how to get people off your butt while riding your GS

[Chris24]

as i was fixing up my 94 GS, a friend who owned an 04 GS told me about this:

if someone is up on your @$$ following too close, use your foot to push down on the centerstand till it rubbs the street, should put off a nice show of sparks!!!  i imagine the harder you press the more sparks youll get. of course, the stand wont last forever if you keep it up, but imagine itd be pretty effective. at least at night..

people following you will think your bike is about to blow up or that your  KOO KOO! he said he had done it several times and not only did the offending drivers back off, they also changed lanes and got as far away as possible!

anyone ever done this before? share stories! come on, i know a couple of you GS'ers that live close by wanna make a youtube video of this!

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Uhh.. or you'll lever your rear up just enough to highside.

If someone's tailgating.. twist that wrist, and get the hell away from them (And move out of their way ASAP, or they'll just be tailgating you at higher speeds)

While I think the sparks thing is a funny story.. I also think it's pretty stupid. Right up there with carrying pennies in a bag so you can toss em over your shoulder at a windshield. I laugh about it all the time, but I'd never do it.

[makenzie71]

How are you going to highside while riding in a straight line?

[philward]

Sounds to me to be a great way to have a stack - and with someone tailgating you they'll go straight over the top of you.

But hey, it probably will make a lasting impression on them! 

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

How are you going to highside while riding in a straight line?

by levering the rear up and having it move a bit. Not saying it's likely. Just possible. I think it'd be cool to see.. I don't condone it as a method of making tailgaters back off. Besides.. I took my centerstand off long ago.

[makenzie71]

Ok look at it like a rational person:

Ever see people at a fireworks show?  oooooooo aaaaaaaaaa staring blankly at the sparklies.  I don't know about you but putting fireworks in front of an incredibly, in general, easily distracted populace doesn't sound like a good idea.  It's a better sounding idea than when I hear about riders hanging on to d-cell batteries...because I'm sure that ditzy blond in the suburban deserves to be skulled because you think she's in your personal bubble...I cringe when I think about people who talk about doing shaZam! like that while knowing there's folks on the road taking their toddlers to jamboree.

Got a tailgater?  Pull over or into another lane and let them pass.


NGFL...next time you're tootin about a stock gs why don't you see if you can push the centerstand down hard enough to lift a noticeable portion of the bike while seated.  I don't know about the GS, but it'd take considerably more than my 155lbs on the lever to lift my CX up (440lbs wet).  Also, it takes a lot more than a little wiggle to highside.  I could back my TL in like a damn motard when the mood hit me.  There's a lot of things that can happen by doing the centerstand thing, but a highside isn't one of them.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

bahaha.. don't have a stock GS, and don't have a centerstand. And the fireworks thing is a good point.. I didn't really think about that. People are stupid.. don't give them a reason to be even more stupid.

[Chris24]

hehe. so funny to read these replys.

yes the person who told me about this isnt entirely sane. in fact, he is a professional stunter. highchairs, circle wheelies, 180 stoppies, before breakfast...dont get me wrong he IS a crazy dude, but he also has skills...he also has a broken foot at the moment but he has no regrets. this isnt about him though.

he actually said it worked quite well. your not going to highside unless you stomp on that stand with all your weight like you were trying to kickstart a harley. just a tiny bit of contact is enough, dear god...dont try to put the bike ON the stand while rolling down the freeway!!!, just make it rub the road. not hard to figure out...

when i was younger and didnt mind being rediculous, i put about 100 tacks on the bottom of my shoes...id put my feet down (only at slow speeds, like 20ish) and throw sparks. its not like i was trying to stand up, just a gentle scrape. thats all youd have to do on the centerstand, enough for a gentle scrape. im totally going to try it, call me a squid if you want to. 

[Unnamed]

Sparks, as long as it's for just a second or so, should wake someone up. I know when I've been taking a long road trip and someone flicks a butt I always wake up fast. It might not work more than once, and it'll grind down your centerstand, but might work the first time.

