Life Changing Day **long and disheartening**

[zebragirl83]

I know there are a few of you guys out there that ride streetbikes/ sportbikes and I just want to go on record saying that I'm not downing anyone... this is more of a plea...

Yesterday I was riding down I-20 coming back from a trip to Atlanta and something I hope I never have to see again happened...
There are a million times going down the road when someone passes you going entirely too fast in a car... and even more times when it's someone on a motorcycle... They go flying past you and you think... Slow down you FREAKING idiot... you're going to kill yourself or somebody else!!!! You go on with your day and chock it up to their ignorance... grumbling something under your breath about "where are the state troopers when this $h!t is going on"... and you never think you're going to actually have to see them pay for their mistake... But yesterday we were driving between the Six Flags and Thornton Road exits headed back to Alabama when out of NOOOOWHERE came 3 guys on streetbikes... We were in the middle lane and there was a car with their rear quarter panel equal to our front quarter panel on our left and no one on the right... The first bike went around on the right... no problem... ... ... the second decided to "thread the needle" (I think is what it's called) in the less than 4 foot space between us and the car to our left going, we figure, somewhere between 90 and 100 mph... and the third went around us on the right as well... they were fine... WE were totally freaked out, angry, and annoyed... but fine... and then...
not 30 seconds later everyone started putting on brakes... The last two of the riders that had just gone around us collided with each other either in front of or with a Cadillac that was in exactly the same lane we were in... I will never forget the scene we had to drive past... One of the boys was shaken... but conscious and alive... the other wasn't... seeing someone's stupid mistake catch up with them is the worst sight I have ever had to experience especially when they were on a motorcycle... (to give you an idea of how fast they were going... the first biker took at least a quarter mile to get stopped and was running back down the street) I will never know those boys and I probably will never know if the boy in the blue jacket survived... but he forever changed the way I look at life... Don't take God's timing for granted... He knows with-in split seconds where you are supposed to be and when...
We couldn't help but try and think of the things in that day that made us run 30 seconds later... the guy in front of us on a cell phone that we were yelling at to GO less than an hour before... those 30 seconds that he annoyed us literally kept us from being that Cadillac and having to live with that... or the 30 seconds we paused to debate getting a water before heading out on the road... Something made us run 30 seconds later than that Cadillac that althougt it wasn't his fault will forever be scarred...(there was a child in the front seat that I pray didn't know what was going on)
It's such a weird feeling... we went from being so mad and annoyed... to the weirdest mixture of sadness and frustration for their lack of judgment but wanting so badly for it to have not happened and at the same time hopeful that their mistake will at least be an example...
So... I know I've seen a few of y'all on here that have pictures of those bikes... and some of you with "hotdogging" pictures... PLEASE know that it CAN happen to you if you test fate... those boys thought they were invinsible... let me assure you, they weren't...
Please pray for that boy and his family and friends... I pray that the two boys that were riding with him will tell their friends to slow down... and if he did die, I refuse to be unchanged... he will always hold a special place and I think I will always feel sick when I see people making those same mistakes...
Be Careful out there guys...
Zebragirl


Also, i know some of you are from the Atlanta area... if you've heard any news about this wreck and the condition of the guys I would really appreciate an update if possible...
Thanks

[Nightrage]

I'm sorry you had to see that. I see morons on sports bikes all the time. Just 2 weeks ago I was driving with my girlfriend and some idiot on a bike decides to put on a show. He's doing wheelies, standing on his seat, all sorts of stupid tricks. I don't know if this guy was on drugs, he was wiry as hell or what, but every time we came to a stop he would look like he was having a seizure. His head was bouncing around like a bobble head doll (or whatever they're called), he was bouncing around and looking to make sure everyone was paying attention to him. It's horrible over the summer. Every idiot with a bike seems to come screaming past me as fast as their bike can go while we're on the parkway.

But luckily, I've never actually seen anyone wreck their bike up. I can't imagine what that's like to see.

[Joe 1320]

Wow. It reminds me of a time that a biker with his girlfriend on the back, came whizzing around me on the interstate and started heading up the off ramp. I knew that road like the back of my hand and at the top of that hill is a 90º curve with a concrete dividing wall seperating other other lanes of traffic. I also knew that bike couldn't possibly make the corner based on the speed, weight and conditions........

When I got up to the top, I saw was right. Pieces of the bike and the riders were everywhere. Both were alive but rough.

Some think they are indestructable, Some like to push the envelope, sooner or later they all slip up and if they are lucky they live to tell about it. The really sad thing is that others that are minding their own business get hurt.

[Happy_Dan]

As a biker, I hate to hear these stories. First I hate to see bikers or cars driving past street limits! We say it all the time..... take it to the track.

Second I hate to see a young person have to pay the ultimate price for being dumb. We all do dumb things, I hate to see anyone get hurt.

Ride safe.

[wolfdogs]

As a biker, I hate to hear these stories. First I hate to see bikers or cars driving past street limits! We say it all the time..... take it to the track.

Second I hate to see a young person have to pay the ultimate price for being dumb. We all do dumb things, I hate to see anyone get hurt.

Ride safe.

but you are a Harley biker...and you guys seem to take safety more seriously than sport bikers... thats for sure...

[Trash man]

but you are a Harley biker...and you guys seem to take safety more seriously than sport bikers... thats for sure...

this is true. i have a couple friends who have bikes(both harley wide glides) and i know a few kids with a gixxer and a ninja, me adn my harley buddies go on cruises we just sit back and relax and enjoy the scenes and what not but i went on a cruise with them sport bike guys, i turned around adn went back to the local hang out cuz of the stuff they were doing(wheelies at 110, going beyond 120 if i had to guesstimate) most of those sport bike guys think they are top dogs and nothing can touch them, yea so what if u have all the women all over u and ur bike? i just hope u dont kill her when ur trying to show off i want to get a harley but im wai ting till im older for two reasons, i've never even riden a dirt bike and my father had a bad accident when he was 16 that messed up his back for life.

[97LT1Z28]

All my friends who ride bikes have all had an accident or two. It's not always the rider but the cars around the rider not paying attention as well. Ive had my share of wrecks but while in a car. If I had been on a bike, TOAST! It's a shame to hear about anyone wrecking their bike because the injuries are usually prety severe.......If you're a biker you've got to always be ready for anything on the road.

[Gary94Formula]

I'm sorry you had to see that... That's rough...

I have a Older Yamaha Virago that I keep in nice shape and ride when I have time..

Most of the riders on sports bikes usually drive like maniacs. I've been out riding and been passed on both sides at once in a single lane. They usually pass us when were out riding like we were standing still.

Unfortunately they give bike riders a bad name..

[MN6WS6]

I ride a sportbike and it's guys like this that get the normal ones of us in trouble. I don't ride with the guys that ride like that anymore because of their antics, and whenever they ask me, I tell them point blank "I don't ride with you guys because you ride like idiots." They don't like it, but they respect my opinion. They also know that because I don't ride like that is the reason I have 43,000 miles on my bike and they have to buy new ones every 7K because they've blown the motor up or wrecked it.

However, I wholeheartedly disagree with the Harley guys being safer. Most Harley riders are notorious for wearing open faced helmets, aka "brain buckets", that just barely are legal or are actually not legal but Johnny Law will never pull them over for it because they are on a Harley. They wear leather vests but no sleeves. They wear chaps with no butt or crotch protection. They wear laced up, typically work boots, which offer little to no protection in a crash. They also don't wear gloves or wear fingerless gloves. Meanwhile, I wear full leathers with gauntlet gloves, motorcycle specific boots, and a full faced helmet, and I live in Mobile where it's 95 degrees and 95% humidity 95% of the time. Sweat is easier to wipe away than roadrash is.

Statistically, Harley riders are more likely to die because there are more of them on the road. Statistically, you are 99% more likely to die in a 'car turned left in front of rider' scenario than you are in a 'motorcycle was riding wheelies at 120 mph and hit a car' scenario. I'm not defending them for riding like that, but the odds are with them even though they ride so recklessly.

[Jeff 97SS]

Last year in rural Michigan I was driving down a 2 lane 55 mph road in my Silverado and I saw a oddly tall motorcycle coming at me. I then realized it was excessively tall because it was a sport bike doing a wheelie at 55 mph plus right at me in the approaching lane. The rider kept it up and put it down long after we passed.

I was alone in the truck and the only vehicle on the road with him in that area, but it really insulted me that that jackarse didn't care about MY safety while he's out being an idiot. If he happened to mess up and smash that thing head on into a family at an effective collision speed of 110+ I shudder to think of the carnage. I can't believe there's guys doing this stuff on public streets, eh scratch that, I guess I can believe it.

I wanted to report him to the cops, but other than calling in to report a yellow motorcycle doing a wheelie at high speeds, I figured it would be to late for the cops to find him by the time an officer got out there. No way I could get a license number.

[Blazer]

I drive on 20 everyday an sometimes at night going home I will be doing 80+ an have 5 to 8 bikes going by me like I am standing still.You have a lot of fools driving in Georgia.
Blazer

[Steel2686]

This thread hit a little close to home with me. A little more than five years ago, I witnessed a horrific motorcycle accident. It litterally happened directly in front of me. I had to stay on scene as a witness and everything else.

I was on my way home from a job (I was a carpenter at the time). I was on 684, which can be a commuter's nightmare at times. Three lanes each way, and heavy traffic at rush hour. This was just before rush hour, so it was full of cars, but not bumper to bumper. I was in my truck, doing about 65 with traffic.

In my rear view, I see a guy on a sport bike weaving in and out of traffic. He goes by me at about 90 mph. He goes to cut back into my lane and cut it too close to the van in front of me. He clipped the rear bumper and flipped over the barrier. He slid to a stop in the grass and wasn't moving. It was all I could do to prevent slamming into the van who had locked up the brakes out of fear. I pulled off the shoulder and ran to the downed rider along with several other drivers. He was breathing, but unresponsive.

He died two days later from internal injuries.

I'll never forget it because I was planning on buying a bike at some point. Not anymore. Even though it was really his own fault... That was enough to keep me firmly behind the wheel of a car or truck.

[zebragirl83]

All my friends who ride bikes have all had an accident or two. It's not always the rider but the cars around the rider not paying attention as well. Ive had my share of wrecks but while in a car. If I had been on a bike, TOAST! It's a shame to hear about anyone wrecking their bike because the injuries are usually prety severe.......If you're a biker you've got to always be ready for anything on the road.

This particular instance was clearly not the drivers fault... I know that's not what you were implying... but I just want to be clear...

[zebragirl83]

I'm not defending them for riding like that, but the odds are with them even though they ride so recklessly.

The statistics are only on their side because of the number of Harley guys out there... just like it's statistically safer to ride in an airplane over a car... but you're more likely to live through a car crash than a plane crash... Harley guys are more likely to die in a motorcycle accident that has something to do with a car... not because they were being careless...
I'm not trying to pick fights... just tell those guys you won't ride with to be careful one more time... for my sake...

[zebragirl83]

Thanks for your concern guys... Last night was the first night I've gotten good sleep... so it's getting better... I took it a LOT rougher than I would have guessed I would... It's definitely harder to see than you'd think...