Close call on my KLR today. Watch out for sand.

[Black Pearl's Captain]

I seem to like the smallness of the KLR650 compared to the Valkyrie Interstate so when I ride it I kinda ride it hard.  It coners very well. I was coming to a corner today and hit the brakes a little hard to lean her over and roll it around the corner. I guess I should mention a stock KLR dives A BUNCH when you get on the front brakes hard.  There is still some sand left on the road around here from the winter ice. The back tire broke loose and around she comes. That little bike sure does wrap around on you a lot faster then the heavy Valk does. It kicked out to about 40 degrees in the wink of an eye.  I was probably below 15 mph so no big deal, I held it until it stopped and then went on around the corner. 

Short story, watch your aZZ'Z on the sand as we all start riding again this spring, it'll take ya.

Raymond 

(Feel free to rate and critique this post on the correct use of smilies)

[Big IV]

U-Haul drivers tend to be people that have no experience handling a vehicle that big and in a lot of instances do not understand the blind spots and size of what they are handling.


I have heard a lot of bikers complain about truck drivers as road hogs.  I tend to not share that opinion.  I think that most truck drivers are professionals.  They do have larger blind spots than other people and that is problematic, not on the fault of the driver but just an irregularity.  Have you ever sat in the cab of a freightliner and tried to spot a bright yellow Gold Wing out the mirror?  I did at the Honda Hoot one year. Earned much respect. Ofcourse I also grew up in a truck driving family and that was what I wanted to be first in life.

U-Hauls on the other hand are not typically truck drivers.  They are random folks swithing lanes without looking.  That is what happened to me today. I was riding in the right lane passing by a slow moving U-Haul.  He suddenly (without signals or looking from what I can tell) came at me.  I laid on the horn and throttle. I moved out of the way safely, but only because my reactions.

Watch out for U-Hauls. They can be vicious.