I did something stupid today!

[90GTVert]

I left my house earlier tonight to take a quick ride before dinner. It was nice out and a great ride... until a mile from home.

As I came out of my town, which has a 30MPH speed limit and no shoulder, I pulled onto the shoulder where 49cc class scooters are supposed to ride as I always do. Shortly after the shoulder begins the speed limit ups to 40MPH and within 1/2 mile 50MPH. So I pull into the shoulder in the 30MPH zone and start to speed up just a littel faster than the traffic in the regular lane of travel is speeding up. Technically I shouldn't go over 30MPH on a 49cc, so I guess I'm in the wrong already because I was going around 35MPH. The truck ahead of me decides that no one is passing him on the shoulder. Mind you, at this point I was near him but not beside him or passing him. He looks in his rear view mirror, and swerves into the shoulder. I swerved to the edge of the road and hit my brakes as he came all the way into the shoulder to the edge of the road and hit his brakes. He stares back at me in the rear view. I began with the palm up gesture as in "WHAT THE - ARE YOU DOING?". He kind of flailed his arms around a little as he swerved around watching me and not the road for a moment. I switched over to the single finger salute as he stared.

Now he pulls back into the lane of travel as we pass my house, where I was supposed to be stopping. He starts swerving around again as he stared back into his mirrors at me. I gestured for him to pull over. He gives me the "O.K." sign and swerves to the shoulder, hitting his brakes pretty hard. I hit my brakes and prepared to stop and hop off. He then speeds back up and swerves into the normal lane of travel. Now I'm even more angry. I thought he was actually stupid enough to pull over with me and I was kinda happy about it, then he runs away. I opened my visor and screamed at him, as if he could hear me being in front of me with all of his windows up, that it's a scooter and I'm supposed to be on the shoulder, expletives, etc... After a brief outburst I realised that was silly and closed my visor.

So I continue to follow him and he continues to swerve and brake randomly, even though I'm staying away from him so he doesn't kill me. This goes on for 10 miles to the next town. When he gets near this town that has red lights so he can't get away too well he pulls out his cell phone, holds it up and sorta shakes it around I suppose to scare me, and then holds it to his ear for about a minute. BTW, if he had any sense he'd realise it's a scooter and if you speed up to above 60MPH, no more angry scooter dude. He never went over 56MPH according to my speedometer.

I pulled up behind him at a few of red lights in town with my tire almost touching his bumper. The first light, he locks the doors and then stares at me in the mirrors. I grumbled as I stared back. Even being angry, I'm not getting out at a redlight with 50 people watching and doing anything. Luckily I did still have a slight amount of my brain working. At the next couple of lights he won't even look at me. He looks around at the sky and eveything but me. Cute.

Well, we finally end up turning on to a dual lane section of town in a 30MPH zone. He pulls into the slow lane so I pulled into the fast lane to get beside him. I rode by giving him the salute once again and pulled in kinda cutting him off a little hoping he'd get angry and pull over with me. I pulled a little farther ahead of him, maybe 30ft, and motioned for him to follow me. As soon as I did this he quickly took the first turn he came to with no blinker. I made the next turn, never to see him again. He wasn't in the parking lot he turned into by the time I got there. I filled up with gas because I was getting very low by then and rode around but never did find him.

It made me incredibly angry that he never thought twice about swerving at me multiple times not caring if he pushed me off the road into a ditch or hitting his brakes enough that it got kinda hairy for me... but when I wanted him to pull over to work out our differences he sped off. You can try to hit me with a truck but I can't try to hit you with a fist?

Now, with it all over I feel like an idiot. First off, I put my self in danger by not ending the situation and simply going home. Second, this is completely out of character for me. I'll do some pretty stupid stuff on a regular basis, but I'm really not an angry person. Anyone that knows me in person could tell you that I'm a very nice, easy going, dude. Yelling is even out of character for me. I'm a quiet person. I don't think I've really screamed at another person in over 10 years. That was another traffic incident where a woman ran into my Firebird and then told me it was fine and not to get out of my car, just trust her and drive away. I got out of the car, looked at my bumper, and then screamed at her and left since my car really was O.K.... but I was mad that she hit me and then thought I shouldn't even check it. My friends and family as welll as I have came to the conclusion many years ago that normal Brent and driving Brent are two different people btw. I'm as angry at myself as him now. If I did see him now I wouldn't do anything. It isn't worth it. I'm better off just knowing that he's one ignorant ummm word I can't say on a family forum and leaving it at that.

I told a couple of friends. They said we better not see him in town this weekend. I told them I wouldn't need any help first off, and that it doesn't matter. Like I just told you guys, the whole situation was blatant ignorance by everyone involved.

So anyway, there it is.... in case you hadn't figured it out already... I'm not too bright sometimes.

[jmkjr72]

well when idiots put your life in danger there is no room for politness
yes when im on the road scoot personal vehcile or work truck i get very defensive of "my space"
i belive if you put my life in danger i have the right to let you know you are a dumb (&% and will in a heart beat

try riding thru multi lane round abouts and you can just feel your bp on the rise

[90GTVert]

I couldn't deal with city traffic on a regular basis. I have actually never driven into the city without doing something crazy (always in cars).

Last time I was in Baltimore I managed to scare a cab driver and a few people. He blocked me in to a narrow space so I squeezed a Lincoln Town Car between his cab and some people and flower pots on a curb. When I got the first wheel on the curb the people started moving away quickly. By the time the 2nd wheel was on the curb and my mirror was an inch from his he had a terrified look on his face. lol

Another time I took the wrong exit and ended up North on I-95 (3 lanes each way, 65MPH speed limit) when I wanted to be going South. I had been a little lost thanks to some crappy mapquest directions and I was determined not to get lost again. I drove a sports car with 4 people in it across a very wide and bumpy median and pulled out in front of a speeding tractor trailer spinning tires. I did more dumb stuff in the city, but that was probably the highlight of the trip for me.

I have no doubt that I would lose my license again before I got used to city driving.

[stepthrutuner]

Hey, Brent. If I had a nickel for every stupid thing I've done on/in objects with wheels I could probably buy a new Derbi. ;D

Probably the stupidest thing I ever did was soon after I got my first Datsun 510. I was cruising some paved back roads in the county north of where I live. A couple of guys in an old about '50 model Chevy sedan passed me and the race was on. I knew that old Chevy couldn't possibly outrun my hi tech '71 Datsun and the race was on. I know we both had our right foot(s) firmly planted on the floorboard. I was catching up, much to their chagrin. Unfortunately we were about to top a blind hill but I was not relenting. I was not familiar with the road and as I passed while topping the hill I saw that there was a fairly sharp right coming up way too soon. I hit the brakes hard even while I was still light from topping the hill. Immediately I was traveling backwards at around 70 mph in the wrong lane. I looked left and saw the guys repass me as I had all four locked down. I was slowing down rapidly, of course, but as the road was bending right (or now to my left) I found myself on the dirt shoulder. Unbeknownst to me there was on coming traffic in the form of a man and his prepubescent son in a '63 Falcon. He had pulled over on the same shoulder I was rapidly coming to rest on. In fact my rear bumper gently came to rest against his front bumper. Before I knew it he was out of his car aghast with his mouth open in bewilderment. I started my car and as I was pulling away I shouted out the window, "Any damage?". As I remember he shook his head but still could not utter a word. I made a u-turn and was gone in a flash. I took every gravel back road I could to get home praying he would not call the cops. Whew. I made it!

Maybe I'll tell you about my friend and I looking at each other while flying upside down after slipping off an icy road at 2:00 AM on New Year's Day. Wound up shiny side up only it wasn't that shiny anymore. Damn that kammback black metallic Corolla with a shade kit was pretty.

[90GTVert]

lol nice story Reg. I've done stupid stuff quite a bit as well thanks to a lead foot in cars, luckily never really crashed and hurt anything. I've done my share of dumb things on teh scooter as well. I was just mad at myself at the time because I kept following a person that was using a 4,000+ pound truck as a weapon against a 200 pound scooter.

One of the dumbest things I've done for no reason was in an '87 Grand Marquis with a 5.0. It had the foot activated e-brake and for whatever stupid reason I discovered that it didn't lock when you are moving. It would lock up the tires, but I mean I could use it like a foot pedal for just the rear brakes. That ended up with me drifting years before I ever heard of it, but that's not what got me into this particular situation. I used to tap the e-brake quickly while moving just enough to chirp the rear tires at people, and at times I would do it so it would sound like it barked the tires into 2nd to confuse people (17 second car lol). So one day I took a friend out for a ride and I decided to chirp the tires at 70+MPH. You guessed it, this time the e-brake locked and before I knew it the car was doing 70MPH donuts. I got the e-brake unlocked, and ended up just sliding sideways with my side of the car lifting off the ground high enough that I thought it was going to roll. For some reason my friend was not wearing a seatbelt so I grabbed him and pulled him to my side hoping it would put the car down a little. I don't know that it actually accomplished anything, but it made sense in the middle of what I thought was turning into a wreck lol. I finally came to rest sideways in the middle of the road. I got out of there with a quickness. I came back later to check out the black marks. This is on a road with no shoulders and telephone poles right at the edge of the road. According to the marks I must have missed telephone poles on both sides of the road by merely inches.

[phaze5]

hey 49cc scooter pro, you have a hard time outrunnin people for cryin out loud hahahahah you have to think before he does what he does lol.

years ago at night we were on our bikes, we had a crazy dude driving a truck with our g/f s in it,

were on an interstate when this guy comes right into our lane my buddy sped up and i slowed down, if i didnt he would of pinned me to the guardrail, he then speeds up and we do the same,

we couldn't do much but then all of a sudden, my buddy rams his bumper with his truck not hard just enough to say hi, we chase this guy at 1 am thru the city redlights curbs, my buddy in the p/u was gonna kill him.

he pulled into a parking lot and laid on his horn my buddy is tying to kick out his window as i look up to see police sub station lol we all hauled ass.

be careful of your actions lol. you must use your inner radar for this lol.

glad your okay brent , i'm sore rigor set in over night hahaha

[harrywr2]

To me the whole point of riding is to be out in the world as it is.

