Know Your Bike Back Off, Jack
KNOW YOUR BIKE BACK OFF, JACK
IGNITION
RIDE SMART
For when you need eyes in the back of your head
John L. Stein
Like most warriors, I'm extremely confident going forward, able to respond to conditions and situations, opportunities, and threats instantly and instinctively. Bring ’em on! But what scares the bloody hell out of me is not what’s up front but what’s behind me, unseen and totally out of my control: aggressive tailgaters in SUVs, that beat-up gravel truck that is desperately trying to stop for the traffic light where I’m already sitting, and sometimes even the cunning local
constable out hunting for throttle jockeys.
Chopper rats, tourers, sport riders, and supermotoers—we may bag on each other’s rides, but we all need protection from the rear. So on your behalf, I went to the local highway patrol office and asked if there are a significant number of accidents wherein motorcyclists are rear-ended. “Not really,” the PIO said with a shrug. And yet, it does happen. An amigo took an unwanted trip to coma-land after being rear-ended at an intersection; another had his ride
punched right out from under him at a red light. And seeing rear-fender benders on the freeway is common. Let’s just not let it be common for us, lacking as we are crumple zones and whiplash restraints.
So herewith are four strategies for protecting our tails. Will they always work? Certainly not. But if just one of them works one time, it’ll have been worth doing.
1) El mirrors grande. What you can’t see, you can’t escape. So make sure you’ve got two good mirrors that give you a nice full rear view of following traffic, rather than just your shoulders, jacket sleeves, or the ground. A good strategy: Adjust one of your mirrors so that you can see what is directly behind you, even if it means adjusting your viewing angle to it while merging on that side.
2) Tailgate abate. Tailgaters will often respond to quick flashes of a brake light (don’t brake check ’em— that’s asking for trouble) or extending your left hand to say, “back off.” If neither works, get away—you can’t win this fight.
3) When in doubt, modulate.
A brake-light modulator like — .. ^ the one from Signal Dynamics (signaldynamics.com) can attract attention from distracted drivers
and not just during braking. Lightly dragging the brakes sprays a nice little burst of pulsating red light rearward anytime you need it.
4) Look alive. You’ve got nearly 180 degrees of forward and peripheral vision and none to the rear. The best strategy here is to avoid complacence. Scan your mirrors constantly for bogeys at six o’clock. ETU
