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All you goons trapped in Connecticut should escape to San Francisco like I did. Then you can find other things to complain about, like fog and bums. At least you'll be able to complain while splitting through traffic, though.
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Aug 28, 2013 17:28
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 12:51 |
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Milwaukee is hosting the 110th Harley-Davidson anniversary, so expect to hear more from me in this thread. But to start: Guys, I get it. You want to ride in a group with all your little harley buddies, all wearing the same patch and making the same exhaust note until my fillings rattle. Cool, whatever. But when there are 20 of you stretched out over half of a mile of interstate, you need to make some concessions. Namely, you need to loving break the gently caress up and let me in. Like, legally. You have let me merge onto the freeway so I don't end up on the shoulder like almost happened today. Even if it means breaking formation for a couple of minutes. And that goes for letting in the cager in front of me as well.
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Aug 29, 2013 00:49
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That kind of poo poo should be prosecuted the same way the stunters are when they gently caress up the freeways. Just cause you have American flags all over you doesn't make disruptive antisocial behavior ok.
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Aug 29, 2013 01:35
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TheNothingNew posted:But when there are 20 of you stretched out over half of a mile of interstate, you need to make some concessions. Namely, you need to loving break the gently caress up and let me in. Like, legally. You have let me merge onto the freeway so I don't end up on the shoulder like almost happened today. Even if it means breaking formation for a couple of minutes. Actually I don't think they have to at all. Freeway traffic has right-of-way, entering/merging traffic has to yield.
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Aug 29, 2013 02:08
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:Actually I don't think they have to at all. Freeway traffic has right-of-way, entering/merging traffic has to yield. I think the point is that with regular traffic following at appropriate intervals there's more than enough room to zipper merge. Even with tighter, more realistic intervals you can usually squeeze. When you're dealing with a long line of staggered Harleys like some leather-clad human centipede, especially when they're being ambiguous about which lane they're actually in, it can be harder. Law or no, the non-dick move would be to get out of the far right if the troupe isn't exiting any time soon. And by the law they're supposed to be maintaining proper intervals in a single file and not riding two abreast anyway.
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Aug 29, 2013 02:22
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TheNothingNew posted:Milwaukee is hosting the 110th Harley-Davidson anniversary, so expect to hear more from me in this thread. Hey, you in mke? I'm just north of it. I'm taking the drz down into the heart of the beast this weekend, if for nothing else than to see the sights and the results of a million people in the same place who have never used a front brake before.
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Aug 29, 2013 02:47
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the bsd boys posted:I'd just like to say that getting stuck behind a group of supercars doing 10 kph under the speed limit on a great road is the single most frustrating thing in the entire world. I think the only time I ever saw a group of supercars actually being driven above the speed limit on a twisty mountain road was a road test by a magazine. Car & Driver, IIRC.
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Aug 29, 2013 02:55
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Gay Nudist Dad posted:Actually I don't think they have to at all. Freeway traffic has right-of-way, entering/merging traffic has to yield. gently caress me, googling says you're right. I'd heard otherwise somewhere and always assumed that was right. Guess I'm confusing polite with legal again, heh. But yeah, dick move. Three lanes of freeway and they're in the far right. Patches said "Long Island," pretty sure, so props where it's due just for riding here. Assuming they did. They actually were staggered, not two abreast at least. Not like I'm going to merge into them either way. Jim Silly-Balls posted:Hey, you in mke? I'm just north of it. I'm taking the drz down into the heart of the beast this weekend, if for nothing else than to see the sights and the results of a million people in the same place who have never used a front brake before. Yep. I spent the 100th out in Waukesha, and if my windows were open I could hear the thunder. Ugh. For the 105th I arranged to be out of state for just that reason. This time I'm accepting the madness: I'll be out riding around these people just for the sneers. I've already had one guy ride past me while refusing to look in my direction. I suppose a bright yellow Ninja 250 is as close to the antithesis of the Harley lifestyle as you can get, especially since I actually wear gear. And I totally got a wave from a little kid on an overpass who was excited I was on something other than a Harley. Made my day. Quasi-rant: Harley guy, I know you can converse with your Harley buddies at a stoplight since none of you wear real helmets or hearing protection (or anything protection), but I have on a full helmet and earplugs. I don't care how loud you are, you sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. I do hope that wasn't an insult I gave a thumbs-up to.
