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General Category >> The Cafe >> Left turn in front of me today.
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Message started by Boofer on 07/29/13 at 21:52:32

Title: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by Boofer on 07/29/13 at 21:52:32

Well I dodged, literally, the big one today. Good pavement. Downhill about 45 mph. I was looking into the sun late evening but no trouble seeing. Church on right with two entrances/exits about 100' apart. Three cars and a truck were headed toward me, truck in front. I got that feeling of danger we old guys get sometimes when the Ranger PU turned on his left blinker. He was probably more afraid of being rear ended than watching for me, all lit up by the sun. Sure enough, he turned right across in front of me. He stopped across the lane with no pavement left for me, BUT HE DID STOP and let me work it out. By then I had a handful of front disc and I don't even remember pumping the rear, but it squealed briefly. I was headed straight for his door when the front started to mush, so I let go of the brakes and drove around him on the slick asphalt and loose sand of the driveway. I just shook my head and kept going. He didn't see me and I would guess his wife saved me by shouting at him. The point here is I WAS HEADED INTO THE SIDE OF THAT TRUCK , but experience gained riding dirt years ago made me drive around an impossible situation. Keep good tires on your bike and practice dodging items placed in an empty parking lot. You will learn to trust your instincts and the severe lean angles required to dodge danger. And please don't start the stuff about kicking doors and fighting. I'm not mad. Just grateful. :)

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/29/13 at 22:28:56

Ya done GOOD!,, Hard to do anything but grab brakes & pray,, you kept thinking,

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by Serowbot on 07/29/13 at 22:32:12

Stay flexible... do yoga...
;D...

Glad yer' okay...

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by old_rider on 07/30/13 at 00:49:09

Gotta love ol' dirt bike days... taught you well grasshopper! Me too.....in tight spots of no return, let the bike angle equal the turn and stay on top! keep the front wheel pointed where you want to go and let instincts take over....ever hear of drifting? you drift all of 3 seconds...brake slows you down, gas makes you go right/left and somehow you end up past the head on....how did that happen? I'll never know...but it worked for me... :-/

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by Dave on 07/30/13 at 04:48:13

You did good......it sure is scary when that happens and you think about how fast your life can drastically change.

I often wonder how many street riders are inept at using the front brake when they need it. Like you I spent a great deal of my youth riding and racing in the dirt, and learning how to use the front brake. Without the front brake those steep muddy downhills would have been improssible, and when racing the ability to go deep into the corner with some really hard braking was a common method of passing. I still hone that skill on my trials motorycle, and every time I stop on my Savage the front brake is used. I can't help but feel that people that learned to ride on the street are missing that skill....I am not sure how you learn that skill on the street.

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by Pine on 07/30/13 at 05:59:56

Its ALWAYS good to hear when an accident is avoided. I have to admit I am a little shaken by the guy I met in Chattanooga... 3 bike wrecks and he has had to give up riding.
Split skull... with big ole scar from eye to scalp
Pins in left leg
cracked vertebra

I really do not want to end up like him.

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by ToesNose on 07/30/13 at 06:16:42

Way to keep a cool head, glad you emerged unscathed ;)

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/30/13 at 06:45:44

0F36313A2B302D5F0 wrote:

I try to get their stories, when I meet them, I hope to learn how to not get like them,

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by RatdogWillie on 07/30/13 at 07:03:32

Congratulations for avoiding a tragedy and for being level headed and understanding and for not kicking doors and resorting to violence.

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by chiguy on 07/30/13 at 19:03:32

It seems easy to get upset at other drivers when things like this happens, but it is certainly a factor that the other drivers really don't "see" motorcycles. I think there is a name for that phenomenon (I don't recall it right now), but the mind sometimes doesn't perceive what it is not expecting or looking for. I think we've all seen one or another of those videos where you count the times a team passes a basketball, and some guy in a gorilla suit walks into the middle and waves, but you never see him because you're concentrating on the other action.

There was one time a couple years back where I was riding east (sun was high so not a factor) in a 4 lane divided highway, and someone was in a left turn lane, stopped, ready to turn in front of me. At the point of no return, I saw them start to go. The only thought running through my head was that of buying the farm - there was really no time to do much of any maneuver (and I won't claim to be overly adept at extreme maneuvers anyway.) But all of a sudden, the car stopped, and I passed by without incident. I've always thought that what happened was that they didn't "see" me, but at the last moment, in the back of their brain, something said, "hey, what's that really bright orange thing - that's not supposed to be there", and they realized they should stop. When I ride, I always wear a super bright neon orange armored jacket, and I'm convinced that wearing something so highly visible just might have saved my bacon that day.

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by ZAR on 07/30/13 at 20:00:26

Good deal Boofer! Glad you came out ok.

Dave......the thing about the front brake is that when I learned to ride "way back when", it was accepted as fact that the front brake "will get ya killed" and should be left alone. Many scoots even had the front brake removed.

The MSF Rider Education course I took three years ago taught me how to use AND control the front brake. Now it's 90% front brake for me,even in the rain!

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by Borracho on 07/30/13 at 22:27:10

Glad you are safe, Boofer.

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by WD on 07/31/13 at 09:12:37

5E4556040 wrote:

I still rely on the rear brake. If my bike had a nice set of tls drums front and rear, I'd be more inclined to use the brakes as a pair. The sls stock drum is a joke, but the front brake on mine is worse tan the rear, so... Never has worked right, even with EBC pads instead of the stock ones.

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/01/13 at 01:49:39

Whats the deal w/ your front brake WD?

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by MMRanch on 08/01/13 at 08:48:13

We burryed a frind of mine Wensday couse someone turned left in a blind curve infront of his yhama 1300. He laided the bike down and then the bike fliped sideways throwing him hard into the pavement then he bounced into the car with the bike crashing into the car right behing him. Killed him instantly. :(

????

Makes me shudder at the thought of all the blind curves out there and driving too fast around them !

How about those bikes with double front disk that will pick-up the rear tire when applied ??? "REAL BREAKING POWER" ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Left turn in front of me today.
Post by WD on 08/01/13 at 15:54:50

253A3C3B2621102010283A367D4F0 wrote:

Whats the deal w/ your front brake WD?

Improperly tempered, too high a Rockwell scale rating. The pads, regardless of brand or compound, don't help much over 35 mph. Under 35, works, sort of... Over 35 they just make noise, even having the rotor surfaced did nothing to help.