbike on my ZZR, even momentarily.

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor
Today I was heading to the shop to get a new front brake pad. I was heading down a four-lane, divided highway in the left lane as I came upon a three-way intersection where a two-lane road joins/splits from/into our four-lane highway. The light was green for us and, obviously, red for them. There was no one in front of me - in either lane - and no one behind me for a reasonable distance.

A big, commercial truck - one of those with an open top and a loading arm - pulled out in front of me - turning right on a red - and pulled in front of me into the left lane with not a lot of room to spare. I assume he didn't see me - I hadn't really seen him at the intersection so I kind of assumed he just shot through instead of stopping to check and see if the road was clear - so I thought no big deal, got on the brakes a bit and started my lane-change ritual.

It suddenly became evident that I needed to get over RIGHT loving NOW because as the truck picked up speed he began spewing leaves, twigs, and other debris in ample amount all over the road behind him; I was being pelted by twigs as big as my hand at 55 mpg and realized that - while it is never any good to be behind a truck - it was definately not going to be good to be behind this truck for long.

I quickly looked over my shoulder and - dammit! there's a loving kid in a little POS car zooming around me in my own lane at at least 70 mph. He seriously raced around me, leaving only fractions of an inch to spare (I was in the left-wheel track, and he was easily taking up the majority of the remainder of the lane).

I looked in my rear-view mirror, realizing I wouldn't safely be able to merge over for at least a handful of more seconds - and figuring the best I could do was to create an ample safety egress - when the car behind me suddenly catches my eye by flashing his brights - alerting me to speed up - as he's right behind me. I mean - like maybe six feet!

That's when it happened. Time kind of slowed as I moved my eyes from my rear-view mirror and they focus on a new object - an object that makes my brain scream "Oh gently caress me...." - a sizeable branch that is at least the length of my forearm and as wide as my forearm at its thickest - comes tumbling through the air right for my face.

If I had had my eyes entirely on the road instead of the car who was about to ride over me, I might have moved my head or swerved or something. That was not to happen - instead one moment I see this branch tumbling through the air and the next I'm looking straight up at bright blue, cloudless sky - I seriously can't see anything other than sky. I didn't hear the branch contact the helmet, I can only remember the sound - a resounding CRACK!; I hear brakes squealing - the car behind me - and think, for a second, if I am about to go down, if I am in the process of going down, or if I am already down and the pain hasn't registered yet?

Suddenly I'm looking at the road again and am relieved beyond relief to find that my body continued to do its job while my head was on vacation; the motorcycle is still upright, my speed is stable, everything is perfectly normal.

I look behind me and see the car that was behind me about a quarter of a mile back. I look back forward and raise my hand high up to toss him the bird, letting him know I did not appreciate the distraction that almost cost me my life. He doesn't respond - probably intimately aware of the fact that he almost killed a biker on two fronts - distracting him and, potentially, running over him.

I got to the shop safely and then went home. To be honest, I did not think I was going to be able to get back on the bike - just thinking about it makes me a little sick, but I did and I will tomorrow and the next day and I will get better.

I am going to err on the side of safety and replace my helmet. It looks good, externally, but that was a pretty righteous loving whack it took and I'm sure I'll thank myself in the future for just replacing it.

Also, thank God for loving full-face helmets. Thank you, God.

Covert Ops Wizard
Dec 27, 2006

I really feel like this is the season for people to drive even more obnoxiously than normal. Holiday stress, darker earlier...it seems to make rush hour even more hellish and everybody combative as all hell.

I had two people almost merge into me today, one was excusable, he needed to get over, I kinda predicted it was coming so I gave him a little toot on the horn to let him know where I was when I saw him coming over, the other was some a-hole in a truck who saw there was room in my lane and had to check himself when I blasted by and then honked at me like I did something wrong. Whatever dude.

Covert Ops Wizard
Dec 27, 2006

Also, Wulfram, own your lane dude. I always stay toward the broken center line on a 4 lane like that, makes it so someone can't box me in in my own lane and lane changes are much quicker.

Only time I'm not there is when I'm passing a line of cars and think someone might try a quick lane change without looking for a bike, then I'll get over to the left (If I'm in the left lane, obviously, right if I'm in the right.) so I have more time to react.

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor

Covert Ops Wizard posted:

I really feel like this is the season for people to drive even more obnoxiously than normal. Holiday stress, darker earlier...it seems to make rush hour even more hellish and everybody combative as all hell.

