Traveling home on the GS this evening and got to a roundabout where two cars had turned out in front of me, followed by a van driver nearly wanting to push me out of the way! Carried on down the road and the van was very close behind, car going slow so I overtook. In which he sped up and out ran me! Got behind and flashed him, van driver behind put his high beam on at me, so feeling a bit uncomfortable with the situation decided to overtake the car again. As I got past the car the van sped past both of us and got in front of me and stuck his brakes on. We slowed down to arouns 15mph and I decided to out run the van and as I got level with him, he pushed me over to an oncoming car, luckily for me the car stopped and I got past and got some distance away, Bastards!
Between this sort of random road rage and the rampant distracted driving these days I am enjoying urban riding less and less every day. Seems like the goal of every ride I take is to get as far away from civilization as possible. We are fortunate in Oregon, that's pretty easy. I've gotten in to the habit of just re-routing when stuff get's strange. Even if the re-route is just turn off, go half a block, then u-turn and continue I think I'm going to live longer due to lack of blood pressure and removing myself from the high risk situation. That said, I still want a portable laser that is cable of evaporating a vehicle on demand for the more extreme cases.
It was a scary experience to be honest but I made a decision to get out of the situation and get as much distance from them as possible. In the day time mode it may have been a different story!
Sounds almost like they were working as a team. Thievery perhaps, that just didn't work out like they had planned? I mean, it's so random and coincidental that two people ganged up on you at the same time.
OR, you could do like this guy, not a bike, but dealing with rednecks. I was traveling south in my Charger back from leave, and some truckers started messing with me. I sped ahead, pulled the shotgun out of the trunk and waited. Aimed it right at them and let them go by. End of problem. Passed them later without incident.
Mag00, That is the most awesome video I have ever seen!!! I don't believe you should ever pull a gun for what you think may be a problem, but here, there was clearly a problem and it would have ended a lot different if this guy was not able to defend himself. As a rider and a driver, I am fully prepared to defend myself and my wife in the same way all the time! FACT: The world is full of this kind of scum. FACT: The situation was defused instantly with a GUN by a smart, law abiding, peaceful citizen who was clearly wronged. You pick: A trip to the hospital or morgue for you and your wife, OR a new camera and hot sex with your wife later that evening. Bikehunter, glad all is well with you and good job defending yourself with your bike! I also believe there was an alternate plan for you today and you spoiled it. Your bike would have fit nicely in the van while the guys in the car beat you silly.
Perhaps the situation could have been diffused if you pulled over somewhere and didn't try to go fast and over take the cars? Seems like exceeding (I'm assuming here) the speed limit to pass someone isn't really a safe way of getting out of a situation that is already very dangerous. That said, it's hard to keep calm and level in those situations and just let them pass.
In the case of the video, the guy with the gun could have easily shot and killed the guy with bat and been legal. A bat is considered a deadly weapon. He chose not to and instead decided to teach them a valuable lesson. It ended well but could have ended differently. This video could easily be used as a teaching tool for a concealed carry class IMHO.
I didn't catch that. Aren't the punks over there randomly trying to knock out strangers on the street? That stuff would not fly in Arizona. You do not even need a permit to conceal carry. Sure we have the occasional shooting, but the bad guys are getting taken out too.
It did get me a bit suspicious at the time and later this week I came to realise that they were driving together with a plan. It was long a dark country main road and you do get a lot of traffic normally but it was particualy quiet that night. I have been driving in my van around the area looking out for them and carry a club (for defensive purposes only) just in case. Misses is watching me though which is not good!