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Aug 29, 2013 03:21
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I did a charity ride the other day and got stuck next to some 50-ish lady on a late-model bagger whose only protective gear was gloves and unarmored knee-high boots. We were theoretically riding staggered so every time she fell back to where we were side by side I'd squirt ahead. At one point I noticed she was shouting some half-conversation vaguely in front of her and I'm still not sure if she was trying to talk to me or the bagger rider 30 feet in front of her. New bagger riders are especially awful. The bikes look like they'd be easy to ride, since their weight is kept so low. But the riders park the drat things at the front of every curve because they're scared about ground clearance. This isn't helped by the common tactic of lowering the rear and getting swoopier fenders \ bags to complete 'the look'. Slow down to where a normal rider would start feathering the clutch, and instead these guys start swerving back and forth, -knowing- they're riding in tight formation.
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Aug 29, 2013 03:48
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TheNothingNew posted:I do hope that wasn't an insult I gave a thumbs-up to. I find that giving the thumbs up or saying "Hey, thanks!" confuses that sort. Which is why I do it.
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Aug 29, 2013 05:53
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I was on 95 the other day in a rental hamster car (Kia Soul) and got in behind some cruiser guys. There were at least 15 of them. The problem wasn't that they were going slow, but that they would swerve into whichever lane suited their fancy without warning. It was a real bitch getting around them. I hate group rides anyway, small group is the way to go if anything. Anything else, the group gets stupid, or I am stuck with a bunch of slowasses. I like to go fast and I'm stupid enough on my own, thanks.
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Aug 29, 2013 06:36
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Snowdens Secret posted:I did a charity ride the other day and got stuck next to some 50-ish lady on a late-model bagger whose only protective gear was gloves and unarmored knee-high boots. We were theoretically riding staggered so every time she fell back to where we were side by side I'd squirt ahead. At one point I noticed she was shouting some half-conversation vaguely in front of her and I'm still not sure if she was trying to talk to me or the bagger rider 30 feet in front of her. Which ride did you do?
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Aug 29, 2013 19:52
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MoraleHazard posted:Which ride did you do? http://www.dreamride.org/ I did it out of Danbury Harley, which was a big mistake. The route wasn't bad and would have been fun at reasonable speed (a lot of it overlapped one of my usual weekend loops anyway.) The event itself was meh, but I'm not really the target audience. People were plenty nice enough.
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Aug 29, 2013 19:59
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I got pulled over by a cop for riding with my visor up. Apparently in PA you can ride without a helmet but you're required by law to have eye protection. He was pretty cool about it though, he used to ride and said I was the first motorcyclist he'd ever stopped who had his license and paperwork (I live in State College so it's not surprising.) He also liked the fact that I was wearing a jacket/gloves/full-face and overlooked my sideways mounted plate and a busted blinker. I'm sure he was just expecting some dumb kid on a bike, which there are way too many of around here, and I ended up having an alright conversation with him so I'm not mad. But still, getting pulled over for having my visor up is really, really dumb. e: also he didn't catch me a mile back when I was splitting through traffic downtown so I'll call that a victory v  v
Synonamess Botch fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Aug 29, 2013 |
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Aug 29, 2013 21:59
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No sunglasses our lenses on under the helmet? Seems dumb, especially if you're brave enough to open the visor.
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Aug 29, 2013 23:35
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I put it down once I go over ~35mph. I won't disagree with you, I've taken more than enough bugs and rocks to the visor, but at putting around town speeds it doesn't seem worth hotboxing my face. And sunglasses consistently fog up in the heat, which is the only time I'd leave it open anyway. e: yeah I thought about this some more and I do disagree with you. Dumb is riding a bike wearing sunglasses, sandals and a baseball cap. Dumb is the fact that between me and these very not hypothetical people I see every day, I'm the one breaking the law. Riding with the visor up isn't dumb, it's a bit daft at worst. Synonamess Botch fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Aug 30, 2013 |
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Aug 29, 2013 23:59
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Goddamn cagers  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kx2YlYdTZk
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Aug 30, 2013 09:53
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Apparently I'm not allowed to park my motorcycle in the South Norwalk metro station parking garage, which is reasonably well lit and secure, because they're afraid bikers are going to jump the gates to get out and not pay the fee. No motorcycles allowed. So instead I can keep it in an open and unmonitored parking lot overnight, in not exactly the nicest area of town. I don't even like leaving my -car- in that lot. Thanks a lot, Metro North, dicks.
