Eyes in the back of your helmet?

[jazbug5]

Something happened yesterday which got me thinking: have you ever had an 'intuition' about something which has saved your skin?

I was leaving a busy roundabout, filtering past a line of traffic where there was a pretty wide space (but not wide enough for a car), and then began to slow a little to merge, having already scanned the area for any other bikes that may be about to do the same thing.

Something suddenly told me to look behind me - and I'm bloody glad I did, because some twat in a little 'sport' car was flying right up my arse, was about a metre from my rear wheel and still moving! God knows what they were thinking, they must have had a vaseline coating on the thing... but if I hadn't of checked I would have gone for a short unscheduled flight.

Anyone got any similar tales?

[chanceyy]

nods .. been there done that .. had a car full of girls .. approaching a hill with a blind right hand bend could take the first part at speed, brake for the actual corner .. everyone was talking and it felt like i was in a fog, as could not hear their convo (they were oblivious) cold dread came over me and i braked hard enough for others in car to pitch forward and ask what the fuck ... went round corner at about 20ks .. here is car on wrong side of road ..

Will never question the lil tap on the shoulder again ....

[Ixion]

Many times. Many. I have learned to always listen to that little niggling feeling. Brakes go on hard and sensors to full battle alert. And follow the rule book to the letter , Mr Plod being the greatest hazard on the roads.

Had an example just today.

Tootling off on my usual morning commute to werk, Down Ireland Rd. For those that don't know, it's a quiet road about 2 km long , with three very nice bends in it. A few years ago the council put in 11 (yes , 11) speed bumps in the road.

The inescapable result of which (speed bumps and bends) being that I am compelled (yes, COMPELLED - it's out of my control I tells ya) to blat down the road as fast as possible , taking the bends with foot pegs scraping and hurdling the speed bumps at 100 kph or so. (There's a nice bit with an S bend, a bump, another bend , and another bump, all in about 80 yards.Trick is to take the second bend hard out and still be straightened up in time for the bump)

A bit risky that , in a 50 area , in terms of Mr Plod, but it's a quiet road, no schools, kids etc. Often a few cars staggering over the bumps at 5kph, but they go so slow that I can always force straight past them (oncoming traffic also being of a treacley nature).

Except this morning. When the little niggle niggled. So I (for the first time EVER) didn't blast past the Treaclemobile in front. Just tucked in behind him and put putted along.

Around the corner, right up to the two cop cars parked there out of sight.For the first time EVER.

One with a laser gizmo, gizmoing. The other stopping traffic.

"Morning orifacer. Wozza problem". "No problem , sir" (very polite plod he was, specially after I opened my lid - oo-eer not a young kid, revise the battle plan Sarge), "just had a few reports of people speeding". "Not me, as you can see, Speeding eh, dreadful crime, dreadful. Tsk tsk. shocking. Glad to see the force cracking down on it and not wasting time on burglaries and such. " ." On yer way"."Right oh"

Wonder what local Grundy potted me. Bastiges. Now I'll have to go the boring way for a few weeks.

Jolly glad I was I listened to the little niggle though.

[Jamezo]

Does that (dobbing in by neighbours) actually happen?

Last week I pootled off down the main road to get some chips in town, and there was, as I crested the rise, a HP sitting on my side of the road in the 80K area. I just happened to be in traffic and riding legally.

I successfully picked up my snackage, and when I was approaching the same spot from the other way, my memory/instinct twigged and I slowed to a bit under the speed limit (felt like crawling, eet did). And what do you know, there was the same HP, now on this side of the road?

Coincidence?

[Uncle B]

When I have that feeling I slow down....and yep, usually within a km or so is a revenue collector on the prowl.

Touchwood that intuition continues.

Look after yourself Jazz.

[sugilite:Me]

Yes, Many, Many times.
Esp through the Akatarawas. It got to the point that if I did not see a car after the spidey sense tingled, I was most suprised!

[Gremlin]

Does that (dobbing in by neighbours) actually happen?

