First "OH SH*T" Moment....

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NoogaScooter
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First "OH SH*T" Moment....

Post by NoogaScooter »

Well, my wife and I had our first "oh sh*t" moment on our scoots last night. We were returning from a nice evening ride to the lake...travelling up a four lane divided highway with a grass median. 55mph posted...I was in the lead on my Blur and she was behind me a good 20 yards on her Buddy. There were two vehicles in front of me by about 30 yards...and I noticed a deer starting to cross in front of them...naturally, everyone hit their brakes as the deer spent one of his lives by not getting nailed by the two vehicles. We dropped in speed to about 35 or so and I kept my eye on it. The deer crossed the median, then did a 180 and started back across. At this time, I was about even with the deer and he was running pretty much along side me but seperated by about 30 feet. I gunned the Blur and luckily I noticed I was beginning to travel faster than him. It was in slow motion in my mind, that deer really started digging to try to stay with me....I was thinking, I"m going to get taken out by this deer. lol. Luckily, my wife had slowed down seeing all this transpire and the deer passed behind me, and in front of her. Needless to say, we returned home and had a beer.

I think in retrospect the next time I see a deer cross anywhere in front of me, I'll pull to the side and take cover.

Sorry for the rant....would love to hear anybody elses "Oh Sh*t" moments.

Later,
NS
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Bud125
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Post by Bud125 »

I too had an 'OH SHazboT!' moment. (Mork reference for those of you who weren't around in the 70's)

I remember reading a review of the Buddy 125 in Scoot magazine. One thing they said was that the center kickstand drags the pavement on sharp left turns. Well, I didn't think much of it because I don't take corners or curves very hard.

Today a curve in the road was just a little sharper than I anticipated. Sure enough, I heard metal grinding the pavement and a felt little shift in the scooter's direction, but I was able to correct it.

I'll be extra cautious now, but I sure feel strongly that the center stand is a poor design.
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weaseltamer
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Post by weaseltamer »

today i was riding to work, and i like to practice my swerves around the manholes in the road. i happened to either mis-judge my swerve or the depth of the manhole, because (i think) my front wheel followed the rim of the manhole?? :?: i dont really know what happened but some part of my scoot went where i didnt want it to go and i almost fell, but i regained balance pretty easily. it just scared me, and maybe even the guy behind me... who wants to see a biker wipe out on right in front of them?
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ryder1
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Post by ryder1 »

Remember "deers" don't usually travel alone. You may see one, but there is another one or more close around.
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BlueMark
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Post by BlueMark »

Bud125 wrote:I'll be extra cautious now, but I sure feel strongly that the center stand is a poor design.
On the contrary, it is the perfect 'sacrificial' part to scrape instead of a structural member (or engine). If you didn't have the center stand there, you'd want to mount something in its place to protect your undercarriage from the 'too leans'.
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monza
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Post by monza »

Bud125 wrote: 'OH SHazboT!' moment. (Mork reference for those of you who weren't around in the 70's)
the modern equivalent would be "Oh Shiznit" :wink:
-Paul O.
63 VNB "125 Super"
62 Mini Cooper 1100
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pcbikedude
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Post by pcbikedude »

I've had 3 "Oh Fudge" moments
1. When I was following a POS pickup and a large piece of debris flew out. I thought it was wood at first. It was foam.
2. A guy in a small p/u ran a red light and almost turned left right into me.
3. A trash truck was crossed into my path and kept coming even after I was honking. I had the right-of-way.
Last edited by pcbikedude on Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Drumwoulf
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Post by Drumwoulf »

pcbikedude wrote:I've had 3 "Oh Fudge" moments
1. When I was following a POS pickup and a large piece of debris flew out. I thought it was wood at first. It was foam.
2. A guy in a small p/u ran a red light and almost turned left right into me.
3. A trash truck was crossed into my patch and kept coming even after I was honking. I had the right-of-way.
LOL-LOL-LOL!! There is only ONE right of way between a trash truck and a Buddy. Can you guess who's it is?? :D

My own recent heart-swallowing moment occured when I made a left turn at an intersection that also contained RR tracks that crossed the street at about a 20% angle, and I had to do a real sweaty scooter dance to keep my wheels from getting caught in a track! :shock:
Needless to say I won't use that intersection anymore! There are other far safer approaches to the particular area where I was headed..! :idea:
Namaste,
~drummer~

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lobsterman
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Post by lobsterman »

Too many to list, including being deliberately cutoff by a cager on Friday commute home, somebody just didn't want a little bitty scooter to use a wide open empty lane when all the stupid cagers had queued up 3 blocks before the lane closed. He pulled in front of me and stopped dead. When I went to go around him, he gunned it. I stopped instantly, waited for him to stop, then I went WOT, he couldn't react fast enough and I passed him and went my merry way.

Worst moment for me though had to have been a semi-truck that cut across 4 lanes and slowed to exit not far in front of me, wet pavement and lots of cars, could have gotten real ugly but the Buddy brakes did their job and nobody tail ended me, thankfully.
Kevin
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polianarchy
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Post by polianarchy »

Three flat tires in two weeks pretty much trumps all y'all! But enough whinging about that from me....

So, my first O, $H!T!!! moment was the first time a zombie *koff koff* I MEAN PEDESTRIAN *koff koff* stepped in front of me, forcing me to practice those nifty swerves I learned in MSF class. My WORST O, $H!T!!! moment was nearly getting my rear wheel caught in the train tracks on Columbus Avenue here in South Philly. Dem bitches got some ditches! 'Twas awful, tis true. Thank ye gawdz I only suffered a mangled rim and a bit of shock.

....And NOW y'all know why I grip my handlebars so tight! :wink:
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pcbikedude
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Post by pcbikedude »

Drumwoulf wrote: LOL-LOL-LOL!! There is only ONE right of way between a trash truck and a Buddy. Can you guess who's it is?? :D

My own recent heart-swallowing moment occured when I made a left turn at an intersection that also contained RR tracks that crossed the street at about a 20% angle, and I had to do a real sweaty scooter dance to keep my wheels from getting caught in a track! :shock:
Needless to say I won't use that intersection anymore! There are other far safer approaches to the particular area where I was headed..! :idea:
The moron driving the trash truck was eating while driving. Yuck, right after dumping someone's trash, he's eating! :shock:

As far as the RR crossings, I can see why you sweated it out. Get stuck in the rut and here comes the choo choo. You would survive because you would have wisely :wink: abandoned your Buddy. But your scooter wouldn't look so good.:cry: :cry: :cry:
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Drumwoulf
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Post by Drumwoulf »

pcbikedude wrote: The moron driving the trash truck was eating while driving. Yuck, right after dumping someone's trash, he's eating! :shock:

As far as the RR crossings, I can see why you sweated it out. Get stuck in the rut and here comes the choo choo. You would survive because you would have wisely :wink: abandoned your Buddy. But your scooter wouldn't look so good.:cry: :cry: :cry:
On that job, whatever you find is yours... :P

And I never would've abandoned my Buddy! How can you say such a thing! :roll:
Namaste,
~drummer~

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gt1000
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Post by gt1000 »

Of all the potential hazards awaiting us out there, big animals scare me the most. They're just so damned unpredictable. On any sort of two wheeler you're vulnerable with any animal but once you start talking about the big, really skittish animals I really worry. Be especially careful in rutting season because they're even more unpredictable. Humans are unpredictable as well but our option with people is to simply prepare for the worst and take evasive action early. That's not always an option with animals.

Case in point: this morning I was riding into work. I made a right turn onto a one way street and I was following a white minivan. This particular one way street has angled parking on the left side of the street. I could see a large black SUV up ahead on the left; it was parked parallel parking style, cutting across a couple of the angled parking spots and facing me. I could see someone in the driver's seat and immediately figured this was a bad thing waiting to happen. I gave myself a little more space between me and the minivan and, sure enough, the black SUV pulls a quick U-turn in what would have been my path. By now I was stopped, out of her path, and waving both arms at her. The look on her face when she slammed on the brakes was close to priceless but, bottom line, if I hadn't assumed the worst I might be writing this from a hospital tonight. Instead, it wasn't even a pucker moment and I got the chance to teach something to a clueless cager.

In fact, over the course of the past 2 years, my two real pucker moments both came on my bicycle. Both times I took relatively harmless falls.
Andy

2006 Buddy 125 (orange), going to a good MB home
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Post by Capt. Spaulding »

In my MSF class 2 weeks ago, the instructor recommended just slowing way down or even stopping around wild game such as deer or elk, simply because they are so unpredictable. From what I've seen in 40 years of NW roads, I fully agree with that approach. Squirrels are also unpredictable, but they're just a thump thump. Chasing dogs have a plan and are predictable, at least in their approach.
Capt. Spaulding

Whoever named it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.
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pugbuddy
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Post by pugbuddy »

My first and only (so far) moment happened during rush hour. Going North in the left lane of a four lane road (Mingo, for anyone familiar with Tulsa), the cars in the right lane stopped due to the light. I could see the SUV getting ready to swerve into my lane (you can just feel that kind of thing coming, you know) and, sure enough, he came over! I swerved left--fortunately there's a middle left turn lane so I didn't get near oncoming traffic. The SUV driver spotted me and stopped dead before pulling completely into the lane, then pulled in behind me.

I wasn't totally mad at him; he just made too quick a decision and didn't see me (I've done that in my car too many times to be mad at someone else for it)! He also gave me an apologetic ("soft") beep when we were stopped at the light. The only thing that annoyed me was my lack of using (1) my horn to warn him when I saw him coming and (2) making a better swerve when it happened--if not for the middle left turn lane, I may have swerved into oncoming traffic! Practice, practice, practice....
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songprayer
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Post by songprayer »

I started on a 50cc TNG and I don't know if it was my inexperience or the size of the ride but I really didn't like driving over any manhole covers - On my ride to work every day there is a section of road (4 lane highway) with about 4 or 5 manhole covers in a row (about a block from 1st to last) - On my 50cc I had gotten used to going around them on the right side of the right lane and then getting back to the center after the last one - One time on my Buddy I was doing just that and as I was easing back to the center some little car (cage?) passes me on the left in my lane - I have since decided to ride on the left of the bad ones and go over the ones that aren't to bad - I don't like to swerve in and out if I can avoid it

Another time (same road - different area) I had come out of a tunnel and there is a street that ends on the highway I was on - It isn't a 90 degree street (more like 45 degrees) and as I am coming up I see this greeen car coming down the road - I had plenty of time (I thought) before this car would get in my lane - The road he was on has a yield sign so the car is not required to stop - As I am driving this car merges into my lane so close I was sure if I would have taken my hand off the throttle I could have touched the hood or left front fender - How can you miss something on the front driver's side of the car until you almost run that person over? I am amazed at the things I see when I ride and I have learned to use my horn many times to tell the inconsiderates that I am there and you just about ran me off the road -

Has anyone ever turned in any of these people to the police? Would it do any good? Or do you think the close call will scare them enough for the next day or 2 tomake them more aware of the other traffic on the road?
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olive oyl
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Post by olive oyl »

I recently had the scooter bug itching me after a 18+ year break and bought a buddy 125.

My last call was 18 years ago when I was in a mall parking lot. I saw this huge cage wanting to turn left, so I backed off the throttle and made complete eye contact with the dude driving. Feeling I was safe to pass...I stepped up the throttle and bam he turned into me. I flew over the handle bars with that being the last memory until some lady helped me up. Do you know that jerk got out of his car, went into the mall and the police had to pull him out of work. His excuse for hitting me was "he was late for work". He didn't even get a ticket because it was a private parking lot.

The guy had no insurance, I had liability only and I had no helmet on. I'm lucky to be alive and healthy but now I have a helmet on and full coverage insurance. I didn't realize how much I missed my scoot until I got this new one.
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scullyfu
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Post by scullyfu »

olive oyl wrote:The guy had no insurance, I had liability only and I had no helmet on. I'm lucky to be alive and healthy but now I have a helmet on and full coverage insurance. I didn't realize how much I missed my scoot until I got this new one.
i hope you took this guy to small claims court to get back the cost of your scoot plus any medical bills you incurred.

and good to hear that you're wearing a helmet. :)
WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!! Starbuck, BSG
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pugbuddy
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Post by pugbuddy »

The moron driving the trash truck was eating while driving. Yuck, right after dumping someone's trash, he's eating!
Hey, you gotta eat those sandwhiches you find in the trash quick--no telling how fresh they are! :P
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Valgal20
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Post by Valgal20 »

Iv always wondered- if you hit it, can you keep it? I currently drive a giant van- and it has been my dearest ambition to hit a deer (ok, Im really just looking for my first taxadermy project) It would be a great way to put my old van out of its misery and get a new scooter. I think you should get to keep it if it decided to randomly leap out and total your car. Plus imagine all the great deer jerky you could make (oddly enough- Betty Crocker has some excelent recipes for vennison)
:wink: -Im Just sayin'-
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Corsair
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Post by Corsair »

D@mn you all have had some definite oh Sh!t moments. Other then repeatedly almost getting smashed by cabbys and cellphone suv drivers, I think my first real oh shyt moment had to be when I got lost in Ann Arbor...


I was trying to find so place on I think it was Main Street? Anyway I was told that I'd pass a gas station on my right and then it would be real obvious to see. So I see the gas station "oh alright cool there's the gas station, I must be close" so i stay the way... nope still don't see it. Riding, riding, nope still nothing. "Where the hell is this place?!" riding riding... OH SHYT! WTF?!!!

Yeah no one told me that Main Street FRIGGIN TURNS INTO A FREEWAY! No joke out of now where I'm now riding on the freeway wide open and tucked as low as I can get. There's no shoulder and I have NO idea where the next exit is... yeah doing that intentionally for some may be thrilling but just ending up on one ...not good

The Buddy held up pretty well though (definitely wasn't my first time going full throttle). After I got off at the next exit I can't lie it was a bit like getting off a great roller coaster ...LOL (I really don't recommend it though)
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