Argh, Spinners....

[DryHeat]

I know I often watch a vehicles tires/wheels for movement to predict it's path, speed, etc...I think I may have to look closer now...

A buddy of mine was entering an intersection (on a green light) at about 40 mph on his Goldwing yesterday when a car approached rapidly from the right. The wheels were turning fairly fast (at the time, he hadn't realized they were spinners) which gave the appearance that the car was coming into the intersection. He judged the speed of the car (mainly based on wheel speed) to be to great to overcome and it was too tight to manuever around, a t-bone seemed immenent. So, he decided to grab a handfull of brakes and as he was coming to an emergency stop he noted that the car too was coming to a stop (wheels were still flying though). With that, things started to register and he realized what had happened. He then eased off the brakes, proceeded on down the road, went home, and changed his underwear.

I hadn't thought of this scenario until he shared his story with me. Just another little oddity to watch for...

[Skippy]

I'm sorry but I never judge the cars speed by the spinning of his wheels.I'm not even shure how one wants to do that?Just watch the car for more then 2 or 3 seconds and watch the distance it travelled in that time and I think everybody will be fine.If you want to confuse the cardrivers the same way though you could also get a pair of spinners yourself I've already seen pictures and movies of them mounted to bikes...

[bikerfish1100]

and they're not very expensive for a bike. the ones i've seen were around $1300 per wheel as i recall (or was it $2000 per?). but that's measured in mere money, so it's not as bad.
just another thing to fudge with your head while observing traffic for signs of their getting ready to take you out.

[on2wheels52]

I'm with bikerfish, how many can you count?

Jim

[Moybin]

Why would you want to confuse the cage drivers more? The dumb b@stards and b!tches in their POS rust buckets are already at the maximum confusion point most of the time. Add one more element and they will just ignore you completely and blast right through you and your bike.

Spinners are just making it to the hinterlands of the midwest. Mostly they look stooopid!!! Boyz-in-da-hood krapola. White-boy gangstaz. Just another form of "Catalog Commando" (thanks for that term, guys!!!)

When they start putting them on farmer's F150 4x4's and John Deere tractors then I'll be having a problem. Right now they are a novelty for me, but obviously a real hazard for some. Maybe some late night hub cap extractions are called for.

[Anton]

I've seen them on semis.

[ckcarr]

Dry heat I watch wheels too. I look at valve stems or anything that starts rolling when they are stopped. You can tell they have an itchy foot that wants to go. Its a pretty good gauge IMO.

[Moybin]

I drove a delivery truck for a couple of years for an auto parts store. Lots of urban driving, 200 miles a day. I got to where I could sense what the dummy up in front would do by the waythey twitched their heads and shoulders. Doesn't work at long distance, but I still love to say to anyone riding with me "Hey, watch what this moron is about to do" then sit back, put some room between myself and the moron, and watch him make a right turn with his left signal going, or come to a complete stop where there is no stop sign.

Sort of a "spider sense". Saved my butt more than one.

[Flatbutt1]

I'm with dry heat too. Though I watch front wheels in the hope of "predicting" which way the cage will go, not necessarily the speed.

[PressureDrop]

So how do you calculate the wheel size, tire diameter, and speed? I guess I can see how it would make someone do a double take but just because the wheels are spinning doesnt mean the car is going the same speed as the wheels


That guy must be hauling serious ass! lookout!