Riding up US 50 in the rain, this cager merges too fast, guns it, and begins fish tailing across the freeway. 'twas a test of nerves to maintain composure and simply ride on by. Luckily they regained control, hit no one and, as far as I could see in my rear view, went on their way. I imagine they needed to check their drawers :-))

Glad you're okay. Maintaining composure is always good. A lot of acidents - both bike and auto - are caused when people panic in those situations!

LOL nothing like riding in the rain on the freeway, with some fool sliding outta control in front of you !!! Its good they werent rite on top of you when it happened !!!
Have you noticed how cagers look at you like your insane when riding in the rain on the freeway?? or the sheer looks of terror?? LOL gotta love it
Happy ya made it thru,have a good weekend too !!

Easy to see Lucky why some might panic. I must admit to a ... umm, well... SLIGHTLY elevated pulse ;-)

:-) Oh yea! Thanks Blurplebuzz. 'tas a bit hair raising...

With the right gear I don't mind riding in the rain. I am bothered - especially in heavy traffic - by those who think the safe breaking distance ahead of you was left for them to shoehorn their car into :-/

"Ride like they are trying to kill you"

Treat 'em all as the "enemy"....cars, SUV's,18 wheelers, horse and carriages and low flying aircraft...when on a bike
" be paranoid-be alive"

LOL.... "low flying aircraft".

I'm near the airport rory1 but, aside from the occasional what the !$#%#$ is that noise, haven't had much cause for concern :-))

Love your tag line BTW.... OR, you could just look at what has happened right here in Calif. :-))

Glad you made it mate.....


I look at every interior mirror when I am coming up on them...If I aint seen them look in their mirrors I go in behind them and my headlight makes them know I am there...lol...then I pass them...I regard EVERYONE else on the road as a total murderer ...


But you can always see a Biker in a cage...HE/SHE IS THE ONE WHO TURNS THEIR HEAD TO LOOK BEHIND BEFORE CHANGING LANES instead of just glancing in a mirror!!!

Yeah Jet I hear ya,all bikers in cages always turn their head & look,which can be a real hassle in these new cars,the pillars on the doors block so much and the headliners are so low that I often wonder how folks can even get a clear view of the road?? Still I always find myself turning to look even after checking my mirrors LOL

I been spouting it for years here that EVERYONE who wants to throw tons of metal down a road has got to do a compulsory 2 years on small bikes to understand what life on the road is all about, no exceptions...


But hey, go buy the learner permit (we call it a provisional licence in UK), go buy a car, get an element of instruction, pass a test at 17 and then get out there and show the whole world that you are the greatest driver in the world, not just on your street - But The WHOLE WORLD..............................and then kill someone through your stupidity..............

A 1-1 ton car with an impact speed of around 30mph will strike a stationary object with an impact weight of approx 3.8 tons per square inch, meaning in basics that a ONE TON car will hit another surface of approx equal surface area at approx 30-40tons of initial impact weight decreasing from initial contact.....Now factor in the "Other" vehicle doing the same speed (x2) Impact weight at point of contact could be around 80 tons.....Then take away to same size surface and factor in a Motorcycle, that is maybe a 10th the surface area ..... Aint rocket science who comes off worse right?


I didn't add this to frighten, just to enlighten, if it makes you just a bit more cautious when getting close to cages that DONT contain Bikers then its worth the read right?


By this I mean, just take that split second to LOOK and see where their eyes are looking, if you have seen them look at their mirror then they know you are there (headlight on and loud pipes help here), you have done all your safety checks, if they have looked in their mirrors they are less likely to cause you any problems when passing them.....

@Jetman: LOVE your idea... everyone should have to ride before getting their license.

Although... on second though... not everyone should ride. Having always ridden - started with a mini bike when I was single digits old - I wonder how a new rider acquires sufficient ability keep from killing themselves. I wouldn't want to start out as a learner on the streets of any significant city today... I guess there are classes but still that doesn't really seem sifficient.

... and good avice BTW. Always remember... they ARE trying to kill you :-))

You got it right Scott, its true they ARE trying to kill us...lol...

Let me bounce this idea off of you...lol...

When you are riding and you come up near another rider, what do you do?  You position yourself accordingly and then either increase or back off the throttle enough to maintain position right?  same thing in your cage right? 

I reckon new people when riding would do just that by copying ...not neccesarily getting the right line immediately, but by following other riders I reckon they would soon get the hang of how everyone else does it...instinct tells you to do like the bloke in front does...sure, still going to get the idiots - but hey, we have them anyway right? 

I think it would still be a good training ground, even in cities, for them to gain enough experience...and then at the end of 2 years of dodging the stupid element in cages they would become more observant of other road users.....What do you think of that?

we got the same stupid laws in Ireland. My son has been on bikes since he was 10, pillion with me and some off-road stuff. At age 18 he decided to put a bike on the road for work, full lisence and done some insurance-course's too...heres the deal...

Honda 500cc road bike (48bhp), Insurance for 18yr old................€2800 !

Audi A4 1600 (which he drives)......................................€680 !

