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Importance of Clear Communication

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Sharky1948

Junior Member
Was out riding with a buddy. I was in the lead and missed a turn. I signaled for a u-turn by circling one arm in the air. He assumed (with good reason) that I meant that I would turn into a parking lot or something and go back the other direction. I meant that I would do an (illegal) u-turn in the street. So.....I slowed, started to turn across the lane, and heard him yelling loudly. I hit the brakes and he swerved. His highway peg took out my front fender. Neither on of us went down. But, a fraction of a second later reacting or any of a number of other things could have meant that I'd have hit his leg straight on.

Clearly I made a stupid move. And, had he been following a little further back, it could have been avoided. But, our takeaway was that the rider to rider communication was a key contributor to the incident.

All is well and we are both riding (and I am waiting for some new tin and chrome.)

Hopefully a few lessons learned by each of us!!!
 
Sharky1948 said:
Was out riding with a buddy. I was in the lead and missed a turn. I signaled for a u-turn by circling one arm in the air. He assumed (with good reason) that I meant that I would turn into a parking lot or something and go back the other direction. I meant that I would do an (illegal) u-turn in the street. So.....I slowed, started to turn across the lane, and heard him yelling loudly. I hit the brakes and he swerved. His highway peg took out my front fender. Neither on of us went down. But, a fraction of a second later reacting or any of a number of other things could have meant that I'd have hit his leg straight on.

Clearly I made a stupid move. And, had he been following a little further back, it could have been avoided. But, our takeaway was that the rider to rider communication was a key contributor to the incident.

All is well and we are both riding (and I am waiting for some new tin and chrome.)

Hopefully a few lessons learned by each of us!!!
Click to expand...

Miscommunication was clearly a factor but I think you both know the real reason was his following distance. It applies in so many situations but here's the culprit - COMPLACENCY! You guys have probably ridden together a bunch and were very comfortable with each other. Then this sneaks up on you. I know it sounds nerdy but you should have at least a brief discussion anytime you're going to be riding with one or more partners.

Glad you each at least had the presence of mind and riding skills to avoid something worse going down. We've all been there and I want to thank you for sharing a somewhat embarassing moment so that we can all benefit from it.
 
Glad you got off as lightly as you did, that could have been very bad. DrD has it right, following distance is an early victim of complacency.
 
Yes, complacency was surely a big contributor!

And yes, it is more than a bit embarrassing! But, hopefully someone else can learn from our mishap.
 
I/we rode for years without any sort of electronic communication. In the last two years, I and a riding buddy picked up an Ultra/s. Since, we've come to really enjoy the CB part of it. We don't 'chat' unless we need to communicate. To be able to communicate a danger the lead guy sees, or, gas/other type stop. Where to stop etc. After having the communication ( between the two bike and the comm with passenger), I wouldn't want to be without it again.
 
We always ride with the 3 second rule, but sometimes things happen, fenders can be fixed or replaced, it could have been worse. At least noone got hurt.
 
Sharky1948 said:
Was out riding with a buddy. I was in the lead and missed a turn. I signaled for a u-turn by circling one arm in the air. He assumed (with good reason) that I meant that I would turn into a parking lot or something and go back the other direction. I meant that I would do an (illegal) u-turn in the street. So.....I slowed, started to turn across the lane, and heard him yelling loudly. I hit the brakes and he swerved. His highway peg took out my front fender. Neither on of us went down. But, a fraction of a second later reacting or any of a number of other things could have meant that I'd have hit his leg straight on.

Clearly I made a stupid move. And, had he been following a little further back, it could have been avoided. But, our takeaway was that the rider to rider communication was a key contributor to the incident.

All is well and we are both riding (and I am waiting for some new tin and chrome.)

Hopefully a few lessons learned by each of us!!!
Click to expand...



WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING YOUNG MAN!!??!?!?! j/k - Good to hear you and your buddy didn't end up worse off than you did!! gotta ? for ya - how long did it take for your heart to quit pounding so hard that you felt it in your skull!!! Be careful out there!!
 
your lucky man.

i hate people too close. been rear ended twice, once by a car, once by a bike.

if im not comfortable with where they are, i'll make them pass me and take the rear.
 
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