Have you ever been scared while riding?

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    • 19007 posts
    May 27, 2012 3:03 AM PDT
    Have you ever been scared, I mean really scared when riding? It happened to me yesterday for the first time. The weather report for Moab was ...
    W I  N   D   Y    !

    Predicted gusts to 65mph, sustained winds from 35 to 45mph. In the early morning I went to town on Rex to photograph an Art-Car parade. It was a bit blustery but manageable. After the parade was over I pointed Rex north towards Roz, our RV.

    There is a canyon that we pass through and I want to say WOW, (expletive deleted), WOW! The gusty winds there were switching directions instantly and randomly. Now this old biker has some miles in the saddle but this was, to greatly understate, a bit exciting. The point that scared me was after coming out of a sweeping turn, with Rex straight and verticle, running 65mph, we suddenly moved about a foot to the left. I do not mean we were pushed to the left with a hard gust, I mean the bike got real light and instantly was relocated. It felt as if we were lifted and placed. WOW, (expletive deleted), WOW!  I slowed to 55 mph for the rest of the 9 (exciting but happily uneventful) miles we still had to travel.

    I parked Rex, went inside Roz , and was treated to a full day and most of the evening of rocking to the wind in an often brown out, Utah style wind storm.  I imagine it is like sitting in a 4.0 quake, for 10 hours. I am really glad Roz is about 12K pounds or else I might have been writing this from Colorado. And the dust, Rex is red dirt brown now. Going to the bike wash today and thankfully in much calmer weather.

    If you have a story, please share it. We would love to read it.
  • May 27, 2012 5:07 AM PDT
    Coming back from a short little day long excursion with my Beautiful Bride, we were traveling through small Texas towns and back roads, many under construction, but for the most part riding right along around the 75 mph spped limit. As we approached a stretch of road where the construction was underway I slowed down to around 60 anticipating slower moving vehicles crossing the median or entering / exiting the makeshift cutouts. Then it happened, a large pick-up, F-350 with about an 18 foot box trailer from the opposing direction turned off right in front of us, nearly causing me put the bike into the non existant shoulder.
    The irony you ask? It was one of those Special Edition Harley Davidson F-350's pulling a Harley Davidson Dealerships trailer, the kind they set up a rallies to sell their merchandise to Bikers!!!
  • May 27, 2012 6:58 AM PDT
    ....few years back... had deer jump over Bitchy and I on the Shovelhead...we ducked, and her hoof passed between our helmets... as witnessed by friends running staggered right behind us.. happened too fast to be scared at that moment,but was looking behind every tree the rest of THAT day... later...wooly
    • 130 posts
    May 27, 2012 7:27 AM PDT
    I was riding two-up, after dark and had just passed the city limits of Aransas Pass, TX. I was accelerating to the posted 60mph when I saw headlights in my rear view, as if someone was trying to split the lane. I twisted the wick and steered for all I was worth toward shoulder of the road as a speeding four-by-four missed us by inches. Had he hit us, we'd be statistics.
    My passenger was fairly new to motorcycling so, in order to reassure and calm her, I had to play it cool. That wasn't easy.
    • 3006 posts
    May 27, 2012 10:00 AM PDT
    Good post !
    been scared to crap, a number of times, one a situation like yours,only I was crossing a bridge thats about 3 miles long an low in height,on the S end of SFbay.Doing abt 65 just got on the bridge in rite hand lane for abt 10 second when the bike literally lifted off the deck n was moved over abt 6 ft into the adjacent lane and into almost, the median wall.Aftrn/eve- w/sustained winds I figured abt 25+ with the bigger gusts 45-65mph coming straight off the water.luckily traffic was non existant,recovered quickly and brought my speed down quik.. it's very frightening,its a giant hand that picks you up ! its like dont mess wit mother nature !!! This happened 3 yrs ago on the X n its a heavy bike n I was carrying my riding gear with me...The things I do to take a lady for ride
    • 1 posts
    May 27, 2012 11:44 AM PDT
    years back whilst riding a BMW, (lol no jokes) I came through an intersection, as cars where turning right to go into of all places Mc D's..just as I came past the first cage turning, a car travelling the opposite way turned right through a No RightTurn sign. Directly infront of me. That was it, no place to go, I went light on the pegs then heavy as i stood..preparing to go up and over...I angled for the rear end of his vehicle...he shit gassed it..abs is a bitch...my crash bar on the left side disintergrated...and I when past his rear end....with my heart in my mouth.
  • May 27, 2012 1:43 PM PDT
    Wow all your rides sound very scary. I'm a new rider (3 years) and haven't had any scarey rides yet, but I do recall a scary moment for me when I had to ride over a metal bridge where I can see the river beneath me as I rode over it. I think I held my breath and puckered up my sphincter the entire ride over the bridge.
  • May 27, 2012 11:02 PM PDT
    Last month riding in to work I was on the freeway in the right lane a cager came up behind me moved over in the left lane to pass me and then started to move back into the right lane when his passenger door was even with me. He just about run me off the road, I hit the breaks and headed for the shoulder fast. near miss. It amazes me how they don't know you are there even though they just went around you.
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    • 1516 posts
    May 28, 2012 3:03 AM PDT
    My scary story was a windy story too, GUSTY winds.. We were coming home a few years ago from Southern CA down by Santa Barbara. We were suddenly hit from the right side with a horribly strong gust, we were no longer at a 90 degree angle, then just as suddenly we were hit from the left side and back and forth. We could not stay straight up. All the cars around us just backed away from us all, there were 3 bikes. This went on for a while, soooo scary. When we were finally able to get off the freeway and the wind was not so bad I looked down to see Harleyman doing his best to pry his hand off the throttle.. His knuckles were so white I seriously doubt he had any blood left in his fingers!! and that was my scariest moment!
  • May 28, 2012 8:13 AM PDT
    my ex, rockys dad! did no less than 100 mph every freaking time we road! and on a chopper where the sissy bar was so far back i had to lay down to touch the bitch! he would do dam wheely's on it! i was afraid everytime i rode with the idiot! well i dont get on that fat bastards bike any more! lol some other poor soul is shitting her self!
  • May 28, 2012 8:40 AM PDT
    RexTheRoadDog wrote...
    ...I do not mean we were pushed to the left with a hard gust, I mean the bike got real light and instantly was relocated.




