Some bikers are jerks! I went for an afternoon ride with a good friend and fellow GSer (b_long_1) today. We were enjoying the ride, the day, and the finally DRY weather here in SE Ohio--and admittedly playing hooligan on some of the seldom travelled state routes. :laugh: Anyway, with my buddy leading the path of his choosing for this rare pre-work riding opportunity, we come up on a couple of guys on cruisers--riding side by side at 35 MPH. This is something I've never encountered before in my several months of riding. A car at 35 yes, other bikes, NO. At every passing zone we'd come to I'd anticipate passing and as my friend would begin to speed up, the cruiser riders would both speed up ONLY if we made any attempt to pass. :mad: The rider nearest the center line would even drift left of center to take up more space! :mad: :mad: I just don't get it. :dunno_white: By the time we got to our next turn off on our desired route--which coincidentally, these guys were taking as well, our pace had allowed for another group of about half a dozen or so cruisers to turn in front of them and us. Needless to say, we chose NOT to turn off and modified our route a bit. Despite a longer and unfamiliar route frequently littered with gravel and cinders, I'm sure we made it back home quicker than if we'd stayed with THAT group! BUT WHY ARE PEOPLE LIKE THEY ARE?! :mad:
For sake of NOT initiating any FURTHER controversy, I'll not mention the brand of cycles these un-geared squids were riding--though most will probably already have a pretty good guess.
I am the aforementioned fellow GSer. I just have a couple of things to add. The alternate route we took was not unknown to me, but i did not want to take it because we have had a lot of rain lately. when it rains cinders and gravel tend to accumulate in the middle of said route. We did take it though because we thought it would be better than following the clowns on cruisers. Why would anyone act like that? Did they not like the gstwins or did they not like us because we were wearing full gear? i couldn't believe it I thought riders were supposed to look out for each other. maybe they are an exception to the rule. I hope we don't have anything like this happen again.
Some people are just assholes............
One day they'll do it with a pissed off cop around that'll go all the way and arrest them under road rage laws (attempting to prevent someone from passing falls into this category 99% of the time) til then just keep taking the high ground as you did.
Edit: There is quite obviously no legal advice being dispensed, but I will digress and clarify. Information referred to above should obviously be verified through your own state's proper authorities, though I fail to see any real relevance as this is not actually advice. Hell, maybe next time the HD rider will be paying too much attention to being a duck to the rider behind him and lose control, run off the road and injur no one but himself in the process. Just because you are arrested for something does not mean there is a solid case.
From personal experience, I have seen a person arrested and convicted under 'road rage' statutes for attempting to block a pass. He received heavy fines and 6 points on his license that ultimately cause his driving privileges to be suspended. Most states only require that there be the presumption of malice in the offending drivers actions.
Again guys, props to you for just finding another route and avoiding any further possible problems.
got a link to that definition of road rage law?
retracting because I was being a duck.
voluntarily retracted because i as well was being a duck too :oops: :cheers: <---------- peace offering
Just split them(pass in between). They'll never catch you in the twisties.
You can call me a duck if you like but I do it to rude ass clowns in cruisers who pull that crap with me.
Of course having enough bike to make it stick authoritatively helps.
yeah, the actual passing power would really help from the bigger twins that they've got out there. We have no balls in the straights but they'll never in a million years catch up in the twisties. Should've double yellow passed them anyway and gone at a save spot. No need to be that way to a fellow biker and they can take one in the keister if they act like that on a public road. I don't mind low and slow but thats a bunch of crap.
Paintball gun holsters on your GS would've been really nice in that situation!! ;) :icon_lol: I don't understand why some folks are like that. Some people just have to try and impress on everyone that they have the bigger balls. Fuggin assholes. They have to stroke their ego's by not allowing another rider to pass. They probably had a good laugh about it when they got to where they were going. One day someone will return the favor. I'm sorry, but the high road is blocked off entirely when someone is being that much of an ass to me. I can get right down there with them. I don't mind being called the ass after it's all said and done. I like to know that they weren't able to derive any pleasure out of the situation at all. Paintball gun would have been really nice.....
Paintball gun would have been a blast until you realized that theirs wasn't shooting paint balls :cookoo:
Quote from: theUBS on July 06, 2008, 10:32:04 PM
Some bikers are jerks! I went for an afternoon ride with a good friend and fellow GSer (b_long_1) today. We were enjoying the ride, the day, and the finally DRY weather here in SE Ohio--and admittedly playing hooligan on some of the seldom travelled state routes. :laugh: Anyway, with my buddy leading the path of his choosing for this rare pre-work riding opportunity, we come up on a couple of guys on cruisers--riding side by side at 35 MPH. This is something I've never encountered before in my several months of riding. A car at 35 yes, other bikes, NO. At every passing zone we'd come to I'd anticipate passing and as my friend would begin to speed up, the cruiser riders would both speed up ONLY if we made any attempt to pass. :mad: The rider nearest the center line would even drift left of center to take up more space! :mad: :mad: I just don't get it. :dunno_white: By the time we got to our next turn off on our desired route--which coincidentally, these guys were taking as well, our pace had allowed for another group of about half a dozen or so cruisers to turn in front of them and us. Needless to say, we chose NOT to turn off and modified our route a bit. Despite a longer and unfamiliar route frequently littered with gravel and cinders, I'm sure we made it back home quicker than if we'd stayed with THAT group! BUT WHY ARE PEOPLE LIKE THEY ARE?! :mad:
For sake of NOT initiating any FURTHER controversy, I'll not mention the brand of cycles these un-geared squids were riding--though most will probably already have a pretty good guess.
Why 35 mph ? I'm betting on them being drunk. Sorry all you normally sober cruiser types, but allot of your brethren like to booze it up and then ride slow as tar. I've seen it, it's scary.
Why 35 mph version 2 ? Because they can't ride for shaZam! ? Can't take a turn, can't lean it over without falling ? Got me.
Why 35 mph version 3 ? Because they're just plain jerks. Simple as that.
Occasionally I'll happen upon some cruisers out for a day of sun n fun on their V-noises. Most of them see you in their mirror (if they HAVE a functioning mirror) and eventually realize that the twisties are where you get closer, and allow you to pass. Some even wave. Most just appear to swear at you as you pass for whatever reason. Guess they own the road or something. :)
why did you not just gear down and pass them? any cruiser and i mean any can not keep up with a gs geared and ridden properly. jus start from about 5 car lengths behind them and yip you are by. i know how frustrating it must have been for you
I really thought about gearing down and blasting past them yellow lines be damned. But i was not only thinking of me but my fellow GSer. If I had blown past them and pissed them off what would they do? Did he have time to make it too or would they have done something more stupid? I know they couldn't take the turns very well and maybe the one in front was drunk that's why he kept going left of center.
Quote from: spc on July 07, 2008, 07:39:26 AM
Paintball gun would have been a blast until you realized that theirs wasn't shooting paint balls :cookoo:
Yea.. bringing a paintball "gun" to a gun fight isn't a good idea :cookoo: You pull one on me and I shoot ya w/ my 40. , I bet I get away w/ it :2guns:
Yup, same principal as has been seen many times when a LEO mistakenly shoots someone wielding some sort of 'fake' gun. Just not a good idea to pull out anything that looks like a gun around people your are unfamiliar with.
Quote from: b_long_1 on July 07, 2008, 11:30:48 AM
I really thought about gearing down and blasting past them yellow lines be damned. But i was not only thinking of me but my fellow GSer. If I had blown past them and pissed them off what would they do? Did he have time to make it too or would they have done something more stupid? I know they couldn't take the turns very well and maybe the one in front was drunk that's why he kept going left of center.
It would be nice to have some of those intercom helmets... I was cruising in 3rd gear and ready to rip. :cookoo: :dunno_white: :icon_mrgreen:
Quote from: spc on July 07, 2008, 04:46:38 PM
Yup, same principal as has been seen many times when a LEO mistakenly shoots someone wielding some sort of 'fake' gun. Just not a good idea to pull out anything that looks like a gun around people your are unfamiliar with.
