[sunny]

well, i had a brush with death yesterday in the hov lane going home from work.

fyi: death drives a new red convertible w/ white rag top and likes to pass bikers in the area between the concrete dividers north of the i35e and 67 split. death's license plate number is W25 XDG. he wears a red do-rag and appears to be of african american origin. death was last seen heading east on i20.


what could i have done differently?
i was heading south in the left third of my lane(the only lane) to prevent bad effects from the wind gusts i was experiencing from the south east. i was maintaining the same speed as the suv 5 car lengths in front. the hov lane wasn't crowded.

the only change i think i would have done differently is my apparel. i don't look intimidating, dangerous, or like a "biker" in any way. maybe if i did, death would have thought twice.

 

[Trapper]

Glad you're ok. Watch out for death, I hear he changes cars from time to time.

 

[KAOS]

Glad you're ok. Watch out for death, I hear he changes cars from time to time.

...and gender and race. DEATH doesn't discriminate!!

 

[SoCalMike]

He also changes mind sets. He can be completely harmless for days on end, and then decide its time to start working on his quota of bikers.

 

[SDSUsnowboards]

Elaborate! I love stories. How did the above conditions almost equal death?
I can only guess he got a little close for comfort.

I have more than one story about "close to death" by my own approximation, but none of theme are particularly exciting. I do, however, get awefully close to cars with my mirrors when splitting lanes to the front of a light. It makes me mad that they bunch together towards the inside of the lane. When I inspect the situation more closely I realize they owe me no space on the road despite the legality of lane splitting here. So I always wonder if I'd stop and pull over like a regular traffic accident if I clipped someone. I'd feel pretty bad tho it hasn't happened yet somehow. I've came within centimeters or less.

 

[Louis]

Did you report him Sunny?

 

[sunny]

Did you report him Sunny?

i called the highway dept of the dallas police and uh, they must be pretty busy because they weren't answering their phone.

Elaborate! I love stories. How did the above conditions almost equal death?
I can only guess he got a little close for comfort.

too close for comfort? i guess you could say that. he passed me in an area where there is only one lane. on either side of that one lane is about 18 inches, then concrete walls.

i glanced in the rearview mirror and saw him ~two carlengths behind. i glanced at the suv in front of me and scanned the road ahead for debris, grooves, etc. glanced at the left rearview mirror and he's gone. turned head to the right to see in that rearview mirror and THERE HE WAS immediately to my right. passing at about 75 mph.
and where did he go? to stay behind the suv i was behind, doing 63.

 

[SoCalMike]

An excelent opertunity to see if Death is capable of dodging nickles thrown at his windshield.

Not the most legal thing in the world, but if done right it can seem it fell out of your pocket, hit the road, bounced up and OOPS put a little spider web in his windshield.

At the worst, it will wake him up.

 

[themeatmanlandry]

No, at the worst he runs you flat with no witnesses.

<sorry, i couldn't resist :-D >

 

[sunny]

right now i'm trying to come up with a more bikerish look.

white reflective tape on the back of my helmet in the shape of a skull and crossbones?
no matter what, i'm NOT riding without a helmet.

convert a denim jacket to hold my protective armor pieces? and wear a leather vest over it?

what do you folks think?

 

[inspiron]

First off, I'm glad to hear that you're alright, and that you didn't freak when death was next to you,

If you wear a textile jacket, they tend to make you look bigger if you have shoulder pads. Some Dainese jackets have that "devil" logo on the back - that gets some attention. And if that doesn't work, you might try putting something really scary on the back of your jacket...




wait for it...




I R S
D E A
A T F
-or-
F B I
:mrgreen:

 

[JES883]

right now i'm trying to come up with a more bikerish look.

Glad you didn't become too intimate with Death.

As far as a bikerish look, try more black. Even though it's less visible, sometimes it's more intimidating. I saw somebody yesterday on a Kawasaki wearing a green leather jacket with a giant anime figure on the back. It was silly. The furthest thing from intimidating. I was tempted to cut him off (not really - that was just death trying to issue forth through me).

Also, I try to point to where I want to go if I'm changing lanes in heavy traffic. And I try to make eye contact (or face shield contact) when I do it. If you're active enough to point and forward enough to look them in the eye, sometimes they won't mess with you.

Nickels. Ball bearings. These help but aren't very PC.

 

[Louis]

FBI, Female Body Inpector?

 

[SoCalMike]

screw that, living in SoCal, im gonna get a windbreaker to wear over my leathers that says

INS

 

[themeatmanlandry]

I don't care what you look like, if they want to pass crazily, they'll do it. Looking mean isn't going to make them any smarter.

[EDIT: SoCal: Good One!!! :mrgreen: ]

 

[sunny]

ooh. i'm in texas, that would SO work.

my current textile jacket does have shoulder pads already. it isn't all black but is semi sportbikish though. the armor pieces do come out and i was thinking about seeing if i could get a denim jacket for summer to put them into.

my boss, a big guy, swears that he has no trouble whatsoever with people coming even close when he is in full out biker mode.

i don't know. i am not going to let this come between me and doing what i want to do, which is to commute to work. but i am a little rattled and very angry.

 

[SDSUsnowboards]

I gotta agree with Landry on this one. Looking mean won't make other drivers smarter.
The best you can really do is 1. do all the right things good ol MFS taught you to minimize the chance of something like this happening. I'm sure you already do that and will continue. 2. Have a really entertaining way of getting them back if it does happen.

I need to work on my # 2 still!
Ideas fiddled with:
1.Crow bar fastened to the bike somehow with a quick release.
2.Small water gun filled with motor oil secured to bike. (A really good one if you hit their windows + it's raining)
3.ball bearings in an easy access pouch somewhere by the handbars.
4.heat seeking missile.

That last one is hard to find! #2 seems like the most likely option I have. Keeping the gun from getting stolen while I'm away from the bike is the problem.

 

[gerry2153]

Glad you are ok
remember Death drives many different cars, trucks, suv's and my personal favorite cement trucks... and he also likes to dress in womens clothes too....

 

[md2lgyk]

Ball bearings, definitely.

 

[NeVeRSaTiSfIeD]

if he puts IRS on his jacket...wouldnt that make him want to hit him more???lol jw