Bikers 6th sense

[the_lone_wolf]

Why is it that you can tell when someone is about to do something really stupid on the road?

example, this evening i was approaching a mini roundabout not far from my house, negotiated it hundreds if not thousands of times before. i'm turning right, a few cars go before me but once it's clear i look all around, only other traffic is one car coming towards me with no signal, slowing down like they're going to stop. i start to go and then something inside says "don't" - sure enough the stupid old bint went straight over without giving way to me, thankfully i'd not swung into her path or she'd be facing an insurance claim right now and i'd probably be in the A&E dept...

the funniest thing was, i gave her the horn and she slams on the brakes and starts wagging her finger at me out of her window shouting something i couldn't make out due to my unbaffled scorpion providing ample noise to drown her out:smt097

now looking back, i can't think what it was she did that made me stop, other than just getting a feeling that something wasn't right - bizzare

your thoughts, oh wise and knowledgeable 'org?

[ASM-Forever]

Good obs.

[muffles]

the funniest thing was, i gave her the horn and she slams on the brakes and starts wagging her finger at me out of her window shouting something i couldn't make out due to my unbaffled scorpion providing ample noise to drown her out:smt097

People don't like to be wrong! I was travelling along a road (Clapham High St) and a van parked on the left was trying to pull out to go the same way as me. The cars were slow and he almost had space to get out but the car in front of me was just about blocking him. As the queue was travelling forward slowly and I was going to need to pass him, I moved out and honked my horn, and I think he was a tad upset as he decided to honk his horn back?! Anyway thereafter ensued a bit of honking from each of us as I filtered past the cars in front of him :smt082

He caught up to me at the traffic lights just before Clapham Common tube and honked me again too! I really don't know what justification he had for thinking he was right though...he must have assumed cages always have right of way over bikes! :lol:

[the_lone_wolf]

Good obs.
lol:smt081

[LouLou]

People don't like to be wrong! I was travelling along a road (Clapham High St) and a van parked on the left was trying to pull out to go the same way as me. The cars were slow and he almost had space to get out but the car in front of me was just about blocking him. As the queue was travelling forward slowly and I was going to need to pass him, I moved out and honked my horn, and I think he was a tad upset as he decided to honk his horn back?! Anyway thereafter ensued a bit of honking from each of us as I filtered past the cars in front of him :smt082

He caught up to me at the traffic lights just before Clapham Common tube and honked me again too! I really don't know what justification he had for thinking he was right though...he must have assumed cages always have right of way over bikes! :lol:

You'll have to be careful...next step up from honking is trying to burn your eyes with their rear fog lights...altho you have to be behind them for that to work...doh :rolleyes:

[Stig]

Why is it that you can tell when someone is about to do something really stupid on the road?



Self preservation.

[sinbad]

The best reaction, I always think, is the way some people won't even acknowledge your presence once they realise they've pulled out in front of you. They just move their gaze quickly back to their chosen path and carry on, usually with a slightly panicked look on their face.

I think it's just experience. If something seems different or unusual, even if not apparently dangerous, then the sensible ones amongst us take a bit of extra care. It helps to assume the worst most of the time too, depressing as that sounds.

[Baph]

If you spend a long time in the hotseat (rider seat of a bike), on roads you know well, your subconcious will register odd things. The human mind is excellent at doing that, you just have to know when to listen to it.

Observations combined with the fact that there was no other traffic on/near this roundabout, and the car was almost coming to a complete stop. Why would they completely stop for an empty mini-roundabout? They wouldn't. I wouldn't if I'm honest. That was odd behaviour.

Or maybe you interpretted their braking as being almost to a complete stop, but in reality it was hard braking because they were in a rush, and driving too fast. Either way, you spotted it, which is what observation is all about.

[Fizzy Fish]

it's kinda like reading the 'body language' of cars - as vital for self preservation as knowing when some big bloke is looking to pick a fight... ;)

[John 675]

So who amoungst us are collectors of wing mirrors because when this happens to me it winds me up something stupid. . . and i am always tempted to destroy the mirrors on the offending car.
but something does tell you to STOP . . you just gotta watch your self folks,
car drivers with no bike exp are 100 % dangerous, and most of them dont realise it :confused:

[gettin2dizzy]

Why is it that you can tell when someone is about to do something really stupid on the road?


Because they're driving a car ;)

[Baph]

So who amoungst us are collectors of wing mirrors because when this happens to me it winds me up something stupid. . .

I've only removed wing mirrors once or twice (in 25k miles that's not bad going I reckon).

Almost removed the wing mirror from the car on the AR, but just before I did I realised that it would reflect negatively on the group, so just gave him a few choice words instead.

Better to give than receive, more satisfaction, I think. ;)

[Ceri JC]

I can usually put it down to good (even if it's subconsious) observation. Sometimes though, I get sixth sense warnings of things around bends and the like. One time I slowed right down to go round a bend I'd normally take 20mph quicker. No reason, I just had a 'bad feeling' about it. Sure enough, there's a horse messing about in the middle of the road, luckily I stopped with loads of space to spare. Things like that, where I can't work out why I knew to slow down/be extra cautious are quite odd.

[sinbad]

"Removing" wing mirrors is disgraceful and cowardly. The last thing the bike world needs is a few pumped up high-and-mighty revenge-takers making everyone else look like ****s.

[G]

Its the 6th sense that freaks me out a huge amount.

I only 2 weekend ago was having a long ride out and going at a reasonable pace, something told me to take it easy for abit, low and behold around the next high hedged corner a tractor had just pulled out slowly with a trailer attached that would have minced me and the bike.

Now had I not be told to slow down in my mind that would have been it, and its times like that, that make you realise just how easily it could all end in tears.

[jambo]

So who amoungst us are collectors of wing mirrors because when this happens to me it winds me up something stupid. . . and i am always tempted to destroy the mirrors on the offending car.
but something does tell you to STOP . . you just gotta watch your self folks,
car drivers with no bike exp are 100 % dangerous, and most of them dont realise it :confused:

Sweeping statements like this don't really help now do they? Statistically almost everyone that rides a bike drives a car. We all make mistakes. There are some truly useless people out there, quite a few of them drive cars, but of the number of cars i pass on a given day almost all of them don't try to kill me.

Some people get annoyed every day because people cut them up and it's all the car driver's fault. Whenever I have a close call I ask myself if, honestly, I handled that as well as possible? Bearing in mind I do a minimum of 110 miles a week in London, I pass a lot of cars. If you're planning and observation are good you can do this for weeks without having a close call while keeping up a good pace.

Analysing yourself adds to experience, which helps reduce the number of near misses you have. This adds to your "6th Sense".

"Removing" wing mirrors is disgraceful and cowardly. The last thing the bike world needs is a few pumped up high-and-mighty revenge-takers making everyone else look like ****s.

I tend to agree. Never done it myself (Though I have mentioned loudly to a car driver that if they don't bother using them someone less restrained than me will relieve them of it):rolleyes:

[G]

The thing is with this removing wing mirror malarky, surely they just get your plate and report you?

I have never done it nor considered doing it, but when filtering until i started pulling my mirrors right in, I did get close a few times.

Always wondered what would happen, I suppose your instinct would be to check your car rather than getting a bikes plate number.

[the_lone_wolf]

Because they're driving a car ;)
Touché...

[northwind]

I reckon it's partly that we get these feelings all the time, and they hardly ever come to anything, but you immediately forget about all those times and just remember the one time it helps :) It is weird though, you sometimes feel that absolute certainty that someone's about to do something stupid. Sometimes your subconsious knows better than you do...

[stuartyboy]

Whenever I have a close call I ask myself if, honestly, I handled that as well as possible?

I'm with you Jambo 100%...coming round an right hander, the other day and I see this white thing coming towards me on my side of the road. It was the trailer bar for the number plates/light cluster that was swinging behind the car held on by the power cable. I now look out for crap falling off trailers and added this to my list of obs.

[Stig]

On my way home today there was a vehicle up front trying to make a right turn and a white van coming from the right turn to filter into the traffic that I was in. As I got close to the car that was waiting to turn right, I slowed right down. Sure enough the van emerged from behind this car and pulled into the lane of traffic directly in front of. I swerved around and as I went past I gave a toot of my horn. More to just let him know that he had pulled out in front of me than to show him I was annoyed.

Right after this we came to some traffic lights and the van was right behind me. I turned and told him that he just pulled out right in front of me and that had I not already seen him he would have taken me out. He explained that it wasn't his fault cause he didn't see me. At this point I decided that there was nothing further to add to the conversation and faced my front again. In the mirror I noticed him giving me the tosser sign. :scratch:

[the_lone_wolf]

He explained that it wasn't his fault cause he didn't see me. At this point I decided that there was nothing further to add to the conversation and faced my front again. In the mirror I noticed him giving me the tosser sign. :scratch:

perhaps it was a moment of profound understanding of himself, a moment of shame he could only express as a self aimed gesture of ridicule...

what?...


no?...



just another ****wit then:D

[I'm_a_Newbie]

The sad thing is there are lots of cage drivers out there that do not pay enough attention or give way to bikes and hog lanes etc. You also get your boy racers and 70 years olds who don't know what year it is let alone have enough marbles left to be driving a car. These all blend in to the overall car population.

The even sadder fact is there are higher proportion of bike riders out there that range from the mild nutter to the absolute fu&8$*£ idiot who thinks it is ok to ride like a Moto GP rider on public roads. Unfortunately the public just remember the mindless idiots and we all get tarnished with the same brush.

How to we change the general publics mind?

[pencil shavings]

[quote=I'm_a_Newbie;1249885]The sad thing is there are lots of cage drivers out there that do not pay enough attention or give way to bikes and hog lanes etc. You also get your boy racers and 70 years olds who don't know what year it is let alone have enough marbles left to be driving a car. These all blend in to the overall car population.
quote]

The hogging of lanes is my pet hate. Especially when you have been beind a car for a long while and then suddenly they swearve to the left side of the lane in an attempt to give you some room to perform a reckless overtaking manover.

oh well

[ASM-Forever]

The even sadder fact is there are higher proportion of bike riders out there that range from the mild nutter to the absolute fu&8$*£ idiot who thinks it is ok to ride like a Moto GP rider on public roads.

Damn those pesky Thames Valley riders ;) :cool:

[Warthog]

Damn those pesky Thames Valley riders ;) :cool:

Hehehe, Stu's fault!

I think what is called sixth sense is in reality more subtle observations that you subconciously make: like sometimes I notices hands passing over a steering wheel in preparation to hauling the wheel round and turning, and people who aren't going fast enough to go straight on who then suddenly turn. It's just heightened awareness. It's saved my bacon several times, most recently as simple as a guy turning accross me on a roundabout without indicating.

[sv650nutter149]

if they are in my way i normally beep them and if they hgave a go i noramlly just fold their mirrors in or if they didnt use em just take em off lol

[MiniMatt]

As mentioned already, just subconcious observation of tiny tell tale signs. I don't think it's limited to bikers really, just tends to be more active due to self preservation. That it's a roundabout near you is key, you've likely seen people messing that roundabout up in one way or another countless times (people seem to have trouble with mini roundabouts - they tend to forget who has right of way) - you've seen enough of these incidents to recognize the warning signs long before your brain conciously registers them.

Despite not having a car crash in fourteen years and driving many tens of thousands of miles every year, when I complete a car journey I'll look back and realise I don't actually remember any of it, the whole thing has often been done on autopilot. Whilst on the bike I'm much more conciously aware; although truth be told, the concious part of my brain is more active in spotting potential speed traps.

[Alpinestarhero]

Where I live, there is a miniroundabout from the highstreet into the main coast road. Now, most people coming from the left (off the coast road into the high street) just turn off and go up the high street - but some go right round the roundabout and go back the other way. This happened to me just once, and you dont ever expect it, because its rare. I saw a car coming round the roundabout, and thought "this is it, i'll go for it and make it out onto the road while the right hand traffic is blocked". The car kept coming right round, and I dont know how, but i just slammed on the brakes. I dont even remember seeing the guy coming right round.

But thanks to that biker 6th sense, I managed to stop - i think in a fight between an SV and a big ol' jag, the jag would win. Not a pretty sight...

Matt

[SVeeedy Gonzales]

i gave her the horn

Hehehe...

Sorry


Experience stacks up - what can seem like sixth sense is just your past experiences subconsciously giving you something - a hunch, a feeling that something is about to happen. She'll have been doing something - changing direction or speed slightly, enough to make your brain register that she wasn't doing as expected. Over time it moves from that kind of feeling to a "oh-oh - what are they going to do? they're up to something!" feeling - more of a conscious thing. But hey, at least you're not wearing your bike.

[philbut]

Not sure about a sixth sense, but i think that most bikers are generally more aware of stuff than their four wheel counterparts cos most of us ride because we love the challenge and want to improve. probably 80% of car drivers drive because they have to, and have no interest in becoming better safer driver (or how many bikes they nearly annihilate!). I'm sure there are plenty of good drivers out there who don't ride bikes, but we don't notice them cos they never cut us up or act like t£$ts.

Being so exposed does focus the mind a bit more than sitting an a cage I'll admit! Maybe it brings out our Jedi senses?

[the_lone_wolf]

Hehehe...

Sorry

lol

:D

[fizzwheel]

The sad thing is there are lots of cage drivers out there that do not pay enough attention or give way to bikes and hog lanes etc.

