I think I met the world's only living brain donor.

[LARIDER_imp]

*rant mode on*

Venting here.....

So I was driving along today and came to three way T-bone stop sign at the top of a steep hill(think San Fran steep) on a two lane 35mph road. No big deal. It's a road I know well. It's one of those stops where you are stopped with the bike facing up the hill.

I stopped at the sign, signaled left and just as I was about to turn left, a guy(moron) on a Superglide came flying up behind me, passed to my right side, slowed through the stop sign, then jammed on the gas and pulled a left in front of me just as I was starting to turn left. I slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting him and he took off.

With me facing up the hill and hitting the brakes in the middle of a left turn, I was at an odd angle and the bike started tipping over back down the hill. I had to fight to keep the bike upright and in doing so, I tweaked my left wrist. Even with me at 230 pounds, 540 pounds of bike leaning on an extreme hill is not fun to wrestle with.

I got the bike righted and went to catch up with the guy to let him know he had no business being anywhere near a bike. I also thought about pleading with him to never breed.

I almost caught up to him at the next stop sign, but he blew through that one as well. So I let out a very loud profanity in his direction that I'm 100% he heard as he took off towards the next bend. Around the bend, at the next light, he was on the shoulder waiting for me. He told me to keep my F-ing comments to myself. He also said something else, but it unintelligible as if his little brain was shorting out. Meth?

I told him he cut me off and that he was an incompetent hack.....I think I added some fancy French words due to adrenalin. The guy started yelling, calling me a b*tch and then started threatening me. He started to put the kickstand down and motioned, "let's go." I thought, this guy is crazy. He almost caused an accident, blew through 2 stop signs and now wants to fight me over his little brain not being able to process being called out?? So I figured his arrogance was not worth it, drove off and sent some more fancy French words in his direction. He then followed me trying to start a fight for the next 3 intersections!!! I told him off several times at each of his provocations and then motioned for him to go away. How does someone go through life with the sensibilities of a cucumber? I thankfully got away from him. The 1100 does have some seriously awesome torque!

I normally do not lose my cool, drive recklessly or go after people, but this guy was a real danger and needed to be called out in my opinion. A driver almost killed me 10 years ago when he pulled a dangerous left in front of me in an Econoline. I T-boned the van and spent almost 6 months in physical therapy with various injuries and a lawsuit.(I won) I think memories from that experience might have caused me to lose my cool. I probably should have just let it go, but I was steaming mad.

I also might have to go see a doctor about my wrist which was caused by that rider's recklessness. I work with my hands for a living and I'm thinking about reporting him to the police.

Should I report him or let it go? I have a funny feeling he's no stranger to free rides in the back of a cop car. But maybe the local precinct should be at least warned about him? These are the riders that make the rest of us look bad. He has the absolute two worst qualities of a bad biker: Incompetent & reckless.

I do think, that in the future, unless it's life and death, I'm going to let those things go from now on. To quote the great philosopher Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon: "I'm gettin' too old for this sh*t."

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

*rant off*

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Not much you can do about a bloke like that. The police? Well I can't give you any advice on that. The only thing I would say is don't let fools like that induce road rage in you. It might lead you to a place you don't want to be. Fifty years ago I would have wanted to rip his arms off and would have gone down that road whatever the cost. But that was then and now is now.

Off your chest now so good for you.

Cheers.

 

[LARIDER_imp]

Not much you can do about a bloke like that. The police? Well I can't give you any advice on that. The only thing I would say is don't let fools like that induce road rage in you. It might lead you to a place you don't want to be. Fifty years ago I would have wanted to rip his arms off and would have gone down that road whatever the cost. But that was then and now is now.

Off your chest now so good for you.

Cheers.

Thanks for being sensible. For whatever reason, the stars were aligned just right to make me rage just a little bit. Road rage with disastrous results is not uncommon in SoCal. Many a biker and motorist have lost their lives to it and I should know better.

 

[Randy B]

Reporting it will do absolutely nothing. The police, in their opinion, have way more important things to deal with than some idiot on a motorcycle that almost caused an accident with an idiotic driving maneuver. This is the reality I have come to understand about California policing as most departments are DRASTICALLY understaffed and underfunded so their focus seems to be on the most violent crimes, and that's about it.
I couldn't even get satisfaction with my hit and run case. I REALLY wish someone would have gotten the plate number because I want EVERYTHING that idiot owns or will own for leaving me for dead on the side of the freeway......but I digress.

 

[LARIDER_imp]

Reporting it will do absolutely nothing. The police, in their opinion, have way more important things to deal with than some idiot on a motorcycle that almost caused an accident with an idiotic driving maneuver. This is the reality I have come to understand about California policing as most departments are DRASTICALLY understaffed and underfunded so their focus seems to be on the most violent crimes, and that's about it.
I couldn't even get satisfaction with my hit and run case. I REALLY wish someone would have gotten the plate number because I want EVERYTHING that idiot owns or will own for leaving me for dead on the side of the freeway......but I digress.

I think you're right. I was just kind of wondering aloud. I was raised by several cops and I know the last thing they want is to deal with BS calls.

Glad you survived your accident. There have been three fatal hit & runs in my neighborhood in the last 8 months. One bicyclist and two pedestrians. The latest just happened last week. Scary stuff.

 

[Tezza_imp]

From past experience people who ride like that will inevitably come to grief. Just think that one day he will blow a stop sign only to find he is a hood mascot on an F250 truck.

 

[noroomtomove]

Time to put the kettle on and have a cuppa when on the road use the thermos.

 

[LARIDER_imp]

From past experience people who ride like that will inevitably come to grief. Just think that one day he will blow a stop sign only to find he is a hood mascot on an F250 truck.