Insurance company said the bike was higher risk !

something wrong here guys, he can wipe out himself and 3 passengers and possibly some innocents in a very powerful car...God forbid it happening, but the bike is only a danger to himself. Maybe I'm being too simplistic on this but logic tells me the car would be a higher risk, age shouldn't count, 'cos if he's going to speed..the car doe's 130mph and the bike 80mph, he put the bike on the road because he loves biking, but only stayed on it for a year, WHY !!! because of all the dangerous car driving on the road. He still rides, but its all off-road and track stuff.

Bikes are economical...enviroment friendly...traffic busting machines, youngsters should be encouraged to ride by the authorities not forced to buy gas-guzzling cars which only cause traffic chaos, but of course car companies and oil companies make more money from this and they have more lobbyists than a medium sized motorcycle manufacturer..... THE THICK PLOTTENS!!!!!

now look what ya started Scottsaca...all 'cos of a wee drop of rain!!!!!!!!!

  Yeah, what Rory said...its all your fault Scott...lol...

@Jetman: lol... guilty. I sentence myself to ride again in the rain... dodging the cagers

@rory1: I hear ya' Wow! Sounds EXACTLY like the California (USA) model. Don't REALLY ban it. Just regulate, tax or fee it do death. Their lobbyists always win 'cause most of us just want to be left alone; most of us aren't into gett'n our own lobby

I have a CDL here in the states - with a passenger bus, school bus and motorcycle endorsement. And for a few years was a volunteer driver in a meat wagon (ambulance). Trust me - driving any of these; you 'drive' every vehicle on the road. And, Jetman - didn't think of it until I read your post - I always head check when I change lanes or turn. Taught my boys to do the same, all four or them ride bike. Was riding with our youngest the other day in his car, purposely watched him; yep, he head checked before the switched lanes. if learning that to ride a bike makes him a safer driver - good.

NEW STORY TO ADD IN AT THIS POINT :


I washed my Harley yesterday evening...lol...Well, When I say washed, what I REALLY mean is .....


As I have not done much solo riding this year so far I decided to do a cigar run of about 100 miles round trip...I aint "Ride Fit" at the moment as I have been taking the easy option on Trikes and in the Pickup Truck just lately...lol...


So there I am, all neatly wrapped as its still cold and damp here in London currently, Got the Harley out and fired her up, checked all leathers on and tight and set off...as soon as I hit the local 3 lane highhway I cranked it wide open and headed for the 5 lane M25...about a mile before I reached it from where the A40 becomes the M40 it started, a full blown storm, the kind of rain so heavy it would sting at 60mph - I was doing just over 100mph, open face helmet and no scarf or bandana, yeah it was stinging, so I slowed to around 80mph, then as I was getting used to the sting it happened.....HAILSTONES ... just the size of peas but hey...STINGING LIKE FKN CRAZY!!!


I backed it down to around 60mph and just carried on...if I had had any sense I would have returned home, lol, I have NEVER said that I have ANY sense and no-one can EVER accuse me of having any...lol... Now on the M25 and heading South to M3, its raining and hailing and rush hour traffic with MASSIVE Splashback and MASSIVE Spray from the cars etc, now most people know that we are going to be filtering between the 2 faster lanes and they leave us plenty of room to do so, and we are allowed to here in UK, We can filter as long as we do it in a reasonable fashion ok?


Then you get the jerks who 'think' that the next lane is travelling faster and they flip between the lanes...first one I got right in front of me flipped in a lane and immediately back out a lane right in front of me-not a wheels length in it...Then as I blasted the horn he flipped me off...no mirror on driver side now...lol...its all over the road, y'know these new style electric door mirrors? Expensive to replace...well jerk, cut me up and then flip me off and thats when my left hand forms a fist and comes in a downward motion on your mirror!!!  ...No fkn mirror left at all, just a gaping hole where it USED to be...lol...No it aint road rage, its called F*** YOU!!!


Must have had around 20 incidents on the 12 or so miles of M25...I filter across and join the slip road for the M3, ALWAYS busy junction I filter even on the slip road, on the start of my run South on M3 and its full of cages etc solid traffic and slow moving, so I am down to around 30mph filtering, now like I said before, we are allowed to filter, and MOST make allowances for us...but then you get the idiot who 'thinks' he will just edge his wheels out to block us on the way through because hey, if he is stuck in traffic then the bikes can be too hahaha...If they dont move out of MY way they WILL regret it, I had a couple of those ones on the way down...


Left M3 at junction 7 and headed into back end of Tadley, picked up cigars and headed for home.....trip home was fairly uneventful as I managed to ride most of it chasing the sunny patch between the clouds for most of the ride home, and apart from splashback and spray I managed to miss most of the following storm...


But hey... Harley got a wash ...lol...

Wow Jetman, rid'n open faced with hail stones... I've got a face shield at least. Don't think I'd tough that one out... without the face shield :-)

Here in CA, USA we're also allowed to "filter" or "split lanes". See 'bout the same mix of drivers; the courteous, the jerks, the clueless, and the outright wreckless.

-- Remember the ARE trying to kill you ;-)