I had two people almost merge into me today, one was excusable, he needed to get over, I kinda predicted it was coming so I gave him a little toot on the horn to let him know where I was when I saw him coming over, the other was some a-hole in a truck who saw there was room in my lane and had to check himself when I blasted by and then honked at me like I did something wrong. Whatever dude.

Glad to hear you're ok!

Covert Ops Wizard posted:

Also, Wulfram, own your lane dude. I always stay toward the broken center line on a 4 lane like that, makes it so someone can't box me in in my own lane and lane changes are much quicker.

Only time I'm not there is when I'm passing a line of cars and think someone might try a quick lane change without looking for a bike, then I'll get over to the left (If I'm in the left lane, obviously, right if I'm in the right.) so I have more time to react.

I have to make a u-turn to get to the shop and I was looking for the cut in the median for me to make a u-turn. If I don't stay on top of it it slips past me and I end up quite a way down the road before I can pop a u-turn again. My account makes it sound kind of like this take course over minutes - it happened in seconds all right on top of the shop - I was right in front of it when this happened.

Not making an exuse, just explaining why I was floating to the left.

Here4DaGangBang
Dec 3, 2004

I beat my dick like it owes me money!
Jesus Wulframm, that sounds like a real poo poo sandwich there.

People who overtake bikes without fully leaving the bike's lane gently caress me off SO HARD. It's happened to me a few times and it makes my blood boil because what if I have to swerve around something in my lane? I shouldn't have to check my blind spot to be assured of safety in that instance.

I even had a dipshit on a scooter do it to me last week, and I have no idea where he came from but I was practicing dodging things by going around little manhole covers etc. on a straight road and this twat just loving misses me as I do a little swerve to the left and he overtakes me, wholly within my own lane. Way to let the team down, buddy.

Covert Ops Wizard
Dec 27, 2006

Wulframn posted:


Not making an exuse, just explaining why I was floating to the left.

Makes sense.


Here4thegangbang I think you let the team down by letting a scoot overtake you :v:

Sagebrush
Feb 26, 2012

ERM... Actually I have stellar scores on the surveys, and every year students tell me that my classes are the best ones they’ve ever taken.
Is it stupid season or something? I was riding along today at ~40mph in the center lane of a 3-lane road. Some bluehair comes up to the cross street (red light), rolls the stop, and starts to turn right. As soon as she started the turn I started keeping an eye on her -- and good thing, too, because rather than staying in the rightmost lane, she just sort of lazily drifts across it an into mine at about 20 miles an hour. I blew the horn and swerved enough to avoid her (didn't have to leave my lane -- she was kind of halfway over the line). Continued on a mile or so, shaking my head. Not 5 minutes later, some idiot in one of those Lexus geländewagen knockoffs does exactly the same thing, except he didn't even think about entering his own lane -- just turned directly into the middle one from the side street. I hit my brakes and horn, he looked to the left, saw me, and slammed to a stop blocking the two rightmost lanes. I slowly steered around his hood, staring at the driver with a "what the gently caress, dude?" look the whole time. He grinned and waved. :fuckoff:

I was fairly near to a shopping center, so I suppose I could blame the christmas season. But gently caress, if that's the case, what have we done as a society that makes people so obsessed with shopping and bargains that they inexplicably forget how to drive for six weeks every winter?

Covert Ops Wizard
Dec 27, 2006

Sagebrush posted:

I was fairly near to a shopping center, so I suppose I could blame the christmas season. But gently caress, if that's the case, what have we done as a society that makes people so obsessed with shopping and bargains that they inexplicably forget how to drive for six weeks every winter?

We've created a terrifying society of consumers, who are whipped into a frothing frenzy when their corporate overlords tell them to shop shop shop, despite the fact most can't afford it.

The stress of spending when they can't afford it every goddamn year creates an angry apathy, a "I don't give a poo poo" about one's fellow man. The best you can hope for is a lazy apathy, the driver asleep at the wheel, like in your story, too goddamn lazy to turn the loving wheel enough to get into the rightmost lane. That smile? It means "I don't care that my actions endangered your life, but I sure am happy you're angry, and I hope you're as miserable now as I am every goddamn day."

The worst you can see is people purposefully endangering you, like the dipshits who try to block you from lanesplitting, or the guy who tailgates the guy in front of him so you can't get in front of him, or the scumsucker who gets right on your back wheel for the crime of being stuck in front of him, like in Wulfram's story.

I hate the holiday season.

Covert Ops Wizard fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Dec 20, 2012

Shimrod
Apr 15, 2007

race tires on road are a great idea, ask me!

