1. Anybody who follows too close.
2. The car on a 2-lane who runs 53 MPH in a 55 zone. Then when you get a chance to pass them, they wanna drag race.
3. Folks who drive phone booths and typewriters. See #1 & #2 above...

 

My biggest pet peeve when it comes to riding is road construction. It seems they don't think of the two wheeler when they are doing "resurfacing" projects. When the two layers of black top they put down runs parallel or on a slight angle to the path of the motorcycle. I've seen a couple of riders down after trying to make the transition from one layer to the next. Construction crews need to realize we can't navigate some hazards the way cars can.

 

Here in the great Republic of Texas, sometimes it's just unavoidable.

 

One that hasn't been mentioned is when a complete stranger comes up to you in the parking lot and tells you how dangerous it is to ride, usually because someone they know has been killed while riding.

Happened to me twice so far. I wanted to tell one woman at Wal-Mart "look, that bucket of fried chicken will kill you too, but it ain't none of my damn business!"

 

Pat...Your reply is really interesting and especiall the part about raising monies. You have given me another idea for a column. Up here we raise thousands of dollars for prostate cancer research with our Ride for Dad not to mention other causes as you indicated. The 1% vs 99% is also worth some research. Thanks...

 

My Pet Peeve is: When non-bikers learn you ride a motorcycle, they immediately start telling a story about how somebody got killed on a motorcycle……and then they tell you how you shouldn’t be riding one. They don’t have a clue about the enjoyment I get from riding.

Especially those people that are sitting there drinking a beer and then hop in their car and drive home drunk. But I’m the idiot because I ride a motorcycle. I don’t bring up to them every time I read in the paper about a drunk driver (like they are) having a wreck. But every time I show up they start every conversation with “Did you see in the paper about the guy who got killed on a motorcycle?”. That just burns my *** for some reason.

 

ALL OF THE ABOVE + DO NOT TOUCH MY BIKE! PLEASE DO NOT SIT ON MY BIKE! FOLKS THAT WANT TO CHANGE GEARS, TWIST THE THROTLE (gas feed), LOOK INTO SADDLE BAGS. DO NOT PARK WITHIN INCHES OF MY PRIZED POSSESION.

 

Cars inchin forward at a stop sign. Drives me nuts.

 

People who ride in my "Blind Spot".

We ain't the Hells Angles riding bumper to bumper with white knuckles.
Get the hell away from me, so I can use my whole lane for an evasive action if need be.

 

On a group ride,(we usually have no more than four bikes on a trip), it annoys me when anyone in the group tries to slip through a traffic light when it is yellow. I consider the risk versus reward for the time saved to be poorly evaluated for this riding behavior. This isn't well stated, hope you understand.