Weekly Harley Rant

[James Burleigh]

Coming up US 101 Sunday on the second leg of my Phoenix to San Francisco ride, doing about 80 to break away from several cars I'd gotten tired of playing patty-cake with, I spotted a couple of Harleys up ahead. As I approached them from about a quarter mile back, I saw that they were cruising in staggered formation in the left of the two lanes.

As I got a little closer, the rider on the right makes a lane change into the right lane. I figured he had pulled up to say something to his buddy, but he would get back over when they saw me come up, or the guy in the left lane would move over into the slower lane.

No dice.

I rode behind those two guys, who had a couple of wimmin on the back, for several minutes while they cruised at about 65 in the left wheel tracks of both lanes. My mind was racing, from "They must not see me" to "Should I flash my lights to get their attention?" to "Should I honk my horn?" to "These guys are f**king a**holes!"

Clearly they knew I was on their a**, sitting behind them in the right wheel track of the left (fast) lane. But they wouldn't budge.

No way was I going to go up the middle, since they might shift position just as I made my move. Within a few minutes the guy in the right lane moved over to pass an even slower-moving car, and as he started to move back into his right-lane position, I dropped it a gear and did an end-o way wide around him to his right before he could get back in his a**-hole blocking position.

As I shot around I looked over my shoulder at the f**ktards and shook my head. It was all I could do, not having a shotgun on me with the attendant fiat of being King of the World when that sh*t won't be tolerated and so summary executions would be in order.

As I pulled ahead, I could see a mile back that they were doing a traffic stop on the cars I'd gotten away from, 'cause no cage lights came ahead of them.

What are they thinking?! When they buy a Harley, do they get a manual with a chapter entitled "How to be an A**hole"? :angry:

 

[dj bill]

feel better.count to 10 and take deep breathes.dont wanna code blue again.lol

 

[Mike-H]

Seems to be the standard HD mentality these days..... :blink:

 

[yamafitter]

Seems to be the standard HD mentality these days..... :blink:

Pulling a stunt like that on the 401 in Toronto would get you ran over by a crazed Quebec 18 Wheeler or some young immigrant punk of Asian roots driving a Honda Civic with a tin can for a muffler.

I've personally seen NASCAR bump & run by these clowns on cagers and they have even less respect for motorcyclists.

When I see Quebec plates I try to leave the middle lane open as I go by since I have no idea what they are planning.

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

Last summer, I was on a Friday morning solo ride, going up one of the local semi-twisty roads. Caught up to a big, new generation GoldWing, and I assumed a spot behind him. The GW is right in the middle of the lane (2-lane road), and I saw him yawn in his mirror. I followed him for close to a mile before he realized I was behind him. He was going under the speed limit, so I assumed he would slide over to the right-hand side of the lane so I could go by him in our lane, since it was a double-yellow. But no. Guess what? Kept glaring at me in his mirrors, and made sure he occupied the entire lane, so that I couldn't safely get by. I finally got enough of a straight that I could pin it and get by. The only possible explanation is that the guy was a dick.

The other thing I've had happen that is puzzling was on a trip to Arkansas this past May. (I've had this happen all over, so it's not a geographic phenomenon). Three of us riding, 5 or 10 mph over the posted limit. Caught a vehicle (in this case, a pickup truck) going under the speed limit, on a twisty section of pavement, all double-yellow. He's keeping a close eye on us in his mirrors, and starts to speed up. He's having a rough time in the corners, but he is determined to keep us behind him, which apparently pisses him off. We finally got a short straight where we could see a few hundred yards up the road, and accelerated to pass. He FLOORS the truck, all the way up to 85 or 90 mph, making our pass suddenly dangerous, as the next corner is fast approaching. We made it passed, and quickly pulled away in the twisties. WTF? It pisses him off that we're behind him, but he sure as hell doesn't want to let us get by, which would relieve his anxiety, I assume. By the way, I've had this happen with cars and trucks, as well as many brands of bikes, so it's not vehicle-specific. It's A-hole specific.

A dick is a dick, I guess, no matter what he's driving or riding.

 

[Nate]

I'm seeing that more often and not just with motorcycles. The new trend is people planting their asses in the left/passing lane. They set their cruise control to whatever speed they deem appropriate and become entirely oblivious to the world around them. It's all part of everyones over-blown sense of entitlement and lack of general courtesy these days.

I also think sportbikes have a pretty bad rep on our highways and might be more susceptible to a bit of road rage. Just keep that in mind and be careful.

 

[LAF]

While in WV I experienced totally different ride behaviors from both bikes and cars. Cars would look for a pull off in the twisties and let you by, and bikes would yield the lanes.

Not saying they drink magic water or anything but geography does play a part in how much dick is in Richard.

Although get a coal truck on your ass in WV and you better be up to the task as they are relentless.