I have to agree, I've had so many close calls (2 of them mine admittedly) since the holidays started it's just getting stupid now. Kind of wishing I had a car for the next month or so to have a bit more peace of mind with the loving stupidity I've seen the last few weeks.

Plus I had a truck with those brushes above the wheels throwing pebbles at me for 2ks because I couldn't get past so I'm a bit jaded at the moment.

My knee hurts :(

Wootcannon
Jan 23, 2010

HAIL SATAN, PRINCE OF LIES
Someone apparently learned about the tangent of a circle in maths class today, because that's how they decided to treat a roundabout despite me and a bunch of cars coming out of the lane left of the car park he was in. I'm not gonna bitch about the multiple ways in which he was an idiot, but even though he decided to cut across three lanes (one of them twice) he was actually doing a full u-turn and taking my exit (which, as an aside, the car park he was coming out of had a direct exit to). Never been so tempted to actually keep following someone before, if only to take a wing-mirror trophy from having survived proximity to them.

Knot My President!
Jan 10, 2005

My friend just got his bike impounded going 150mph in rush hour on his RC51. The bike hasn't been registered in two years. The cop told him to get it registered when he picks it up and only put him down for going +/-100. :allears:

Guy literally walks between raindrops.

dick traceroute
Feb 24, 2010

Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
Grimey Drawer
That is super lucky, I guess, if retarded on his part.

I can confirm it is idiot season, though. I was in the "slow lane" on the dual carriageway doing around 65mph. Saw a slow moving vehicle in my lane, so I indicated to move over and pass it. As I was moving over, the guy in the fast lane who, when I started the pass was way back in the distance, came up on me really super fast (must have been doing 100+). So I aborted the pass and braked down from the ~75 I had accelerated to to about 30 to not smash into the back of the tractor in the slow lane. gently caress that rear end in a top hat in the fastlane, basically.

Oh, and of course this whole thing is in heavy rain and strong crosswinds.

Ponies ate my Bagel
Nov 25, 2006

by T. Finninho
I had a nasty one yesterday. Guy in a red Dodge Ram (what is it with red rams and me!?!) is sitting in the left most turn lane for a double left. I split up between him and some black SUV and he starts losing his poo poo. Literally jumping up and down on his seat flipping me the finger and then cranks his wheels over and pulls into me on purpose. He barely touched my front wheel and I was able to keep the bike upright without any real risk of going over. The guy in the black SUV to my right see's him do this and actually backed up to give me space. I rolled back a foot or two and pulled into the center of the right lane where the other SUV had been.

The light goes green and I take off intending to leave the Ram behind me a ways and split ahead of him at the next light. Instead of making his left and staying in his lane he gunned it and pulled into my lane on top of me. I was already wary of him so I'd planned an escape route onto the sidewalk in case he did something like this. I popped up on the side walk gunned it hard and hopped the curb ahead of him and when the next light came up I split down between the waiting cars and put them between us.

After that I just lit it up and pulled away from everyone and blew through a yellow to make sure he didn't have the chance to follow me. The guy wasn't a kid or anything, he was an older guy late 40's early 50's and was just raging for no real reason.

As far as I'm concerned he was actively trying to hurt/kill me, but I wasn't never in a position to get his plates. Is the fact that I'll get in front of you enough to really try and kill me?

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor

Ponies ate my Bagel posted:

I had a nasty one yesterday. Guy in a red Dodge Ram (what is it with red rams and me!?!) is sitting in the left most turn lane for a double left. I split up between him and some black SUV and he starts losing his poo poo. Literally jumping up and down on his seat flipping me the finger and then cranks his wheels over and pulls into me on purpose. He barely touched my front wheel and I was able to keep the bike upright without any real risk of going over. The guy in the black SUV to my right see's him do this and actually backed up to give me space. I rolled back a foot or two and pulled into the center of the right lane where the other SUV had been.

The light goes green and I take off intending to leave the Ram behind me a ways and split ahead of him at the next light. Instead of making his left and staying in his lane he gunned it and pulled into my lane on top of me. I was already wary of him so I'd planned an escape route onto the sidewalk in case he did something like this. I popped up on the side walk gunned it hard and hopped the curb ahead of him and when the next light came up I split down between the waiting cars and put them between us.

After that I just lit it up and pulled away from everyone and blew through a yellow to make sure he didn't have the chance to follow me. The guy wasn't a kid or anything, he was an older guy late 40's early 50's and was just raging for no real reason.

