Are bikes invisible??

[ashwell-09]

Has anyone else found that when you're in a supermarket (or retail park) carpark motorbikes are invisible?

In sainsburys last night i was waiting to pull out into the main lane through the car park and some old bat (oblivious to anything around her) just started reversing out of her space into me, luckily there was a gap for me to slip out else i would have been knocked over as she wasn't stopping anytime soon, i'd say she was only about a foot away when i pulled off.
Just after this i was riding down the main lane in the carpark and a car pulled out without even looking so i had to slam the brakes on. (wasnt very dramatic as i was only going 15mph ish).

I don't know what goes through some driver's heads, i think half the time it might just be fresh air. Do you think these drivers only do this whilst driving or do they practice inside of sainsburys with the trollies? cutting people up who are just carrying baskets.

Obviously this didn't scare me (cos im hard) but it pissed me off for a bit as both incidents could have quite easily been a pointless little knock which would have trashed my fairings. What scares me is when drivers on the road don't notice us bikers, or alternatively some drivers decide to try and run you off the road for shits n giggles. - another quick story now, some dickhead in a chavved out mitsubishi cut me (had a mate on the back too) right up with a stupid overtake, at the next set of lights i filtered past this car and shouted some abuse as his window was open, this was followed by a nice snotty greener my mate had been saving up for a while, i didn't hang around to see where it landed but hopefully it got the face, neck, ear, steering wheel, cd player or ideally his mouth!



Cheers!
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Riding as fast as you can sounds like a good speed to me
1988 Yamaha DT 50 > 2004 Motorhispania RYZ 50 > 1988 Honda CBR 400

[27cows]

Quite possibly. I had some silly blind cnut in a white van (of course) reverse at speed right at me yesterday. If I hadn't left a large gap (never trust anyone in a white van), the fucker would have been over me. Only blaring my horn at him made the silly bastard wake up. I was about to mount the pavement to avoid getting crushed.

I don't know what's up with the cagers this year. Maybe it's the credit crunch causing people to be even more reckless than usual. But the instances of drivers doing idiotic things seems to have escalated just lately. If I see one more moron driving while on a mobile I'm likely to put a brick through their windscreen

[locked]

I also had a hairy momment yesterday afternoon. Coming round the round about and indicating left to come off, a car pulls out in front of me. I got within a few yards of him, looking at him through the drivers side window and he still didn't notice me!
All I could do was beep me horn and ride away.
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on the look out for my next bike....
CBT Passed - 13/09/09 Theroy Passed - 19/12/09 Mod 1 Passed 04/05/10 Mod 2 Passed 14/05/10 - Free to ride ANYTHING!
Motorcycles are perfectly safe as long as you remember they're dangerous.

[Alexio]

[27cows]

[ashwell-09]

[27cows]

[ashwell-09]

Driving is made far too easy for people nowadays, they should build cars unsafe just so they share the pain when they do cause a crash. I know some biker's ride about like the stole the thing but when they crash it's normally just them that gets hurt or killed, when a car causes an accident due to carelessness they are normally the ones unharmed, whilst the biker is in the back of an ambulance...
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Riding as fast as you can sounds like a good speed to me
1988 Yamaha DT 50 > 2004 Motorhispania RYZ 50 > 1988 Honda CBR 400

[Mystery]

[chris-red]

Cheer up chances are it will be in CCTV and they will be bang to rights.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[metalangel]

[Clanger]

Yes. Supermarket car parks are the absolute worst place to be noticed, whether you are in a car, on a bike or on foot.

I got knocked by a car whilst on foot on a crossing in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago, luckily I got off scot free - the driver did not get off from a tongue lashing though!

Use your horn, kick out with your feet (if able) and make yourself be known...
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[metalangel]

While I normally back into spaces when in the cage, doing so makes it a lot harder to get bulky items (cases of beer ) into the back. Which means no choice but to back out of the space when at the supermarket.

I've had nightmarish times, though. The big Tesco in Western Ave Cardiff kindly provides a bike parking bay, but I've been trapped in there by selfish drivers (another woman in another minivan) waiting to grab the space immediately next to it. She then managed to make a complete hash of driving straight into this space. I was finally free to get out of the bay, just in time for her to nearly reverse into me trying to straighten herself up. FFS!
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Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[dextersaurus]

i used to get it a lot going to my work, i park round the corner and have to go through the whole car park, but the amount of people that would jsut reverse out, and people walking straight out with a trolley is even worse.