I agree. Guys like that usually wind up lending more credibility to Darwin's theories.

Only problem is that they sometimes take innocent people with them.

 

[Brookland27_imp]

You did the right thing riding away. I've been in enough physical altercations in my life to realize noone really ever wins when it comes to a fist fight. Its just agression beating on aggression. Some guys have no sense that the road is not theirs alone. I like to ride fast but i don't act like a jackass when other people's lives are at stake.

 

[redbirds_imp]

Forty years ago I had a cage driver pull a gun and threaten to kill me after I yelled at him for cutting me off in Franklin, NC of all places.

It's just not worth it to let the heat of anger override your common sense. Especially now when there are people who are willing to kill over the least challenge to their egos. You did the right thing LARIDER, by deciding to defuse the situation as this knuckle dragger tried to escalate things. His kind always get themselves in enough trouble in life without intervention from decent society. Since that incident long ago in NC, I simply count to ten, quell my ire and let it go. A good survival strategy I believe.

 

[Django]

I think `empty boat' in these situations.

It's a Zen/Tao concept:

If you're in your boat and another boat hit yours, if there was a person in the boat, you would be angry about that person and look for a confrontation.

If it was just an empty boat, drifting around, well, you wouldn't like it, but you wouldn't be so angry as there is nobody to oppose.

So in those situations I say to myself, it's just an empty boat, nothing really important happend, just go on.

You can google for `zen empty boat'.

Row row row your boat, gently down the stream...

 

[ClassicVW_imp]

DJANGO- I'd still be pissed off at whoever failed to tie up their boat correctly...
LARIDER, I think I would have done just as you did.

You can actually go to the police and sign a traffic summons complaint against him, but then your paths will cross in court and he'd probably be able to get your address...AND he'll probably say he had to blow thru those stop signs because a wacko on a Honda CB was chasing him....

Exhale and let it go- you had your say, even though it was probably falling on the deaf ears of the cretin.

 

[mininsx_imp]

When I was younger I would have done what you did; now, not so much. The guy proved that he's crazy by doing what he did, and that's reason enough to not go chasing after him. Besides, these days people get killed in road rage incidents. Take a lesson from the Disney movie "Frozen:" "Let it go." :beerchug:

 

[lola_imp]

I found his North American Cousin :biker:

Glad it did not escalate into someone getting hurt (You) by chasing after him or actually getting into a fist fight.

his Ego will one day bite him in the A**

 

[LARIDER_imp]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I appreciate all the wisdom. This is certainly a great forum.

I think I should have just let it go completely. I've had guns put to my neck and didn't even get this mad before..... not sure why, but I'm thinking of the never get's old Harley/Hoover joke.....

The difference between a Harley and a Hoover? The location of the dirt bag.

I love Harleys, I just can't stand a lot of the morons that seem to ride them.

My wrist is sore as hell. I'm going to see how it feels in a few days, before seeing a doctor.
Hopefully it's just a minor twist with nothing torn.

And since I almost dropped the bike due to the jackass, I'm putting in an order for crash bars today.

 

[AzBob_imp]

Reporting it will do absolutely nothing. The police, in their opinion, have way more important things to deal with than some idiot on a motorcycle that almost caused an accident with an idiotic driving maneuver. This is the reality I have come to understand about California policing as most departments are DRASTICALLY understaffed and underfunded so their focus seems to be on the most violent crimes, and that's about it.
I couldn't even get satisfaction with my hit and run case. I REALLY wish someone would have gotten the plate number because I want EVERYTHING that idiot owns or will own for leaving me for dead on the side of the freeway......but I digress.

It has been my experience that folks who drive away from accidents generally have no insurance and don't own anything of any worth.

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

I'll echo the others. You do NOT want to go to the cops.

First, they will do nothing. Except perhaps get ugly with YOU about road rage, and following someone. These days, the System confuses perps with victims, victims with heroes, heroes with perps. More attention will be given to those who RESPOND to lawbreaking than to those who break the law.

You probably guessed right - Meth or other drugs. The guy is almost-certainly going to DIE of his behavior - unless something keeps him off a cycle until he gets clean and gets his head right.

This is a problem everywhere - stupid, reckless, impaired driving. Here, the problem is the opposite - everyone's mellowed out on pot or trying to text and drive; they can't even manage to hold to the 40-mph speed limit. Never mind seeing the light change and MOVING.

You have to deal with it. You are a target for impaired cagers - and now, other cyclists, many of them impaired and out of control, also.

Welcome.

 

[emptysea]

I wouldn't call the police at this point, but for future reference, you may want to find out if there's a "road rage hot-line" in your state. We have that in Illinois and all you do is report the road you're on and the license number and/or description of the vehicle. Completely anonymous as far as I know.

I have not yet done this, but I will sometime...it's part of my transition into curmudgeon-ness that started at age 50 with chasing kids off my lawn.

 

[kmoney_imp]

I found his North American Cousin :biker:

Glad it did not escalate into someone getting hurt (You) by chasing after him or actually getting into a fist fight.

his Ego will one day bite him in the A**

Haha. I live near where this happened. I remember being unable to stop laughing when it was first on the local news. IIRC they caught the rider a couple months later.

 

[Rebel73_imp]

LARIDER, living in L.A. myself I can sympathize with you about all the idiot assholes out here. People just don't give a f**k.

You acted prudently in not escalating the altercation. If that had happened to me 10 years ago, I probably would have dusted off my black belt on that punk, but now I know better. It's just not worth it.

Whereabouts in L.A. are you? I live near Alhambra.