As far as I'm concerned he was actively trying to hurt/kill me, but I wasn't never in a position to get his plates. Is the fact that I'll get in front of you enough to really try and kill me?

As far as I'm concerned he was actively trying to kill you, too.

Sagebrush
Feb 26, 2012

ERM... Actually I have stellar scores on the surveys, and every year students tell me that my classes are the best ones they’ve ever taken.

Ponies ate my Bagel posted:

As far as I'm concerned he was actively trying to hurt/kill me, but I wasn't never in a position to get his plates. Is the fact that I'll get in front of you enough to really try and kill me?

Do you have a camera? Cause it definitely sounds like that guy was trying to kill you. Those guys in Kentucky who got chased down/nearly rammed by the pickup truck managed to get a conviction out of it, despite no cops being actually present at the time.

I doubt anything would happen here, sadly, but it'd be cool if it did.

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor

Sagebrush posted:

Do you have a camera? Cause it definitely sounds like that guy was trying to kill you. Those guys in Kentucky who got chased down/nearly rammed by the pickup truck managed to get a conviction out of it, despite no cops being actually present at the time.

I doubt anything would happen here, sadly, but it'd be cool if it did.

The one from this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbTZkZTYkaM

I always wondered what came of that... Do you have a link?

If I had been on the bike I would have pulled to the side of the road earlier and just waited for the truck to get down the road a ways before I tried to go again. If he came back for me - well, I have a phone, I can call 911. And if he pulled out the crowbar and tried to get violent? Well, I never want to have to use it, but I carry a 9mm for just that kind of circumstance. :smith:

Really glad to hear they got a conviction out of that...

Sagebrush
Feb 26, 2012

ERM... Actually I have stellar scores on the surveys, and every year students tell me that my classes are the best ones they’ve ever taken.
http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/hudson-sentenced-in-road-rage-incident/article_051d0ae6-32be-55a3-8c37-f0aee97a0bae.html

The incident got all over the news, he turned himself in, was charged with and convicted of two counts of wanton endangerment. Got 2 years + 90 days in jail, plus a token $100 fine.

Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Dec 20, 2012

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor

Sagebrush posted:

http://www.maysville-online.com/news/local/hudson-sentenced-in-road-rage-incident/article_051d0ae6-32be-55a3-8c37-f0aee97a0bae.html

The incident got all over the news, he turned himself in, was charged with and convicted of two counts of wanton endangerment. Got 2 years + 90 days in jail, plus a token $100 fine.

The motorcyclist part of me says "He should have gotten a lot more time", but the rational part of me reminds me that I don't know everything surrounding this case and so that [sentence] sounds about right.

Thanks a lot for the info! I'm really glad something came of that.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?
At least one of them was carrying but smart enough to not get it out.

Wulframn
Jul 6, 2012

sexy fast velociraptor

nsaP posted:

At least one of them was carrying but smart enough to not get it out.

That was the right thing to do - there is no reason to draw your firearm unless the guy had gotten violent. All he did was walk around with a tire iron. If he had drawn his gun he would have escalated the situation and then he'd be the one in prison.

Wootcannon
Jan 23, 2010

HAIL SATAN, PRINCE OF LIES
Waiting at a big dual carriageway roundabout at the red lights, two police officers in the lane beside me were chatting/miming to me about the cold and rain. Light goes green, and the fellow in front of them only realises he's in the wrong lane and tries to cut into it, forgetting I was in it. I just manage to dodge the fucker, and get to watch him try to run from the police in his Land Rover. He didn't get far. Tis the season to be jolly...

Wootcannon fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Dec 21, 2012

dick traceroute
Feb 24, 2010

Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
Grimey Drawer
Excellent, glad you're ok. Also I hope they threw the book at him.

Stugazi
Mar 1, 2004

Who me, Bitter?
Went for tacos Friday night.

Parked across the street in front of a bar. Noticed a drunk woman dancing in the doorway.

Ate my tacos and jumped back on my bike. Two blocks later I noticed the mirror was askew. I stopped at next light and looked down at side of bike. It was night time but I could see the fairing was in perfect shape (Honda CBR250).

Figured a drunk stumbled by and brushed against the mirror. Rode home and forgot about it.

The next day under sunglight I could see the muffler, bar end and shifter were all scratched. It's my belief the drunk woman stumbled out of the bar, sat on my bike and tipped it.

The damages are very minimal so I am glad for that. I still can't figure out how she dropped it without damaging the fairing. Still, now my bike is no longer cherry. :mad:

So yeah, I'm a dummy for leaving my bike in front of a bar where drunks are going to jump on and "play motorcycle".

