| Author | Message | ||
     Mookie |
I've only owned my xb9 for a week now. I dont recall ever seeing anyone on a buell before i got it. then all of a sudden, I find an x1 parked on the next block, a xb9s on the block after that. | ||
| Freyke |
It's called the Yellow Volkswagen Bug Syndrome...... you never notice it until you own one... That's somewhat unfortunate as not all drivers have owned a motorcycle.... Get what I mean?... | ||
| Chainsaw |
...yeah...all too well Freyke! Even when I have a cager staring directly at me, I'm invisible. They just go right ahead and pull on out in front of me... | ||
| Darthane |
You, know, this sounds really stupid, but it works. Point at them. They can't see your face, they can't hear you yelling, your horn, your muffler, but I swear to God, when I see a cage that I think is contemplating dashing out in front of me I give them my best parent 'You are NOT going to do what I THINK you're going to do!' point. And they never do. | ||
| Mookie |
yes. I was headed to american yesterday and some woman pulled out to cross into the turnaround and i did that and she stopped in her tracks. imagine the results if i used a different finger | ||
| Freyke |
I tend to flash/modulate my passing beam rapidly when approaching dubious intersections (Those that allow left hand turns while supposedly yielding to oncoming traffic). Esp. when I see cars queing up for a left.... kk//kef | ||
| Darthane |
LOL...actually, I'd be willing to bet that using another finger would cause the opposite result. Pointing at them like that seems to invoke the desired 'kid with his hand in the cookie jar' reflex action of guilt...flipping them off will just get you run over. Case in point, some guy decided he wanted my lane on I-94 the other day. Didn't even look, so I squirted ahead of him and flipped him off. He went BERSERK. That was the first time I've truly feared road rage. He followed me all through the construction, so close that I could not see anything but his minivan. A couple times I even lane hopped to get away from him to no avail. He simply followed me anyways, no matter how small the hole in traffic was I went through. When the contruction cleared and we went back to 3+ lanes, I just kept right on going, ignoring him until he sped around me. Later, approaching my destination I started swapping lanes to avoid the increasing traffic, passed him (me in the right lane, him in the left), and the whole thing started all over again and he didn't quit until I pulled off the freeway. Apparently seeing me moving faster than him was more than his peabrained head could take. And I guarantee none of this would have happened if I'd just given him the evil eye or squawked my horn instead of giving him the bird. Bryan | ||
| Mookie |
flashing the brights makes me nervous, kinda like flashing brights to another at a 4 way stop telling them to go ahead. | ||
| Mookie |
point taken allthough i kinda thought about that allready. having 2 kids makes me have to stop and consider consequences nowadays.  | ||
| Glitch |
I go from high beam to low beam back and forth, if I think I'm not getting the attention I deserve. With the XB9S going from high to low, back and forth makes the lights alternate left and right. If they look or even glance they see me coming or at least I more than hope so edited by Glitch on August 22, 2003 | ||
| Prof_stack |
Compared to my (police look-alike) Harley E-Glide, the XB9s is rather stealthy. The big twin usually gets me a pocket of no traffic as the cars behind slowly creep up on what they think is an Electra-Glide in Blue. Nice. But having once been almost run over by a van while on my (former) Blast, I started wearing brighter colored clothing. No more all-black. The reflector strip is great. Great idea on the finger pointing, if you have time and aren't too aggressive. Headlights? I use low beam and hit the flicker switch to flash on and off the high beam. Sometimes I wish the XB's had a single 7 or 8 inch round headlight. | ||
| Tripper |
Flashing is used to signal "go ahead" sometimes. I don't do it. Headlights on high beam all day long unless following on the interstate. And PLEASE make sure your turn signal is OFF. I'm convinced that many of the cage turning left in our path incidents could be traced back to this commom error. | ||
| Glitch |
PLEASE make sure your turn signal is OFF I do believe yer right on this one. How many times has someone pulled out in front of a bike taking for granted the bike is gonna turn because of a left on signal? More times than we'd like to admit I sure... | ||
| Metalstorm |
I agree with Tripper. Where I'm from, flashing the lights at someone is to give them the go ahead to come into your lane. It's a courtesy to truck drivers and such. I like Darthane's "pointing" technique. I'm gonna have to try that. Though I will always have the "evasive maneuvers" at the ready  | ||
| Gonen60 |
The bad thing about the "pointing technique" is, its better to have both hands on the bars in case you need to make an evasive move. I keep one finger on the clutch, one on the front brake and my foot near the shifter. I will point out also, the horn on My XB is the loudest horn I have ever had on any motorcycle I have owned. | ||
| Chainsaw |
Diverging from the original topic, but my personal jedi mind trick for not being killed in traffic.... I think of my self as Neo, living in the Matrix. Mr. Smith is out to kill me. He could be the soccer mom in the minivan, the backwards hat wearing kid in the Civic, or the burly guy in a pickup covered with Harley stickers. Awareness keeps my ass alive. Riding gear has my back. Just 'cause their looking right at me doesn't mean they see me. Anticipate and evade. Just 'cause I'm paranoid, doesn't mean that they're not out to get me!!! } | ||
| Dmuz |
The force is strong with this one.  It's a shame that we have to ride like everyone is TRYING to run us down... but, well we have to. What hacks me off is how MANY distractions there are for drivers: food, cosmetics, shaving, eating, drinking, kids, cell phones (hands free or not)... hell, I see people READING. I mean, EVERYTHING BUT DRIVING! |
