If you visit this board, I have a wee bit of advice for you, but a quick bit of history first:
I’m in the inside lane about to swing left.
Scoot is in the middle lane and decides he wants to be in the bus lane (to my left), so swings across my bows.
I have to grab a handful to avoid splatting him all over the road. I even manage to lock up the front - on that ‘Shell-grip’ anti-skid stuff and only just manage to slow down enough not to make contact.
I hit the horn to indicate my displeasure.
Scoot nails it up the bus lane, giving me the finger in the process.
“Hmmm” thinks I, “that’s not on”. So I take a wiggle through the traffic to have a word and catch him at the lights all off about 50ft further up.
So I say “What’s your problem?”
He says “**** Off! Why did you beep your horn at me?”
I said “Because you carved me up and I almost went down trying to avoid you”.
He said “I put my indicator on”.
I never saw an indicator on and I was watching.
“No you didn’t and anyway that doesn’t give you right of way!”
Mumbled reply - too scared to lift his goldfish bowl tinted visor.
“Ok mate, let me put it this way, this bike weighs 240Kg and if you ever pull that one again I’ll just keep going and cut you in half!”
“**** off!”
“If you really want a punch in the fcuking mouth lift that visor and I’ll oblige you, you fcuking muppet! Stick that finger up at me again and I’ll be having it for my breakfast!”
Waits,
Waits,
Waits,
Waits for a response (nonchalantly putting the side-stand down), notice that the lights are now on green but no-one has even thought about moving, mentally note where all the cameras are pointing.
Side-stand up, move off.
Now to the advice:
If you ever try that again with me, I’ll ride over the top of you! I’m not about to dump myself in front of another vehicle to save your skin.
If you try that with a car, I won’t have to worry about you ever again, because they’ll have to scrape you off the road.
If you’d like to discuss this further, I go through there every morning. Just sit at the side and wave a finger at me, I’ll get the message.
Understand your frustration, and I’ve done a similar thing to you in the past, but in my case it always makes me so mad afterwards that I end up not concentrating properly for the rest of my ride.
It’s a difficult call whether it’s best to take action, or to ignore it, congratulate yourself on not having had an off, and get on your way and concentrate on looking after yourself.
Riding away is best policy,But some times you just can not leave it, especially when they do studied things and then swore at you or give you a finger.
I had a few months ago. Car pulled into a space to the left and then when I was along side of him just pulled out again, did not even look, NOTHING!!.
I just saw RED!! Picked the bike up, shouted at him, “what the hell are you doing etc…” Just got a smile in return followed by the finger.
I just punch his window so hard it made the biggest bang and then smashed. I am not to sure who was shocked more, me or him. He sh*t him self and hacked off really fast!!!
Afterwards I new my action where wrong and it could of escalated into something really bad, but it still felts so good to this day. Also its great to have Carbon covers on your gloves!
Hat off to you sir…I had the displeasure of riding my 125 after CBT of being cut up on the way to the lights in Putney by 6 hoodies on mopeds…so i put my stand up and walked in front of the lot of them …at 6’3 and an avid bodybuilder/boxer threw 3 of them off their twatpeds…I respect anyone who takes to 2 wheels, but if u take the pi** then you are no better than Mr and Mrs congestion charge and their estate volvo…
I’ll probably encounter them soon enough when I eventually sort myself out with a ride, but at 5’10" and medium build with no self defence training, I could not get away with the same thing despite being in the same situation with a similar temperament.
It’s unfortunate, but the only option I have is the deep breath in order to avoid being stabbed.
Possibly.
Size, being a bodybuilder etc does not stop or prevent peeps from being a victim of a good pasting or worse … I have unfortunately seen this first hand too many times.
Deep breath and ride on knowing that thier time will come is the best option.
tis true…and as a self confessed gentle giant, would not condone my actions…but wrong day wrong time, is hard to let life threatening behaviour go, without a word or to…
Guys, I know it feels good and they do probably deserve it, but try and look at it from this perspective.
You smash someone’s window…what do they want to do to the next biker they come across…revenge maybe or some sort…? OK, maybe revenge is too strong, but they’re certainly not going to be very considerate of the biker are they…in their head they’ll be thinking “Effin bikers, who do they think they are, smashing windows, cutting up traffic cutting to the front of the queue all the time…”
OK, most of that is exactly why we’re bikers, but you go and smash someone’s window, and you get the back of the wrong idiiot up, and another biker could pay for your moments road rage…So a biker whose done nothing wrong could now be in danger cos you couldn’t control yourself.
Yup I am still old, I am still boring, but christ there’s so much to be said for Grow up and show you are more mature than they are. SET the example, don’t lower yourself to their level.
Whole heartedly agree with this.
Incl. the moped riders.
I have no prejudice - I hate everyone equally
If he’d been on a bike (big or small) / car / bus / insert your choice here, I would still have been just as miffed.
too easy to say…it seems violence is okay for governments, Iraq, Vietnam Korea, etc etc, it is okay for the police…reasonable force, its okay for prison officers, again reasonable force etc…but it seems its not okay for normal people…hmm…
That’s kind of my point. If violence is your answer, then you’re right in there with the high moral examples of George Bush and other simpleton hooligan thugs. It’s not a place where I feel comfortable, but opinions will differ on this.
Violence is a last resort. I learned that working on ‘doors’ in Edinburgh for years.
However scaring the poo out of someone (if it’ll make him think and perhaps not kill someone - or himself) is justifiable IMHO.
I usually just shake my head and get on with it, but this idiot added insult to damn-near injury. To be honest, if I was going to hit him, I wouldn’t have said a word, so it was all bluster really. Absolutely livid, steam out the ears, raging bluster I grant you.
Err, me thinks you have been reading way too much of the Daily Mail or something similiar. I have to abide by the same laws as you do and if I use force (from a simple push up to potentially lethal force) then I will be judged by the same standards as you are and probably investigated more thoroughly.
Please show me where and how you’ve came to the conclusion that reasonable force is not ok for ‘normal’ people ?
