HankD
New member
Most of you probably won’t read thru this very long post, but I figured I would post this in the odd chance it may help even ONE of you stay alive….because I came very close to taking the “Forever Dirt Nap” on a recent ride.
On Sunday 9/24/17 I was taking a morning ride just to enjoy a short spin. All my riding friends were busy, so I decided to just do a quick solo before it got nasty hot/humid. I was traveling Southbound on HWY US 231 out of Huntsville, AL. This portion of the highway is 3 lanes each direction with a large grass median strip (more like a ditch), lots of U-turn spots on the left, and business entrances/exits on the right.
I was cruising along in the fast lane, about 55 mph, traffic was light to moderate. Suddenly about 4 seconds up ahead, I spot a huge white Buick “land-barge” pulling out of a business on the right. I saw a very little Granny in the driver’s seat, so short she was actually looking through the steering wheel instead of over it. She had to be at least 90 years old as I recall. My Spydee-Senses immediately started to blare out major alarm bells.
I then watched her proceed straight across all three lanes of traffic to get to the U-turn spot on the left, going at about 5 mph…..directly into my lane…where she stopped sideways in the road…. right in front of me!! Since there was a median strip ditch on my left, I had only two choices: slam on the brakes, or, perform an almost full-speed S-turn (right and then left). Since the closing speed between Granny and me was almost 60 mph, I had to go with the S-turn. Also, since she was taking up almost the entire left 2 lanes with her land-barge Buick, I had to S-turn from the Fast Lane 2 lanes over to the Slow Lane, then correct back left. Luckily I am a constant mirror-checker, and I knew the two lanes to the right of me were clear for me to maneuver.
My beautiful, wonderful, fantastic Spyder RTS acted almost like it had a collision avoidance system. I jerked thru that S maneuver at near full speed and the Spyder performed brilliantly, missing Granny’s rear bumper by about 4 inches. Yes, even with the “crappy” OEM Kenda tires and the stock sway bar. I might have seen the VSS light come on (I was a little too busy to really notice). I pulled over at a nearby business to collect myself and a car pulled up next to me. The driver rolled down his window and said…”Dude, I was behind all that, I can’t believe how you avoided getting killed”. All I could do was nod and wave. It took 20 mins sitting there for my hands to stop shaking (and for me to stop cussing).
I rode a HD Fatboy for about 12 years prior to getting the Spyder. I know for sure that if I was on the HD, I would have been road-putty in this situation. They would have been picking pieces of me from Granny’s left rear quarter panel. No way could I have pulled off that maneuver on 2 wheels, and I was a decent rider.
So to those of you that are still awake and reading this, I have 4 things that maybe you want to keep in mind:
1. Scan ahead, do frequent mirror checks, and always be prepared for the most insane, crazy crap to happen….because it WILL happen, and it will happen at the worst possible time and when your attention is at its lowest. It always seems that way anyhow.
2. Keep your Spydee-Senses keen to driver warning signals….like land-barge Buicks driven by very very old people, or teenagers speeding and jerking thru traffic, or that pickup truck driver that you know just has to be drunk….you know the kind of stuff I’m talking about.
3. Do some periodic avoidance maneuver practice with your Spyder. I have a local church parking lot that I go to occasionally just to do some 15-min drills. It’s sorta fun actually, and it may have saved my life.
4. Have a little peace of mind in knowing that in a real pinch, your Spyder can do some pretty incredible things to get you out of a jam.
Safe riding to all!
On Sunday 9/24/17 I was taking a morning ride just to enjoy a short spin. All my riding friends were busy, so I decided to just do a quick solo before it got nasty hot/humid. I was traveling Southbound on HWY US 231 out of Huntsville, AL. This portion of the highway is 3 lanes each direction with a large grass median strip (more like a ditch), lots of U-turn spots on the left, and business entrances/exits on the right.
I was cruising along in the fast lane, about 55 mph, traffic was light to moderate. Suddenly about 4 seconds up ahead, I spot a huge white Buick “land-barge” pulling out of a business on the right. I saw a very little Granny in the driver’s seat, so short she was actually looking through the steering wheel instead of over it. She had to be at least 90 years old as I recall. My Spydee-Senses immediately started to blare out major alarm bells.
I then watched her proceed straight across all three lanes of traffic to get to the U-turn spot on the left, going at about 5 mph…..directly into my lane…where she stopped sideways in the road…. right in front of me!! Since there was a median strip ditch on my left, I had only two choices: slam on the brakes, or, perform an almost full-speed S-turn (right and then left). Since the closing speed between Granny and me was almost 60 mph, I had to go with the S-turn. Also, since she was taking up almost the entire left 2 lanes with her land-barge Buick, I had to S-turn from the Fast Lane 2 lanes over to the Slow Lane, then correct back left. Luckily I am a constant mirror-checker, and I knew the two lanes to the right of me were clear for me to maneuver.
My beautiful, wonderful, fantastic Spyder RTS acted almost like it had a collision avoidance system. I jerked thru that S maneuver at near full speed and the Spyder performed brilliantly, missing Granny’s rear bumper by about 4 inches. Yes, even with the “crappy” OEM Kenda tires and the stock sway bar. I might have seen the VSS light come on (I was a little too busy to really notice). I pulled over at a nearby business to collect myself and a car pulled up next to me. The driver rolled down his window and said…”Dude, I was behind all that, I can’t believe how you avoided getting killed”. All I could do was nod and wave. It took 20 mins sitting there for my hands to stop shaking (and for me to stop cussing).
I rode a HD Fatboy for about 12 years prior to getting the Spyder. I know for sure that if I was on the HD, I would have been road-putty in this situation. They would have been picking pieces of me from Granny’s left rear quarter panel. No way could I have pulled off that maneuver on 2 wheels, and I was a decent rider.
So to those of you that are still awake and reading this, I have 4 things that maybe you want to keep in mind:
1. Scan ahead, do frequent mirror checks, and always be prepared for the most insane, crazy crap to happen….because it WILL happen, and it will happen at the worst possible time and when your attention is at its lowest. It always seems that way anyhow.
2. Keep your Spydee-Senses keen to driver warning signals….like land-barge Buicks driven by very very old people, or teenagers speeding and jerking thru traffic, or that pickup truck driver that you know just has to be drunk….you know the kind of stuff I’m talking about.
3. Do some periodic avoidance maneuver practice with your Spyder. I have a local church parking lot that I go to occasionally just to do some 15-min drills. It’s sorta fun actually, and it may have saved my life.
4. Have a little peace of mind in knowing that in a real pinch, your Spyder can do some pretty incredible things to get you out of a jam.
Safe riding to all!
ray:
