I went for a long ride this afternoon and about 3 miles from home, I came the closest to wreck without actually wrecking as I ever came in my life.

I was doing the speed limit since it was right in town. I am approaching an intersection and see the car in the oncoming lane is stopped. No stop sign, he's just stopped because I am coming and he wants to cross my lane to turn. NO turn signal--just stopped waiting. There was another car behind him stopped. Seemed potentially risky situation when you think someone is going to turn where you are going to be but the no turn signal must have piqued my senses. so I peered down into my mirror to see what was behind me. Nothing. I look back up and I am staring at the back corner of this guys pickup truck!! I mean, it was right there, FCOL!!!! So I remember thinking "this is finally it." I didn't even have time to freak out. Swear to god i was so close as he slipped by that I could no longer see all of his vehical because my top fairing was blocking the view!!! That I definitely remember! I must have dodged left as I got on the brake. I never heard my rear tire squeel so loud ever! Sounded like a friggin car locking up! The tail end swung out and I swear to god I believe that is what saved my bike. It headed me off parallel to the trucks path just an instant before impact. I let off the brakes smooth --I guess???? No sensation of a high side about to happen. LOL it was all very smooth but awful friggin close.

I pulled over and shook my head a couple times and took off. Weird, when something dangerous happens and I sqeek by, I suddenly get the urge to ride very aggressively. But I came home since I was almost there anyway.

I'm sure I could have braked harder on the front. Should practise that (good way to use up front tires as fast the rears). I do not think I would have been injured. I would have gotten thrown over the front but I was in full gear and probably only doing about 25 mph at the point of almost impact. The bike would have been in terrible shape though. Damn, if I lost a bike....horrible. Liability --no fault Michigan shitty insurance--the busa is not worth much more than $4000 anymore but it sure would be impossible to replace for that.

I think people often misjudge the speed of motorcycles. They think sport bikes are always speeding. This guy must have stopped because he expected me to be going so fast he could not make his turn in time. Since I wasn't there in half a second, he must have thought I was crawling??? IDK. I guess I have made that error --or almost did a couple times. I've had to jump on the brake after realizing I misjudged the speed of other traffic before.

Glad you escaped Rook. Beyond car drivers misinterpreting our speed, many just DO NOT SEE US...
Add in dicking around on their cell phone and our lives are further at risk. I never take my eyes off potential left turners whenever I encounter them.

Mad

Nice save! Had an accident on my 1984 Ninja 900, in Santa Monica, mostly the same scenario, except I didnt miss the Civic. My front tire hit him right behind his passenger side front tire, and essentially the bike whipped against the side of the car and my left shoulder/elbow (hooray for gear) shattered the passenger window, resulting in some cuts on the drivers face. Long story short, bike never hit ground, forks were bent pretty badly, could barely turn the bars in one or the other direction, forget which, but with the wisdom of age 21 or so, rode it all the way back to from LA to San Diego. Have NOT been surprised by a left-turner since then!

Thanks, guys. I'm glad to say I don't have this sort of thing happen very often but I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for this better. Still, if they decide to go and it's too late, there's a big problem. I guess that's why we have insurance.

Wow, so glad you are ok my UP Brother. So important to keep your eyes on the road ahead. A less experienced rider would have locked em up and crashed.

Master Rook lives to ride another day

* Last updated by: cruderudy on 6/23/2017 @ 7:56 PM *

Wow Rookster.Glad that worked out.SHEESH.Left turners...ya...gotta anticipate the worst on those.If I see anyone in that turn lane,especially if they've pulled out past the crosswalk,I head for the right lane and slow down.NORMALLY I try to be in the left lane and use a cage for cover on my right.Glad you're okay Brother;)WOW.

Thanks rudy. Thanks, Grn. I guess more often than not, I am behind another vehicle when there is a left turner so the guy in front of me takes the hit if there's going to be one. From now on, if I'm in front, I'm just going to slow way down.

If you ride long enough this situation sneaks up on you eventually. This is one of the worst kind of situations as you have little to no time to react.

Like you I had it happen and I slammed on the brakes locking up the rear sliding sideways with my foot out like a dirt tracker. At the last second the driver saw me and hit the gas. I cleared his rear bumper by straightening out and continued down the road. The adrenaline made my hands and legs shake for over 20 minutes.

I always look at the faces of on-coming traffic to see what they are looking at... hope it never happens to me again.

Good to hear you avoided it.

Thanks ahhlou. LOL I don't know if my guy saw me at all. It did not appear that he sped up, he just slipped right in front of me. A I wassitting on the side of the road gathering myself, some lady pulled up in a white car and gave me thumbs up.

A few weeks ago on my way to Maryland, while riding on the right lane on a four lane highway, a car driving on the left lane made a righ turn in front of me. Luckily I had enough distance between me and the cars in front of me to avoid an accident. Riding would be a lot safer without cars, glad to hear you are ok.

LOL made a right turn from the left lane, did he?? Someone who almost missed their exit, I'll bet! Hahha--I've been there too but you really have to accept taking the next available exit if there are cars around you. Glad you were also able avoid a crash. Thanks, Kofla.