First close call on spyder

[Retired 2012]

Just got back from Carlsbad, Ca. about 45 min. away from where I live in Temecula. Was on the east bound side on the 76 freeway.
On the way back, traffic was moving good, about 55-60 mph when a guy in a pick up truck decided (much too late) to make a left hand turn.
He wasn't even in the left turn lane, he just locks up his brakes and tries to force his way into the left turn lane, where there were other cars
already stopped waiting to turn.
The car in between the truck and I couldn't stop and crossed the line into the right lane forcing another car to lockup his breaks and move right on to the shoulder of the road. I had no choice but to stop or hit the truck because the car on my right locked his brakes and his rear slid into mylane, by about a tires width or so.
Thank God for ABS and the VSS system on the F3S. My bike stopped so fast that it felt like the back tire came up off the ground. I don't know if it did but it felt like the back end came down after the front wheels stopped. I stopped straight, no skidding, no rear sliding out to the side. I stopped about 5 feet from the moron's truck. The car behind me stopped about 2 feet from by back tire.
All of this so the guy could make a left turn, no one let him in, he missed the turn light, everyone started honky, so he just decided to go forward to the next street and made a illegal U-turn.
What a a$$hole, he caused a lot of problems and just drove off without a care in the world. Now traffic is stopped in all lanes on our side, amazingly no one was hit, and we slowly started moving forward again, letting everyone get their vehicles back into the appropriate lanes. Speeds start to return to normal and I finally felt like I could take a breath again.
We were all lucky today, if everyone hadn't stopped this could have been a very different and deadly out come.
Glad to be home....:bowdown:
Ride safe and watch out for morons.....:banghead:
DJ

 

[Cruzr Joe]

Glad you are safe.


Cruzr Joe

 

[one2doo]

There is no fix for stupid!

 

[petegtsv10]

Glad everyone went away unscathed. Everyone was lucky.

motorcycles stop quicker than cagers - fortunate u weren't rear ended - credit to cager behind you.

Motorcycles, in general, DO NOT stop faster than cars!!! In addition to that fact, it is easy to stop a modern (ABS, etc.) car near it's full braking potential, while very few motorcycle riders stop well in a panic situation. It is a dangerous sense of security to believe a bike out-stops a car.
EDIT: After this post I looked up some research and found that it didn't completely support my statement. I've owned some incredibly fast stopping cars (M3, 911 Turbo, Viper, ZO6, etc.) whose 60-0 is under 100 feet!! However, an average biker will likely take further to stop than an average car driver do to the skills involved. I know that if I went to a parking lot to practice my braking skills (pre-ABS), many of my attempts were not good. In a car, all of the attempts were good.

 

[Tom in NM]

I will consider that . . . .

Motorcycles, in general, DO NOT stop faster than cars!!!

. . . . . but it doesn't match my feelings or experience.

My Chevy SSR is incredible at braking, but I am pretty sure my F3 is better. Both are better than my other motorcycles, though. In severe and sudden braking, two wheelers are usually out of control and down.

I am sure your statement will be hotly debated here - and, I don't recall this coming up before on SL - so congratulations on coming up with something new for people to weigh in on that isn't about religion, politics, or farkles.

BUT, I am in total agreement on the sense of false security that some people rely on, instead of very defensive driving habits. ( same thing applies to helmets, lights, and dressing in crime scene colors - they may help, but probably a lot less than people think )

Tom

btw, retired2012, glad you handled you F3 well - and those around you did equally well with their vehicles. Glad you are still with us.

 

[Chupaca]

Yikes..!!

Unbelievable the idiots out there...:banghead: glad that you were on three and all made it out of that...:yikes:

 

[RPM]

Unbelievable the idiots out there...:banghead: glad that you were on three and all made it out of that...:yikes:

Yes! That third wheel will save many of us in the future! I'm glad you're safe.

 

[vided]

the key word is AH.:banghead::banghead::banghead::gaah::gaah:
glad your good

 

[bigwhammy]

They are everywhere

the key word is AH.:banghead::banghead::banghead::gaah::gaah:
glad your good[/QUOTe

Sydney NSW Australia has a plague of hundreds of 17 year old girls driving around using there phones to text their friends. It is illegal and they do it all the time.
Some see my Go Pro on my helmet and put the phone down and some just stick their finger up and go back to playing with their phone.
It is hard to stay away from them. I suppose it is the same everywhere - never a cop around when you want one.

Glad to hear that the F3S did what it was designed to do and saved you from some serious injuries.
The THEORETICAL stopping distances for the F3S are a bit better than other Spyders. How did you find the comparison?

 

[den1953]

Thanks and Good for You

This is a wake-up call for me essentially as I've been waffling about getting this Spyder F3 the last couple of weeks. I'll admit I've been also looking at the new Indian motorcycles and considering staying on two wheels. This incident made me aware of how much better the F3 is in a panic situation, not completely safer but much better than a two wheeler. Good you were alert and did what you had to on your F3 and that nobody was hurt. Thank-you for sharing your experience and making me think.

 

[vondalyn]

they're everywhere

Morons are everywhere. Glad you're safe and everyone around you was also paying attention.

 

[ARtraveler]

Glad you are okay. The braking system does work very well. I have used it a couple times myself. On two wheels, one would be doing the dance and picking the bike off the floor or worse.

 

[bruiser]

You were fortunate. A female Spyder rider was involved in a similar situation very recently and it did not turn out good at all. To my knowledge she is still in the hospital. All I know is an SUV cut in front of her and slammed on the brakes. The rider could not stop in time and hit the SUV.

 

[Retired 2012]

Thanks for all the well wishes.

I started replaying it in my head last night, while I did come out fine, I still was thinking like a 2 wheeler.
My first thought was to find a space and accelerate through it, but the car next to me was too close. I also remember grabbing for the front brake.
That slowed my reaction time and added extra feet to my stopping distance.
I need to re-train my thought process or next time I might not fare as well. Just trying to be honest with myself and my abilities...

This is my first spyder, I have had it since late Jan., I felt competent with it. I still have things to learn about it and about riding it.
I see some rider's riding without the full safety gear and I wonder if sub concisely we feel that the third wheel makes us safer.
We don't low side and with VSS and ABS we have a better chance of not high siding. I didn't feel like I was being moved up or
forward so I guess the sitting position of the F3 helped keep me it the saddle. That and my 250 lbs...
I don't know if sitting higher like on a RT would have changed that, or if I would have moved on the saddle.

If nothing else it sure was a reminder that riding anything takes full awareness at all times. I'm glad I wasn't rocking out to "Bob Segar", talking with some one on the phone or checking out a route with gps. Anything else that could have added to my reaction time could have changed the outcome.

O'well that's my .02 cents.

ride safe,
DJ

 

[ingramwc]

Glad you are OK!!!!!!!!Ride safe and be alert, they are out to get us!! :gaah:

 

[grumpybob]

Glad you are save & well. Thank goodness for 3 wide tires & ABS. Ride safe.

 

[OJ UK]

Just as an aside, I had occasion to use my F3-S brakes in anger today and I have to say that they are an
order of magnitude better than the brakes that were on my RS-S...these puppies STOP you!
No lock up, no loss of line, just great.
I'm very happy that the OP is still with us and as someone^^ up there said 'There is no cure for stupid.'

 

[bayoumanPIBE]

Glad to hear your instincts and great bike helped you remain safe...