Respect from selfish people

[fatoldfool]

After a few weeks of riding the GZ, my personal opinion, backed by quite a few incidents, is that you do NOT get as much respect from the selfish fools on four wheels as you do if you are on a HD. Its like they just have no fear of you or you are more invisible on the little quiet bike. I even had one botch pull out in front of me while her male passenger casually gave me the finger (carrying a 1911 is insurance that you don't chase down and confront idiots!). Of course lots of outofstaters have been here for the PGA event, and combined with the power outage, lots of tempers are short.

[JWR]

Most people in cages don't have a clue about the type of bike you are riding.

Can you say "REDNECK".

:biggrin:

[dentheman]

It is the opposite around here. A couple cages have pulled out in front of me, but that sometimes happens even when I am driving my cage, they just aren't looking/paying attention. It has not happened since I started always using my brights during daylight. On my longer rides I will pull over two or three times to take breaks. In every case, cages have pulled over to see if there was a problem. I always thank them for stopping. If I stop to get gas or a snack, there are always some cage drivers that compliment my bike. I have never had anyone flip me off, cut in after passing, or anything like that. My Shadow is larger than a GZ, but I don't think that has anything to so with it.
The fact that there are a LOT of motorcyclists in this area, and Texas is really pushing motorists to 'share the road' with motorcyles with TV ads and road signs might have something to do with it. Also, a well known and respected county judge was recently killed on his motorcycle. It was big news, and I think it woke some people up to the fact that bikers are people too!

[Water Warrior 2]

Size and visibility do make a difference. Always use hi-beam during the day and wear a reflective vest or other gear as well. Most drivers are not mentally tuned to look for anything smaller than a car. 2 exceptions though. A cop on a bike or a badass on a loud bike who might hurt them.
The GZ is not really that visible from a head-on view. Make it visible, make yourself visible. You can reduce but not eliminate the odds of some one pulling out in front of you.