justice is served!

vitaminC · Post by **vitaminC** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:35 pm

Typically when weâ€™re cruising down the road doing our thing, we are quite happy to not see any cops out and about; yet sometimes, we utter that immortal phrase, â€œWhere are the police when you need them?â€?

As I turned on to the final road (two lanes, 25 mph limit) before I get home today, I was careful to keep the speed to no more than 5 over, as there are two elementary schools, and experience has shown that the cops love to ticket speeders along here. Anyway, the guy behind be was having nothing of it! Not only was he riding my tail, but he also had his brights on just in case I didnâ€™t notice his â€œlittleâ€? 7-series BMW. After a stop sign, he decided he couldnâ€™t take it anymore and went around me (right by the second school), honking at me to boot. Naturally I honked back and gave him the bird, but really, what else am I going to do?

This of course got him stuck behind the person that was in front of me.

Still being impatient he pulled the same stunt- and then a moto-cop pulled out from the next street and lit him up!

I was pretty tempted to stop too and describe his behavior leading up to that point, but I was hungry and wanted to get home to a snack instead.

I hope the cop saw both passes, and I wish I could have heard the guyâ€™s explanation!

So, the morals are: 1) know the road youâ€™re traveling and 2) sometimes they are there when you need them!

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:09 am

Fuh. I needed one Sunday in Pasadena. After cutting me of to make a left turn, a C-series Mercedes crossed a double yellow on a curvy street to pass GatsbyGirl on her Buddy. She was pretty much riding with traffic at the posted spped limit or slightly over (this was our first time scooting in this very well-paved road).

My blood boiled for a few moments as I considered chasing him down and putting size 12 boot mark in one of his doors. I managed to calm down. Should have got his plates, though... jerk.

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:06 pm

I have a tendancy to take things into my own hands. We were on the Scarabs' Skull Valley Rally this year when a young guy in a Jeep Cherokee began tailgating my wife on her Helix. He did the same stuff...bright lights and maybe a foot off her rear end. Now, at the time, she was pretty inexperienced yet was doing everything correctly, but I didn't want to see her pressured like that. The young fellow had his windows down and I blasted my scooter up next to him and said just loud enough for him to hear (as we moved down the road) that if he didn't back off of my wife and created a situation that hurt her, here was nowhere he could go that I wouldn't hunt him down and hurt him worse.

He made a quick left at the next street and disappeared. Moral: don't mess with my wife...she's my reason...

--Keys

dru_ · Post by **dru_** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:19 pm

Keys wrote:Moral: don't mess with my wife...she's my reason...

I'm normally pretty mild mannered, but I'm with you on this one. You can do all kinds of things to me and I don't care. But the minute you endanger my wife or children, your peace of mind can be measured in milliseconds. Volcanic is the most polite word for my temper in those moments. I actually was nearly arrested for a conflict that arose because of someone at an amusement park pushing my wife and daughter out of the way to get on a train in front of them, with my daughter falling down as a result of it. Not a pretty sight.

Fortunately, I'm still riding solo most of the time.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:30 pm

Knights on shining scooters!
Kind of like Knightriders, only better dressed.

MrNatural · Post by **MrNatural** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:35 pm

VitC you should have given your Beemer friend a little "meep meep" as you went by.
Hunger pangs aside I definitely would have stopped to add testimony to what the police saw. From my bicycling experience I've been schooled to take down license #'s of people who threaten you with their automobile and report the incident. Depending on whether they care of not, the police can and do track the person down.

vitaminC · Post by **vitaminC** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:17 pm

MrNatural wrote:VitC you should have given your Beemer friend a little "meep meep" as you went by.
Hunger pangs aside I definitely would have stopped to add testimony to what the police saw. From my bicycling experience I've been schooled to take down license #'s of people who threaten you with their automobile and report the incident. Depending on whether they care of not, the police can and do track the person down.

Yes, true on all accounts. However, the guy pulled his second stunt pretty much right in front of the moto-cop, so I figured "the man" would have it under control.

I have a feeling that even if I had been in a hulking SUV this guy would have behaved the same- though at least I could have performed a better blocking maneuver!

Normally I am not much of a road-rager, because, really, what's the point? But this guy was endangering many people besides himself, which is what really got me ticked off (and that much more gleeful when the cop lit him up).

GatsbyGirl · Post by **GatsbyGirl** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:19 pm

ericalm wrote:Fuh. I needed one Sunday in Pasadena. After cutting me of to make a left turn, a C-series Mercedes crossed a double yellow on a curvy street to pass GatsbyGirl on her Buddy. She was pretty much riding with traffic at the posted spped limit or slightly over (this was our first time scooting in this very well-paved road).

Admittedly, I was f***ing with Mr. Mercedes a bit. What Ericalm failed to mention was that a few minutes previously Mr. Mercedes had cut in front of Ericalm even though he and I were obviously riding together. As soon as I realized this (alerted by Ericalm blowing his horn at the a**hole) I decided he didn't need to get anywhere that quickly. We were in this really pretty, residential area and I slowed to be going "exactly" the speed limit and made sure to drive in the lane so it would impossible for him to pass.

Impossible that is if he hadn't decided to cross a double yellow.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:45 pm

All fun & games aside, watch out for those jerks who want to go around you even though you're moving plenty fast. I've had people try to swing around me on shoulders, etc. Crossing a double yellow is exactly what led to a fatality in the accident caused by Billy Lane.

vitaminC · Post by **vitaminC** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:19 pm

ericalm wrote:Crossing a double yellow is exactly what led to a fatality in the accident caused by Billy Lane.

That and alcohol...

hermitgirl · Post by **hermitgirl** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:17 pm

I know that feeling of wanting to see/not wanting to see a cop. If I go the posted limit, I invariably get people riding my tail. On Steven's Creek and Foothill Xpwy, the 35 posted limit is nowhere near the 50 mph traffic speed. Mostly I try to keep up without going too far over, and constantly drive defensively.

I AM very glad that Barry recommended the 125 instead of the dinky 50 I was going to get. He's 100% right that it's the scooter I needed to have for my commute.

gt1000 · Post by **gt1000** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:21 pm

I'm guessing we're all pretty protective of mates and children but do be careful out there. If there's any doubt at all as to the mental well-being of the idiot tailgating you, your best bet is to find a place to get out of the way and then try to get his license plate number. The police are pretty serious about dealing with raging cagers.

In the battle between cars and bikes, cars always win.

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:43 pm

You just haven't seen me with my jousting lance on the Buddy...

--Keys

Post by **ericalm** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:35 am

Surely a highlight of Ed Harris' career!

robotribe · Post by **robotribe** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:14 am

gt1000 wrote:In the battle between cars and bikes, cars always win.

Word. Don't rely on cops or the most remote possibility of ever getting even. Rely on your own sanity to get on and gone, safely.

Face it, as much as we want the respect we deserve and are lawfully entitled to on the streets, scooters are gnats to a lot of drivers. There's nothing any of us can do to change that perception with certain types of people.

So, better to chill and stay alive, IHMO.

Elm Creek Smith · Post by **Elm Creek Smith** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:29 am

I'm considering putting a scabbard on my Buddy to hold my Stoeger 12 gauge coachgun.

lobsterman · Post by **lobsterman** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:37 am

Hmm, I was considering mounting some sort of cannon this evening, when a pickup truck blew past me on my very own street, I was doing 30 in a 30 zone, no passing residential area.

I was thinking of giving chase, since he had to stop for the light on the end of the street, where it ends in a T. I would have told him that kids live and play on this street, but something told me he wouldn't have cared.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:12 am

Something like this, maybe?

This was posted by Vespartacus on the ModernVespa site in the Image Galley. It's from a trip to the Piaggio museum in Italy. Yep, this is a real, rocket-launching Vespa.

lou76 · Post by **lou76** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 8:28 am

i suddenly feel rather inadequate with my chains and my switchblad....

lobsterman · Post by **lobsterman** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:44 pm

Wow.

That looks a little conspicuous and front-heavy.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:49 pm

lobsterman wrote:That looks a little conspicuous and front-heavy.

Well, I don't think it was meant for "stealth" operations and, let's face it, the rocket-launching Vespa didn't exactly win the war for Italy.
I have seen American WWII MCs with rocket launcher sidecars. Nuts!

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:23 pm

I'm thinkin' the recoil would set you back about 3 blocks...

--Keys

vitaminC · Post by **vitaminC** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:40 pm

lobsterman wrote:Hmm, I was considering mounting some sort of cannon this evening, when a pickup truck blew past me on my very own street, I was doing 30 in a 30 zone, no passing residential area.

Heck, just get a Ural Gear-Up, as they come standard with a machine gun mount!

Although the cool camo paint may not help your visibility while out on the road...

Elm Creek Smith · Post by **Elm Creek Smith** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 1:17 am

Keys wrote:I'm thinkin' the recoil would set you back about 3 blocks...

--Keys

Rocket launchers are recoilless. That's also why they could fire a 106mm recoilless rifle from the back of a jeep without flipping it over.

ECS

Modern Buddy

justice is served!

justice is served!

Saddle scabbards

...