Must be the day for close calls...

Rode the "Flood Run" in Western Wisconsin today. Beautiful day and more motorcycles then you could shake a stick at (mostly chrome monsters but that's pretty typical). Me and couple of buddies on their Harleys were heading home and we were about to part ways; they were turning left and I was heading straight. I had noticed a car in my mirrors earlier that had been behind us for quite awhile but he was back a ways so no worries right? Well as my my buddies signaled left and positioned towards the center of the lane to turn, I moved to the right side of the lane to pass them. Next thing I know I hear brakes squealing right on my a$$. I look in my right mirror and the car I saw earlier was half way on the shoulder, dust flying and brakes locked up. Apparently he had snuck up on me and assumed I was turning left with my buddies (my left signal was NOT on) and he was going to try and sneak by us on the right (with two wheels on the shoulder). Lots of blame to go around but I will admit that I did not check over my right shoulder prior to shifting lane position to pass my buddies turning left. :spank: Just about cr@pped my drawers and pulled over soon thereafter to let the adrenaline wear off. My little angel was with me for sure.

That will jump start the old ticker... Lesson learned I guess, glad you didn't get clipped.

What the guy in the car was doing was illegal and stupid.
Sure you should check over your shoulders, but you didn't do anything bad
Good thing it was just a close call though

Glad it didnt get ugly for you...thanks for sharing....is good to reminded of just how close danger is when we are on our bikes....am guessing you will be just that little bit more aware for a while now.

:thumbup:

SovietRobot said:

What the guy in the car was doing was illegal and stupid.
Sure you should check over your shoulders, but you didn't do anything bad
Good thing it was just a close call though

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<RANT>
I've never understood why everyone seems to just "NEED" to pass a slower/ing vehicle - whether they're stopped at a red light or not - in the act of making a turn. The ones that really get me wondering are the Einsteins who CROSS A DOUBLE YELLOW into on coming traffic to get around a vehicle that's turning right! I'm sure they're thinking, "I'm SO glad I nearly took a few people out just to save myself .00000999999 seconds" (duhhh - :spank: )
</RANT>

Sorry - now back to the original thread...(sorry ); glad the O.P. made it safely out of the situation...whether you did the "over-the-shoulder" or not, that car had NO RIGHT trying to pass where there wasn't room (if I read the original post correctly).

u can be excused for not shoulder checking when simply readjusting lane position.

you are to be blamed for not keeping a hawk eye on your mirrors at all times and not being 100% aware.

BUT

we are ALL guilty of that at times but 99.9999% of the time nothing happens. This time it did. Good reminder to be ever-vigilant. Easier said than done tho, thats for sure.

Car was 100% wrong, and really no reason for you to look over your shoulder! I do know 100% of my surroundings 100% of the time but that partly comes from racing... I also drive roughly 20,000 miles in 6 months for my job too. In that situation basically was a impatient driver. basically you should have pulled over taken license plate call the cops and report it. Then the cops would have shown up at their house and they would have been issued a failure to keep right & an unsafe passing. but glad everything turned out with no damage or injuries!

08fz6 said:

Car was 100% wrong, and really no reason for you to look over your shoulder! I do know 100% of my surroundings 100% of the time but that partly comes from racing... I also drive roughly 20,000 miles in 6 months for my job too. In that situation basically was a impatient driver. basically you should have pulled over taken license plate call the cops and report it. Then the cops would have shown up at their house and they would have been issued a failure to keep right & an unsafe passing. but glad everything turned out with no damage or injuries!

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IMO its newer a question of who is right and who is wrong ...,- it's our ass on the bike, and in a bike/cage incident, - it's our ass that gets the most damage!
So the lesson to be learned is: ALWAYS expect the unexpected, - and drive like everybody else on the road are idiots!

Fz6Sa said:

IMO its newer a question of who is right and who is wrong ...,- it's our ass on the bike, and in a bike/cage incident, - it's our ass that gets the most damage!
So the lesson to be learned is: ALWAYS expect the unexpected, - and drive like everybody else on the road are idiots!

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Indeed, It seems that the best way to ride is with the idea that once you sit on your bike, every other driver in the world becomes your worst enemy and they are out to kill you.

Not to attack you or anything, or sound condescending as im extremely new to motorcycling; just wanted to bring up one point from Proficient Motorcycling.
It doesnt matter who is in the wrong, or who has right of way.. The fact of the matter is that motorcyclists will get the short end of the stick in any accident. Always be aware

Be vigilant! Glad to hear you're ok