I just went down but am OK bike has minor damage

[camthepyro]

Yeah! That'll teach him not to be scared of big bikers! LOL

[MrGompers]

Glad you walked away from that.

And a big thanks for posting it-- I am so new at this, not even riding on the street yet (still onlyin our parking lot) and queued for MSF next week. I appreciate you giving the details so I can ponder that setup and (hopefully) have a strategy for when that happens to me.

Peace,
JC

No problem. That is my goal of posting this. Hopefully, others will learn from it & I mite even get some good tips. BTW, when you take that MSF course pay close attention to that controlled stop routine. (a.k.a. emergency stop) When all of this was unfolding I was reciting what the instructor said in my head. I almost kept the shiny side up too. When I get my bike back I'll be practicing that controlled stop routine some more in a parking lot.

[MrGompers]

Or just educated...


Anyway, that's a good thing you weren't hurt bad, and that you bike doesn't have too much damage. But it definetely sucks that you have to pay for it out of your pocket, unless you have full coverage insurance. Out of curiousity, what kind of bike were you riding?

I was riding a 2005 honda shadow deluxe 600. It only has 1,200 miles.

[Dragonhawk]

One thing I do from time to time in a situation like this when I see cars waiting to turn in front of me up the road is hold in my horn as I approach the intersection... I don't care how stupid it looks/sounds but it gets attention to you. Don't flash your high-beams because they might think you are telling them to "go ahead and turn". If people give you dirty look just smile and wave if you get the chance that usually calms anyone down.

Another technique that can work well is to quickly weave back and forth in your lane. If there are cars next to you, it can freak them out. But, especially at night, the headlight darting back and forth gets the oncoming drivers attention when they are not paying attention to you approaching them.

[MrGompers]

One thing I do from time to time in a situation like this when I see cars waiting to turn in front of me up the road is hold in my horn as I approach the intersection... I don't care how stupid it looks/sounds but it gets attention to you. Don't flash your high-beams because they might think you are telling them to "go ahead and turn". If people give you dirty look just smile and wave if you get the chance that usually calms anyone down.

Laying on the horn doesn't sound stupid to me at all. But, the stock honda horn sounds like a toy. Maybe I should get one of those train horns. As for flashing the hi-beam I know what you mean. Around here if you do that it means you are yielding the right of way.

[MrGompers]

I appreciate you giving the details so I can ponder that setup and (hopefully) have a strategy for when that happens to me.

Peace,
JC

read my blog too and see how i messed up in the canyons on a downhill decreasing radius turn and loose gravel.

i rode above my skill level and paid for it.

Yes I have read your blog. There's a nasty decreasing radius turn near my house on the hi-way. The first time I took it in my cage I almost lost it LOL.
They really need better signage on roads like that.

[MrGompers]

One thing I do from time to time in a situation like this when I see cars waiting to turn in front of me up the road is hold in my horn as I approach the intersection... I don't care how stupid it looks/sounds but it gets attention to you. Don't flash your high-beams because they might think you are telling them to "go ahead and turn". If people give you dirty look just smile and wave if you get the chance that usually calms anyone down.

Another technique that can work well is to quickly weave back and forth in your lane. If there are cars next to you, it can freak them out. But, especially at night, the headlight darting back and forth gets the oncoming drivers attention when they are not paying attention to you approaching them.

I have read that too about weaving when approaching an intersection especially at nite. Thinking back on this I think my choice of lanes also played a part. When I was approaching that intersection I should've switched to the right lane well in advance. Thus, giving me & the cage more time to react before meeting each other.

[MrGompers]

He most definitely caused that accident.

Maybe there's hope you could still track this "O Ring" down and bring him to justice.
Reckless cages should have their cars thrown off a cliff, their license revoked, and their genitals kicked in.

I was considering calling the police. In this case I don't think it would matter. While the cager's actions caused me to go down we didn't hit each other. So, theres really no accident as far as the cops are concerned. It would be a one vehicle accident only. I don't need the heat on me if I'm not going to benefit in some way.

Reason why I know this is a similar thing happened to one of my friends while she was driving her cage. She was driving thru an S turn and a cage coming the other way veared into her lane. She swerved to the right went off road and slammed into a tree. Knocked out some of her teeth but otherwise was fine. She was wearing her seatbelt, but car didn't have any airbags. In her accident the other cage did stop to offer help & the cops showed up. As far as the cops were concerned this was only a one vehicle accident since the 2 cages never hit each other. And the other cager did admit to vearing into her lane.

[TheImp]

It kind of sounds like you were approaching the intersection where the driver perhaps only had moments to see you before you approached the intersection or is that incorrect? If that was the case would being in the right lane as you approached the intersection have helped? (The whole increasing your time and space thing that the MSF taught us). It certainly seemed like you were approaching the intersection pretty slow so the cager should have had enough time to see you. Did the cager have enough time to see your slow approach so that if he/she had half a brain they would have known not to go, or were you blocked by some obstruction if you can recall?

Hindsight is always 20/20, but I like to analyze things like these so all of us can benefit hopefully from each other's point of view.

[MrGompers]

It kind of sounds like you were approaching the intersection where the driver perhaps only had moments to see you before you approached the intersection or is that incorrect? If that was the case would being in the right lane as you approached the intersection have helped? (The whole increasing your time and space thing that the MSF taught us). It certainly seemed like you were approaching the intersection pretty slow so the cager should have had enough time to see you. Did the cager have enough time to see your slow approach so that if he/she had half a brain they would have known not to go, or were you blocked by some obstruction if you can recall?

Hindsight is always 20/20, but I like to analyze things like these so all of us can benefit hopefully from each other's point of view.

I was approaching the intersection slow since I was expecting the worse with all those cagers waiting to turn left across my lane. What is weird to me is a bike was also waiting to turn left. All the cagers were waiting behind him. That bike made the left without endangering me in any way.
The cagers behind him should have had a clear view of opposing traffic. I don't see how a bike could block his view. No one was behind me or in the right lane when I was approaching either so, I wasn't blending in with surrounding cages. If someone was in the right lane I could've been run over. I think the cager followed the bike thru the intersection assuming no one else was coming. Cager saw me & stopped & I went down. That was stupid on his part since the front of his cage was now in my lane. I had to break or swerve. I chose to break. There is no way I could've continued going straight without hitting that cage.

I think its also possible that my slow speed thru the intersection worked against me. It may have told the cage he had enough time to make the left before I got there. I'm not sure if changing lanes before I got there would've helped. But, it would have provided more reaction time for both of us. I have no clue what he was thinking. Prolly wasn't thinking at all. Plus the fact that he took off is suspicious. He darn well knows he caused that. Why is there never a cop around when you need one?