    I actually SAW that happen once, riding behind a friend of mine. He was on a lighter sport tourer with the side panels, and a heavy crosswind not just pushed him to cause a swerve, but I saw both tires slide sideways and then he wobbled and kept moving forward. He looked back at me with one of those
    "WTF WAS THAT?" expressions. If I hadn't seen it, I would have thought he was exaggerating telling me about it later.

     
  • May 28, 2012 8:48 AM PDT
    Not too long ago, I was riding home on a dark back country road. As I was coming down a hill and rounding a bend, I could see the hint of a set of headlights coming toward me, so I let my turn go a little wider than usual so as not to be hugging the centerline, just in case the cager was drunk and not staying in his own lane. As I moved over to the right, the headlights came around the turn, and in that initial second of blindness of going from looking into total darkness to bright light, I caught a glimpse of a strange shadow. Half a second later I saw what it was. A man on a skateboard, coasting down the centerline also veered to his right with the car approaching. As I passed the car, he was between me and it.

    Good thing I had shifted over to the far right side of the lane when I did, because he was right in the path of where I would have been otherwise.

    I still don't know what the dude was thinking riding a skateboard down the middle of the road at midnight, but I am hoping he doesn't try it again without wearing reflective clothing. If I had been in a car, he would be roadkill now.

    • 9 posts
    May 28, 2012 11:02 AM PDT
    The animal of unknown ancestry coming out of the darkness at me in a tight turn...well that was one. It still shivers me timbers when I think about it. But the scariest one, was the ride in which a random guy, at a random intersection, while idling next to me, mouthed the words..."your goin' down b**ch". And then the light changed, and I rolled back the throttle. And as I was processing what he had said, he and his Jeep, started coming into MY LANE. I watched in horror as he edged that car closer and closer. There was a 1 1/2-2 foot curb to my left, one that I knew I couldn't circumnavigate, so I did the ONLY thing I could do...and that was launch myself, off the pegs.
    I aimed my body for the grassy median strip, and just as my feet left the peg's, I heard the sickening crunch of my
    bike hittin' the curb and bein' drug, by this jeep. And his sickening laugh as they both rolled further down the road.
    I ended up with a few scars, but BLUE (my bike), got tore up somethin' silly. To the tune of almost 2K. And that was back in '94. I had a gun in my saddlebags, and could I of gotten to it quik enuf, I would've taken a few shots.
    That B******D, was tryin' to kill me. And why? Prolly cause it was an offense to his manhood, to see a lady on a
    a really nice Harley. I'm sure Karma found that a**hole, somewhere, sometime. In my mind, anyways...
    Was I scared...I really don't know how to describe that feeling.


