Hello, and a lesson learned about anti-bike arseholes...

Greetings from sunny Washington State.
I just bought my first bike this June, an 82 XJ Maxim that I am in love with (I don't count the Honda scooter from my teen years). Been lurking here for a while and have made great use of the archives checking my rear brake (great condition) and changing the front fork seals. Other than that this bike is great, I lucked out with the PO.
So anyway, I'm about 1200 miles into my new obsession and riding up to the Sultan Bakery at dark-thirty to procure a bear-claw for my sleeping honey yesterday morning when a guy in a 70s pickup veers into my lane and blasts his horn as I'm riding through downhill curves full of leaves.
My buddy warned me of these people and I assumed that he was being his usual paranoid self. This guy was definitely effing with me whilst I was riding within the speed limit without my brights on. How common is this?
Because I had to pull over and talk myself down from chasing this Hills-Have-Eyes turd, be the bunny etc...

 

Sounds like you encountered a missing link. Behavior like that is not nearly as common as someone who just doesn't see you because your NOT a car or truck like they were looking for. Or as common as the driver who thinks being 5 feet behind your rear tire is perfectly safe. Or the person on their cell phone who isn't really paying attention to anything but the phone. You discovered the primary reason I wear a helmet, and the primary reason you must always be scanning ahead and planning ahead while you ride. I always expect the unexpected and try to be prepared with a plan if I need to take evasive action. You didn't need to do anything to set that guy off, just a bad attitude and he wasn't afraid of your 500lb bike against his 6000lb wrecking ball. Hopefully he'll fall off the planet soon-sorry I just can't be happy to share it with that type.

 

Yeah, apparently these grand-sons of lynchers live on. I have been pleasantly surprised at how inclusive most motorcyclists have been when you bother to engage them.
Harley guys aren't the enemy. Crotch-rocketeers aren't the enemy.
The enemy is single moms in 98 Voyagers and hillbillies in pickups.

 

and hillbillies in pickups

That's funny!

 

hillbillies in pickups are a reality on this side of the pond!

 

That's Appalachian Americans.


You're buddy is right, I drive like every cager out there wants to run my @ss over.

 

I have been considering a paintball tossed in the air ever so slightly over my left shoulder for tailgaters.
but thats not nice.
It was kind of only a passing thought inspired by a jackal on highway 85 north in crestview florida at 5:30 am in a toyota tucoma who would have loved to mow me down like a weed.....or so it seemed anyway.

 

Ya I have sometimes thought we need an instant messaging system to send texts like "please back off you are too close." Or "Hello, yes I need to pass your slow ass could you pull over to the side of the road, thanks." But we all know where that would get us! Better driver education wouldn't hurt anyone-it's way too easy to get and keep a license.

 

zombie cagers.... gotta shoot them in the HEAD

 

Over here the car drivers seem to want to race you rather than kill you.

I recall having the bike cranked over at around 80 mph and an Audi TT driver only a few feet from my tail!

Fans of "Top Gear" know what is considered of Audi drivers!!!

 

Love Top Gear!!!!!!!

I was riding through a small town two years ago with somebody tailgating me. Stopped at a stop sign and looked back and it was a couple kids. I waved them back a little while I was stopped and instead they pulled forward until they bumped my back tire. I put my side stand down, got off my bike, pulled out my 2-inch crescent wrench that I made a sheath for on my bike, walked back and smashed the passenger outside mirror. I then told the driver to back off in the calmest voice I could manage. I know it sounds extreme, but these assholes had been following me for like ten miles, and they were laughing after they bumped my bike. No one pulls that with me and gets away with it

 

I'm with you bro! some jerk takes that far with me and it's thunder dome time!

 

2 inch crescent wrench? I would have brandished at least a 6 incher.

 

Sorry, I just love to have fun on this site.

 

That's why I carry a bag of bolts. One toss and it's bye-bye windshield. I've had people come into my lane on turns and pure straights, just because they couldn't wait to pass grandma on a double yellow. I'm all for vigilante justice myself, but you'd really have to do some dumb sh!t for me to dig into my bag and ruin your day as well. Be safe guys and keep on riding!

 

I just wanted to add that I've personally had more near misses on the road that were older driver related or girls/women on cell phones than anything else.

I agree that there are way to many idiots on the road, in my opinion the best operator of any machine is a person that really understands the machine, but now days 99% of the people on the road dont understand much of anything about the vehicle they operate or the others on the road with them, so they are really clueless about each of their limitations and seem to have their minds involved with everything but what they should be.

