'Tard 'tard ('tard on supermotard, or conspicuity is good)

[jstark47]

I almost killed a motorcyclist today. Flippin' idiot on a supermoto. Here's how it happened.

I was driving my car on rural roads, came to a T intersection. Looked left, right, left again.. clear..... WAIT!!! In the amount of time it took me to go from "clear" to "press accelerator", this a-hole came flying around a bend. Delayed recognition on my part: why? He was 1) on a gray & black supermoto, 2) wearing dark helmet and dark clothing, 3) running some kind of "very cool" (sarcasm) streetfighter style mini-headlight. Supermotos have very small frontal area, the tiny headlight did absolutely nothing to draw the eye, and everything on him and the bike was dark, and blended in with the asphalt. And, of course, he was going 70-80 mph on this 45 mph road.

It would have been very messy if I pulled out in front of him.

So a word to the wise: if you're going ride a small bike with minimal lighting, and dress for stealth to boot, at least STICK TO THE FRIKKIN SPEED LIMIT, fer petes sake!!!! Better yet, put some lights on your ride, and wear bright colors or white.

(Postscript- a regular sport bike following about 15 seconds later with conventional dual headlights was recognizable at about three times the distance of this 'tard and his supermoto. Big touring cruisers with aux. lights are of course even more conspicuous.)

[wrecks]

Sorry bro I was in a hurry to get to work. I'll stop twice at the next stop sign. j/k

[jstark47]

Dude, if that was you, I'm impressed. NJ's a helluva long way to ride a supermoto from your place!!!

[JC Viper]

Yeah, almost had this happen to me while riding my bike and some idiot on a streetfighter decides to "dogfight" on the highway. Tiny headlamp and tiny tail lights with a license plate mounted up in the bike's azz. I couldn't spot him in my rear view until he was right behind me. Guy also didn't appear to have turn signals mounted as he changed lanes and passed me. while I was going to change lanes as well.

Of course I do have a dark motorcycle and wear dark jackets but with my strategic mounting of DOT reflective stickers, colorful helmet, large square headlamp and occasional use of a fluorescent green ICON vest people notice me way ahead of time. I feel kinda bad about the people who actually wait for me to pass because I would usually proceed with caution and they would be there for a 15 - 20 seconds more.

[HYPERR]

I almost killed a motorcyclist today. Flippin' idiot on a supermoto. Here's how it happened.

I was driving my car on rural roads, came to a T intersection. Looked left, right, left again.. clear..... WAIT!!! In the amount of time it took me to go from "clear" to "press accelerator", this a-hole came flying around a bend. Delayed recognition on my part: why? He was 1) on a gray & black supermoto, 2) wearing dark helmet and dark clothing, 3) running some kind of "very cool" (sarcasm) streetfighter style mini-headlight. Supermotos have very small frontal area, the tiny headlight did absolutely nothing to draw the eye, and everything on him and the bike was dark, and blended in with the asphalt. And, of course, he was going 70-80 mph on this 45 mph road.

It would have been very messy if I pulled out in front of him.

So a word to the wise: if you're going ride a small bike with minimal lighting, and dress for stealth to boot, at least STICK TO THE FRIKKIN SPEED LIMIT, fer petes sake!!!! Better yet, put some lights on your ride, and wear bright colors or white.

(Postscript- a regular sport bike following about 15 seconds later with conventional dual headlights was recognizable at about three times the distance of this 'tard and his supermoto. Big touring cruisers with aux. lights are of course even more conspicuous.)

This is actually a legitimate post here by Mr. Stark. Once in a while, I see posts like this in various motorcyle forums about how a motorcylist who was driving their car and pulled out and almost killed a fellow rider because he didn't see him. In many of these posts, the motorcylclist/car driver blames the other motorcylist. "He was going too fast." "He was wearing black." "He had tiny projector beam headlights." "He was a midget riding a tiny 125cc bike." Blah Blah Blah.

