Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Ouch!

So I get off of work early last friday to go for a ride on one of the nice canopy roads we have here in Tallahassee. It's a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and about 74 degrees. I see a car wanting to turn left on the road I'm traveling on so I slow down a bit like I usually do to make sure the cager sees me. I'm staring at him for 3 or 4 seconds and think he sees me. Well, he doesn't and decides to pull out. I slam on the brakes and am trying to keep the bike from going down as it wobbles. I keep it up right and thought I might actually be able to stop in time but there just wasn’t enough asphalt between us. I end up hitting him on the driver side front bumper. The front forks, right hand side of my tank and knee take most of the impact.

So I’m sitting here on my couch with a tibial plateau fracture (broken knee) as the doctors decide if they need to operate. I do feel fortunate it wasn’t worse.

I just don’t understand how he didn’t see me. I have TORs on my bike now but when I get it fixed I’ll be getting some Bubs or something REALLY loud. ****** the neighbors, ****** the cagers, I want everyone to hear me coming from now on.

Sorry to hear this Chris. Sometimes these cagers are truly "amazing", aren't they?!

But I seriously doubt, even if you already had had those really loud pipes that that yo-yo wouldn't have turned in front of you anyway.

They're just like that sometimes, ya know.

(sometimes I think they must have a little Cervidae..that's deer, BTW...mixed into their DNA)

Yeah, you may be right. Can't hurt though. I'm sure he didn't mean too pull out right in front of me but I saw him sitting at the stop sign for like 3 or 4 seconds. It's almost like he was trying to hit me. He had plenty of time to pull out before I got that close and even when he did pull out he had plenty of time to gun it and cross the street. I guess he heard my tires squeal and froze right in the middle f the intersection. WHAT AN IDIOT!

A while back, I posted about making certain your headlights were adjusted to be visible during daylight. I had noticed that my own headlight adjustment had migrated to point down and almost wasn't visible to daylight drivers. A motorcyclist is almost invisible to someone not absolutely paying attention unless the light shines directly in their face. I think that properly adjusted headlights are bigger attention getters (in cases such as this, anyway) than are 'loud pipes.' On the other hand, there are those drivers who wouldn't see you or really care if they hit you even if you hit them upside the head with a two by four.

I'm glad it wasn't worse for you, and I wish you a speedy and complete recovery.

sorry to hear that, hope the knee heals fast and well. Been hearing too much of this stuff.

See what you get for riding in the winter!

Hope the knee gets sorted quick Chris, nothing worse than looking at something and thinking, will I or won't I manage to miss the son of ?????..

Hopefully you will be up and going soon. Get your bike together and add a light bar with those loud pipes, its alot more to see than just a headlight.

Sorry to hear this, just glad it wasn't worse. I will agree with the previous post, get some spots on there. I still have the morons change lanes, pull out and cut me off, but my impression is that those incidents are cut in half with the spots. I did the cheapo JC Whitney ones with the rubber mount, so they shake alot while moving, which I think adds a bit more of "Hey dummy, see me now!?!" to the mix.

Get well soon!

later, Tom.

i agree with Brian, they are on my christmas list because norfolk drivers scare the **** out of me. i always use my high beam in the daytime now. i hope you heal fast eyes cause come january i'll be in st marys ga and i am gonna need riding partners.

One 'trick' I've been told is that bikes, due to the single (or close triple) headlight(s), it is difficult to judge their speed of approach.

One part of the solution is if you see a car waiting to turn out of a side road or across your path, 'meander' back and fore across your lane as you get closer.

Their 'brain'(cagers have brains?) then has to re-calculate your position all the while(like it does when you try to catch a feather dropping) rather than extrapolate it from their previous observation (the way it does when we want to catch something like a ball).

It might also sound stupid, but if you brake and the nose dips, the macho bit of the brain (or the female equivalent - of machismo - not brain ) interprets it as a submission and they then assume that you are giving way.

It's a bit like when you walk past a group of a$$holes, if you hunch your shoulders, try to make yourself look small or weak or hurry past they are more likely to give you grief than if you look confident, in control and look like you have a right to be there.

On my advanced riding course they tell you to 'look busy' i.e. keep up with traffic, not to leave too big a gap between you and the vehicle in front or someone will try and get into it. To protect yourself its all about observation, anticipation and positioning.

A good 'sparkly' headlamp bulb should help, can't think of the name of them now, but they sort of subtly change colours and intensity - again forcing car drivers brains to do the maths.

Glad to hear it wasn't worse. I beleive Dwight is absolutely correct about having some deer DNA, or could it be that they just have a brain like a deer?!?

Sorry about your luck,Chris, speedy recovery! I wonder what ever happened to those gadjets that made your headlight blink really fast in the daytime, increasing cage drivers awareness? I often think about getting something like this in addition to the new superbright (Adjurl tri-bar) light I'm getting ready to put on.

I had one of those headlight pulse modulators on my FJR. If that's the right term. Two headlight flashing at oncoming. It does make a difference. Also helps when in the left lane on the freeway, peeps sometimes pulled over, thot I was a cop....<BG>
Anything to help you be see,...
Was watching a lady interviewed on TV yesterday, some cities close to Dallas have prohibited peeps from using cell phones in marked school zones. She said it would be hard...SHE DOESN'T PAY ATTENTION...End quote. Of course she drives past the same schools everyday.... We're moving targets, folks, ride accordingly!
Mary

******, hate to hear that. Maybe a hand gun would be a better upgrade.
Hang in there guy, here's to a speedy recovery.
Mike

Sorry to hear about your mishap, here's to a speedy recovery (glass of egg nog raised). Glad it wasn't worse. Apparently Friday was a bad day. Don't know if you know Chuck. He went down on I-10 Friday on his Bonnie. Worse off than you, he's in the hospital facing a period of assisted living and physical therapy.
Let me know if you need anything here in Tallahassee.
Lon

Edit- Which intersection?

Chris, go with the properly adjusted headlight and keep the high beam on during the day. Heal fast.

mike

Those headlight modulator are definitely the Bees Knees, if a tad expensive. But what price can you put on your health?

It's not really about the noise (loud Pipes) since there are so many other noise makers that are immediately affecting the cager (Radio, AC/Heater Fan, etc...). I believe it's more about the visibility. Since I installed my driving lights over a year ago (pics in my gallery) I haven't had one instance of someone pulling out in front of me. They are very bright (two separate 55W halogen bulbs) adjusted just a 'hair' above road level. They really make my presence known. My neighbor was coming up the street towards me one day (4 lanes, two in both directions, him in the inside Northbound, me in the outside Southbound) and passed me. Later he told me that there was NO WAY anyone wouldn't notice that I was there. The lights definitely do the trick.

I read another technique in AMA magazine approx 6 months ago. When you see someone who looks like they might be thinking about pulling out in front of you, wiggle you handlebars just a bit. Kind of like shaking your head "NO!". It doesn't take a violent motion, just a little movement.
Adding the driving lights and using the NO shake movement has really added to my visibility factor.

Thanks for the advice and the best wishes. I'll definitley get a light bar and more than likley some louder pipes. Can't hurt. BTW, my name is Cyrus. I had a quote in my signature from a guy named Chris. I think that's where the confusion came from. Unless everyone is on Oxycodone like I am then THAT is where the confusion lies;)

I always use the horn in those situations, especially if I think the cager will annoyed by it!

Heal fast brother!