Near accident.

[Jordan310]

Wow.

So I was leaving a parking lot at night, at a T intersection,, it was kind of weird. A cab made a left turn right in front of me, and I hit the front brake hard. The loss of balance caused me to land on my feet, but the bike began to tip over to the left and almost come crashing down to the floor.. =|

The slippery pavement (it had sprinkled a bit that day didnt help my footing, and I fought the little 300lb bike holding on to the clutch, and lifting it with strength that came from I dont know where back up to an upright position. I hit my lower leg on the ground, and the bike didnt drop, but the left mirror was scraped like a mutha.

All said and done, it was stupid on both of our parts. Im actually glad that happened.
The cab just sped off, and I was a bit like .. whoa! .. but now I know to watch my speed much more, and take it easy.

This little GZ is a fun bike to start with, but Im not exactly off to a good start. 80Mph speeding ticket, and an almost drop? Yea.. time to respect this bike more even though it is a 250cc. Yep.

Please take it easy, watch your speed, and ride safe guys.
I like to push the bike as if it were a race bike, and now I have learned that a sport bike may just not be for me. I ride a bit hard, and like to push it. Pushing it to hard one day could mean a wheelchair, or death.

I think my next bike is going to be a sporty looking cruiser for sure.
Geared to torque, not speed.

Anyone know how much replacement mirrors cost?

[Dupo]

Well atleast you have the mind to learn that you need to respect that bike more. It may feel like a minibike at times but it IS a motorcycle. This was exactly how i was acting when i had my gz. I was getting very over confident and riding it like you would a dirbike on a race course. I really had to tone it down and remind myself that if i keep this crap up i was going to hurt myself or someone else. It helped to just remember while i was riding that i do not have to speed, take it easy and enjoy the ride. (this was also my big reason for moving up to a larger bike).

You might want to practice your emergency stops in a parking lot somewhere too. This is the 2nd story now that ive read that someone panic stopped and put way too much front brake into their stop and caused damage to their bike (and dumped it).

Glad that the only thing broken was your pride and your mirror.

I ride like everyone out there could potentially kill me. Be aware of all your surroundings at all times. And practice your emergency stops! Get into the correct habit now instead of trying to break your bad habits later.

As for mirrors ... this would be a good excuse to get yourself some aftermarket mirrors off ebay

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Dupo

I ride like everyone out there could potentially kill me. Be aware of all your surroundings at all times. And practice your emergency stops! Get into the correct habit now instead of trying to break your bad habits later.

It seems like too many cagers are trying their best to run you down. I can't count the times I have been run off the road or out of my lane by someone not paying attention to their driving while talking on the cell phone and eating fast food.

Yeah, you have to be on your guard all the time. I don't worry so much about dying as I do being a blind quadripalegic. Every bike regardless of engine displacement should be respected. I've had the opportunity to ride bikes from 175cc to 1600cc and they can all go fast enough to kill/seriously injure.

Glad you made out OK with only the loss of a mirror. If it doesn't kill us we learn from these little lessons to be able to ride another day.

Cheers!

[Dupo]

I have had more run in's with people on cell phones than anything else. They are the most dangerous of all, even more so than drunk drivers. Atleast with the drunks, they are driving slow and erratic, you can pick them out easily and get the hell out of their way. But cell phones, good god. You never know until they dam near run you over ... and only then are you close enough to see them with that dam thing in their ear talking away. Im tellin ya, i am going to start carrying ball bearings in my pocket for those aholes. Run me off the road and give ME a dirty look...PING!

On another note... I just read a thread on the shadow forums about a guy who was at a red light and blipped his throttle a few times just for the fun of making the bike show off its loud pipes. Some woman who was in the lane next to him leans out her window and yells at the guy to stop doing that because she cant hear on her phone!! O_o What balls does that take?

Although he handled it way wrong by just giving it more throttle so she couldnt hear (i find that funny, but wrong way to handle that), the nerve of some people is just mind boggling.

If that were me, i think i would have given her a piece of my mind, then gave it some throttle

This just reinforces the fact that there should be more awareness about motorcycles on the road in commercials and TV ...along with drivers having to take and pass the basic motorcycle permit test to obtain a drivers license.

[Bill]

I've heard from more than one source that a broken ceramic from a spark plug flicked on a window will cause it to break. Not that I've tried it or even recommend it but I have been tempted to carry a couple of pieces.

There doesn't seem to be the same requirements for obtaining a drivers license like there used to be. Like most things over the years it has become slack. It should be more more difficult to get a license and it should have to be renewed with written and driving test every few years. I also think it should be more difficult to get a motorcycle permit with a requirement to take the safety training course. I've had a few problems with irresponsible riders (I refuse to call these idiots bikers) who like to weave in and out of traffic at high speed and do wheelies down a busy road. They don't help creat a positive biker image with the cagers for the rest of us.

Cheers!

[Jordan310]

I can confirm that the broken ceramic from a spark plug is a tried and tru way of putting a big hole in cart glass.
I actually was taught that trick by an asian friend in highschool who used to steal cars.

I didnt think it worked, so I threw a spark plug on the ground, shattered it, tossed a couple of pieces at a passenger window (nobody inside of course), and POW. a fist sized hole broke stright through.

I dont really reccomend doing this, but yea it works.
Ball bearings? Yikes. =)

I think Ill stick with getting an air horn, a few LED lights to make the bike more visable, and a laser pointer always works good too in the eyes of a cell phone moron. =)

[Dupo]

Wow, i had no clue that the ceramic from a spark plug could do that lol. I may have to test that out myself at the junkyard

And i meant just the little ball bearings lol