MC image and how other see us

[cougar8000]

In a recent post about rider going down on person said

Frig me, guys! This is happening waaaaay to much. WTF is it going to take to get these moron cagers to pay f*cking attention and stop mowing riders over. Damn it - there needs to be stricter consequences. "I didn't see him" should not be an allowable excuse. MC riders are discriminated against because of the Hardley dirtbag image.

I just wanted to point out that bad image might have originated in the early days with creation of some groups dominated by certain type of bikes etc. Now days in a political correctness and equal opportunity to screw things up all brands have done their part. Now days it is more of a sport bike problem then any other type specially in the big city.

People say, I never volunteer to be an image for the sport. I leave my own life the way I want to. And they are correct. They did not volunteer nor were delegated by any of us. And they do, we all do, deserve to leave our life the way we want to.

But the fact of life, non motorcycle community does not really care for know if we volunteer or not. They look at us and make their own judgment based on what they see in the split second. Cruiser showing off his newly acquired loud as hell pipe. Sport bike rider in and out of traffic splitting lanes smoking tires. They only exposed to it for a split second, but we all know what first impression can do.

No matter what was the first impression, they still do not have the right to ignore our right of sharing the road. laws are totally inadequate dealing with drivers that do harm others with their cars. be it a motorcycle rider, pedestrian, bicyclist, or another driver that gets injured.

The only outlet that we have readily available to us to do anything about this is to try to project proper image and by doing so change as many people as we can.

Ok. I am coming off my soap box.

please carry on

 

[FJRMGM]

cage drivers don't give other cages any respect so why would they give a puny vehicle like a motorcycle any?

I can't count all the times that lately someone has pulled out of a side road into my path - right in front of me!! And this is while I am in my car..

 

[twowheelnut]

cage drivers don't give other cages any respect so why would they give a puny vehicle like a motorcycle any?
I can't count all the times that lately someone has pulled out of a side road into my path - right in front of me!! And this is while I am in my car..

+ a bazillion! Sadly, I myself, am guilty of 'not seeing' motorcycles while in the cage. Twice now I've come close to hitting bikes. One in my blind spot on the interstate and one in town Scottsdale, AZ - sport bike, no lights on and rider sans helmet - no excuse, but he just blended so well into the surroundings that I just caught sight of him in time for me to mash the brakes and miss him. Big wake up call. Now I find myself checking three and four times before making certain moves...

 

[keithaba]

I am going to mount a tornado siren to my rear fender, Maybe that will help!

 

[dcarver]

It all gets down to the lug nut rule: He with the most lug nuts win; and mo'sickles aint even got one lug nut..

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

That...and that fact that the automobile is all that many people in the U.S. have as "public transportation" -- and most families have several/many of the things -- and, often they're bloated/high center of gravity S.U.V.s (driven by people with little/poor training and ill-suited to the task).

The deck is stacked. :angry2: