4 Less Motorcyclists

[BIGNASTY]

4 less Motorcyclist to have come around us on a Hwy 83. Just dont understand why they think they own more of the road than they do with as little protection as they have. We went to Kalispell MT today.

Coming back Hwy 83 there has been some talk about the 55 MPH at night, Found this in a website that explains it VERY CLOSE to how I feel about this stretch of Blacktop

Quote
If you’re going to drive the Swan at night at 70 mph and you don’t hit a deer, go buy a lottery ticket; you are extremely lucky,” State Transportation Director Jim Lynch said.
End Quote

During the day this is one of the FASTEST 2 lane Hwy's I have ever seen, Lots of times im doing 75 or 80 MPH and have some AH pull up on the tail of my car and start flashing his lights, I have NO PROBLEM turning on my emer. flashers when im getting close to a LARGE pullout spot to warn them THAT IM GOING to let you go by so just hold on. I feel as do most that this is only right, Im not jumping off the side of the road into a spot that the light flasher THINKS I SHOULD and wreck my car just so he can be happy doing way over the speed limit, most times a FINGER EXCHANGE is given.

Today we were doing 80 MPH I seen some group of Motorcycles lights on some flashing some not (I know that some have the flashing headlight as a saftey thing) They went around me doing what had to be close to triple digits, they could see around the little Camry that we were driving and went around me, Up ahead there was a Bobtail truck with a box on back about 1/4 mile ahead. The line of Motorcycles were jumping out into ON COMING traffic to get around the truck. I know this road like the back of my hand. I slowed down as did a large truck behind me, I put my arm out the window and was warning the truck behind me that I WAS SLOWING DOWN!! He honked the air horn and flashed his lights and gave me the thumbs up. About 4 groups went around the Bobtail and then the next group just jumped out like they had the right of way and into an on coming pickup truck. I pulled over but not much could me done with the hood ornaments on the pickup, Penny and her sister called 911 and a Sheriff Pard of mine that patrols this stretch of HWY Told him that they had to be dead. It was pretty ugly ****. The big truck behind me had also pulled over and the other motorcyclists were screaming and yelling that the Bobtail was going to slow and he was the cause of this. They started to come towards our car, I made sure that they had seen me pull out the Para Ord. ran a round in the chamber and laid it on the hood of my car, all in plain view of them coming towards my car. For some unknown reason they stopped and went back to the wreck, the truck driver behind me said that was a mind changer for them huh? :-laf hey im not getting my A** Rodney King-ed for their being stupid!! he said I couldn't agree more.

Didn't know the Sheriff that came, he asked about the gun on the hood, I told him the reason and the truck driver confirmed that they wanted to kick some A** and they didn't care who's. He took the info and we left.

What a bunch of jerks, they drive up here to see the beauty and have a good time on their scooters and then drive like A Holes so fast that they miss half of it.

 

[JR]

What a shame. I've lost some close friends and family on motorcycles but unfortunately in every circumstance it was due to the a$zhats in the vehicles not paying attention.
Aren't they looking at raising the speed in parts of Montana, WY and ID?
They bumped it up to 70 here last year and are already talking about another increase. Between the HEAVY deer pop, almost nightly fog in the summer that persists past sun up, heavy rains, snow, and close proximity of thick vegetation right up to the edge of the road in many areas making for poor visibility the last thing we need is another increase.

 

[GCroyle]

BIG,

Glad you and Penny are OK. I don't have a lot of sympathy for dare devil motorcyclists. I'm a former rider and riding instructor to boot. At the school where I used to teach we had a straight stretch of school access mostly road and one class day a group decided to run it back and forth a few times playing back to front leapfrog at speed. I'll leave it at that.

 

[TJJEEPER]

Herd mentality. Ordinary people do some strange and stupid things when they group and SOME think they are bad *****.

We all paint with broad brushes at times. I'm as guilty as anyone. That said, I ride and have been for years. I usually do not ride in big groups. One or two people I would trust my life with. It makes a difference. We don't do stupid. Do we pass over the double yellow? Yes, but the bikes we ride will do so very quickly and quietly. The only time we do pass is when a vehicle will not use the marked turn outs. There will be safe areas to pass where the quickness is paramount. A good line of sight to where if a car did appear you would be clear before any danger.

I would bet these riders were riding Harleys. Probably the scariest group to ride around. Either too slow or too fast and under educated (there's that broad brush).

The people I ride with are continually saying "ride your own ride". We'll wait for you at the next major intersection. I've seen too many of the sportbike riders in the ditch trying to keep up with their friends.

Big, you did the right thing. The riders didn't and payed the ultimate price. Darwin at his best.

 

[crispyboy]

If those motorcyclist had any respect for the general public and riding a motorcycle they would still be alive.

I went through the motorcycle phase back in college. I enjoyed it but the more I rode it the more the harder the pavement looked. I got tired of people pulling out in front of me and others trying to run me off the road. The scariest surface I remember riding on was the Suspension Bridge between Covington and Cincinnati. It has grating vs. pavement. I kept thinking that if I go down it will be akin to my body will be going through a cheese grater.

I finally sold the bike in exchange for an engagement ring.........

 

[RustyJC]

I've been riding for over 50 years, and it still chaps my buns when some yahoo riding a crotch rocket with a wife-beater shirt and flip-flops comes around me on a packed Houston freeway pulling a wheelie at 80+ MPH. Not only is he likely to plaster himself into the back of a semi (no great loss there), but he tarnishes the image of ALL motorcyclists in the eyes of the public - even us old, sedate BMW riders.

Rusty

 

[GCroyle]

crispyboy,

10-4 on that bridge grating. Sat on a piece of that stuff somewhere waiting for traffic and looking down to the H2O below was a bit disturbing.

I'm seeing more and more I guess drag racing style swing arms on "street" bikes. Yeah.

 

[BIGNASTY]

JR there used to be some signs that were state made and installed out in the Eastern Part of MT that said, NO POSTED SPEED LIMIT PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY. in my BIG RIG days that meant put your foot in the turbo and then some, Triple digit trucks were the norm back then. Common sense is a thing of the past also, there is a time and place for most any speed but with the forest on the shoulder and deer like ants HWY 83 aint the place IMO

This Hwy 83 is WAY TO FAST DAY OR NIGHT, I most always drive at 70 to 80 on it day and night, I have some light that extend the visibility WAY OUT THERE and I run deer slayers not the store bought kind that look like a 60's turn-signal indicator on the fender of your car, we make ours and drill a small hole in the front air-dam and RTV them in place, to make the its a 1/8 in brass tube about 4" long cut a slot in the tube width ways and push one side of it down in towards the inside of the tube drill a hole and RTV from the back side of the air dam.

It looks like a child's flute in a way with out the finger holes to change notes when you drive air goes in the tube and emits a very high pitch note, I could see the deer look up as I got to about 150 yards away from them it gives them time to make a stupid move and me slow down or they high tail it back into the woods, I put a piece of tape over the end and the deer didn't look up as they did without the tape so I know they are working.

It really doesn't bother me that morons kill themselves, its just that it gives the hwy and surrounding area a bad name.

And YES they were Harley' s

 

[BIGNASTY]

Kind of gives ya an idea of how stupid this is, naturally winter they slow down but not by choice, cant find any good weather pictures of it. That big S turn is the driveway & Hwy intersection and they love a pine tree just to the right, someone center punches it almost monthly!! TREE WIN'S EVERY-TIME, lost some bark but still standing tall

 

[fest3er]

JR there used to be some signs that were state made and installed out in the Eastern Part of MT that said, NO POSTED SPEED LIMIT PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY.

Before the double-nickel, Montana's speed limit was 'reasonable and proper'. And according to a state trooper (who had told me, "You know it took me five miles to catch up to you?"), the limit to that was always 80. Had I been doing 79 or less, it would've cost me a $5 fuel conservation charge. Instead, it was a $50 ticket. (This was in '85.)

 

[BIGNASTY]

Two Hwy's that should be do what you want, are Montana Hwy 287 from Wolf Creek to Chateau and Hwy 89 from Chateau to Browning MT Its the most beautifully desolate place there is, I love to go and just get to the high spot in the road and park get out and have a cup of coffee and wonder what it must have been like traveling across this on a Horse. You can stop in the center of the hwy because lots of times you wont see anyone for the 200 mile trip just a couple of blurs that someone calls towns