    Ride Free
    Tweek
  • May 28, 2012 12:24 PM PDT
    YEAP, THE DAY I DECIDED THAT TWO UP WAS HISTORY. I knew that I would never trust anyone again at the controls.It was a beautiful October day headed down the mountain coming back from the lodge while headed towards Mena.Next thing I know my behind the bars person has their arms thrown back like their being thrown by a bull and their head was almost in my lap looking me eyeball to eyeball.My initial reaction was to choke the living insert your favorite choice of words here, but then I knew that was 100 % chance of death due to a fast downhill bridge then a sharp 30mph curve to the right.I froze even my breath until my driver decided he would return to his main task DRIVING.That was the day, I knew I would either ride my own or never ride behind anyone again......yeap it was damn ugly when I got off that bike in Mena, Arkansas
    • Moderator
    • 1516 posts
    May 28, 2012 1:41 PM PDT
    Tweek wrote...
    The animal of unknown ancestry coming out of the darkness at me in a tight turn...well that was one. It still shivers me timbers when I think about it. But the scariest one, was the ride in which a random guy, at a random intersection, while idling next to me, mouthed the words..."your goin' down b**ch". And then the light changed, and I rolled back the throttle. And as I was processing what he had said, he and his Jeep, started coming into MY LANE. I watched in horror as he edged that car closer and closer. There was a 1 1/2-2 foot curb to my left, one that I knew I couldn't circumnavigate, so I did the ONLY thing I could do...and that was launch myself, off the pegs.
    I aimed my body for the grassy median strip, and just as my feet left the peg's, I heard the sickening crunch of my
    bike hittin' the curb and bein' drug, by this jeep. And his sickening laugh as they both rolled further down the road.
    I ended up with a few scars, but BLUE (my bike), got tore up somethin' silly. To the tune of almost 2K. And that was back in '94. I had a gun in my saddlebags, and could I of gotten to it quik enuf, I would've taken a few shots.
    That B******D, was tryin' to kill me. And why? Prolly cause it was an offense to his manhood, to see a lady on a
    a really nice Harley. I'm sure Karma found that a**hole, somewhere, sometime. In my mind, anyways...
    Was I scared...I really don't know how to describe that feeling.


    Ride Free
    Tweek




    Goodness Peg, that would be horrifing..  I am glad you made it out of that sticky situation
  • May 28, 2012 6:28 PM PDT
    Bike week 2011 As we came into Whitewater on I10 just past the Palm Spring area, it became so windy that when we stopped for gas, I refused to continue the ride home. For the first time in 20 years of riding I was terrified. I waited at a Denny's for my boyfriend to ride home alone home and drive back to get me. With me being so frightened, I thought he was better off riding alone for the 40 or so miles home, than with me. I believe that you should always follow your gut.

    Gypsy. I would have gotten off the bike then and there and walked and left him dead on the side of the road. I am picky about who I ride with, and have NO PROBLEM putting My safety first over anyone's ego.
  • g
    May 28, 2012 10:20 PM PDT
    ME ,NEVER.....................
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    • 19007 posts
    May 29, 2012 12:25 AM PDT
    Fefe wrote...
    RexTheRoadDog wrote...
    ...I do not mean we were pushed to the left with a hard gust, I mean the bike got real light and instantly was relocated.




    I actually SAW that happen once, riding behind a friend of mine. He was on a lighter sport tourer with the side panels, and a heavy crosswind not just pushed him to cause a swerve, but I saw both tires slide sideways and then he wobbled and kept moving forward. He looked back at me with one of those
    "WTF WAS THAT?" expressions. If I hadn't seen it, I would have thought he was exaggerating telling me about it later.

     
    Thanks FeFe and Blurplebuzz, I was beginning to wonder if I somehow imagined that actually is what happened.

    And Tweek, Girl that is amazing. Ya should have found a way to track that illigitimat bastard down and delivered some street justice. I am certainly glad you came away with mostly minor injuries.

    And G, man you definitely be one Crazy Scott!!!!

  • May 30, 2012 6:06 AM PDT
    The most scared I have been was after, not during, the feat of flying off a cliff in the Dolomites. Yes, Harleys can fly. Oddly, I wasn't scared (but quite concerned) but had the thought "NOW WHAT?" during the accident.