Last night I wanted to get some night driving in and have a great 25 mile run through a very nice valley. I was doing 45-50 in 4th, feet out on the highway pegs, Rife just a slight push up, jamming to Tom Petty. A guy comes up on me and wants to fly and so I tuck up on the pegs and crank it to 65 70 and he is there but a bit back. I know the road like the back of my hand and know there is a passing zone ahead, so I drop my speed, move right, wave him by, he blinks his lights thanks, and then was gone in a hurry.

I dont know what causes people to get so "power" happy on bikes and acting the way they do. I ride the six on all the trips I take with a friend, and we do protect our lane, but our lane only, and if I see someone so anxious to go around I will give up lane and signal my partner for him to also. Just not worth the hassle or bad karma.

When I had the LT in VT a group of Harleys would not give an inch, our host also on a LT, and knowing the roads motioned us to follow, well we took about 30 harleys on 2 lane road and at times had to fall into their formation hugging the yellow best we could, you should have seen the look on their faces as we hugged yellow and then make the next hop. It took about 3 hops and we were gone never to see them again. I asked our host about it and he said what was the choice? Ride the next 100 miles at 50, behind the most irritating noise you can imagine, or pass them? I said I was a little nervous breaking their ranks and he said well just think if you were a car, would they mess with you? He said unless the guys are truly 1% ers they are not going to risk messing up their chrome.

I dont endorse what we did but there is a mentality associated to bikers of the Harley persuasion, especially when in pack formations, that I just loath, and wish a 50 Cal could be mounted for such cases.

 

[wfooshee]

I'm not sure what it is that makes someone's gonads hurt when they get passed. Apparently being in front is manly-man, and being passed is gurly-gurl.

The logic would seem simple. There was nobody behind me 15 seconds ago. Now somebody's behind me. Hmm. Apparently they're going faster than I want to go. I'll let them pass and thus be on their merry way.

Instead, it's this: There was nobody behind me last time I bothered to look. Now some dickweed is back there acting all impatient all of a sudden. Well, jerkface, just have a look who's in charge here. It ain't you, is it?

As for the OP, the Harley packs like that will stay together at all costs. They do NOT want cars breaking up their group, so they ride tightly packed. They don't want to have to move that tight pack around all the time, so they stay in the farthest lane to the left so they avoid merging traffic at on ramps. 55, 65 is top speed because the cigarettes won't stay lit any faster and do-rags blow off. Conversation with neighboring bikes is difficult when the wind noise gets up, too, ya know.

 

[wheatonFJR]

I hate ALL BLOCKERS...car or motorcycle or truck.

 

[Aasland]

Not saying they drink magic water or anything but geography does play a part in how much dick is in Richard.

That's for sure. After cutting my teeth learning to ride in the PNW, where people pull over to let us pass, we moved to the northern midwest, where the behavior is markedly different.

We either see the "block the road" mentality, "oblivious" mentality, or the trying-to-be-nice "slow corners/fast straights so I don't burden the motorcyclists" mentality.

So +1 on geography.

I asked our host about it and he said what was the choice?

Best choice is often to pull off and take a break. Let them get a ways ahead ... even a 15-minute lead will put many miles between you and them.

 

[Willie]

When approaching a group of riders, regardless of brand, they are riding in a formation to keep everyone together. If done properly the Lead Bike should be riding at a speed and style that matches the least experienced rider in the group. Where I am from if we have a ton of people, we break the groups into nor more than 10 riders.

I would say it would be discourteous of you to start passing and then have to merge into the middle of the group. That would be same as a cager trying to pass. It is harder to communicate to a group to ride single file to enable another rider to pass the group. Keep in mind the leader is the one responsible for giving direction to the group, which is passed backwards, with hand signals. Most group rides will have a tail gunner, which may have a radio ability to the leader.

I wouldn't expect a group ride to pull over specifically for me to allow me to pass, however if the opportunity did present itself such a going from a one land to 2 lane road, I would expect the group to shift to the right to allow passing.

I don't do group rides anymore for my own reasons, but still respect those that do.

It seems we should be more tolerant of our fellow riders nor should we be so quick to be overly critical of other riders of different brands, bike type, or riding style. We are all out there to enjoy the roads.

My .02

Willie

 

[wheatonFJR]

I don't care if they are riding in formation to keep everybody together... if their formation prevents others from passing...then they are obstructing and should break up into a smaller group. They don't own the road...whether trucks, cars or bikes.

I've ridden in groups and we break up into small enough groups that someone can pass us, or we let them "play through".

I don't respect a group that doesn't allow fellow motorcycles to play through.

I also hate riding behind a line of cars on a 2-lane road just before a set of curves, then find out a group of bikes in a pack are holding the cars up....What jackasses! :angry2:

I find individual HD riders to be friendly and courteous or indifferent, but the "packs" to be total jack wagons!

 

[wheatonFJR]

We are all out there to enjoy the roads.