[ashman]

I've heard worse ideas.

[ben2go]

Just install a flame thrower kit on the exhaust or get a coil and spark plug.Richen up the mixture a little,wire the coil from one of the ignition pick ups,drill and screww the plug in near the exhaust tip.Oh you'll need a switch to turn the system off when coppers are around.Giver a rev turn it on a poof flames shooting out the back.I used to do that to my old VW beetles that had the stinger exhaust.Burnt a couple plastic front bumpers up.             

[makenzie71]

^haha my TL, when the TRE was off, ran nasty rich 1st through 4th gear.  WOT from 3~11k she spat a pretty blue flame out the pipes...it was a real attention getter...

[spc]

At the local shop, the mechanic was having a hard time convincing a guy his bike was mega rich and needed a re-jet.   Eventually he had me pin the throttle about half open and lit a grill lighter at the exhaust tip.   Flames shot several feet across the shop   The guy was convinced after that

[ohgood]

This has to be some of the worst advice I've read on this forum.

The MSF tells how to deal with unruly drivers.

[bubba zanetti]

This has to be some of the worst advice I've read on this forum.

The MSF tells how to deal with unruly drivers.

I've got no idea what the MSF advice is, but generally if someone is tailgating me I'll activate the brake light's using the front brake, usually this'll work. If they keep tailgating I'll pull over & let them go ahead.

+1000000, with what oh good said.

[RedShift]

Let'em go by turning off to a side road or business parking lot.

Pissing off the tailgater is not the way to go.

[vsboxerboy]

Yeah if someone is tailgating me becasue I'm moving slow because there is another car in front of me that is going slow, I'll motion with my left arm to back off the same way you would to another rider (dont flick the person off).  If there is no one in front of me and I just didn't want to go that fast I'd just pull over, although this has never happened.

Frankly, I don't see what the issue is.  If someone is tailgating you, its a hazard to your life.  Why the hell would you want to let that continue for even a minute longer than possible - just pull over

[Crucialval]

IF someone threw something at my car I would probably runthem over. I'f I made it though the imidiate rage I would follow them and ask them kindly to pay for the damages. I would never tailgate a bike but I could see others haveing the same ideas.

I have been stuck in traffic, I first hit the brakes, that didn't work so I turned around for a second and looked them in the face with my hand out like what the fu#$. that worked

You could jump on the center stand like an ape on an ant but its not going to highside.

[DaxFX]

i will tell you another funny story !
in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico its like the Big Apple (Bank Zone) there ar 1000nd of motorcycle messenger people! i was at the red ligth and them at my side was a motorcyle delivery man . with a rebel 750 the car behind him stop almost above the delivery man, the delivery man went mad and say to the car (come on hit me muther fu..cker)
and you know what, the car hit em ! jejejeje that was funny the delivery man step off the floor and start to insult the old man on the car . the driver of the car was very relax untill the delivery man went close to the window of the car driver, the old man pull out a 357 magnum and step out the car !! hahahahahah ahahahah ahahaha hahahah that was more funny than the hit. the delivery boy run to the floor where was the bike, left the bike from the floor and he was like on a pit on drag race broom broom brooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomm !! it took 2 second for vanish from the red light ....

and for the sparkling thing ... i just hope the center stand never get stuck on a bump or hole ! then you will fly like superman...

[oramac]

Ok, when someone is on your tail, the proper way to deal with that is to increase your following distance from the person in front of you.  That way you have escape routes from any situation either from the front or behind.  More than 90% (per msf) of accidents causes are located between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock in front of you anyway.  If there is a safe location to let them pass, then let them.  If not, don't do anything to distract or anger the driver behind you (sparks), or to compromise your own safety buffer.  Accelerating away from the tailgater will only reduce your forward buffer, and the tailgater will probably close the gap anyway, then you're stuck between two 3000+lb anvils. 

That's the proper way to deal with tailgaters...however, if anyone wants to try the centerstand idea, be sure to share the story!