Yep, it finally happened to me.... you know, that first time you almost get killed... when you scare yourself so bad that you can't shake it.... heck, it's been 16 hours now, and I'm still a nervous wreck.

Although I've had my MC License for 17 years now, and owned street bikes, dual-sports, sport-bikes, and Harleys, this was my first REAL BAD scare (not counting the time I was on the back of my dad's bike when I was 15 and we hit a pickup truck head on who turned in front of us at an intersection)

I was heading home down the highway going 60mph (no helmet) and there was a big gap in front of and behind me, as far as traffic goes... but I come up on a median crossover with an old pickup truck sitting there... I don't know what he was waiting for, he had PLENTY of time to go before I got to the interesction... well, as you (and I) guessed it, he waits until I'm right there before he starts to pull out to cross the highway. I had my eye on him the whole time and actually expected him to do this, since I figured he'd be looking at the pack of cars behind me about an 1/8 of a mile back. Well, I pull on both brakes as hard as I can without trying to lock them up... but the back tire locks, skids, and the bike starts to fishtail... the tires are screaming and that's when the guy in the truck finally notices me (or hears the screaching tire) and stops with the nose of his truck in the left-hand travel lane... well, as soon as the bike starts to fishtale I let go of the rear brake and it straightens right up... I go by the nose of the truck (probably only 8 feet away) and look down at the speedometer as I let go of the front brake... I WAS STILL DOING OVER 50 mph!!! I just coasted over to the shoulder of the road but never stopped, probably slowed down to about 30mph looking back over my shoulder to see what the guy in the truck was doing... well, he just halued @$$ across the highway and down a back road.... I wanted to chase him down and give him a piece of my mind [sm=bicker.gif] but there was nowhere to turn aroud in time, and traffic was coming up on me, so I got back up to speed and pulled back in the right lane and continued on home.[sm=headbang.gif]

Man, I'm glad there is this forum to vent to, because if I told my wife or my mother (who lives next door) about this incident, they'd hound me to drive my truck to work and leave the bike for joyrides only... and they'd definately hound me about not wearing a helmet.[]

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well, after reading some of the replys I got below, I decided to edit this post to answer some questions...

1st off, thanks for all the concern and praise

2nd YES I did say some prayers! prayers of thanks as soon as I got back onto the highway and started traveling home.

3rd I can't remember to tell you the truth (the skidding happened so fast) whether or not I pulled in the clutch when I put on the brakes or not... I don't remember letting it back out... but then again I only slowed down about 10 miles per hour.... the bike didn't skid or fishtail very long (just enough to make some barks loud enough to shock the truck driver) and the fishtailing was more like a high-speed wobble than a sideways manuever... It probably didn't look like I did much maneuvering at all if you were standing on the side of the road.... and I didn't... it just all happened in seconds and I was like "holy crap! I can't believe what just happened, I locked up the rear tire at 60 mph and didn't go down"

I mean yeah, I guess the big deal is that fact that I didn't smash into the truck... that would have hurt alot more than falling off the bike sideways a 50 mph, or laying it down in front of me... [sm=smiley22.gif] but when I went by him with a clearance of about 8 feet I was scared to death... I didn't know he was gonna stop there, I thought

 

You had your head in the game....And not thinking an hour ahead of where you were in time. Which no doubt saved your bacon. Shake it off...And learn another (or review an old) lesson from it.

Take Care...And Pray For The Rest.

 

Well, at least you're safe. I hate FIATs (F*** In A Truck)!!! [:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]

 

Eight feet? Wasn't even close!

Seriously, sounds like you handled it quite well! [sm=smiley20.gif]

 

Well it sure worked out a lot better than it could have. I'm no expert on these matters, hadn't ridden for a few years when i got my Ultra last Sept, but, I do am constantly paranoid about the same thing happening to me.
Now I'm a little more visible than you are cause the bike is bigger and has more lights on the front, but, I'm still real nervouse of the cager I'm coming up on that may not see me.
What I do, this may sound crazy to some, is, I weave around in my lane when I'm coming up on any cages that I feel are a threat. It's not always possible, and it may not be fool proof, but, it gives me a better chance I figure.

 

Well done. I am glad it worked out. No sense chasing someone like that down. They just have their heads up their a**.

 

glad to hear you are safe.

 

Wow you are real lucky. Glad you are here to vent about it. Good thing your bike did not throw you when you released the rear break once it started skidding and that you kept her going straight. Usually once the rear starts skidding and fishtailing if you release, the bike WILL strighten right up and it will possibly cause a high side fall. I was taught that if the rear is in a straight skid you may get away with it though. That incident is all the reason to expect the unexpected and to practice emergency stops if nothing else... so have you gotten back on since getting home? I witnessed a bad MC accident in front of me a few weeks back and it took me a couple days to ride and I was nervous about it until I actually rode.

 

Glad to see your ok. You definately did the right thing by driving defensively (clueing into what was in front of you). You were prepared and ready to react...as you should be at ALL times. Good for you. Drive safe.

 

Hope you said a little prayer of thanks. Nice riding and writing. That is why there ain't no other sled like HD. Could you imagine any other bike pulling out like that?