Don't be a soft chicken, nearly crashing is half the fun.

Sounds like a close call. But... this is my first years tally here in Portland, where the drivers might be said to be relatively sane. Ive had no double-lane assassination attempts, but have had:

three blind lanechanges into me, one at high speed at night
Countless shitty pull-outs or near pull-outs into lane, one resulting in near collision
Four incidences of skidding on my part
One total freeway crash http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=31307.0
One barely-executed stop for pedestrians
Two drops on first day
Three knockovers while I was away
One pullover
A partridge in a pear tree
etc.

To stop riding or to ride only at times of your choosing is a totally sane, mature, and respectable decision. On the other hand, riding your GS for the rest of your life is probably statistically safer than having gone to Iraq. 

I understand your concerns and I'm sure everyone does. I'm about to commute to work 25 miles on interstate mostly in traffic. The stop and go stuff scares the shaZam! out of me, four lanes and any fool could cut me off or stop short at any time. I intentionally read all the stories posted on here about near misses and loved ones lost to keep fresh in my mind that I can never let my guard down. The only thing I can do to help reduce the risk is try being more easily seen and driving defensively.  I flash my brights like mad when I'm coming up on cars that arnt moving, also I flash my rear brake in four or five times followed by a long pulse until I see the car behind beginning to stop. I even swerve around my lane sometimes, I don't care if the cars around me think oh geez look at this @$$hole. The point is they remember, that ass is over there, I'm staying away from him. G'luck.


-ash

You'd have to change your name, dude.

Quote from: Chuck on January 08, 2007, 07:12:42 AM
You'd have to change your name, dude.

LOL yeah your right.

I've had plenty of time to think and will have more once I get the bike apart for the front end swap, rear wheel swap, shock swap ect, ect. I'm a rider at heart and I know that. I'm going to get the bike ready for a track day next month. Its good to have people in a community like our who can give good input on issues like this. Everyone in my family was estatic once I mentioned not riding even to the point of one member buying my bike to crush it...  But as everyone has said the decision is mine and your right we take some form of risk every day.

I'm glad to hear you're not giving up completely. I know my family never wanted me to buy a bike. Then after my first wreck, they hoped I'd get rid of the bike. After the 2nd, which was extremely minor, they thought I'd quit. After the last one, at 60mph into a guard rail, they thought I'd have to be crazy to get back on a bike. They thought I'd sell mine, pay to fix Dave's, and be done with the sport. But I love it. Even with the dangers from the cagers, I can't get enough of being on 2 wheels. It's been a month and a half since I rode, and I'm getting itchy. I go out back and sit on my bike at every opportunity, just cuz it's fun. I'm watching 50 different things on ebay to try to pick up the few necessary parts (like a CHAIN!). I am more determined than ever to get back on two. And I hope to see you back on two someday. Plus, I'm from Naples, originally, so when I get back to Florida, we have to ride together!

One thing that I think of is that if I didn't ride every day I wouldn't get used to the kind of driving that goes around in my area.  That experience goes a long way to keeping me alive.

Quote from: scratch on January 08, 2007, 11:42:46 AM
One thing that I think of is that if I didn't ride every day I wouldn't get used to the kind of driving that goes around in my area.  That experience goes a long way to keeping me alive.

I agree.  When I started riding, I made the choice to ride every day to gain experience, knowledge of the bike, and knowledge of traffic patterns.  I can tell when someone is going to switch lanes without signaling, fail to yield, attempt to pass, and pose various other dangers to myself often times before they commit the act.  I ride with a worst case scenario mind frame.  I've noticed that most fair weather, weekend, bump and feel riders do not look at it the same way.  They are focused more on the thrill and excitement.

Ride Safe and Ride Daily