The Chopper Compendium

not sure if they're going to pull out in front of you? watch the wheels, not the driver.

Good one, new to me...

Bit of advice, Always expect the unexepected....Was on my Tractor the other day...Here in the Uk have to have a flashing amber safty beacon, which on mine is on the top of the rollbar....cant miss it! especially in the evening or in the dark......

Mirror signal manouver.........ok ready to make the turn, rd ahead is clear........it all happended so fast ...in the split second while Iam turning the wheel .........over taken on the offside, at speed by a white van, missed my loading bucket by millimetres......saw my life flash before my eyes.....If he'd hit me I wouldnt have even seen it coming, I didn't even have time to stop, made the turn, continued up the street .....thinking how fekin close that was to the end....doesn't bare thinking about.....

You must not ever assume that other drivers are as careful and law abiding as you, always assume their idiots....just shows to remind you to 'DriveSafe' no matter how small the trip...

Rule of Thumb #1

Ride like they're trying to kill you.
Every single one is going to turn left in front of you at the last possible second, then claim they never saw you.

im 6 ft tall over 300 lbs rideing a big ass harley the first thing they say is i didnt see ya . im thinkin ya should have to have a mandatory eye exam possibly a cat scan what the hell r ya doin on the road

May I remind you of your signiture lol

ya it really works

also, try to think of what the most bone-headed, irresponsible, unbelievable, thing they could possibly do is, and bet that that is exactly what they are going to do, because it IS.

you guys should just see what it's like here. especially the old farts. with all the "respect the elderly JUST because they're elderly," crap here, everyone just starts doing whatever the heck they feel like after a certain age. stop signs? whatever. stop lights? whatever. lanes? you gotta be kidding. the worst are the old ladies on scooters, and the old drunk men on bicycles (regardless of what time of the day it is). it's like riding inside a video game here - wild.

-dan

Few years ago I was rolling up thru a green light and looked at the front wheel of a car in the oncoming left turn lane. His wheels were turning. Thought I was toast. First time I ever saw "spinners". WTF?? Really messed up my head for a while, never heard of 'em before that. Glad that fad is over.

Hey, Curt; Yes, I have noticed. And I do feel better after... As for riding in traffic; I just operate on the basis that they're all out to get me, but some of them don't know it yet. This has led me to become quite aggressive in my riding. Membership in a club exacerbated this tendency. Remember; they're all out to get you. 5 extra points if they knock your boots off.....

I agree a club will defiantly make you more aggressive rider also a much better rider . remember when the cars gave a wide path for a club coming through not anymore have had cars try and push their way into the middle of a pack . that blinker is like a get out of my way beacon because im coming in weather you like it or not . they aint afraid to get stomped anymore look at those 7 guys in that marine club that got killed wtf .

A few days ago I saw a short vid clip from a dashboard cam. About 15 seconds.
Guy wearing a helmet was sopped behind a vehicle at a stop light.
Vid shows a car rear ending him at some speed then cuts off.
The rider was likely killed, at the very least badly injured. He shows no reaction prior to being hit, so likely never saw it coming.

Years ago when I started riding again I subscribed for a while to Motorcycle Consumer News magazine.
Black and white, no color photos, no ads, totally unbiased by companies, manufacturers or vendors.
They provided honest reviews on bikes, complete with ergonomic analysis.
Many articles about riding safely, with pro-active tips. One of the frequent contributors had written books about this topic.
Excellent work, can't remember his name at the moment.

Just one of the tips was to leave yourself some space to maneuver when you're forced to stop behind another vehicle, and pay attention to your mirrors. If the rider in the video had been doing that, he might have been able to avoid being smeared.

One of my riding habits is to watch my mirrors even more than the front. I've had more than my share of close calls, don't want anymore.

i saw that somewhere except the guy called it leaving yourself an escape route . i always think of that now