The Biker

[tsmith3]

THE BIKER

I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.
But, you didn't see me, put an extra $10.00 in the collection outside the store as I walked in.

I saw you, pull your child closer when we passed each other on the sidewalk.
But, you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.
But, you didn't see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you, roll up your window and shake your head when I rode by.
But, you didn't see me, riding behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.
But, you didn't see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you, stare at my long hair.
But, you didn't see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather jackets and gloves.
But, you didn't see me, and my brothers donate our old ones to those that had none.

I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn't see me, cry as my children were born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.
But, you didn't see me, going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.
But, you didn't see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn't see me, pat my child's hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road.
But, you didn't see me, squeeze my wife's leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn't see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you; run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.
But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.

I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in.
But, you didn't see me, leave the road.

I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.
But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.

I saw you; go home to your family.
But, you didn't see me.Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family.
But, you didn't see me.

Resend this around in hopes that people will understand the biker community.

If you don't resend this, all I can say is it sucks to be you.
I hope you never lose someone that rides.

EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE US, RESPECT OUR RIGHTS TO RIDE WHAT WE CHOOSE AND TAKE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS TO BE SURE.

 

[grace]

reminds me of my dad(he died 20yrs ago) goes to show that some people are quick to judge. Thanks for sharing, I'm sending it to my step-mom!

 

[OCBob]

Amen....

 

[Dom426]

very cool brother and as oc bob said amen...........

 

[Django]

Right on............

D

 

[Tooloe]

Amen....

O So True:beer:

 

[GriMacE 06QuadSRT10]

I've heard it time and time again... said to my biker brothers and said to me by assholes daydreaming or whatever...


" I DIDN'T SEE YOU..... "

Wake the fuck up, get off your cell phone, pay attention and drive you jerkoff!
goddamn assholes

 

[OCBob]

I love the new hands free law in Cali. It isn't perfect, but it just might save a life or two. It sure can't hurt. Too many funerals over the years and too many hospital visits.

 

[GILMO'S10]

VERY WISE WORDS AND O SO TRUE!! GOOD THREAD!!

 

[hemibates]

Thanks for the post, from a fellow biker

 

[ChrisAZ]

When you ride a bike in traffic, your life is no longer in your hands. You take a risk and you know it. But that is part of the appeal isn't it? I love two wheels but I love life too much to ride a street bike. I stay off the roadways. Dirt is the safest place to ride.

 

[Tooloe]

I think Some people get to confortable on there bike... me i ride aggressive.. to the point that some people will flip me off.. and cus me but they know damn sure i'm there.. i'v been cut off once by an 18 wheeler adn i thi8nk i honestly scared the guy so bad he pulled over.... i was in the left lane and he came over on me i pulled up to his cab and started to beat the hell out of the door.. i was so pissed like i don't know what got into me but the whole ride home no body got close to me any more lol

 

[Ronin]

No shit. Amen. Seen it before and man does that about sum it up...

 

[tidnab]

ok I don't usually go against the grain to piss people off but I gotta say the following

I don't have ANY problem with the harley ridin, long beardin, tattoo showin, 120db blastin exhaust guys.... In fact I don't have an issue with most bikers in general (as some of you know I ride bikes... still own 2)....but when you make overgeneralizations like all harley guys are good guys... or all cagers are ragers... it's just ridiculous...

I see on almost a daily basis some 20-30 year old guy riding on a (insert favorite crotch rocket here) wippin thru traffic at double the speed limit... I see guys splitting the lanes @ 100mph (even the outside lanes which as far as I know is illegal... only lanes 1&2 can be split)... I see ALL sortsa crazy stuff... and then they'll have the audacity to say... whataya mean you didn't see me??

I don't know any statistics but I'd bet my money that 40% of the accidents that happen could have been avoided by the BIKER not the cager usin a little more common sense...

i'm not a hard core rider and on the 2 bikes I still have I think I've accumulated only 22,000 miles on them... so I have ridden probably 40,000 miles since I started riding in the late 80's... that's not much but I can tell you that I've never laid any of my bikes down because I assume that everyone is out to kill me....

I dunno I don't mean to jump on ur thread and be all negative... I actually enjoyed reading it.... I don't like stereotypes either.... in fact I think Chuck Zito p4wnz..... but that ball bounces both ways guys....


and that..... is my 2 cents


oh p.s. when I said I've never laid a bike down... I didn't include off road bikes... cuz on those... 'crash' is my middle name

 

[Ronin]

ok I don't usually go against the grain to piss people off but I gotta say the following...

Nope, you're absolutely right about the stereotypes, on both sides of the fence. I see plenty of crotch rockets with their riders sporting an awesome full face helmet, complimented by no gloves, tank-top, board shorts and flip flops. (I also don't get, for the life of me, guys with full race leathers; pants, jacket, boots and gloves, and no helmet...just go-fast Johnny Be Cool sunglasses...WTF?!). 100+ MPH wheelies in traffic don't help the public image/opinion of bikers either.

