Am I a target?
 

Ever since I nearly got taken out just down the road from TWO I feel like I am a target. First was the Vstrom in GA that came around the corner in my lane, I missed it by a foot or so. Then twice last week I had cars change lanes into my lane. One surprised me completely and I kicked on his door and he shot back into his lane, then earlier this week someone again tried to merge into my lane, but I was able to hit the brakes and let him pass me. Then today just riding down a street some guy pulls out of his driveway forcing me to panic brake as hard as I could not to hit him. I was able to stop in time, but the guy, an older lady just sat in the middle of the street and looked at me like it was my fault

You need to swap exhausts with me. I never have such problems

I've had two close calls since I've been back... kicked the bike completely sideways once when the rear tire locked up in a panic brake (fuck'n dual sport tires lock up EASY)

hope this shit changes... I'll be on two wheels for a long time to come...

all of us on 2 wheels are targets

I am amazed when people don't believe me when I tell them this...

Totally. Even to some others on 2 wheels.

By far the closest I have ever come to another vehicle that would have really put the hurt on me was the Vstrom leaving TWO. Tigger was behind me and he said I missed it by a foot, I really have no clue, I just remember seeing wheel/headlight and steering away from it hoping I could still dive back and make the turn.

There did seem to be an a lot of shitty riders up there ( outside our group) this year :no:

It's not just there man. There are a bunch of blind corners and a few switchbacks around here that are part of my commute (okay, I take the long way when I ride :lol:) where there's a bike in my lane coming the other direction at least once per week.

They're almost always in full lean, in shorts, t-shirt, sneakers, gloves, and helmet (:skep:) thinking they are Super GP Rider blowing the line and movin' waaaaaaaaay too fast for conditions and/or rider skill level.

Not sure about there, but what seems to have happened here is that a ton of people bought new bikes a couple years back when gas prices were sky-high. They then kept the bike for a year and sold it either because A) they didn't really use it, B) they used it, had a close call, and scared the crap out of themselves, C) it was what everyone else was doing at the time, D) their wives told them to, or E) some combination of A, B, C, and D. (There are also those who lost their jobs as a result of the economy and had to sell their bikes because of that)

As a result, in the past couple years the market has been flooded with a bunch of cheap used sportbikes (some with crazy low miles and some fairly current models to boot) so the young squids can drop a little cash and get an almost new litre bike or other fairly large displacement bike.

As a side-effect, this is the main reason I stopped going to bike nights around here. You can now count on at least 6 state troopers nearby pulling everyone over for just about anything because the super-squid population is pissing everyone off. You can also count on at least one or two drunk riders racing through the twisties and wrapping themselves around a tree or another vehicle.

Truth.