Speaking of being shot... When I was 13, I was riding my dirtbike down a trail that was used to service powerlines in the rural area where I grew up. One of the neighbors whose house boardered that powerline trail, was always irritated that us motorcycle riders would ride thru there. One day when I was by myself riding down the trail, I see him run out his front door yelling...which he always did, so I didn't think anything of it. As I got past, I felt a sting in the right side of my back that wouldn't go away. Having been stung by bees b/f, I figured that's what it was. I immediately rode home to have my mom take a look.

Turns out, I'd been shot in the back by a .22 long rifle. Yep, that old guy shot me in the back w/a .22lr. The bullet pearced my NFL wool jacket, went thru a thermal shirt, & tshirt, & lodged in my back. The sheriff was called. We all went back to the man's house. He explained to the sheriff that he was tired of all the motorcycles riding past his house. The sheriff didn't arrest him but he was cited for what he did. Being young, I don't know exactly what he was cited for but I do remember the sheriff giving him the lecture of his life. To my knowledge, he never got in trouble again. As for me, I still have a knot in my back from the bullet.

 

Where the heck do u live where somebody can shoot someone and not go to jail ? Here in Michigan if u shoot someone with a pellet gun u going to jail !!

 

Was thinking the same dmcb. Pretty much understood that if anything they'd better put the guy in jail for his own protection. Cause not going to jail means we can shoot back

 

This was in 1979 in very rural area...some might say "backwoods". ;-) I haven't lived there since I was 15. That was a lifetime ago. ;-) Keep in mind that in a very small community that is very rural, a sheriff has a lot of power as the chief law enforement officer. Too, they tend to know everyone, or most everyone, in the area. Back then, things were much different - even for rural communities.

As I said, I was young. My parents & the sheriff handled the situation. The guy was pretty old. To my recollection, the sheriff confiscated the .22 rifle, he was cited (for what exactly I don't know), & he ended up on probation w/a record, of course. He's probably long dead by now.

Point is, you just never know what will get ya out there!

 

Reminds me to some of the words to an ACDC song "Jail Break"~ "He got out, with a bullet in his back".
Speaking of "Rural" areas, part of the Old Pacific Highway, what used to be a great bike road... Anyway, back to when it was great. The road used to wind through an area where a few week-end Wallies (those that had bought a week-end rural retreats don't cha know) obviously became sick of the sound of motorcycle exhausts reverberating around the valley & some thought a good way to discourage these heathens waking up god fearing week-end country folk, would be to put oil on a few of the more challenging corners. Needless to say a few accidents happened. Police become involved, but with no proof of who was doing it, bugger all was done.

 

i think i might win this contest. edit( while i was typing this someone else posted they got shot, this doesn't beat that....not even close)

gotta hear the backstory first, i'll try n make it brief.

i live in small town, they have this produce store and every year since i can remember they have this huge orage pumpkin replica out front of the store in october. its on pallets and is made out of two by's and wire mesh and this beefed up paper machea mix. its about 12 feet wide and 12-14 foot tall.

i was giving my cousin a ride and we were behind the guy who stores the pumkin in his shed. it was on a trailer with those square bales of hay. well this dude almost hits a car that pulled out in front of him and in the process three bales of hay an the pumpkin fall off the back of his truck!

i instantly decide a hay bale is helluva lot softer( even though i might flip foward) than a ****ing giant pumpkin. i swerve hit one bale of hay, now i can hardly see cause i have a cloud of hay surrounding me, the pumpkin breaks pretty much in half on the right side of the road, (i'm on the left side after i hit the hay bale) and the one side of the pumpkin goes left into my path and squashes down cause it is so broken at this point its just a big heap of wire mesh with chunks of plaster. i try to miss it but i end up hitting it doing about 25 cause i instinctively have hit the brakes during all of this( i was doing 50 when this started).

anyway, i am about to hit the pumpkin and it broke in half again right as the front tire hits it. i get a gash on my right leg from the mesh, but amazingly i didn't wreck. i ended up pullin off to the side of the road and just sitting there as i calm down and drain some adrenaline from my bloodstream. the dude came back and had to pick the mess up and needless to say i asked him why it wasn't strapped down and said a few choice words and came real close to kicking his ***. but i restrained myself

i didn't ride my bike for a week after this. and this is 100% real, i couldn't believe it happened and u prolly won't either but its too messed up of a story to be made up. you just can't make up stuff like this.

 

I'd be sooooooo pissed!

 

you have no idea, i almost hit my cousin because she was trying to hold me back and wouldn't let me at him.

 

I decided i'm going to get more nasty with other drivers on the rode that don't respect bikes. I've had about 2 or 3 SUV's intentionally swerve to cover access for me while im safely splitting lanes through 2mph moving traffic. I know it's intentional because i'm looking at them look at me in his mirror!!! Usually if im splittingand someone is blocking the path, i'll hang around a few seconds until they realized i'm there, then push through..

anyway, my new idea is to velcro my pocket knife to my bike somewhere, and knife (aka keying) the **** out of the next idiots nice new suv if they intentionally block my path.

Even then i was whatever to it, but last time someone did this was in the last second and i had to swerve to the other lane to avoid collision, and in the other lane the dude was breaking hard so I had to squeeze in between the next lanes traffic, it was definitely a close one.

 

I agree, I have been pretty nice to people almost taking me out in a parking lot by zipping through spaces and what not. I just kind of wave and am like don't worry about it ( cuz i see it coming ). But this **** happens too often and I'm getting fed up as well. I was in a big round about the other day that is one of the most confusing round abouts i have ever encountered. I try to stay out of it because there is honestly crashes in that thing weekly! It was quite out tho well after work and rush hour and I'm cruzin through it very on guard and defensive when this guy in front of me on the other side decides he needs the other lane and jerked the wheel so hard towards me i could hear his front tires squeel a bit!. i was going slow so i almost lost my balance trying to avoid him but i revved my bike up super loud right then and got his attention ( My bike speaks for me when I'm angry ) and then flipped my tinted visor and just stared into his mirror inches from his bumber at the next light.

I know people get carried away and in hurries in cars ( I'm guilty, We ALL are at one point ) But when your the one in open water with thousands of these idiots there mistake is YOUR life!

Lane splitting is the WORST for pissing people off!!! Its like you're the rich guy paying extra to get in the front of the line at a roller coaster. people get so damn jealous when they see that you can get to the front of traffic in a minute when they will be forced to sit there for hours!!! People cut me off all the time too as well. But like you said, I'm not racing through these people causing danger, I'm carefully and easily finding space to move forward.

This punk kid swerves out in front of me and blocks my gap and starts yelling out his window all sorts of crazy ****. traffic moves a bit so he nudges up again while I wait behind a second. since he is already bumper to bumper now and cant move i simply go left and go around his driver door and back into my lane .. HE WAS SCREAMING!!! I probably ruined his whole day with that trick!!!