The pipes on all the bikes I've owned and own now were loud, but not in my opinion, obnoxious. If they're obnoxious to the people around you, they're probably enough to make you deaf. I know that my bike's have gotten the attention of cagers who head was otherwise up their ass, but loud doesn't necessarily mean wrong/obnoxious...

IIRC AMA/NHTSA stats show that the majority of biker involved accidents/fatalities put the cager at fault, (although there's often aggravating circumstances surrounding those wrecks; drinking, etc.). Problem with that is in the event of an accident a motorcyclist is much more susceptible to serious injuries/death as opposed to a "caged" vehicle that has seat belts, crumple zones, air bags, etc.

40% reduction in accidents...that's a pretty bold statement. Basically that means 40% of bikers on the road are azzholes and/or incapable of operating their bike within the bike and their own limitations. There's no doubt a high incidence of exactly that, just 40% seems high... :dontknow:

I got rear ended on my bike back a few years ago by some teeny-boppin' ho that was runnin' her mouth on her cellphone and was so clueless she didn't even know she hit me. My back's still a horror show but I get more than my fair share of riding in, just don't have much tolerance to people that can't hang up and drive. Hands-free should be 50-state wide, that would be a good place to start...

FWIW...

 

[tidnab]

yeah I'm with ya... maybe 40% seems high... but seems about right to me... I'd say that about 4 out of every 10 riders (where I live) are crazy death wish crotch rocketers.... from time to time they'll even try to race me on my FJR... when I don't ablige they go runnin to about 80 as fast as they can ... traffic doesn't matter... sidestreets don't matter... all that matters is them showing me their bike is cooler and faster than mine :dontknow:

I dunno just too many bad bikers give us all a bad name :dontknow:

loud exhaust doesn't bother me... I'm the bastard that usually goes up to bikers and revs my engine.... they usually have a puzzled 'OMG WTF is in that thing' look on their face .... then usually my daughter laughs... and I let them go speeding off like maniacs <which they do more than half the time >...

can we agree on 30%??? lol

 

[Ronin]

yeah I'm with ya... maybe 40% seems high...can we agree on 30%??? lol

Sure! :top: One of my riding buddies has an FJR ('06 I believe, almost 30K miles ) and we look like quite the pair when we ride together...

 

[OCBob]

I ride more than most I think. I average somewhere between 30k and 40k a year on the bike. I figure that puts me somewhere right around a million miles now.

I also ride "aggressively", if that's what you want to call it. Not all the time of course, but a pretty good percentage of it. I got 5k out of my last back tire if that tells you anything, and I don't sit in front of bars doing burnouts, that's just from riding it hard.

I have split lanes at some pretty good speeds, when I'm really feeling it. I've also pegged my road dog at a good clip, but only because we have lots and lots of miles together and I know what to expect from him, it's almost like I was controlling his bike myself. I've done some silly shit and paid the price for sure.

I have been down more than once, it has been my fault more than once, and someone else's fault more than once too. But nothing bothers me more than someone pulling their 2 ton vehicle right into the space I need to stay up, and then tell me "I didn't see you". That has also happened to me more than once. If someone can't see me on my almost 1/2 ton of loud, fast steel with 2 yes 2 headlights on high beam, how in the hell can they ever be expected to see that little kid darting out to grab his runaway ball? And if we can't count on that same someone to be aware enough of their surroundings to not be a danger to the others out there, how in the hell do we trust them with a license?

I believe that the first thing that should happen when someone runs over a biker (or anyone else for that matter) and they say " I didn't see him" is that their license should be taken, until such time that they can prove that they have the mental faculty to pay attention when they drive. IMO there is no doubt about it, inattention and thoughtlessness are the causes of many avoidable accidents.

There is another problem though, that is after the fact. It almost seems as if courts believe that by riding a bike you get what you deserve. I have lost count of the number of travesties I have seen in our so called justice system. Not too long ago a husband and wife were out for a nice Sunday putt, that was ended by a drunk bitch crossing into their lane and hitting them. He died. She lost a leg. The drunk did a total of about 3 months or so I believe. It might have been a little longer, but is sure wasn't much.

I have a real hard time believing that she wouldn't have gotten more time if they were walking along the road instead of legally traveling on it.

 

[ChrisAZ]

When you ride a Motorcycle on the public streets, your life is in the hands of the imbeciles in their cars and trucks. I like having as much control over my livelihood as possible so I choose not to ride on public streets. Too risky. You are playing Russian roulette. You guys keep talking about dumb ass car drivers yet you get on that bike and head out there to duel with them. I still say the danger is a big part of why people ride. Why else would you take such a risk? Again, I love riding on two wheels but not with the morons on the road.