So I had my first close call yesterday on the Blue Ridge Parkway and unfortunately I've only been riding fora month. But I pride myself on riding safe and not being another statistic.

I went out for a ride with on of my lady friends and we had been riding for about 1 hour and finally made it to the Blue ridge Parkway in VA. This is a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 45mph, sometime 35mph. The reason for this is every turn is either one of those speeds and they don't even put up sharp turn warning signs because you shouldn't be going blazing fast. Not to mention the roads are deer infested. Well anywho we were on the road for about 10 miles looking at the scenery taking our time .. keeping it at 40 - 50 mphs around turns .. when I came up on this turn and I was in the left third and this Chevy Silverado comes blasting threw the corner waaaaay tooo fast. Tires sqeualing and the truck sliding in my direction!!!. I stand the bike up in the turn and get to probably to the right of the left third when the truck passes me. My passenger could have Smacked his Windshield!!! [:@][:@]I have only 2008 miles on my baby and that would have been a tragic accident for both the bike and rider/passenger! .. sorry for any mistypes or wrong grammar .. im typing fast because I get pissed just thinking about it! .. Watch those blind turns fellow riders! If I had been going fast and rolling hard on the throttle I would have been in a real mess.

 

Glad to hear you are alright man, but I do have a suggestion.

I don't mean to sound like an ***, but you really shouldn't be riding with a passenger if you've only been riding a bike for a month. It's still new to you, and you don't know the in's-and-outs yet. Hell, I've been riding for years, and I still feel uncomfortable riding with a passenger. Now I'm not saying this incident is from a lack of experience or anything like that, but it very well could have ended up that way.

Ride safe man.

 

Glad you're alright. It sounded like you reacted correctly. I have to agree with Blue Fox about riding with a passenger. I have never had a passenger on mine.

 

glad to hear you and yur pasanger are safe... when you have a passanger, have a talk with them and really explain the dangers of being on a bike. i mean hell, rides over 50 miles, im sure everyone is almost hit by a car. ino here in the bay area its like that. make sure your passanger understands the risk.

 

Thanks for the advice guys! .. Quick question though...

Part of what I'm training myself to do is ride with passengers .. and like you guys said that might not be smart. I know in a month I can't possibly know everything about my bike or riding but I believe that my learning curve is excelling well above average. I ride with very experienced riders everyday and get input for corrections and things to look out for. Also my passengers that I have ridden with have more time on a bike then me with experienced driver...waay more...and they say that they can't tell a difference between the other drivers and I ... ButI know I lack just sheer experiences like the one above and had I not practiced braking in a turn or standing the bike up in the turn going towards the apex and bring it back safetly I would have been done for.

But I do practice aloot. Things like emercengy braking, braking in turns, running over gravel, locking the back brake, rain, passenger shifting their weight around.. etc. .. The list goes on ...

The reason why i ask this question is of my 2000+ miles, 800 or more have been with a passenger. I realize things like weight disturbution is a factor, bike's geometery changes, longer braking, poor passenger that don't what their doing and could end up killing both of us..etc.

When I ride a passenger its always on a road that I have ridden many times before by myself and recently. When its a 45 mph turn, Im doing 50-55. The bike barely leans. Also in reply to Hatebreed, Thanks! .. Before we ride, even tho they are experienced riders I go over with them the "ground rules" .. these rules are a blend of the basis of riding on the bike of these types and what i want them to do to makes me feel comfortable.(taylored to me and my driving)

The only thing that I can possibly think would be a reason not to ride a passenger is for other drivers. But there is only soo much I can do to correct their errors. So to my question....

What should I watchoutfor or doif this is something I would like to do? What am I not taking into account?

Riding a passengerfeels natural to me..hintswhy I'm intrigued by the advice given. ( <--- easiest way to sum it up...lol)

And Please, I'm not trying to sound cocky..squid..newbie..etc (leave those comments out please, I'm looking for advice to adhere too and use)

 

one thing you have to remember is that with passenger riders its not about your skills and how well you can handle what happens... its them too. if your passenger doesnt lean the right way , or shifts their weight wrong or comes to close to you when your braking that all will cause your skills to go out the window. riding with a passenger means they need to know how to handle the bike just as well as you.

 

damn, I dont thinki could have put it any better. And if your all about riding with a passenger...try and find the ones who have ridden on a bike obviously, or evena horse when they grew up... those girls who havent ridden on a bike much, but love horses.....best damn passengers ive ever taken (experience aside)

good luck , stay safe. gear for the passenger is my recommendation as well.

 

I ride the Parkway in VA very very often and with 2000miles of experience i strongly reccomend ditching the passenger. Not only are you watcing for car crossing into your lane and deer, but you have to be able to negotiate gravel, bears, fallen tree branches, running water, inclining/declining blind turns, etc. The road isn't a begginer road, fo sho. I hope your passenger is well aware that their life is in your hands up there and things get hairy in the blink of an eye on some of those turns.

Ride safe.

 

For those who haven't experience this road, its nothing but turns like this.

 

^ it's....sooooo...beau-ut-utifullllll [sm=Awwww.gif]