You're so Cool!
[Warning :This is a long post]
I've never really thought to lecture people on their lack of caution when it concerns Motorcycles, having done a number of reckless things over my lifetime on two wheels, however last night, I was...well words fail me!
I stopped at the traffic light at Steeles and Dufferin, behind a large SUV, through whose rear windshield I could see the animated argument taking place between the two occupants. The girl was hot!
I have a habit of checking my rear-view, since I've been rear ended twice; once on two wheels. As I smirked and listened to David Roddigan's monolgue on genetically modified gyanja on the stereo, I glanced up at the rear view mirror just in time to see the dying throes of a lane split, being butchered awkwardly by a rider on a yellow gsxr. It concluded with him almost dropping the bike as he realised he might rear end my car. I'm ashamed to say I couldn't have moved forward to avoid it, had it been inevitable, but that's besides the point.
As we began to move at the change of the signal, I noticed the rider was very deliberately checking his blind spot before moving on, and then repeatedly looking behind him, in that age old Ghost Rider fashion that just oozes confidence, while he hurtles along in the oposite direction in rush hour traffic. The rider had jeans, a t-shirt and shoes on for bodily protection and, lord be praised, a helmet.
After slowing down to a crawl, repeatedly and changing lanes, he concluded another round of very deliberate blind spot checks (almost like there was something robtic affixed to his neck that made the action look unnaturally uniform and slow), he then sped off veering through the heavy traffic, in the evening dusk, without a headlight (yes, I mean it, no headlight). The Volvo stationwagon that followed him in similar fashion with various ricer oddities attached to it, completed the picture nicely.
At the next set of lights similar shenanigans ensued as he tried to back the bike up a few feet and ended up getting all cock-eyed across the lane, and cutting a very sorry picture indeed.
Needless to say, after holding up his lane for a full ten seconds and giving himself about 150 m to car ahead of him in his lane, he then wheelied his bike before veering across lanes, sometimes two - from the fast to the bus lane- and continued his "riding forward whilst peering into the vast expanse behind him intently by turning almost completely around". Then the Volvo rice machine would catch up and Mr. Rossi would totter off into a shakey wheelie before doing the robot-blind-spot-check, whilst alomost changing lanes into cars directly beside him; and then wait, wait and wait until the car slowly passes far enough, before he could pounce upon the opportunity to gleefully veer across two lanes with gay abandon (-yes it's intentional-).
The missing mid fairing, and "stealth" turn signals were the final nail in the coffin of my sympathy for the thing riding the gsxr. I've done some silly things, but nothing quite so ...well ill-advised.
To the rider, I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude, for the numerous police patrol cars that I now expect will infest Dufferin and hwy 7, hoping to hand out a stunting ticket to anyone on two wheels. You're so cool!