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Aug 30, 2013 13:11
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I'm tired of all the Harley guys around here laughing at me for wearing gear, and all the superbike-squids laughing at me for wearing gear.. What's wrong with wanting to live through a crash?? I admittedly did give up my sv-650 for a Yamaha cruiser because I got a good deal, but I like it. I wore full gear on the SV and nobody gave me a hard time.. I still don't see what's wrong with ATGATT on a cruiser.. //End Rant. I'm actually a pretty laid back rider, I just get annoyed at the weekend warriors around here. EDIT: Weekend warriors and tourist
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Aug 30, 2013 15:52
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Gear? Wtf are you, a twentysomething that wants to pretend you're sixty wearing high viz while commuting on a boring bike?
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Aug 30, 2013 16:39
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atomicpile posted:I'm tired of all the Harley guys around here laughing at me for wearing gear, and all the superbike-squids laughing at me for wearing gear.. What's wrong with wanting to live through a crash?? I admittedly did give up my sv-650 for a Yamaha cruiser because I got a good deal, but I like it. I wore full gear on the SV and nobody gave me a hard time.. I still don't see what's wrong with ATGATT on a cruiser.. //End Rant. I'm actually a pretty laid back rider, I just get annoyed at the weekend warriors around here. EDIT: Weekend warriors and tourist You're not conforming to the non-conformity well enough. Try harder to preserve freedom.
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Aug 30, 2013 18:01
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I definitely just heard someone ride by my house on a Goldwing (not a Harley since the exhaust was silent) with the Pink Panther theme blasting.
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Aug 30, 2013 21:03
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Had my first real shithole driver experience today. Just riding on my way home from work, when out of nowhere comes this red truck driven by some shirtless dick bag. And this guy was on my rear end. In retrospect I should have pulled over. But I would accelerate to get out ahead of him, not to show off, I just wanted to be away from him, and I thought at first he was following me because he would haul rear end to get right back on my rear end. The thought of brake checking him came to mind but I mean worst case scenario I get plowed by his dumb rear end big truck. So I just kept trying to stay ahead of him which I think he took as some kind of challenge. In the turns he started trying to turn wide and fast like he was going to overtake me which really started to freak me out, then just before I got to my house he turned off in some lovely coul-de-sac down the road so this piece of poo poo lives around here. Ugh, I really should have just pulled over, it was not worth all that stress. I can't even imagine someone who thinks that is ok to do in a truck to a motorcycle. I am really really pissed off right now.
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Aug 31, 2013 02:08
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ScienceAndMusic posted:Had my first real shithole driver experience today. Just riding on my way home from work, when out of nowhere comes this red truck driven by some shirtless dick bag. And this guy was on my rear end. In retrospect I should have pulled over. But I would accelerate to get out ahead of him, not to show off, I just wanted to be away from him, and I thought at first he was following me because he would haul rear end to get right back on my rear end. The thought of brake checking him came to mind but I mean worst case scenario I get plowed by his dumb rear end big truck. So I just kept trying to stay ahead of him which I think he took as some kind of challenge. In the turns he started trying to turn wide and fast like he was going to overtake me which really started to freak me out, then just before I got to my house he turned off in some lovely coul-de-sac down the road so this piece of poo poo lives around here. Ugh, I really should have just pulled over, it was not worth all that stress. I can't even imagine someone who thinks that is ok to do in a truck to a motorcycle. Was this in the South? SOP for the drivers down here seems to be get on the bumper of the person in front of you and stay there. regardless of how fast or slow they are going.
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Aug 31, 2013 05:25
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Don't go brake checking cars, it's not a very bright idea, in situations like that I tap my brake a few times just enough to flick the light on and off a bit, let them know to back off, if that doesn't work I hand gesture them to shoo off, if that doesn't work I either nail it or just pull over and let them past.