Not speaking seriously...I think we would have been okay with paintball guns. These redneck squids weren't wearing enough gear to conceal anything behind! :laugh: All the same, aside from not having the satisfaction of passing them, I think we played it as best we could.
Quote from: theUBS on July 07, 2008, 08:43:57 PM
Quote from: b_long_1 on July 07, 2008, 11:30:48 AM
I really thought about gearing down and blasting past them yellow lines be damned. But i was not only thinking of me but my fellow GSer. If I had blown past them and pissed them off what would they do? Did he have time to make it too or would they have done something more stupid? I know they couldn't take the turns very well and maybe the one in front was drunk that's why he kept going left of center.
It would be nice to have some of those intercom helmets... I was cruising in 3rd gear and ready to rip. :cookoo: :dunno_white: :icon_mrgreen:
Hand signals :dunno_white: circular motion indicating around with an emphatic chop to announce your intended travel followed by a tap of the tail section follow me. Thumb up the leader calling for the pass and then bang it out. I prefer passing on the inside of a left hander on exit when I can see far enough to get the pass in then hammer on till my partner has room to slot in then its knees and elbows in the turns to widen the gap.
I usually add insult to injury by powering the front up when driving out of the apex in first gear around 70mph while still hanging off the bike and giving a wave to the passed harleys.
Quote from: bettingpython on July 07, 2008, 09:08:51 PM
I usually add insult to injury by powering the front up when driving out of the apex in first gear around 70mph while still hanging off the bike and giving a wave to the passed harleys.
70MPH in 1st? You upgrade to a Busa? :icon_mrgreen:
thanks for the advice bettingpython. We are both noobs and this is something we will work on for the future. hand signals I should have thought of that. I did think of one for the cruisers. :flipoff:
Quote from: ohgood on July 07, 2008, 08:08:31 AM
Quote from: theUBS on July 06, 2008, 10:32:04 PM
Why 35 mph ? I'm betting on them being drunk. Sorry all you normally sober cruiser types, but allot of your brethren like to booze it up and then ride slow as tar. I've seen it, it's scary.
Why 35 mph version 2 ? Because they can't ride for shaZam! ? Can't take a turn, can't lean it over without falling ? Got me.
Why 35 mph version 3 ? Because they're just plain jerks. Simple as that.
Occasionally I'll happen upon some cruisers out for a day of sun n fun on their V-noises. Most of them see you in their mirror (if they HAVE a functioning mirror) and eventually realize that the twisties are where you get closer, and allow you to pass. Some even wave. Most just appear to swear at you as you pass for whatever reason. Guess they own the road or something. :)
ive seen drunk sportbike riders do the same thing. others were DUMB enough to try and be a stunna' while inebriated. hell one tried to do a stoppie at a police roadblock. LOL he failed . dropped it like a bad habit
Quote from: theUBS on July 07, 2008, 09:30:18 PM
70MPH in 1st? You upgrade to a Busa? :icon_mrgreen:
If your that new as riders then not blowing off the hardleys was probably the better decision, listening to me can get you in trouble.
Blech.....
Far too stable a platform for my liking. CBR954RR handles like a 600 power like a liter. Actually 70 is a stretch in first rev limiter is at 75.
Work on those hand signals.
One of the best articles I have ever read about riding in groups on the street and street riding for motorcycles. You 2 be safe and wear your gear :thumb:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/flashback/122_0911_the_pace_nick_ienatsch/index.html
In all my years of riding I have found one thing to be especially true, call it stereotyping or what not but multiple examples proves it out to be true in my experiences.
Most H.D. Riders have a better than thou attitude and thus ride the road like they own it, heck the act like HD ownership gives an automatic right to ride like an outlaw or H.A.
Many Many Years ago, being young and stupid I decided to call out this behavior, it didn't necessarily go all that well.
1 day while riding with my brother who at that time rode a VTX1800, we came upon 2 Billy Bad Ass's on HD's who were riding side by side at a bit more than idle. The speed limit on the road was 45MPH, road conditions were excellent, light traffic, wide lanes, desolate area. As soon as they HD Pukes saw a Jap Cruiser and Rice Rocket (GSXR750SRAD) behind them they took on a defensive, and even slower pace? Sure we pushed them a bit, rode there back tire, even signaling for them to move to the right so we could pass and maintain the speed limit, all to no avail.
