roland5color
Registered
I don't know if it is something in the water this year here in IL or if people have just lost there damn minds but last week on three different rides I ran into vehicles stopped in the middle of the road on blind curves. One lady wasnt even in her van she was walking up and down the side of the road looking for something. I almost ran her over trying to avoid the van she had abandoned in the road.
Then there was a guy in a truck that looked like he just stopped to take a look at the weeds that were growing on the side of the road. The section of the road that he was stopped in was at the end of a right hander with the apex at the top of a hill. After the apex the road begins to drop back down the other side of the hill as you finish of the right hander at the bottom of the hill a left hander begins. He was stopped right at the bottom of the hill between the two curves. I made it around the truck just fine but it screwed up my line for the next curve and I just missed running off into the woods. I was tight rope walking the edge of the black top for a few seconds before I could get the busa back on the road. Oh did I mention that there is no shoulder on the side of these roads. Once your of the edge you better have a dirt bike our your done for.
Ok so by now you guys are wondering what the hell does all this have to do with the title of this post. Well the third and final story of this rant is the braking story. Same road as the close call with the truck. Where I live in IL it is hard to find a good curvy road so when you do find one you ride it a lot. I had already been through this section of road twice for the day but wanted to hit the curves one more time before heading home. I got behind a a guy on a harely and a lady in a suv. The harely was in front and was out cruising at a slow pace. I thought about passing him and the suv several times but I didn't want to seem like some punk ass sport bike rider that was out to run everyone else off the road so I dialed back the passed and was just enjoying the ride.
Near the end of this streatch of rode where I usually turn around to hit the curves again the harely and suv had picked up the pass a bit and were out of my line of sight on the last few curves. As I come around the last curve all I see is the ass end of a big black suv and its bright red brake lights. I had no time to think. If I would have hesitated for even half of a second I would have been in the back seat of the suv. I know this because my front tire was about a foot past the suvs rear bumper once i was stoppped.
Thanks to my years of practicing emergency stops my right hand and foot saved me and my busa before I even realized what was going on. I even managed to get over enough to my left without going over the center line to give myself the extra foot I needed in stopping distance.
The reason the motorcycle and suv had stopped was because an ambulance with its lights on but no siren going was coming down a driveway that was about 500 yards long. Both the motorcycle and suv could have passed up the driveway and pulled off to the side of the road on the straight away that was a head without blocking or slowing down the ambulance in any way.
Well thanks for reading my rant and remember that a monkey can twist the throttle but it takes skill to use the brakes. I know this first hand because about 17 years ago when I first started to ride I was in this same situation but it was a dog instead of a suv and I paniced. Instead of hitting the brakes I froze and hit the dog. I went down hard and had to have knee surgery to replace my acl. So practice your braking and save some lean angle on the street for those sudden surprizes you may find in your favorite curves.
Then there was a guy in a truck that looked like he just stopped to take a look at the weeds that were growing on the side of the road. The section of the road that he was stopped in was at the end of a right hander with the apex at the top of a hill. After the apex the road begins to drop back down the other side of the hill as you finish of the right hander at the bottom of the hill a left hander begins. He was stopped right at the bottom of the hill between the two curves. I made it around the truck just fine but it screwed up my line for the next curve and I just missed running off into the woods. I was tight rope walking the edge of the black top for a few seconds before I could get the busa back on the road. Oh did I mention that there is no shoulder on the side of these roads. Once your of the edge you better have a dirt bike our your done for.
Ok so by now you guys are wondering what the hell does all this have to do with the title of this post. Well the third and final story of this rant is the braking story. Same road as the close call with the truck. Where I live in IL it is hard to find a good curvy road so when you do find one you ride it a lot. I had already been through this section of road twice for the day but wanted to hit the curves one more time before heading home. I got behind a a guy on a harely and a lady in a suv. The harely was in front and was out cruising at a slow pace. I thought about passing him and the suv several times but I didn't want to seem like some punk ass sport bike rider that was out to run everyone else off the road so I dialed back the passed and was just enjoying the ride.
Near the end of this streatch of rode where I usually turn around to hit the curves again the harely and suv had picked up the pass a bit and were out of my line of sight on the last few curves. As I come around the last curve all I see is the ass end of a big black suv and its bright red brake lights. I had no time to think. If I would have hesitated for even half of a second I would have been in the back seat of the suv. I know this because my front tire was about a foot past the suvs rear bumper once i was stoppped.
Thanks to my years of practicing emergency stops my right hand and foot saved me and my busa before I even realized what was going on. I even managed to get over enough to my left without going over the center line to give myself the extra foot I needed in stopping distance.
The reason the motorcycle and suv had stopped was because an ambulance with its lights on but no siren going was coming down a driveway that was about 500 yards long. Both the motorcycle and suv could have passed up the driveway and pulled off to the side of the road on the straight away that was a head without blocking or slowing down the ambulance in any way.
Well thanks for reading my rant and remember that a monkey can twist the throttle but it takes skill to use the brakes. I know this first hand because about 17 years ago when I first started to ride I was in this same situation but it was a dog instead of a suv and I paniced. Instead of hitting the brakes I froze and hit the dog. I went down hard and had to have knee surgery to replace my acl. So practice your braking and save some lean angle on the street for those sudden surprizes you may find in your favorite curves.
Well actually I could have left them for dead but I was trying to make some new riding friends. Got off on the Rte 30 exit and when we stopped at the light they gave me a dirty look. So I gave them a nod a rode off in the opposite direction.