But yeah, the whole injury thing?

It's the risk we all take on bikes, if you want crumple zones and airbags, buy a car.

Dunc

[Mark65]

Not just the car parks, i had a daft prick pull out at a junction tonight and he looked right at me, i had to swerve into the oposite lane( luckely car free), he missed me by 3 feet the fukin old dick, still i know the risks but the fresh air on my face and the good feeling i get is too much too resist lols, rain or cold has not stopped me smiling, maybe the ice or snow will.

Mark
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07 Yamaha YBR125, 07 Honda CG125 , 15 CBR300R (Chocolate Crank, Deaded), 16 CB500FA, 19 Honda Forza 300, 70 Suzuki SV650

[G]

See plenty of cars do it to other cars, even occasionally to me when in my rather large white van.

Lights and a loud exhaust seem to help a bit.

[Jayy]

Before I even opened this thread, I was thinking about what happened yesterday at asda carpark. Some woman with her two kids hand in hand, walking towards the road going through the car park, me an my brother bumbling along at about 10mph and she just proceeded to walk straight out infront of us. I slammed on the brakes and she pulled the two kids back and shouted, "YOU IDIOT, CAN'T YOU SEE I'VE GOT TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WITH ME, YOU ALMOST KILLED US!"

I pulled over to the side, got off my bike and said, "Yeah, I noticed you and your two kids about 40ft away from me as I was coming down the road, I also noticed you weren't paying attention to what you were doing and slowed down on the off chance you weren't going to stop, which 90% of the time, is what kills bikers."

She started ranting at me, saying how dare I accuse her of putting her children in danger and bikes should be banned from the road!

The fucking cheek of her, if I hadn't had my spider senses about me (as you have to) I probably would of hit the dozey cow and her two kids.

Never fails to amaze me what other car drivers or pedestrians get away with.

[Mord]

The car drivers usually don't see me.. but at least they hear me.. i.e. when I rev bike while filtering they give me more room. Benefits of having a two stroke

[dextersaurus]

I saw a guy on a GS while i was WALKING home from college, he had about 10 lights on the front of the bike, bright white. I looked at it thinking 'wtf?' but realised, that really caught my attention... which is a good thing....

I agree on the loud can comment G, with the CG people couldnt hear me, and would walk right out between cars while i was filtering...

got a video somewhere on my youtube channel of that happening..

Dunc

[G]

Filtering next to stationary busses/trucks I tend to blip the throttle and will slow down a bit; quite a few times have had people cautiously looking around as I'm passing, suggesting it works in some cases at least .

[dextersaurus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmP0ZWuyKVQ

first clip shows what i was talking about

Pit bike exhaust on a CG?

would work nicely i think...

Dunc

[Glory Hunter]

Funnily enough I had a similar incident in Asda car park last night, it was quite empty so someone decided to leave going over all the empty spaces rather than using the lanes, wouldn't be a problem except he pulled out from behind a trolley stash right in front of me.

Then riding home I'm coming on to a roundabout and notice someone coming towards me with their lights off (this is about 8.30pm!).

This got me thinking; what we need is 'stupidity bans' an automatic, non-negotiable four week ban for doing stupid things, I'd start with the following:

Driving without lights
Failing to indicate when changing lanes
Weaving in and out of your lane (as if drunk)
Stopping in a yellow box
Driving in a neck brace (so you can't do mirror / blindspot checks etc).
Driving a 10+ year old Mondeo / Vectra
____________________
2003 Suzuki VanVan - Sold
2000 Honda CB500 - written off by a spoilt brat with no manners
2005 Yamaha XT660 - I'm in lurve....

[Clanger]

[Shreddie]

In super markets, and indeed any car parks, you've gotta keep your wits about you. People backing out of spaces can rarely see where they're going properly or any other cars or bikes that want to pass so be patient... Be courteous and wait if you feel the need. Also, some people will have kids in the cars going mental 'cos of the bag of Haribo they've just eaten at the checkout has given them a sugar rush so the driver will be distracted.

[wupwup]