Being young, dumb and full of a Come Get Me attitude, I decided to wick it up a bit. Being that the Gixxer was like riding a 2 stroke dirt bike I made the foolish mistake to lift up a wheelie at around 45MPH and split these 2 riders down the middle while my front tire was pointing to the sky, under hard acceleration. Though I didn't get to see their faces at that moment I soon would. After wheeling through them I rocketed off down the road noticing my brother crossed the double yellows when he could and was catching up to me, cool I thought. Well about 10 miles up the road I got caught behind a RV and then at a set of lights, low and behold the HD riders had upped their pace and pulled in right behind us, yelling, gesturing and out for blood. Once underway again the slow traffic allowed for them to get real close and they started kicking at our bikes and trying to run us off the road, my brother having a hot head gestured for them to pull of, and so it began, all 4 of us pull into a empty parking lot. Before I knew it my brother was off his bike and had the bigger of the 2 by the throat before he could even get his kickstand down, screaming something about if you feel frogy Jump. By this time I too was off the bike and ready to rock but now all of a sudden #2 HD rider was back talking trying to diffuse the situation, seems like HD ownership didn't give him a spine once the bike was shut down. I laid into them about blocking the road and purposefully blocking our paths and their general holier than thou attitude. I apologized for the wheelie but explained that they goaded me into it and I would do the same all over again. With the very real prospect of a beating neither of these guys were disagreeing with anything we said.
Yes I was wrong, and now I know better but these 2 squids just had that ATTITUDE, like I paid way way to much for this, I have the patch and HD jacket so be dammed to all those that challenge my HD God like status and at that moment, on that day, I wasn't going to stand for it.
It could have gone a lot worse, but it didn't....Heck I'm good friends with a few Hells Angels and have even rode a bit with them to some parties and they don't ride like tools. Sure they have their own unique attitudes but the group I rode with were completely safe and abide by the rules of the road without causing issues or riding like they own the earth. So maybe not all HD riders ride like dicks, the majority do.
Thanks for the advice and the stories guys. We always wear our gear. I probably wouldn't have in my younger wilder days. I work in a hospital and have seen the outcome of not wearing gear. No thanks! Back to the guys on cruisers, I could see the situation escalating in my mind to a situation similar to that of Fry's. The fact is I had to go to work and didn't have the time to waste on stupid people.
Jerks will be jerks. Avoiding them is good policy. The one time I had a similar situation was in a cage - and as I pulled in from finally passing the jackass that had been blocking me for 20 miles, Mr. State Trooper comes along the other way and clocks me. Didn't give a rat's ass about the behavior of the idiot that was going 30 in a 55 except anytime when I tried to pass. Gave me a nice fat ticket. Turn around and go a different way...
Most of the HD folks around here don't fit the "rice-hating drooling idiot" stereotype. Get a few non-wavers, but heck, sometimes I'm busy and don't manage a wave, either. Mostly I do, and they do, and we get along just fine. Had one on either side in the inspection station this spring - both perfectly nice guys.
I never got the Wave thing myself?
I understand the common bond, but when I'm out on the bike I could give a flying F*** about any other person or the mode of transportation or enjoyment they partake in, but hey thats just me. Plus you get that Icky feeling when you bust out a half assed wave, and get none in return....
I think waving falls in the "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand..." category.
(the original, rather than the co-opting as a marketing slogan).
Hair in the wind, the bonding with the machine, feelling in tune with each and every curve in the road, sharing a right of passage that only some try, yeah I get that part, but generally speaking I'm not a joyous person.
I got into a similar situation in a cage one time. I did the same thing just got past an idiot doing 30 in a 55 and waiting was a cop. He wasn't a state patrol but a town cop. He busted me for 70. I was just passing through and thought I'll never be in this town again so I decided not to pay the ticket or appear in their little court. I later decided to pay when they sent me a notice in the mail that a warrant had been issued for my arrest.