I'd go one step further, theres a huge majority of road users out there who once they have made a mistake are not prepared to admit the possibility that they might have just made a mistake, people just dont take responsibility for the consequences of their actions and thats when as Bigape did you point out to them what they've done you get an aggresive response back.

Face it folks peeps just dont like being told they are wrong.

I use to be a thumper of wing mirrors and I kicked a van door once after he nearly ran me off the road. I dont do it anymore, it just winds me up even more than I already was and then I ride like a moron on an adrenalin high, I just try and keep calm now and not respond and carry on on my journey. I dont like damaging other peoples property and whats that cage driver gonig to to do the next biker that comes along if they've already been antagonised by a previous altercation with a biker, its going to make them worse isnt it.

I agree with the others its just accumulated reading of "Body Language" over time allows you to spot the morons before they do the stupid thing their about to. Half the time I think alot of people just constantly react to whats going on around them and drive / ride from one near miss to another.

Mind you some bikers are just as bad as car drivers. So its 6 of one half dozen of the other IMHO.

[scorpion]

So who amoungst us are collectors of wing mirrors because when this happens to me it winds me up something stupid. . . and i am always tempted to destroy the mirrors on the offending car.
but something does tell you to STOP . . you just gotta watch your self folks,
car drivers with no bike exp are 100 % dangerous, and most of them dont realise it :confused:

Yep I have a nice little collection of wing mirrors. I'm saving them for my retirement. I'm gonna get David Dickenson to auction them off for me if he's still alive in 30 years;)

Bikers do have a sixth sense. It baffles me sometime how I just know what that car driver is gonna do next without warning. I slow down, he does his dumbass manouver, I thank my sixth sense I took avaisive action!

[RhythmJunkie]

I think what is called sixth sense is in reality more subtle observations that you subconciously make

...and when you react to something you didn't observe?
I have that melancholy feeling that something isn't right often when riding.
The feeling that you should really slow down for this next bend be..ca..use...there's a horse in the middle of the road....or there's been an accident and the road is blocked with broken cars!

Its almost as if some long lost relative or guardian angel is looking out for you. No I don't believe in god, fairies, sixth sense, afterlife or any other spiritual mumbo jumbo but it definately happens and its definately weird!!:smt103

The 2 collisions I've had (one car one bike) have both been due to an unobservant driver pulling out into my path. Only passed my bike test about a week and a small white van pulled across a mini-roundabout as I accellerated through it and I ran into the side of him. The dikkhead was trying to open the door to get out while my front wheel was still embedded in it!! How stupid is that? Yes I was still sat on the bike albeit at a funny angle! He was a plumber and had 16 foot lengths of copper pipe on his roof rack. Could have been very nasty! I was young and naive I even helped the pillock pick up his copper pipe which was all over the road. I guess that was to help get the traffic flowing rather than help him though!
I was blamed for the acci'dent'!
Actually I don't think its the drivers blaming you its the insurance companies blaming each others clients until one or the other is 'proven' guilty!
I won! :smt045

[RhythmJunkie]

Actually this 6th sense thing is easily explained as are many other strange things if the universe is in a collapsing phase so we are travelling faster than light relative to the universal core, therefore time is running backwards.

If time is running backwards then you wouldn't be able to observe it easily because you wouldn't be walking backwards or regurgitating you food a'la Red Dwarf!
The 6th sense occurances could be future echoes picked up by our brains of things which had already happened but in a different time line just outside our own. So our subconscious would pick up on these things and warn us especially of danger. Survival etc!

Or you could just say its weird and carry on with life!

[dizzyblonde]

well today I sensed that Mr bmw 4x4 could not see the end of his bonnet, which is why he could not see my rear end, after three weeks of battling to get the bike on the road for france i thought that he needed to be reminded that even though he was higher than me, what he had between his legs was actually very small:smt092
So in a nutshell.....4x4 in slow moving traffic, with female motorcyclist in front feeling your bumper on her rear tyre = pee off or else:smt103
in a very polite manner .........not!!!

[the_lone_wolf]

well today I sensed that Mr bmw 4x4 could not see the end of his bonnet, which is why he could not see my rear end, after three weeks of battling to get the bike on the road for france i thought that he needed to be reminded that even though he was higher than me, what he had between his legs was actually very small:smt092
So in a nutshell.....4x4 in slow moving traffic, with female motorcyclist in front feeling your bumper on her rear tyre = pee off or else:smt103
in a very polite manner .........not!!!
i'm generally not one for violence, but if someone tried that on deliberately they may find themselves sans wing mirror...:smt065