Post by tamarack on Aug 7, 2008 10:38:16 GMT -5
You can usually tell if someone is broken down or if they are just talking on the phone or getting gear out of the saddlebags. Do you stop and offer to help?
I will usually (not always) stop if I'm not late for work or if I see them in time to pull over safely. A few weeks ago I was on my way home from work. I see what I thought was a couple of guys on the side of the road and obviously working on a bike. Since I'm on the turnpike I begin to slow down and pull over way before I can really see how many people there was. When I pull up behind them I see its about 6 bikes and 8 or 9 people. If I had know this I would have kept going since they most likely had all the help they needed. But, since I was already on the shoulder I pull up behind them and stop. Then what do I see on the back of their jackets? "Outlaws MC" I thought "Oh shi*" Especially when I saw one of them start to walk toward me rather quickly. Here I am this guy in his nice khaki pants and button down shirt. I didn't know what to expect. So I just tried to play it cool and asked if they needed any help, even though I knew they didn't, at least from me.
However, the "guard" chatted a moment, said what was wrong and that they had it taken care of. Then as I was getting ready to leave about half of them thanked me several times for stopping and asking if I could help. Even as they passed me a few miles down the road they all waved again as they went by.
Well, this morning on my way to work I ran out of gas on the turnpike(I've never done that on the bike before) and I forgot my phone. While I was there three bikes passed me without even so much as a second look. Even as I was walking toward the exit two more passed. Finally a car stopped and let me use his phone to call for help.
So...do you stop?
I will usually (not always) stop if I'm not late for work or if I see them in time to pull over safely. A few weeks ago I was on my way home from work. I see what I thought was a couple of guys on the side of the road and obviously working on a bike. Since I'm on the turnpike I begin to slow down and pull over way before I can really see how many people there was. When I pull up behind them I see its about 6 bikes and 8 or 9 people. If I had know this I would have kept going since they most likely had all the help they needed. But, since I was already on the shoulder I pull up behind them and stop. Then what do I see on the back of their jackets? "Outlaws MC" I thought "Oh shi*" Especially when I saw one of them start to walk toward me rather quickly. Here I am this guy in his nice khaki pants and button down shirt. I didn't know what to expect. So I just tried to play it cool and asked if they needed any help, even though I knew they didn't, at least from me.
However, the "guard" chatted a moment, said what was wrong and that they had it taken care of. Then as I was getting ready to leave about half of them thanked me several times for stopping and asking if I could help. Even as they passed me a few miles down the road they all waved again as they went by.
Well, this morning on my way to work I ran out of gas on the turnpike(I've never done that on the bike before) and I forgot my phone. While I was there three bikes passed me without even so much as a second look. Even as I was walking toward the exit two more passed. Finally a car stopped and let me use his phone to call for help.
So...do you stop?