In just about every single one of these cases, the motorcylist/car driver doesn't have a leg to stand on. Plain and simple, they were not alert, didn't "see" the motorcyclist, and almost killed them. Instead of accepting the blame, they go into denial and blame everything from the color of the rider's gear, road condition, the position of the sun, time of day, & Barack Obama.

The scenario that Mr. Stark posted is one of the very few, if not the only one in my recent memory that the car driver did everyting humanly possible to proceed in a safe manner. The totally unreasonably speed of the motorcylist and the horrific road design are the culprit in this situation. On roads like this where blind curve leads directly into a T-section, there are signs warning of the imminent danger ahead. The rider obviously paid no attention to it and came around at a blazing speed. Had the car driver been someone less attentive than Mr. Stark (which in the state of NJ would be about 99.95% of the drivers), it's very possible that the rider would have bought it that day.

[jstark47]

The........ horrific road design are the culprit in this situation.

This is an interesting point. This was in central NJ, Hunterdon county (Rt 523 outside Stockton). These roads weren't "designed", they just sort of happened. They began as Indian trails, deer paths, cow paths, etc. In the 17th century they started to evolve into the roads of today. They're fun as heck to strafe on a nimble bike. I've done it myself <<ahem, cough>> many times. But I've got extra lights, a light colored helmet, etc. If you saw this guy's ride and his gear, you'd think he was specifically avoiding being seen. It was kind of cool if you're into the dark urban look. But if you're strafing twisties with crossroads, being intentionally inconspicuous is not the smartest way to ride.

You know what saved this guy's a$$? I'm the last person in the world to subscribe to "loud pipes save lives", but I had the car window down. I heard him before I saw him. Or maybe I should say, I recognized the sound before my eyes and brain worked out what I was seeing...

[HYPERR]

The........ horrific road design are the culprit in this situation.

This is an interesting point. This was in central NJ, Hunterdon county (Rt 523 outside Stockton). These roads weren't "designed", they just sort of happened. They began as Indian trails, deer paths, cow paths, etc. In the 17th century they started to evolve into the roads of today.

Exactly. Few years ago, at the intro of the new K-bikes, BMW made a curious move of doing a launch at their NJ headquarters and the corporate guys and the motojournalists riding to upstate CT together. All the cycle mags as you know are located in Cali and for many of them, this was their first experience riding in NJ and New England. I remember the resulting article on the lauch in one of the cycle mags. They commented on not how bad the road potholes were and that these roads made the worst one in Cali look like a billiard table. The most interesting point was that they couldn't believe all the dangerous blind curves leading to driveways and side roads. They said something to the effect of all the backroads in the Northeast being engineered by blind men. It then made me realize how correct they were. Our roadplans were originally laid out before there were cars while Cali roads were all engineered much later and hence much better orchestrated to accomodate modern traffic flow.

[paul246]

The........ horrific road design are the culprit in this situation.

This is an interesting point. This was in central NJ, Hunterdon county (Rt 523 outside Stockton). These roads weren't "designed", they just sort of happened. They began as Indian trails, deer paths, cow paths, etc. In the 17th century they started to evolve into the roads of today.

Exactly. Few years ago, at the intro of the new K-bikes, BMW made a curious move of doing a launch at their NJ headquarters and the corporate guys and the motojournalists riding to upstate CT together. All the cycle mags as you know are located in Cali and for many of them, this was their first experience riding in NJ and New England. I remember the resulting article on the lauch in one of the cycle mags. They commented on not how bad the road potholes were and that these roads made the worst one in Cali look like a billiard table. The most interesting point was that they couldn't believe all the dangerous blind curves leading to driveways and side roads. They said something to the effect of all the backroads in the Northeast being engineered by blind men. It then made me realize how correct they were. Our roadplans were originally laid out before there were cars while Cali roads were all engineered much later and hence much better orchestrated to accomodate modern traffic flow.

Yep, I know what you mean. Try riding in England, especially in the Yorkshire Dales.