Ride past a dead skunk and thats part of the ride..riding past a bakery is part of the ride too.

Blind Betty, Left Turn Larry, Tailgating Tom and Charlie Cut Me Off are all part of the ride.

Idiots, they're everywhere and they don't even know they are idiots.

[90GTVert]

Oh I get it, and you can bet that I won't be passing as many cars unless I'm on backroads where I can get around them in a way they can comprehend. I wouldn't even have been mad if it was an accident. He was basking in his own ignorance though. It's like if I bumped into you while walking through the mall and said sorry or if I gave you a dirty look as I bumped you and had a few words for you. I'm used to the morons that can;t see a fat man on a scooter with bright lights and turn in front of you and all that fun stuff... I'm not used to the way this guy acted. Anyway, I'm not defending what I did or how I drive I'm just suprised to hear that I should accept people like this is as normal.

I said I was over it, but I'm still kind of mad I guess.

[Rebel]

I think most of us will do "stupid things" upon occasion, I on the other hand seem to do them fairly often.

[harrywr2]

Guys with big trucks who are 'physically challenged' are always looking to prove their manliness.

A guy with a big truck playing a game of chicken with a guy on a scooter must really, really be challenged.

[wcurtin1962]

When I was riding home from work yesterday I stopped to gas up. I had a gut feeling I should check the oil. When I pulled to stick it was bone dry. I rode a couple blocks to a auto parts store. There was no place to chain the scoot up to (naturally) so I parked the scoot in front of their building in sight of the doors and put my new yorker chain thru the back wheel and went inside to get an QT of oil. When I got back out and was bent down trying to get the oil in with out spilling it on their walk way a counter puke came out and said “you may want to move that thing so my customers can get though.” I replied with out looking up I am one of your customers you a__hole. I don’t know how he reacted or care. I finished oiling the scoot and rode off.

[2strokd]

Glad things didnt get farther south on that deal Brent . I ride in a college town everyday so i see this stuff on a daily bases, and i am always telling myself to just let it go. Its hard sometimes, and other times im so mad i forget to even tell myself to let it go.
Funny i read this. I was just telling my wife an hour ago how we gotta think when the road rage demon brews inside. I told her the same thing you said Brent, we cant play bumper tag with 3,000+ pound vehicles.
The other day my uncle was coming home from the west side (Purdue campus), a few blocks before the bridge crossing the Wabash River to the Lafayette side of town some road rage got started when a lady in a minivan cut off my uncle the hit her brakes. Things quickly got out of hand and the next thing ya know the crazy b!tch is trying to run my uncle off the road ON THE F,n BRIDGE!!! Yeah, she waited until they were crossing a bridge with the river 40 or 50 feet below them before she came up beside him then cut over into his lane. He said if he wouldnt have jammed on his breaks when he did, at the very least he would have been wedged between the van and the safety rail. It took him the rest of the day and a pack of smokes for him to settle back down from that.
Thats one of the reasons i am building my scoot to be very quick on the 0 to 50 range. I like to have the power to get the heck outta the way if i need to. So far staying ahead of, or with traffic hasnt been a problem in town . I love blasting by cars at 40+mph going up steep hills .

[90GTVert]

This seems appropriate for this topic...



I was riding home friend's house haulin ace to beat a bad thunderstorm and didn't even pass anyone on the shoulder. Luckily I guess the cars were running away from the storm too because I was going between 55 and 60MPH for 20 miles on 2 differnt 50MPH roads and I was getting passed by nearly everyone. I only had to slow down for a couple of cars. I wanted to pass, but after what happened with the idiot mentioned in my orignal post I thought better of it.

In the last week I've pulled out and passed a few cars and trucks just as a motorcycle or other car/truck would to avoid road rage from slow drivers. It seems like that would be even more confusing to me seeing a scooter drive from the shoulder to the normal lane of travel then out on the car's driver side to pass then bakc into the normal lane of travel and then back to the shoulder... but so far no one's tried to kill me for doing that at least. It did make some Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan wanna race me in his camoflauge diesel truck though.

I still think the cager should get over it if they get passed. They think nothing of passing me when I am driving any speed on the shoulder, but if I go past them they get upset? Either way, I'm trying to think a little bit... not too much though lol... and avoid more road rage. If I do soemthing and get hurt or die on this thing I'd prefer that it was some Evel Knievel type stuff, not a cager trying to feel like a big man by putting me into the wall.

[phaze5]

i tried passing a guy the other night, i pulled out he was around 53 and as soon as i got out of his draft he either sped up or i slowed down as i couldn't pull it off. his eyes were glued to his mirror though. i need nos for that i think.

[90GTVert]

Yeah, it kinda sucks passing on a scooter because even slightly speeding up can foil our plans. It's amazing how much difference drafting behind a car makes too. I can go from 55 on the shoulder at WOT to 55 beind a car at 1/2 throttle.