BONUS RIDING STUPIDITY: Earlier in week took a left hand turn thinking I was in third. Slowed to approach then started to open it up as I began my lean. I was in first. The engine grips and the tire chirps with a bit of a wobble till I clutch in and shift up. Not quite a pants shitter but I called myself a dumbass for the rest of the ride to work.

Stugazi fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Jan 6, 2013

Collateral Damage
Jun 13, 2009

Stugazi posted:

So yeah, I'm a dummy for leaving my bike in front of a bar where drunks are going to jump on and "play motorcycle".
Get one of these: http://www.abus.com/eng/Mobile-Security/Motorbike-Scooter/Brake-disc-locks/Granit-Detecto-X-Plus-8000 and you'll know if someone's messing with your bike.

Safety Dance
Sep 10, 2007

Five degrees to starboard!


I've got one of these on one of my bikes: http://www.freymoto.com/our-products/cyclone-motorcycle-security.html

It's definitely "gently caress you" loud, enough to dissuade a random drunk.

ReformedNiceGuy
Feb 12, 2008
Well I just nearly got flattened by a white van.

I'd been for a brew at the Sun Inn on my lunch as we actually have a nice reasonably dry day today and because since I had my little lowside I'm finding it hard to build my confidence back up with regard to leaning the bike over.

Everything had gone swimmingly on the way there but on the way back I get to a tight blind left corner on a pretty steep hill, lean in as far as I'm comfortable with (this will be important later!), the corner opens up and I'm presented with a white van on the wrong side of the road headed towards me overtaking some cyclists.

At this point I crap myself, (hooray for panic), as I'm not confident enough to add any more lean and grab an assload of front brake which stands the bike up. I then managed to thread the needle between the van and the cyclists.

The poor cyclist closest to me looked like he was having a heart attack which I feel terrible about.

To be clear if the van hadn't been there I'd have gone round the corner safely on my side of the road. It was only grabbing the brake and standing the bike up that sent me onto their side.

Still definitely not my finest moment :(

I guess it'd be good to hear from you guys that have come off before if you had similar issues and how you got past them?

Alternatively I could just be a giant pussy I guess :)

Added maps goodness

http://tinyurl.com/b52noc6

A - The Sun Inn where I was coming back from. Great pub on a great road and really friendly to bikers if you're ever up this way.

B - The corner. I'm on the left at this point for you non-UK guys.

C - Is about where the van was as I saw him. At that point he was accelerating onto my side of the road around the cyclists. It's probably also about where my arsehole unclenched after it was over!

goddamnedtwisto
Dec 31, 2004

If you ask me about the mole people in the London Underground, I WILL be forced to kill you
Fun Shoe

ReformedNiceGuy posted:

Well I just nearly got flattened by a white van.
[...]

The best advice I can give you is also the hardest advice to actually heed in one of these panic situations - you go where you look. It also applies to riding in general and may help you get that confidence back too though - make sure that on every corner you're telling yourself (shout it if you want, nobody will hear you) to look to the inside of the corner, not the outside.

You'll find after a while you're not even thinking about how far over the bike is, and if you also get into the habit of leaning your body forward and inside the corner you'll always have that bit of grip to spare if you do need to tighten your line for whatever reason.

Halo_4am
Sep 25, 2003

Code Zombie
What he said. After a close call or on a new bike I'll find myself less confident than usual and having less control, stability, etc. Going to an empty parking lot and re-drilling myself for an hour or two on the basics is usually all it takes to build my confidence back up. I'll pay attention in the corners as to my body position and where I'm looking and what the bikes doing much closer as if I'm learning all over again. Within a week or two it's like it never happened.

It's not unlike athletes in a slump though. The problem is in their head or in their mechanics, and they can spend a long time focusing on 'back to basics' which only makes the problem worse because they're spending all kinds of time and energy focusing on things they don't have to/haven't had to in years. Eventually everybody breaks their slump one way or another, the best advice I can offer is to run some drills, put on some miles, and try your best to stop worrying about your progress. It will all come back to you sooner or later, and much more likely sooner.

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Sagebrush
Feb 26, 2012

ERM... Actually I have stellar scores on the surveys, and every year students tell me that my classes are the best ones they’ve ever taken.

goddamnedtwisto posted:

and if you also get into the habit of leaning your body forward and inside the corner

And old guy I know described this as "put your chin on the bar you're pushing" (not literally, obviously) and damned if it doesn't work. Tightens up the line and makes the turn that much smoother.

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