Exactly...so when someone doesn't do the simple thing and pull over to let faster cars or bikes to play through...I've got a big problem with that.

I'm done.

 

[RavFJR]

I hate ALL BLOCKERS...car or motorcycle or truck.

+1 :good:

 

[puppychow]

It's called SIDS.

...no I am not talking about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

 

[rogdeb]

It's called SIDS.

...no I am not talking about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

?? ------ stupid - - stupid

 

[SacramentoMike]

It's not just Harleys, and it's not just motorcycles. Over 30 years ago I drove across the continent from NY to CA, and we decided to take a northern route. Up around the Great Lakes and across Canada by the main E-W highway, paralleling the border. In large parts it was only two marked lanes, with a wide paved shoulder. Consistently, when we approached a slightly slower car, that car would move right, onto the shoulder, so we could continue on past without crossing the centerline. We were very impressed by this, and soon did it ourselves when (rarely) a car behind wanted to get by us. The few cars that didn't move to the right and let us by, we noticed, all had U.S. plates, we found.

It wasn't until we crossed back into WA from the Vancouver area that we came upon multi-lane highways with cars in all lanes, traveling side-by-side at the same speed. :angry2: The difference was sudden and amazingly obvious. So maybe it's not just Harleys. Maybe it's Americans (hate to lump a group that I'm a member of all together like this). Anyway, it pisses me off when I come up on such a thing whether I'm driving or riding, and whether it's cars or bikes. Also pisses me off when I'm riding in a group and we're all in the fast lane (someone else is leading) and we're all in the left lane, especially when a faster or more agressive driver comes up and wants to go by. I often will move into the open right-side lane, hoping to influence riders ahead of me, but it's tough to lead from the back. This happens fairly often in group rides I've participated in and is one reason I do less of that than I could do. I think that should be established in a pre-ride "briefing" by the leaders, to watch for drivers wanting to pass the group, and generally to move right unless passing.

But I don't agree with the earlier comment that it's discourteous to pass a group of HDs or anything else in these circumstances, or that we shoudn't expect them to let a single car or bike pass. I think they should, just as a single bike or car should move to the right to let a faster driver pass. Anything else is being a road hog--a very evil beast.

 

[Auburn]

I'm seeing that more often and not just with motorcycles. The new trend is people planting their asses in the left/passing lane. They set their cruise control to whatever speed they deem appropriate and become entirely oblivious to the world around them. It's all part of everyones over-blown sense of entitlement and lack of general courtesy these days.

I also think sportbikes have a pretty bad rep on our highways and might be more susceptible to a bit of road rage. Just keep that in mind and be careful.

All the more reason for law enforcement to write these people up and make it a public spectical to discourage them.

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

It's not just Harleys, and it's not just motorcycles. Over 30 years ago I drove across the continent from NY to CA, and we decided to take a northern route. Up around the Great Lakes and across Canada by the main E-W highway, paralleling the border. In large parts it was only two marked lanes, with a wide paved shoulder. Consistently, when we approached a slightly slower car, that car would move right, onto the shoulder, so we could continue on past without crossing the centerline. We were very impressed by this, and soon did it ourselves when (rarely) a car behind wanted to get by us. The few cars that didn't move to the right and let us by, we noticed, all had U.S. plates, we found.

It wasn't until we crossed back into WA from the Vancouver area that we came upon multi-lane highways with cars in all lanes, traveling side-by-side at the same speed. :angry2: The difference was sudden and amazingly obvious. So maybe it's not just Harleys. Maybe it's Americans (hate to lump a group that I'm a member of all together like this). Anyway, it pisses me off when I come up on such a thing whether I'm driving or riding, and whether it's cars or bikes. Also pisses me off when I'm riding in a group and we're all in the fast lane (someone else is leading) and we're all in the left lane, especially when a faster or more agressive driver comes up and wants to go by. I often will move into the open right-side lane, hoping to influence riders ahead of me, but it's tough to lead from the back. This happens fairly often in group rides I've participated in and is one reason I do less of that than I could do. I think that should be established in a pre-ride "briefing" by the leaders, to watch for drivers wanting to pass the group, and generally to move right unless passing.

But I don't agree with the earlier comment that it's discourteous to pass a group of HDs or anything else in these circumstances, or that we shoudn't expect them to let a single car or bike pass. I think they should, just as a single bike or car should move to the right to let a faster driver pass. Anything else is being a road hog--a very evil beast.

Brilliantly stated, and exactly the point I was making. If someone wants to go around me, whether on a bike or in a car (either of us), I'll let him get by safely every time. I don't car how fast (or slow) somebody else wants to go. Pay attention to your surroundings, use your mirrors and turn signals, stay in the right lane unless passing or letting someone else merge into traffic, and use some common sense. Just don't be a douchebag. I guess that's more difficult for some people than for others.