The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

[Spectre]

This week's bike project was to find some other place to park my bike.

One of the other tenants in the complex decided to get up in arms and complain vociferously that I was using a space I was not entitled to to park my bike. Never mind that 1: You can't actually fit a car in the spot where I parked my bike in the lot, it being triangular in shape and too narrow for any car and 2: we have no assigned parking and no "entitled" spaces. Asshat neighbor was SO upset about the issue that he called out the police and demanded that they tow my motorcycle at once. Once they figured out what he was on about, they told him to take it up with management and left. Management and the owner told him to sod off.

After that, I figured the problem was over, but nooo... The next day I went out and found that someone had smashed out the bike's taillight and keyed "FUCK YOU" into the rear cowling I'd had painted last month. Can't prove it was him, of course. Oh well. Not a huge issue, since as an experienced city rider, I've been accumulating a set of spare plastics and bodywork. I have not one, but two spare rear cowlings and three spare taillights. I had the spare cowlings painted this week and will be putting one on tomorrow.

It became obvious that I needed a more secure place to put the bike. Turns out that the complex wasn't always fenced in and that it'd had a walkway on the side of the building. The fence made it into a dead end little alley next to my apartment. People, including myself, had been using the area to store stuff for a while. Seemed an ideal place to put a bike. However, the bike would have had to traverse stairs, a courtyard and a hallway to get there, as that's how you'd have to reach the street from there. However, the front lawn and the street is just on the other side of the fence....

I asked the manager and owner, and with their help and approval, I put in a gate in the fence. I also removed some old bushes and shelving to make room for a platform that the bike could sit on so it would be out of the way of the "walkway right of way" and therefore legal per city code. This was the end result.









I took the pics so that if my idiot neighbor complained that the bike or platform was blocking the right of way, all I'd have to do is show the pictures to prove otherwise. The ramp plank isn't fixed in position, I just have it stowed out of the way.

The gate is locked from the "inside" and only I and the manager have the keys. The area was already floodlit at night; there's only one way into the area and there's a security camera watching it now. As soon as my order gets here, there will be another camera watching the bike itself. Given Texas laws about vandalism at night, and the fact that the only way to or from the bike runs past my front door.... I'm really hoping whoever vandalized my bike comes back for an encore. I'd really love to give them a proper greeting.

[Blind_Io]

Will that greeting be a 9mm or a .45?

In other news: Kids really like the bike, I think I will start charging admission. I took this earlier today.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Will that greeting be a 9mm or a .45?

12 gauge solid copper slug delivered by a Saiga-12 magazine-fed "assault" shotgun. Why use a handgun when you can use a shoulder arm to send your very best greetings?

Buckshot might ricochet or spread and hurt the bike.

Nice pic, BTW. Kids love bikes.

[hansvonaxion]

People like that need to be taken out. Do it.

Hop he comes back and you get some video footage of him.

Not the same situation, but once I came out to find my bike on its side cos some guy had reversed his work truck into it. I got all riled up but I didn't see the actual hit so there wasn't much I could do. He said the wind blew it over and I nearly punched him. I wanted to go get a cop but I had to go to work.

[Spectre]

I had a 1954 Triumph "bathtub" Thunderbird for a few months that I lost in a similar situation. Went into a grocery store, came out, and someone had literally backed over it with a truck. Total loss, and the surveillance cameras didn't catch the person's license plates.

It was much like this one, except mine was all black and chrome instead of black/silver/chrome.

[Jon]

Me and my friend have just bought a GSX1100 for £200. It has low compression on one cylinder but thats it, other than that it's in quite good condition. Sweet.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Spectre

I had a 1954 Triumph "bathtub" Thunderbird for a few months that I lost in a similar situation. Went into a grocery store, came out, and someone had literally backed over it with a truck. Total loss, and the surveillance cameras didn't catch the person's license plates.

MotherFUCKER. Hope you can get the vandalism sorted out soon though.

In other news, I'm planning on buying another motorcycle that I can actually ride while my project sits in the garage. Found a 1992 Suzuki GS500E with 10k miles on Craigslist for $2000, or something similar - nothing older than 1980, I already made that mistake once.

[KaJuN]

How badly does someone's life have to be going that they make a big deal over nothing and possibly vandalize someone else's property for absolutely no reason? If someone did something like that to my bike after all the work I've put into it...well let's just say my clean criminal record wouldn't be clean for too much longer.

[Spectre]

I'm patient; I'll wait as long as it takes if I know my opponent will eventually fall into a trap of his own volition. I also know the law so I can deal with the issue in a way that keeps my record clean.

You see, Texas allows people to shoot vandals at night, no questions asked. What with being able to prove that I moved the motorcycle to defuse tensions and the idiot's possible inability to resist further stupidity, I should have all my bases covered. If I do have to shoot him, the paperwork is going to suck, though.

