how to stop being tailgated on a bike

[vaskidmark]

http://tinyurl.com/awrwvmd

From here http://www.tailgunnerexhaust.com/

Wonder if I you could fit them to a minivan?

stay safe.

[Monkeyleg]

Meh. Ranks right up there with spinning rims on cars.

[Fitz]

Theres a dude in my motorcycle club who has that. His bike is painted OD green, with stars on it. He's also the road guard for large rides. He does VERY well at keeping cars out of our formation

[Angel Eyes]

Meh. Ranks right up there with spinning rims on cars.

. . . and truck nuts.

I wonder how long before the gummint requires that the muzzles be painted orange.

[BobR]

I prefer ball bearings tossed over my shoulder to make people back off, but hey, that is just me. 

bob

[HankB]

I prefer ball bearings tossed over my shoulder to make people back off, but hey, that is just me. 

bob

Understand dislike for tailgaters . . . but this could escalate things to a point that won't do anyone any good . . . 

[MechAg94]

I prefer ball bearings tossed over my shoulder to make people back off, but hey, that is just me. 

bob

As long as you are judicial in your application.  Tapping the brakes works sometimes, but I have had people do that when I had just pulled up and was backing off as well as when I was still 50 yards back.  Different people have different ideas about exactly what tailgating is.

That said, I like that tailgunner idea.

[DustinD]

Don't rocks have better plausible deny-ability? On the other hand they aren't that dense.

[RoadKingLarry]

Don't rocks have better plausible deny-ability? On the other hand they aren't that dense.

When I was young and foolisher I would carry a few metric nuts in a vest pocket. I'm riding a Harley, couldn't have come off my bike.
Now days I just slow down. They'll either go around or I'll pull over and let them have the road first chance I get.
I also still enjoy a bit of the Copenhagen while riding. 

[Jamisjockey]

The last couple bikes I saw were riding above the speed limit and using the vastly superior maneuverability of the motorcycle's size to zip in and out of traffic.  Color me unsypmathetic if those guys are being scraped off the pavement one day.
Oh, and when I'm passing a Semi truck on the left, passing on the right on your harley and then changing lanes in my blindspot and giving me the finger? 
Too many idiots on motorcycles these days.

[RevDisk]

Too many idiots on motorcycles these days.

Fixed for ya.

[Fitz]

The last couple bikes I saw were riding above the speed limit and using the vastly superior maneuverability of the motorcycle's size to zip in and out of traffic.  Color me unsypmathetic if those guys are being scraped off the pavement one day.
Oh, and when I'm passing a Semi truck on the left, passing on the right on your harley and then changing lanes in my blindspot and giving me the finger? 
Too many idiots on motorcycles these days.

As a motorcyclist and MSF coach, I agree with this sentiment.

[MechAg94]

The most dangerous thing I've seen motorcycle riders and sportcar drivers do is go so fast by traffic that you didn't have time to even register that they were coming up behind you.  

The most annoying thing I saw a group of 3 or 4 motorcycles people do (one had a tricycle) was turn on their left blinker when a passing opportunity (few and far between) came up to keep people from passing them.  I generally don't tail gate people unless I am actively trying to pass, but I have occasionally found myself tailgating very close when people actively try to be jerks on the road.  I think I ended up passing a couple of them and cutting back inbetween their group which got their little carravan all split up.  

Lots of jerks of all kinds on the roads sometimes, but I am always surprised when I see them behaving that way on small two-wheeled vehicles.  Thankfully, most people don't behave like that.

[Jamisjockey]

The most dangerous thing I've seen motorcycle riders and sportcar drivers do is go so fast by traffic that you didn't have time to even register that they were coming up behind you. 

The most annoying thing I saw a group of 3 or 4 motorcycles people do (one had a tricycle) was turn on their left blinker when a passing opportunity (few and far between) came up to keep people from passing them.  I generally don't tail gate people unless I am actively trying to pass, but I have occasionally found myself tailgating very close when people actively try to be jerks on the road.  I think I ended up passing a couple of them and cutting back inbetween their group which got their little carravan all split up.  

Lots of jerks of all kinds on the roads sometimes, but I am always surprised when I see them behaving that way on small two-wheeled vehicles.  Thankfully, most people don't behave like that.

In addition to the speed, is ignoring the blind spots of cars. 

[Tallpine]

In addition to the speed, is ignoring the blind spots of cars. 

The thing that makes me mad is that I do not want to kill or maim a biker because of his stupidity.

I almost got one when I was about 17.  My mom bought a new pickup but the one she wanted was at a dealer about 100 miles away.  So one Saturday I rode with the salesman up to Boulder to pick it up, and drove his demo C-10 back to Colorado Springs following him in our new pickup.  We passed a slower vehicle on I-25 and I had my signal on and was just about to return to the right lane (allowing for safe following distance for the vehicle just passed) when I glimpsed the top of a helmet just outside the passenger door window of the pickup 

Apparently, the idiot couldn't wait a few seconds for me to get back over in the right lane.     At 70mph, even a little bump would have probably knocked him down and killed him, not to mention likely being run over by the vehicle we had just passed.   

You normally don't need to look over your shoulder after passing.  I was taught that you need to see the overtaken vehicle in your outside right mirror before returning to the right lane.  Hell, if you're driving a commercial truck or even a pickup with a camper you can't see anything behind except in your mirrors anyway 

[CNYCacher]

The most dangerous thing I've seen motorcycle riders and sportcar drivers do is go so fast by traffic that you didn't have time to even register that they were coming up behind you.

