I'm making this post about a situation that occurred last night that very well could have taken my life. Hopefully, if you are ever in this particular scenario, you will remember this post and be extra alert. Years of riding experience may help in this situation, but being alert and 'on guard' are even more important and just might save your life.

The Scenario:

Rush hour traffic, 2-lane side street in Southern California, busy intersection. Due to the large volume of traffic, South flow traffic on this busy side street is backed up in the left lane as many cars are turning left. Normally, there might be 4-5 cars in the left turn lane waiting for the arrow... but at this time, there are nearly 50 cars and the backup is well behind the beginning of the left turn lane... in essence, leaving ONLY the right lane to use for ongoing traffic.

I am the last one in the backed up left lane, perhaps a 1/4 mile from the intersection lights. My goal is to cross the intersection, which means I need to move to the right lane and out of the 'backed up' lane. I look behind me and see only one vehicle coming. I wait for that vehicle to go by and slowly move over to the right lane (there are NO other vehicles in sight behind me in the right lane).

I have nearly 1/4 mile to move forward to the intersection lights. The speed limit is 45 mph. I am progressing to approximately 30 - 35 miles per hour when a sports car IMMEDIATELY busts out of the busy, backed up lane and right in front of me. I do two things: brake the front and back brakes and slightly turn my bike to the right to avoid hitting the car who is just a few feet in front of me as he enters the right lane. Obviously, he either didn't see me or didn't look, and I am convinced he didn't look because I was driving with my bright light on and was centered to the right in the right lane... if he looked 'carefully', he would have seen me.

My bike brakes but skids to the right making me semi-sideways for nearly 15 feet. The car speeds away oblivious to what is happening behind him. By the grace of God, my Dyna Super Glide holds (05 Super Glide Custom) and I am able to keep the bike up and myself off of the pavement. This morning, reflecting on what occurred, I am much more shaken than when it happened... or even later on last evening.

I am seriously asking myself this morning, with a wife and 2 older children and huge responsibilities as most of you either have or will have one day, is it flat-out selfishness that puts me on a motorcyle knowing and experiencing (last evening) that the risk everyone speaks about regarding motorcycles is VERY, VERY REAL... and no matter how experienced you think you are and how alert you are, it's possible to 'pay the piper' to the extreme in an accident that is totally someone else's fault? For those who say "well, it can happen doing anything"... the fact remains that on a motorcycle, there is absolutely NO protection other than the clothes you are wearing if you hit another vehicle or the pavement. If I go down last night, at worse, I just left a wife and 2 kids wondering what the heck happened... at best, my body rolls the pavement like a basketball and I'm on sh*t street for a long, long time with who knows how many physical injuries.

When something happens like what happened to me last night, and you are able to survive it... there's some serious reflection and 're-evaluating' that gets done, believe me. There might be a few out there who laugh at the thought and easily can justify why the 'risk' doesn't outweigh the 'desire' to ride a bike.... I don't disagree with you, but heads ups... it's real.

 

Fuente,

Glad to hear you came out of that upright. I see it all the time.

You bring up a valid point. I was thinking the same thoughts after I got taken out by a cage on the freeway on this past Christmas morning. Luckily I was able to walk away relatively unharmed.

The question of selfishness popped up but my answer to me and my loved ones is: I have to ride. It is who I am and what I do.

I would hate to give it up and then spend the rest of my years watching bikes go by wishing I was riding along with them.

If you are a casual rider/enthusiast then I would think it would be easier to walk away from motorcycling and take up something with less of a danger factor.

In my case I am a biker and because of that I MUST ride.

Just my 2 cents, bill to follow.

Ride Safe,

Primo

 

if you dont think about that before you buy a bike its to late after that can and has to alot of people thru the years myself i have turn wrecks on a motorcycle and gotten bang up and lost a few friends yes you dont have alot of cover when you ride but if your number is up it make no differnce if you are in a tank its your time it happens but if a bike is your life at leaset you are doing something you love you know how many people can't say that and if that is the way the man up stairs has for me to go that is fine with me i have seen alot of people die a lot of ways i will take my bike over anything else no body wants to die but after all it is life .but yes i know what you are saying but if you think about it you will be a basket case .

 

AGREE!!!

It is summer down here and I was out for a ride the other day. Cruising at 100km/h on a long open highway with gentle bends. As I started to take one of the bends, a large bee struck me on the collar bone and the wind flow blew it up between my full face helmet and my cheek.

I was momentarilly put off my line for the corner and ended up crossing the center line before I got things back under control. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic at that point otherwise I may not be writing this now. It actually gave me a bit of a fright and I am an experienced rider with over a quarter of a million miles under my belt.

