Why did he do it?

[dav]

I had a few hours to kill in the mid afternoon today (Sunday) so i took the R65 out for a run through the Royal National Park. The weather was great, abit cool but i love riding in the cooler months, the sun was getting lower in the sky but still plenty of light.
The R65 was on song not missing a beat, was going faster then the posted speed limit but not by much, then when i rounded a corner & entered a SHORT bit of straight road with a car (in front) & bikes behind the car coming the other way, then all of sudden i iam looking at a bike in my lane heading straight for me, he then realized i was there (he sat up) but he had to much speed to really do anything (could't get in front of the car he was overtaking, could't jump on the brakes & dive back in behind the car). So i dived to the edge of the road as far as i could, ( there is no run off, all bush, rocks ) i was riding on the white painted line where the tar starts & gravel,rocks,trees,bush awaits.

He passed me with the car & myself sharing two lanes. It looked like he was the leader in a line of roughly 7 other bikes, after he passed me i dived back into the middle of my line fuming with anger, wanting to shove his bike up him where the sun dont shine.
After i finished looking at all the hanggliders at Bald Hill i went the other way back through the Park. As i got the spot of near death i noticed the sun was hitting my eyes through the tree tops, so was the sun affecting the blokes view point, if it was, WHY did he try & overtake a car? & yes he had sunglasses on but you still get the 'sun spot' in your eyes, so why would he risk his life & others when he did't have a clear view.
The 'Royal' has lowerd its speed limit to 60k's, was 80 then 70 but now it's 60, & its very very very frustrating when you are stuck behind a slow car & all you want to do is hit the fun bits with abit of speed, it spoils a great road & ride when you get stuck behind slow cars, but i wish some riders use common sense sometimes

[darrylri]

Not as an excuse for the other guy -- there's no excuse -- but if he was familiar with the road, and was frustrated at leading and not being able to pass, then he probably rounded that turn and was on the gas immediately so that he and maybe the next couple bikes would have a chance to pass.  You don't say what the road is like before and after the straight, but if it's a great road -- you chose to go for a ride on it -- then they were all probably frustrated that they were stuck behind a car through a great section.

Or, he was just a moron.

[dav]

Yes just a moron.

Here's the road,

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=-34.157151,151.020936&spn=0,0.002406&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=-34.157179,151.020809&panoid=A_GLY9EHhNq8SzlWoQrIRA&cbp=12,287.44,,0,5

This was the direction i was travelling after rounding my corner.

Darryl, he was already on the straight part off the road when he decided to pull out to overtake, he was probaly 1/4 along the straight part when he decided to make the move.

On a side note, i past a motorcycle incident at the Waterfall entrance to the 'Royal', bike in the bush, flattray tow truck & police where there, hope he was ok.

[Bob_Roller]

Was the other rider, riding into the sun, with the sun at a low angle in the sky ?

[Lucky_Lou]

He had probably just heard the result of the 20/20 hence the death wish......but seriously we all should ride defensively as there are so many dickheads out there.
Lou

[Ed Miller]

dav, he probably didn't see you.  It's not just cagers that don't see you.  That is an explanation, by the way, not an excuse for him.  What a way to bum out your ride.  

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

If it was mid-afternoon, and you were traveling west, than no, the sun was not in the eyes of the other guy.

[trolle]

This morning a 44 year old motorcyclist was hit by a car turning left into his lane.

The driver of the car obviously did not see the motorcyclist before she made her turn and as the accident happened on a road with a speed limit of 30 mph and both riders were within the limit, one cannot but wonder what she was doing (probably talking to her sister on the  phone!).

The motorcyclist got off with a broken leg, which is better than being killed, but he will probably have to spend at least four months in splinters being unable to work.

Drive defensively: Whenever I encounter a car looking as if it will cross my lane, I start "wavering" my bike slightly to get the cage driver's attention. I do not know if it works but on the other hand I have not had the opportunity to falsify my theory  [smiley=shocked.gif] [smiley=shocked.gif]

greetings from a sunny and at last warm north

[Semper Gumby]

My bike has a headlamp modulator on the highbeam circuit.  It stays on at all day long.  

[msbuck]

My bike has a headlamp modulator on the highbeam circuit.  It stays on at all day long.  

Is that the thing that makes the headlight go from dim to bright to dim to bright, etc.?  I'd be afraid that the cars would think that I was signaling to them that it was ok for them to go and end up turning right in front of me.  

I always drive as if I'm invisible and EXPECT the cars to turn into my path...

[Bob_Roller]

In daylight operation, I use the high beam, and the driving lights .

At night the head light is on on low beam, and the driving lights are on .

I have PIAA 40, 6 inch driving lights on the R65, and PIAA 510, 3.25 inch driving lights on the oilhead .

The driving lights are mounted on the 'crash bars' so the light pattern to an oncoming driver, is a triangle, not something they are used to seeing .

No one has a defensible excuse for not seeing me .