I've seen that with snowmobiles.

Yes I was in my car.

That's Upstate NY for you.

[RoadKingLarry]

The wife and I took the bike out for an afternoon ride today. Just over to a nearby lake. There's a little store that sells the coldest pop around, usually have to wait for the ice to melt in it. We rode over, got a pop, and went and sat and watched the lake for a while.

Coming back we were bucking a stif quartering cross wind and traffic was a little slow. I was following a little convertible and was a safe following distance  behind.  A flatbed 1 ton and a little car following him decided they had to pass us on a hilly, twisty section in a no passing zone. I had to downshift and ride the brakes pretty hard to get out of their way when they moved back over. The passenger in the car shot me the bird as they came back over. A few miles up the road at an intersection they were waiting to turn as I rolled passed and returned the salute.

[gunsmith]

I always maneuver away from cars while on my bike.
Either by going fast enough to get away from the flock of cages or going slower.
So what if I zip through the cars? That's why I'm on the bike, If I want to be stuck in traffic I'll drive the car.
When I'm driving a car I could care less if I do not have time to notice the bike that passed me.
It happens all the time in places that have yr round motorcycle riders.
Tailgaters? Either in my car or bike If I cant move out of the way I slow down, heck I've even stopped.
The only time I usually get tailgated is if I'm in the fast lane, so I figure why not move over and let them pass when safe to do so..
Last week I made a rare trip to CA and was being tailgated by an idiot in a mall parking lot, I was going 10mph, ( with my hazard lights flashing)  looking for a drug store. The guy rushes up behind me and honks. I ignore. He gets right up behind me and turns on his brights, so I stop dead. He honks some more then has to back up so he can get around me.
If you tailgate me, fine, be prepared to get stuck behind me.

[Fitz]

Zipping by without folks noticin you is fine


Until they change lanes while you're doing it

[erictank]

Zipping by without folks noticin you is fine


Until they change lanes while you're doing it

This. Stupid behavior in a car has a good chance of being very expensive.

Stupid behavior on a motorcycle has a good chance of being FATAL.

If you're weaving in and out of traffic on your bike because you can't be bothered to wait, and have a close encounter with someone making a legal lane change because neither of you saw the other, THEY aren't the ones who are going to the hospital or morgue. Think about that the next time you (speaking generically, that is) get all smug about whipping past "cagers" without any concern for whether you're visible, maybe.

Best response to tailgaters is to come off the gas and be ready on the brakes, IMO. They WILL pull out and pass you, eventually. Unless you can activate your reverse lights without actually shifting into reverse, that was my favorite thing when I had a car that could do it. People tend to suddenly get religion about not tailgating you when you flash your backing lights at them.

[Boomhauer]

Since we are ranting about bad drivers...when Im trying to make a lane change and I put on my blinker, dont suddenly decide that you have to zoom up and cut me off instead of hanging back like youve been doing the past 10 minutes. *expletive deleted*ing aholes!

[birdman]

This. Stupid behavior in a car has a good chance of being very expensive.

Stupid behavior on a motorcycle has a good chance of being FATAL.

If you're weaving in and out of traffic on your bike because you can't be bothered to wait, and have a close encounter with someone making a legal lane change because neither of you saw the other, THEY aren't the ones who are going to the hospital or morgue. Think about that the next time you (speaking generically, that is) get all smug about whipping past "cagers" without any concern for whether you're visible, maybe.

Best response to tailgaters is to come off the gas and be ready on the brakes, IMO. They WILL pull out and pass you, eventually. Unless you can activate your reverse lights without actually shifting into reverse, that was my favorite thing when I had a car that could do it. People tend to suddenly get religion about not tailgating you when you flash your backing lights at them.

Having the cars behind you, in this day of no signal lane changes, is safer.

[Tallpine]

Best response to tailgaters is to come off the gas and be ready on the brakes, IMO. They WILL pull out and pass you, eventually.

I dunno ... I've actually pulled over on the shoulder and had people pull over behind me 


Passing seems to be a sport to some people.  A long straight stretch of highway with no oncoming traffic in sight is just no challenge.  Better wait until a curve or hill is coming up     

[MechAg94]

Best response to tailgaters is to come off the gas and be ready on the brakes, IMO. They WILL pull out and pass you, eventually. Unless you can activate your reverse lights without actually shifting into reverse, that was my favorite thing when I had a car that could do it. People tend to suddenly get religion about not tailgating you when you flash your backing lights at them.

If I can pass already, I wouldn't be tailgating.  I'd either back off or pass. 

I try to drive with that saying in mind "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  I do forget at times though.   

[MechAg94]

Since we are ranting about bad drivers...when Im trying to make a lane change and I put on my blinker, dont suddenly decide that you have to zoom up and cut me off instead of hanging back like youve been doing the past 10 minutes. *expletive deleted* aholes!

What I see is the exact opposite.  I'll be closing the distance on cruise control in the left lane and that slow driver who has been following the 18 wheeler for 10 miles will wait until I am almost on him before deciding now is the time to attempt to pass the truck (without speeding up at all).  That happens so often I almost don't even get mad anymore, just a bit disgusted.