Played chicken with a big van last night.

[burkbuilds]

Riding back after class last night about 10 PM on a five lane road (two each way and a shared center turn lane) when a big white van coming from the opposite direction

decided the turn lane wasn't good enough for them. The driver came all the way into the left lane of my side of the street just as I approached going about 45 mph. I'm not

sure what he was thinking because whether he saw me coming or not he shouldn't have been driving on that side of the street. Fortunately, there wasn't any other traffic

around at the moment and I was able to swerve into the right lane to avoid a head on collision with this large passenger van. He came to a complete stop in the lane (if he

had turned left at that point I think I'd be plastered across the side of his van) and after I veered around him I looked back and saw him execute a left turn onto a side

street. (Okay, so I lost the game of chicken, but I'm alive!) He never signaled for a turn or anything, and I really wasn't expecting him to pull into my lane. I guess he could

have been drunk, or just a really bad driver, or distracted by a cell phone or something, anyway, heads up everybody, even when the traffic is low, it only takes one other

vehicle to ruin your day.

[blaine]

Glad to hear you got away clean.You are lucky it was later in the evening,with lots of room to maneuver.There are Idiot drivers everwere.
:2tup: :rawk: :whistle:

[bonehead]

We should always be on the defensive. Glad it turned out OK.

[alanmcorcoran]

I had a close-ish encounter with a sport bike crossing the double yellow to pass a line of cars on a curve on Ortega when I was riding two up. The question for me in those cases is always - "What is my best path of avoidance?" Sometimes it's not clear - if they are drunk or on a cell phone, they can behave one way, where if they are just inexperienced, young or stupid, they might correct and go a different way. In my case, I relied on the fact that bikes are smaller than cars and just gave him a little extra room.

[ArizonaKev]

Glad to hear you came out of it okay. And you are so right - it only takes one idiot to ruin a day or night. In fact, sometimes that idiot can be the one in the seat, at least for me, as the only real accident I ever had involved only me and my bike.

What I learned from that little mishap was that nothing - NOTHING - is as important as maintaining focus on the road and total awareness at all times when riding. Whenever I find myself drifting in concentration when I am riding now, that comes back to my mind, and I snap back to awareness.

I am really happy to hear that you came out of it ok, and it sounds like you have the same philosophy - good thing too!

:2tup:

AZ Kev

[burkbuilds]

Thanks for all the positive comments everybody. I hope you all have a great weekend and good riding weather.

[Viirin]

You wuss - you should have taken him out (and yourself) in a flaming blaze of glory!

Nah just messing man, just goes to show you can never let your guard down

[dhgeyer]

Wouldn't exactly call that playing "Chicken", as it wasn't quite voluntary on your part. Anyway, not to split hairs, I'm glad to hear you're OK.

[Water Warrior 2]

Might be time to mount a couple 20 watt MR-16's for a triangular effect to oncoming traffic. Wally World lights with the 50 watt bulbs replaced with 20's. They work well day or night and make the bike visually larger.

[blaine]

I put a similer set on my Kawasaki,they came with 35 watt MR-16 bulbs.I switched to 20 watt bulbs as the charging system won't handle the 35s, they are still plenty bright and make a big difference .
:) :cool:

[Water Warrior 2]

Forgot to mention earlier, I have LED MR-16's on my Vstrom. They only draw 2.4 watts total. Good for being noticed but won't do a thing to light up the night.

[blaine]

Forgot to mention earlier, I have LED MR-16's on my Vstrom. They only draw 2.4 watts total. Good for being noticed but won't do a thing to light up the night.

I was almost going to buy LED replacement bulbs,but wondered about their usefulness at night.I live on a quiet country road,and worry about animals running out in front of me.My 20 watt bulbs make a hugh difference
in what I can see after dark.They are the floodlight type bulbs.They light up the sides of the road without blinding oncoming drivers,if aimed properly.I found that even the smaller MR-11s I used on the G.Z. made a big difference after night.

:rawk: :2tup:

[Water Warrior 2]

There are only a few LED lights on the market that can be actually used for REAL illumination of the road. They are also very pricey. MR-16's are cheap and easy without going broke. And the biggest bonus is availability anywhere if one fails. Both bikes have SilverStar bulbs(available anywhere) and the M has the easily replaceable MR-16's. Thr MR-16 LED's are a little harder to find and some searching is required.

[dannylightning]

playing chicken with a van is a terrible idea :hide: ..

i hate stupid drivers, i swear jut about every other time i go out some one almost hits me.. its getting old, havent been riding much this summer.