    I tend to ride fast, and came around one of the dozens of curves quite leaned over, and a car was taking the curve wide and in my lane. There was no way out. Anything would be better than slamming into the car. While I was thinking I should lay the bike down on the road and slide into the guard rail, knowing I would probably break a few bones, I also had the thought what might ALSO happen is that I might slide into the guard rail causing the bike to flip up and over it and slam into the trees.

    However I was not thinking fast enough and somehow I had brought the bike to less of a leaning position, meaning that I would now go straight off the road. And did. The only place where there was not a guard rail and rode right off the road, flew thru the air, and saw below me the canyon, small waterfall and river, trees lining the river. I remember noticing all sound stopped except the whoop whoop of the tires and the birds. I made the decision to simply fall off of Sugar (my Harley at the time), as chances for survival would be far better than hanging on. I landed on my back, slid immediately down the steep slope. I was relatively high in the mountains so there was no underbrush, so had a free path down. I figured I could swim if I could not somehow stop myself on the way down. Then I saw Candy above me, still flying. I struggled to get out of Candy's path, ended up rolling over to my stomach and while rolling over spotted a small, apparently dead tree near my downward path. I bounced down the mountain on my stomach and my chin for a bit, until I could grab that tree with my left hand and it held...maybe it was dying but the roots held firm.
    I was told Candy bounced once, flew straight and true, bounced twice and turned sideways, then on the third bounce slid sideways to the bottom of the canyon where it slammed sideways against some trees. I hung on to that little tree until my friends rappelled down to help support me. Eventually help came and a helicopter airlifted me out, and yes, I was responsible for those mountain roads being closed for a few hours. As I landed on my back from quite a height, there was concern of a broken back and perhaps life in a wheelchair, thus the added precaution by the medics to airlift me out. As it turned out, I did not even break a fingernail. How did I get so lucky? Back protector, leather jacket, pants and gloves, steel-toed boots, full-face helmet. But laying in that hospital, I suddenly was so scared and frightened I peed on the X-Ray table.

    Maybe a bit of a long story but there you are.
  • g
    May 30, 2012 7:52 AM PDT
    never mind i have the bsb superbikes on jun 22 -24th at knockhill in scotland ,now thats the stuff it will make u shite ur sell
  • May 30, 2012 8:01 AM PDT
    @ Debra Jo, Egad that is awful! Good thinking, but what a terrible, awful man!
  • May 30, 2012 8:03 AM PDT
    Oh sorry, I got it mixed up. @ Tweek, Egad that is awful! Good thinking, but what a terrible, awful man!
  • May 30, 2012 8:08 AM PDT
    @ Rex and dgeist and Wooly and other windy riders...I have heard about such instances with wind and I sure hope I never have to experience that! Must have been frightening.
  • May 30, 2012 12:41 PM PDT
    RexTheRoadDog wrote...
    Have you ever been scared, I mean really scared when riding? It happened to me yesterday for the first time. The weather report for Moab was ...
    W I  N   D   Y    !

    Predicted gusts to 65mph, sustained winds from 35 to 45mph. In the early morning I went to town on Rex to photograph an Art-Car parade. It was a bit blustery but manageable. After the parade was over I pointed Rex north towards Roz, our RV.

    There is a canyon that we pass through and I want to say WOW, (expletive deleted), WOW! The gusty winds there were switching directions instantly and randomly. Now this old biker has some miles in the saddle but this was, to greatly understate, a bit exciting. The point that scared me was after coming out of a sweeping turn, with Rex straight and verticle, running 65mph, we suddenly moved about a foot to the left. I do not mean we were pushed to the left with a hard gust, I mean the bike got real light and instantly was relocated. It felt as if we were lifted and placed. WOW, (expletive deleted), WOW!  I slowed to 55 mph for the rest of the 9 (exciting but happily uneventful) miles we still had to travel.

    I parked Rex, went inside Roz , and was treated to a full day and most of the evening of rocking to the wind in an often brown out, Utah style wind storm.  I imagine it is like sitting in a 4.0 quake, for 10 hours. I am really glad Roz is about 12K pounds or else I might have been writing this from Colorado. And the dust, Rex is red dirt brown now. Going to the bike wash today and thankfully in much calmer weather.

    If you have a story, please share it. We would love to read it.





    Were you anywhere near here?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHhZwvdRR5c&feature=player_embedded#! />


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    • 19007 posts
    May 31, 2012 12:33 AM PDT
    Wow Fefe that was interesting. Actually several hundred miles away.