Last week, six lane highway with concrete barrier median. Lots of traffic and cars all around. I'm daydreaming and in the outside lane at about 65 mph. The highway veers sharply to the right on me and before I realize it I'm outside the yellow just inches from the concrete. I'm countersteering but my form is all wrong and I'm not correcting fast enough. It turned out ok but if the curve had been any sharper it could have been bad. Or if there had been gravel/debris on the shoulder.

I try to learn something from every ride. That one taught me to wake up and pay attention.

 

Following a dude in a HUGE tractor. Had at least 7 vehicles behind him. I had
followed him as long as I intended to, so I pulled out and passed them all.
Just as I got to the tractor, here comes an NC Highway Patrolman the other way.
As I cut in front of the tractor, the Patrolman waves at me and away we go.

I guess he thought the dude on the tractor waved me around...............

 

A couple of years ago I had just pulled onto the county road off of sub's "private road" and had traveled about 1/8th on a mile north when a double-bottom gravel hauler tractor-trailer rig, headed south, dropped the rear trailer off of the RH edge of the road in a curve and was coming towards me with the rear trailer "swaying" wildly back and forth as the driver attempted to accelerate his tractor and pull the rear trailer out of it's, apparently out-of -control status.

There was so much dust that the rear trailer disappeared for a second or two and when it became visible it was practically turned 90 degree's and into my lane!
I was doing somewhere near 50PH but I hit the graveled shoulder, preparing to ride into if I had to in order to avoid harm from the trailer (or it's load if it flipped over) but as the trailer an I passed I could tell that the driver was slowly getting the trailer "swaying" under control.

The entire incident was maybe less than 10 seconds (or less) in happening, but it felt like to that time had stood still.

 

Doing about 35, F350 4x4 Crew cab long bed decides to pull out on my right without looking, I couldn't see him till he did it. He pulls out in front of me to turn left but he wants to get on the far outside lane (he wants the 5th lane from him, stopped cars in 2 oncoming traffic lanes are keeping him from turning till he passes through 4 out of 5 lanes). His truck is so long he's blocking both lanes and the sidewalk. I'm on the inside, if I hit the brakes I'll T-bone him hard, too hard, not walking away hard. Instinctively I react and gun it to get around him, the front is the only place to go. I hold my horn down to try to get his attention. He GUNS it right as I'm fully committed. I have to go not only into the middle lane but on coming traffic, with traffic coming, entering the small window past the stop cars. He should have hit me. I saw the bulb in his headlight. I'm just waiting for it, I know how fast he's going and how heavy he weighs, how well even a new truck can stop and how long it takes to go from gunning it to stopping, and my brain immediately does the math with my trajectory and I know he's going to completely hit my back wheel, knock me sideways and I'm going to highside badly.

I don't.

Luck had nothing to do with it. That's all Jesus Christ. It wasn't physically possible for him to stop in time.

 

Years back 2 of us on choppers doing around 60 or so following a big flatbed truck with large wooden crates on the back. Turns out these small shed sized things were empty when collapsed and a full side of one came straight at us like a flying billboard. Close, no time to think or maneuver it touched the ground and turned sideways and shot between us maybe a 3 foot gap, heard the car behind us hit it. We hit the next exit found the nearest bar, got 2 shots down and Mike looked me and asked " did that just happen "?.

My last Rocky Mountains trip was on the western slope in Colorado on twisty 2 lane riding 2 up, shear wall on my side and drop with a short guard rail on the other ,doing 55 or so come around an inside long sweeper and I see a line of traffic behind the usual big *** RV at the head, we closed with the oncoming traffic and got parallel head on and there some dick in Toyota Tacoma pulling a big Uhaul in my lane trying to pass going up hill, he's on the brakes and the trailers whipping side to side. Nowhere to go, never let off the throttle, drifted off the road to the right where my handlebar was almost touching the wall in golf ball size gravel and those metal T poles with the reflectors on them ( took out 3 of those ) and we shot the gap and back up on the road somehow, still have no clue how.

Had others but these are the more memorable.

 

Couple years back,myself and couple of our mc chapters doing about 70 mph on I-94 thru down town Chicago come up on a truck carrying cement bags,guy hits a pothole looses couple of bags and we all scatter,good thing it was 6 or 7 lanes wide to this day we can't believe no one went down.It was a real pucker factor moment.Some times it happens and you can't do much to avoid it.

 

I was at a traffic light on my EGC behind a car in the left lane waiting for green. Guy in the car decides he needs to make a left turn at the last minute so I go around him in the right lane and as I get into the intersection a car going the other direction is making a left turn right in front of me. I stood on the brakes with the back end starting to swing out and I'm looking right at the passenger, a young woman, who was prepping for impact, hands up to her face and cringing. Luckily I was able to regain control of the bike, the car stopped and I was able to swing around him. Pucker factor was way up there.