Most likely, I suspect I have been dobbed in by some random when travelling along... and my one neighbour will moan at any point I make enough noise for her to get disrupted, yet her kids have parties until midnight, music blaring.

My most significant niggle was coming up on traffic that had pulled away from a light. The two faster lanes merge into 1 shortly after the light, and I came up on the other vehicles in the middle lane. For no reason at all, I decided I shouldn't be in the middle, and switched to the fast.

Straight after moving into the fast lane, a car, with no warning, shot out of slow lane, straight into fast lane, right in front of me. Because I was in the fast, I had enough warning to brake, and avoid him taking me out...

[James Deuce]

Yes, Many, Many times.
Esp through the Akatarawas. It got to the point that if I did not see a car after the spidey sense tingled, I was most suprised!

That's 'cause they'd hurtled of the road and into a gorge of oblivion.

[Finn]

Anyone got any similar tales?

Yip. A month or so ago I was ripping up the tarmac in the SUV, went around a round about and this jerk on a scooter didn't know how to merge so I gave him the nudge.

But don't worry, I was okay thanks to those Roo Bars.

[WRT]

All bikers get that 6th sense after a while. I had it flare up last night after a guy in a Transit decided that after taking the righthand land at a round about, that he actually wanted to go left.

Cue one glance in the rear view mirror, headlights bearing down from all the wrong angles (and trust me, they must have been close if I could see them in the Aprilia's mirrors), a swerve to the left, I'm off the roundabout an exit early, followed by a stop in the middle of the road. All garnished up with much wailing and knashing of teeth.

[brit-bloke]

Yeah...I had one today as well. I was comming down Tamakaki drive whan I noticed a lady in the car behind me getting a little close to the back wheel as she was probably texting (as a lot of cagers do now and realy pisses me off,but the mobile phone gits are another story) So I'd sped up to make the following distance a little more,then as I approached Okahu bay pedestrian crossing where a car had stopped to let someone cross I had a feeling to move over a bit towards the middle of the road and as a slowed down to stop I heard a SCREEECCHH behind me.... but I had enough momentum and a bit of gas to move right over to the center line and right where my back wheel would have been was this bitch looking at me as if to say,Sorry I didn't see you???
Thats why mirrors are very important and having a sixth sense and eyes in the back of your helmet!!

[Bend-it]

Are there moves to make txt-ing or non-handsfree cellphone use an offence in this country, as it is in many others around the world?? Brit-bloke's experiene is the 2nd among us today!

[SPman]

Many times. Many. I have learned to always listen to that little niggling feeling. Brakes go on hard and sensors to full battle alert. And follow the rule book to the letter , Mr Plod being the greatest hazard on the roads.

Had an example just today.

Tootling off on my usual morning commute to werk, Down Ireland Rd. For those that don't know, it's a quiet road about 2 km long , with three very nice bends in it. A few years ago the council put in 11 (yes , 11) speed bumps in the road.

The inescapable result of which (speed bumps and bends) being that I am compelled (yes, COMPELLED - it's out of my control I tells ya) to blat down the road as fast as possible , taking the bends with foot pegs scraping and hurdling the speed bumps at 100 kph or so. (There's a nice bit with an S bend, a bump, another bend , and another bump, all in about 80 yards.Trick is to take the second bend hard out and still be straightened up in time for the bump)

A bit risky that , in a 50 area , in terms of Mr Plod, but it's a quiet road, no schools, kids etc. Often a few cars staggering over the bumps at 5kph, but they go so slow that I can always force straight past them (oncoming traffic also being of a treacley nature).

The work cage was great on those bumps up to about 75k! No worries at all, apart from all the others doing the staggering at 5K trick and upsetting the flow!

[The_Dover]

Um, what's wrong with mirrors?

[brit-bloke]

I was using my mirrors,but she still tried to get me!! and as Bend-it says when is the govt going make using your mobile in your car illegal??
2nd time in 2 weeks another woman in a tractor nearly got halfway accross a roundabout as I was on it, Good job I was looking and stopped as she would have squished me before she stopped!!