FrogmanDave
Active member
Imagine you are on your Spyder when this happens... that would hurt for sure!
-
There were many reasons for the change of the site software, the biggest was security. The age of the old software also meant no server updates for certain programs. There are many benefits to the new software, one of the biggest is the mobile functionality. Ill fix up some stuff in the coming days, we'll also try to get some of the old addons back or the data imported back into the site like the garage. To create a thread or to reply with a post is basically the same as it was in the prior software. The default style of the site is light colored, but i temporarily added a darker colored style, to change you can find a link at the bottom of the site.
Imagine you are on your Spyder when this happens
- Thread starter GFrog
- Start date
mecsw500
Member
I got hit on my Spyder when a crash on the opposite side of I-15 threw the debris of the front of a car over the high cement divider while I was in the outside commuter lane. It smashed up the underside of the trike and tore a tire to shreds. Fortunately the nanny kept the whole plot stable so I could pull off into the left hand shoulder. Never saw it coming, it just flew over the 4 foot high divider and appeared right in front of me, no time to react at all, just like that sheet of plywood. It was a front fender, radiator and a whole bunch of cooling system of a car that just appeared, one second earlier and it would have taken my head off.
grumpyoldretiredcop
New member
The closest I've come to that is years ago in SoCal; a pickup truck lost a mattress. I was riding a CB750 at the time and just had enough time to stand up on the pegs and lean back. It was an interesting couple of seconds but the bike rode over the mattress.
It's not just following distance, though. Some years ago, my wife and I were at the I80/I5 interchange in Sacramento and a truckload of tomatoes pulled up in the lane to our right as we negotiated a curve to the right. The truck was overloaded and tomatoes began rolling off the trailer into our path! I had no lane change option and could not speed up either due to a vehicle in front of us. The only thing we could do was slow down and get behind the truck to avoid being bombarded and having to ride over slippery smashed tomatoes. The driver, all ignorant (or uncaring, probably the latter) proceeded on his merry way despite a chorus of horn honking from vehicles as he passed. After making our way though the interchange, I was able to lane change and pass him. I waved but don't remember how many fingers I might have used...
Another that didn't directly involve me was riding home in the #1 lane of Highway 101 in the North SF Bay after a shift with the law enforcement agency I worked for. Someone lost a garden shovel onto the road surface somewhere between the #2 and #3 lanes. As car tires ran over the business end of the shovel, it would spin up into the air higher than the roofs of vehicles (step on one and you'll see what I mean!), then come crashing down. It caused a "stepper" chain of sequential rear-end collisions with injuries when a driver braked to avoid the airborne garden gear. Despite being off-duty I stopped and worked the scene as best I could until CHP showed up and it wasn't fun - no radio and this was before cell phones were common.
The point is, pay attention to what's beside and behind you as well as in front!
It's not just following distance, though. Some years ago, my wife and I were at the I80/I5 interchange in Sacramento and a truckload of tomatoes pulled up in the lane to our right as we negotiated a curve to the right. The truck was overloaded and tomatoes began rolling off the trailer into our path! I had no lane change option and could not speed up either due to a vehicle in front of us. The only thing we could do was slow down and get behind the truck to avoid being bombarded and having to ride over slippery smashed tomatoes. The driver, all ignorant (or uncaring, probably the latter) proceeded on his merry way despite a chorus of horn honking from vehicles as he passed. After making our way though the interchange, I was able to lane change and pass him. I waved but don't remember how many fingers I might have used...
Another that didn't directly involve me was riding home in the #1 lane of Highway 101 in the North SF Bay after a shift with the law enforcement agency I worked for. Someone lost a garden shovel onto the road surface somewhere between the #2 and #3 lanes. As car tires ran over the business end of the shovel, it would spin up into the air higher than the roofs of vehicles (step on one and you'll see what I mean!), then come crashing down. It caused a "stepper" chain of sequential rear-end collisions with injuries when a driver braked to avoid the airborne garden gear. Despite being off-duty I stopped and worked the scene as best I could until CHP showed up and it wasn't fun - no radio and this was before cell phones were common.
The point is, pay attention to what's beside and behind you as well as in front!
IdahoMtnSpyder
Active member
There are three places you never want to be on the road; behind a semi, alongside a semi, and in front of semi. This is stressed in "No Zone" training, i.e., riding your motorcycle in the vicinity of a semi. If you need to pass a semi get in the other lane, stay back and wait for space to open up in ahead of him. Don't worry about the hot heads behind you who want you to get out of their way. When it's clear kick your bike in the ass and pass him as fast as you can. I've gone up to 90+ to get past a semi quick. Flying tread pieces, i.e., "road gators", can kill. You don't want to invite them into your path by driving too closely to a semi.
Gwolf
Well-known member
I just missed a bed mattress that was tied on a car in front of me on a Harley Sportster. Friend of mine was riding about 20 feet behind me and to my left on a two lane.I went to the extreme right side of the lane and just missed the mattress. My friend on an Indian Scout went into the other lane, since no cars were coming from the other direction. It was pretty high pucker factor. The dumbass that lost his mattress didn't seem to even know it came off. He just kept on going. Maybe he just didn't want to know it came off.
Similar threads
