Just another reason to hate motorcyclists

[pchmotoho]

This really pissed me off so thank you FJR forum for allowing me to vent.

I was going up Decker road, 2 up, on my Hypermotard with one car ahead of me, a pack of 5 Harleys ahead of that car and one other car ahead of the Harleys. Decker Rd is very twisty with not a lot of passing opportunities however they do exsist with just a little patience.

After catching up to the above described caravan I see the Harley riders honking at the vehicle ahead of them and flipping off the driver. This part of the road is very twisty with no shoulder for the driver to pull over. Im just watching this for about a minute or so shaking my head in disbelief. After about another minute or so the Harleys go around the vehicle, while 2 or 3 of them are flipping off the driver.

About 30 secs later the vehicle ahead of me pulls over a little bit, and waves me by while pointing at the Harleys and laughing at them at the same time. I extend a courtesty wave and go around him. 30 seconds later the driver that was so rudely flipped off gives me some room and I go around him as well after giving him a courtesy wave also. Shortly after the Wild Hogs turned left onto Encinal and I continued down Decker. I wouldve bet that they would not have let me pass.

Im not a Harley hater (Ive owned 3 and they do a great job at what they were designed to do) but these guys made us all look like a bunch of idiots. Its hard for us (bike enthusiasts) to understand this but most of the public doesnt know the difference between a Road King and a RZ500. The only thing the flipped off driver of this vehicle knows is that he was treated like **** by a bunch of guys on motorcycles.

 

[SacramentoMike]

Sure that driver was a "he?" Could be the same one who tried to kill me today, still nursing a grudge. She started a left from her stop sign after I started straight across the intersection from mine, approaching her. Guess my SIX front-end lights aren't bright enough.

But yeah, dicks. At least you waved.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I know that road well, it is nasty for passing period. I bet the HDs didn't go much faster than the cage. Those roads are so twisty and the floor boards on the HDs would be dragging all over the place with a little speed.

Maybe they'll only dislike HD riders. It's a bummer and this stuff does happen.

I see you're a local guy of Malibu area. I really like riding those roads and looking for any excuse to get out there and have lunch at Malibu Seafood. Watch for local SoCal rides and come along with us. Usually about once/month we go out. The last few months we've been lazy, summer I guess.

Ride safe.

 

[pchmotoho]

I know that road well, it is nasty for passing period. I bet the HDs didn't go much faster than the cage. Those roads are so twisty and the floor boards on the HDs would be dragging all over the place with a little speed.
Maybe they'll only dislike HD riders. It's a bummer and this stuff does happen.

I see youi're a local guy of Malibu area. I really like riding those roads and looking for any excuse to get out there and have lunch at Malibu Seafood. Watch for local SoCal rides and come along with us. Usually about once/month we go out. The last few months we've been lazy, summer I guess.

Ride safe.

I will. Thanx

 

[redtail]

I think alot of motorcyclists forget that people live along these roads! They don't seem to consider how they would feel if Packs of loud obnoxious motorbikes roared up and down their street early Sunday morning!

I live right at the edge of this pristine rider habitat! So I'd prefer to keep the noise under control and avoid the angry-outlaw biker bull%$#t!

We've come along way towards changing public opinion. How nice would it be if we could get the support needed to make the roads safer for bikes.

We have to stop before the crosswalk stripes. I saw on T.V. where in one country they added a boxed section just before the crosswalk, so that bikes could lane-share to the front of the line and wait in this box for the light to change. Every one of these types of changes would not only make the road safer, but make the public even more likely to watch out for our presence.

The other one I'd like to see would be a bike lane between the 1 and 2 lanes of the freeway! This is where we pretty much do our "lane-sharing" anyway. Something like a 24 inch wide, or a specially patterned stripe painted there to mark it as a bike "lane-share". Just something so drivers would think, and look, before changing lanes.

Of course this brings it back to the riders being responsible for not abusing the privilege with excessive speed!

That's my morning rant! Glad I got that over with!

 

[SDMac]

I think alot of motorcyclists forget that people live along these roads! They don't seem to consider how they would feel if Packs of loud obnoxious motorbikes roared up and down their street early Sunday morning!
I live right at the edge of this pristine rider habitat! So I'd prefer to keep the noise under control and avoid the angry-outlaw biker bull%$#t!

We've come along way towards changing public opinion. How nice would it be if we could get the support needed to make the roads safer for bikes.

We have to stop before the crosswalk stripes. I saw on T.V. where in one country they added a boxed section just before the crosswalk, so that bikes could lane-share to the front of the line and wait in this box for the light to change. Every one of these types of changes would not only make the road safer, but make the public even more likely to watch out for our presence.

The other one I'd like to see would be a bike lane between the 1 and 2 lanes of the freeway! This is where we pretty much do our "lane-sharing" anyway. Something like a 24 inch wide, or a specially patterned stripe painted there to mark it as a bike "lane-share". Just something so drivers would think, and look, before changing lanes.

Of course this brings it back to the riders being responsible for not abusing the privilege with excessive speed!

That's my morning rant! Glad I got that over with!

The converse of flippin' off the Driver is the courtesy that I have often received when doing Group Charity Rides...

When we didn't know exactly where we going in the City of Burlington I appreciated and waved "Thanks" to several cagers that were behind us while we were trying to get into the right turn lane... They saw us as a group of about 15 and slowed up to let us all into the turning lane...

There are some appreciative/courteous cagers out there - so share your Thanks when they offer it up!!

Scott