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Aug 31, 2013 06:14
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Wiggling the bars like you're about to lose it or standing up on the pegs works pretty good.
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Aug 31, 2013 07:18
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This took place is Southern California.
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Aug 31, 2013 08:59
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astrollinthepork posted:Wiggling the bars like you're about to lose it or standing up on the pegs works pretty good. I like to stand up and pick/scratch my rear end or act like I'm waving off a fart. Civilized, I know. But surprisingly effective.
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Aug 31, 2013 13:55
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I swerve around and do lazy s's in my lane. People back off. FAR off. Not sure why they're so afraid. I'm clearly in control.
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Sep 1, 2013 02:03
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Pope Mobile posted:I swerve around and do lazy s's in my lane. People back off. FAR off. Not sure why they're so afraid. I'm clearly in control. They think you're drunk or about to fall over. Most folks don't have a clue how motorcycles work. That or they didn't really register you before you started waggling about. Either way it's a good idea.
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Sep 1, 2013 15:49
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Read an article once that suggested it was a good idea to swerve back and forth like that in your lane when approaching intersections and cars about to turn left and poo poo. To make yourself more visible. Something about the human eye being more attuned to left/right motion.
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Sep 1, 2013 19:37
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If you're riding straight, there's not too much apparent motion to someone looking to turn, the bike just gets a little bigger over time. By the time you start to have more apparent motion, he already thinks that direction's ok. If you swerve a bit, then the cager sees some motion to draw his attention.
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Sep 1, 2013 20:39
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Read an article once that suggested it was a good idea to swerve back and forth like that in your lane when approaching intersections and cars about to turn left and poo poo. To make yourself more visible. Something about the human eye being more attuned to left/right motion. I've made it a habit of swerving a bit when approaching any cars that look like they will be turning across where I'm headed. So far have had only a handful of semi-close calls with left turners in four years of commuting. Obviously not saying the swerving is why but anything you can do to be more visible is good.
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Sep 1, 2013 23:58
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I too vouch for swerving slightly in my lane when approaching an intersection where a car looks like it is about to turn.
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Sep 2, 2013 15:21
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oval office in a BMW.
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Sep 2, 2013 15:36
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MoraleHazard posted:I too vouch for swerving slightly in my lane when approaching an intersection where a car looks like it is about to turn. I bet having the headlight's beam flash back and forth makes you very visible.
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Sep 2, 2013 21:02
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Read an article once that suggested it was a good idea to swerve back and forth like that in your lane when approaching intersections and cars about to turn left and poo poo. To make yourself more visible. Something about the human eye being more attuned to left/right motion. True statement. Eyes have problems with depth perception with a single object, and S turning in your lane as you approach an intersection fixes that. I've had drivers start creeping forward, I S turn, they stop and I wave. It's worse at night due to optical illusions. A bright light (or one that is in your eyes) will appear closer, and a dim light will appear farther, regardless of a rider's actual position.
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Sep 2, 2013 21:11
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Doing an impromptu slalom maybe isn't the best idea, but you should be moving to the outside of your lane to both increase your visibility (which will also of course increase your rate of lateral speed compared to the car) and give you more escape room if needed until you're certain of the car driver's intentions and that they've seen you. Anyway I came here to talk to you about loving scooter riders. There seems to have been a sudden influx of them in London this summer, and they're all loving terrible. Half of them ride right in the gutter and wobble around at 25mph, and the rest think filtering is a competitive sport and will go out of their way to block other people off. gently caress them and their stupid little not-bikes, they're getting worse than cyclists.
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Sep 2, 2013 22:12
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goddamnedtwisto posted:Doing an impromptu slalom maybe isn't the best idea, but you should be moving to the outside of your lane to both increase your visibility (which will also of course increase your rate of lateral speed compared to the car) and give you more escape room if needed until you're certain of the car driver's intentions and that they've seen you. I wish the uk would just drop CBTs altogether. I don't mind scooters in principle but untrained 16 and 17 year olds (and sometimes older, of course) are a menace.
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Sep 2, 2013 23:07
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 12:51 |
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clutchpuck posted:I bet having the headlight's beam flash back and forth makes you very visible. I think it goes without saying that reducing speed, especially at night before an intersection is the best course of action.
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Sep 2, 2013 23:28
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