It's sad that most drivers now days can't even change a tire or an air filter on their vehicle.....

I live in the country near a small town in central Texas and we have a butt load of seasoned citizen drivers, many of them should have quit driving 10 years ago for their own good and others, I always plan that the fella ahead or behind me is out to get me and then I ride accordingly, I'm one of those guys that doesn't trust anyone with my safety or much of anything else for that matter...LOL!

I'm thinking I may start putting a few BB's in my shirt pocket and just pitch 2-3 of them over my shoulder when I get one of those drivers who is head set on breeding his grill to my tail light...LOL

Living in a smaller town area we actually have very little problems with how the country folks drive around here, we seem to have our issues with the city folks who are in way to big of a hurry and seem not to know which way is up...! based on how they drive sometime, but I agree that the airhead drivers are everywhere.

Stupid people Shouldn't Breed and Stupid people Shouldn't Drive, either of these is a big wreck looking for a place to happen...... IMHO of coarse..LOL!

Peace, yamafella

 

Although it is true that in these times there is a growing number of inconsiderate drivers making defensive riding imperative; we shouldn't be using the Forum to advocate violence and actions which could cause innocent people to become harmed.

Advocating Road Rage violates the Membership Bylaws of the Site.
Attacking someone or deliberately damaging someone's vehicle in retaliation for their harassing you makes YOU a criminal, ... AND ... could get you killed if the person you are paying-back has a firearm and the disposition to use it.

This discussion is outside of our mission and what we are all about.

If you are being tail-gated, ... reduce speed.
Gradually.
Continue to slow-down until the inconsiderate driver gets the message and passes you.

 

Not only that, but remember, a motorcycle is a very vulnerable vehicle to commit said crimes. If you piss someone off enough, they don't need a gun, THEY CAN JUST RUN YOU DOWN! 8O

It won't matter how many wreches/bolts you carry. Sure they will be a criminal too, but who is going to have a scraped up grill, and who's going to be getting scraped off the road?

Anger and rage are a natural reaction to the kind of things we see on the road everyday, but we have to overcome that in order to live to ride another day. I for one, wonder how we as motorcyclists can advocate for more driver training/stricter requirements for drivers licenses.

 

Well said ManBot13. In the last 2 months we've had 4 kids 14-17yrs old killed in stupid car accidents here. Each time there was poor driving involved, too much speed, not wearing seat belts, peers in the car with fun on the brain and not realizing what speed and mass can do to you.

When I went through a driving course we were shown graphic evidence of the dangers and I've witnessed enough personally to make me always aware out there. Don't get me wrong I still enjoy riding/driving and will sometimes have "the need for speed" I just do it in the safest way possible. No road rage for me-life is just too short.

Another solution to being tailgated is to accelerate away (if possible) then when safe get off and let them go by, or just accelerate away if ya can. Now for those distracted drivers on cell phones we need intervention by the Po's <---sorry Police Officers.

 

Previous Owners?

 

Wht did I sy abt abryvashns? LOL

 

Thanks for the common sense Rick. I am cool and calm about bad drivers, they are just a fact that you need to be aware off.
My original post was about a guy who deliberately tried to run me off the road, hope I don't see another in my next 5000 miles.
I would never try to act revenge against an attempted vehicular assault whilst I'm on the bike, the laws of physics are not on the motorcyclists favor...

 

yeah I know I cant ACTUALLY gun them down and set the car on fire....
but when the zombies take over its a different story.
But who knows, maybe the zombies will be better drivers
a-bree-vee-ay-shun? uh-bree-vee-ay-shun? hmm.??

 

Interesting factoid.

Someone once remarked that if you look, you will notice
that the majority of cagers that behave poorly almost always
have some religious saying or emblem on the back.

I didn't believe it since I don't like to lump people like that.

But it's true-at leased around here. I look now and sure enough
at leased 60% of the idiot drivers sport a fish or other symbol/statement
that on the surface might imply a high concideration of moral thought.

Strange.

As for the reaction of violence while riding, I can't help but feel
empathy for those that choose to "strike" back in some situations.
I know violence solves nothing and only changes the argument to
who can beat up whom.
But at the same time some people might do well to get their A$$es
kicked a few times for being jerks.

 

When you guys wander down under you can enjoy both types here, the killers & the racers. 8O

 

Markie: I lived in Surrey for about a year in 1982; I remember tons of great twisty country lanes and beautiful country. Must be bike heaven. Except for the lack of altitude change...