The bottom line is - you never know what dangers are lurking around each corner, so take care!

BTW, the bee did not survive the initial impact, the last thing to go through its mind was its butt.

 

I think the major issue one faces when they 'survive' a near disastrous motorcyle accident, keeping in mind that they have a family and dependents..... is the dilemma on whether to ride a bike because of the 'love to ride', 'enjoyment', 'bringing the senses alive', 'stroking one's ego to the max', etc., etc........ or the realization that you are playing semi-russian roulette when it comes to riding the streets of Southern California. Known fact: there are many, many people who ride motorcycles every day and come home safely ........ and there are many, many people who ride motorcycles every day and DO NOT come home safely. 20 years ago, without dependents and the responsibilities I have today, my thought process would have been 'F*ck it! I live for the day and I do what I enjoy!'..... it's not necessarily that same thought process anymore.

There is an alternative in 'casual riding' here in SoCal..... and that is to 'pick and choose' when and where to ride. I can do that, but then my Harley becomes a very, very expensive (nearly 20K into this machine) toy that isn't getting used very often. We'll see where this goes, but my intention here was to give a big-time 'heads up' to those riders that can become complacent and think 'it won't happen to me because I'm so careful'. It can... and it almost did to me last night. Thank God, thank me for being alert and able to react quickly, and thank that bad-a** Harley I own for holding steady through some big-time turbulence!!

 

Another one to think about....

I picked up my baby (05 Super Glide Custom) in August of last year. About 2 weeks later I was riding home from work on (the Palisades Pkwy) a nice 2 lane meandering road. I am cruising in the right. I see a car on the entrance ramp...the one car in the left lane passes....I get in the left lane and BAM!!!!! [sm=yikesomg.gif]

Before I knew it I had gone airborne over the *** half of a deer carcass!!!!!!! [sm=jawdrop.gif]

I pulled off the road at the next exit to take a look underneath......blood, flesh and hair!!!! Washed her the best I could....

A couple days later I was at the dealer for the 1000 mi, I told the guy my story and he had the bike detailed for me...[sm=wootwoot.gif]..NICE!!!

Props to Moroney's (Newburgh, NY)

 

I live in Los Angeles and most of my riding is in rush hour traffic on the commute to/from work using surface streets. It is, quite literally, a guantlet each time. Not a day passes that I do not have to take some sort of evasive or defensive measure to keep me upright. I have changed my route a couple of times in order to avoid traffic scenarios like the one you mentioned. I choose the safest route. Sometimes that amounts to nothing more than choosing the lesser of several evils since L.A. traffic and those who drive in it are the worst of the worst. The best you can do is assume the worst and adjust accordingly.

Whiff

 

Hey man - glad you made it. I'm recently back up after 20yrs off. In the 70's & 80's (teens & 20's), I rode full bore and usually sh*t-faced. I now have a family and responsibilities, but couldn't supress the Harley urge any longer. I no longer do the drugs/alcohol. I wear a full-face every-where except the remotest back roads. I ride the 28 mi route to work through the country rather than the 24 mi route with the smoother faster roads.... but there's still not a week that goes by that there's not a quick-reaction incident. Be alert always... ride responsibly... only you can decide if it's worth it to you. Personally, I can't believe I did without for 20yr... on the other hand, I had a lot of growing up to do and might not have made it otherwise.

Peace out,
k

 

I am about to get back into biking after years away, and this time i have a family. I have thought alot about your questions and there is no easy answer if you love riding. Every individual is different, but I have decided that i am going to try to minimize the risk by choosing to ride only under certain conditions. When i was single i rode all over the NYC area, day/night/between lanes, no limits. Now i am planning to pick roads and times that should put the odds a little more in my favor. It means i have an expensive toy that i may only get to use a few hours on weekends. I dont want to wait until i am retired to ride again. In part its due to geography, if i had country roads or big california roads i woudl have more choices, but i dont. thats my two cents (btw - the book "Total Control" by Pat Hahn does a pretty good analysis about picking routes, analyzing risks, etc)

 

Fuente, I'm glad too that it was a "near accident" rather than an "accident". Situations like yours illustrate that 1) you should always expect drivers to do what you don't want them to do; and 2) Rider training and practicing your skills can save your bacon; and 3) protective gear is indeed your "last line of defense" (if you had fallen or hit something in the process of avoiding that driver). Sometimes you can be doing everything right and still get into trouble.

BTW, speaking of good books, I've started reading "Proficient Motorcycling" by David Hough, and it seems like a very worthwhile read.