[Ottobon]

Any chance we can get a shot of the parking spot that was sooo terribly wrong that he just had to call the police on you? I just wanna gauge what type of idiot this guy was.


PS: I'm not a law expert, but shooting at somebody after you've talked about doing so on the internet doesn't seem like the best idea.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

Any chance we can get a shot of the parking spot that was sooo terribly wrong that he just had to call the police on you? I just wanna gauge what type of idiot this guy was.

Sure.

The spot he was complaining about is in the center, to the left of the one blocked off at the moment by the safety cone and the rolled up netting.


A slightly better perspective.


And this is the guy's car, which he ostensibly wanted to park there.


You can see the corner spots over the top of his Merc, or more properly, the bush, so that should give you an idea of the size of the spot.

Here's some older pics of the bike in the spot for scale. The bike was not moved between shots; it is in the same position in all three.







Nobody parks there because it's full of construction materials and renovation crap - plus it's triangular and when there's a car parked next to it, you can't get in or out. Never mind the fact that you can't fit a car in it anyway.

Not the best pics, but it's what I have available.

PS: I'm not a law expert, but shooting at somebody after you've talked about doing so on the internet doesn't seem like the best idea.

If it were "I am planning on sitting in ambush and will kill him no matter what even if he's not doing anything wrong," yeah, that's a bad idea. I'm not. Texas law says, specifically, that it is legal to shoot vandals, burglars and thieves at nighttime. I am saying that if ANYONE vandalizes my bike at night from here on out, that I am ready and willing to shoot them, whoever they may be. This is totally legal.

Here's the exact citation from the penal code:

	§ 9.42.  DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY.  A person is 
justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or 
tangible, movable property:
		(1)  if he would be justified in using force against the 
other under Section 9.41;  and
		(2)  when and to the degree he reasonably believes the 
deadly force is immediately necessary:
			(A)  to prevent the other's imminent commission of 
arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the 
nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime;  or
			(B)  to prevent the other who is fleeing 
immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated 
robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the 
property;  and
		(3)  he reasonably believes that:                                             
			(A)  the land or property cannot be protected or 
recovered by any other means;  or
			(B)  the use of force other than deadly force to 
protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or 
another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Now, if the theoretical vandal surrenders instead of trying to flee or charging me, I won't shoot him. But if he doesn't surrender or follow instructions, well... Texas law says I can shoot them, and I will. I'll avoid it if I have the chance, because I've done this before and the paperwork is horrific.

[Redliner]

I am starting to like Texas more and more...

[hansvonaxion]

I can see where he was coming from, you were really inconveniencing him.

I basically never park my bike in a car space so it shits me no end when some wanker parks his car over bike spaces. I bet this guy is that kind of wanker. It seems beyond ridiculous considering there are no assigned spaces and it wasn't even a full sized space, but did he give any indication of where you should have been parking?

Sorry to hear about your Triumph, although I admit I did chuckle a bit - there's something a little slapstick about a bike being completely flattened by a truck, sorry.

[KaJuN]

Most of the time I end up parking in normal spaces because designated motorcycle parking around here is almost nonexistent. And I don't see a problem taking a normal space since motorcycles are legally considered vehicles just like cars.

[hansvonaxion]

Originally Posted by KaJuN

Most of the time I end up parking in normal spaces because designated motorcycle parking around here is almost nonexistent. And I don't see a problem taking a normal space since motorcycles are legally considered vehicles just like cars.

Depends on the situation/place etc but even if there are no bike spaces, parking on the footpath/sidewalk, some small are not being used is usually the most convenient for everyone - gets me closer to my destination, keeps my bike safe from cars and leaves a car space open.

[TomCat]

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

Depends on the situation/place etc but even if there are no bike spaces, parking on the footpath/sidewalk, some small are not being used is usually the most convenient for everyone - gets me closer to my destination, keeps my bike safe from cars and leaves a car space open.

I see that a lot. Is that perfectly legal?

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by TomCat

I see that a lot. Is that perfectly legal?

Depends on the location. Some places yes, some places no.

[Blind_Io]

I had some woman in a Mercedes M-class yell at me for starting to park my bike on the sidewalk (plenty of room). I shrugged and pulled back onto the road behind her. Three spots up she stopped to back in to a free spot but I pulled in nose-first and arranged my bike before she could. She backed up to yell at me some more, when she was done I just said, "Well, if you had just left me alone in the first place this would be your spot and we would both be happy. Good luck, it looks crowded today!" I flashed a big toothy grin and waved as I walked off.

I stuck around to make sure she didn't fuck with the bike.

[KaJuN]

Two idiots with M-Classes both bitching about motorcycle parking? Hmm... From this day forth all the M-Classes in the land shall be known as Moron-Classes!

[hansvonaxion]

Some people just have an innate hatred of motorcycles and motorcyclists.
I think its the same part of the psyche that causes racism, misogyny etc.

Anyone who buys an M-class is already a moron in my book.