Retreadophobia

Does anybody else share my insane fear of 18-wheelers?  More specifically, I''''m absolutely terrified of those cheap ass retreads that they use.  I always see those damn things on the side of the highway, and although I''''ve never personally seen one blow, my dad took one in the windshield of his car one time.  I don''''t like being behind or beside 18-wheelers for this reason, as I am petrified of hitting on of those damn things...whether you hit it mid-air or not, you''''re going down hard.
 
Anybody else have any weird phobias on their bikes?

I keep well away from them too ... on our motorways you still see huge chunks of tread from them on the hard shoulder ... also that aside why do people sit behind them doing 50mph on a 70mph motorway picking up loads of stone chips when they could effortlessly pass them ..it''s most peculiar to me?? ... apart from the ugly view right in front of you too ... your view is totally blocked ..nope they just sit there thinking they are being good little motorists and being oh so careful ..I just think STUPID  &&*%%*ERS  ..lol

Oh and a friend of my mum''s years ago got their wee car hit by a flying piece of tread from one of these things ... she lost control and went down the embankment wrecking the car ... if it can that to a car what can it do to a biker ...



Jules

On Mythbusters they verified that a piece of tread flying up from a truck could about take your head off.

18 wheelers dont like to keep there tires on .the 2 times i have been down to daytona, the i95 is littered with blow tires. the tires are about the size of a bike when there all spread out hitting one or getting hit by one would make anyone have a bad day

guess im afraid mostly Gravel. there are some nice twisties up north from where i live in a place called Westport Ontario. the locals there don''t like bikers at all so they toss huge pieces of gravel in some of the turns, mostly the blind turns. we''re not talking small pieces either, looks like some one took a sledge hammer to a huge stone and toss its remains on the shoulder of the turn.

I guess the only other thing would be suicidal birds, you know the kind when your driving by they dart in front of you. some times they veer off or they just make it by! i wouldnt wana get hit by a big bird ( especially not the one from sesame street wow that would hurt )

my wife is cared whenever i pass them in our car on the two lane interstate here in maine, afriad theyll drift out of their lane while im passing and push me between them and the guard rail.


jules what is a wee car? is that like a Wii mote? lol

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hayden06F4i

jules what is a wee car? is that like a Wii mote? lol

A wee car is a small car ..lol ... what is a Wii mote??

Jules

driving besides doesnt necessarily bother me because of the fact that their tires can blow out (which i have witnessed in a car) but rather because of their blind side more than anything.  I''ll definitely speed up or slow down if they''re right next to me!

not so much 18 wheelers as those car transporters.  especially when they have like an F-150 up top on the back end with only a chain holding it on, and about 2 inches of "track" behind the rear wheels.  i always picture the svene from Bad Boyz II where the crazy ass hatians start rolling cars off the carrier in the chase scene.

Also, many many years ago, a large group of people in my extended family was in one of those airport like shuttles.  not a bus, but same configuration.  and a car fell off of one of the carriers nd hit the shuttle.  several people died.  So anytime i see them, i don''t care if there is a LEO around.  i book it right by.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Juliet

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hayden06F4i

jules what is a wee car? is that like a Wii mote? lol

A wee car is a small car ..lol ... what is a Wii mote??

Jules

Wii mote....

think nintendo Wii and RE mote......now mix them together and you got a Wiimote. basically a remote control for a nintendo wii.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Juliet
also that aside why do people sit behind them doing 50mph on a 70mph motorway

Maybe for the gas efficiency?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjDGjQ14Sjo

I had one blow as I passed the truck...sounded like a damn bomb going off, and made my right foot hurt.  When I got home, I found a chunk of tread the size of a quarter with the steel belts still attached pierced through my boot and just barely into my foot...good times (and another reason to always gear up).

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lamar Vannoy

On Mythbusters they verified that a piece of tread flying up from a truck could about take your head off.

 
 
i saw that..
 
 
My fear is stuff falling out of cars/trucks..   On my F4 i hit a washing machine still in the box at about 40 in Feb of 2000... thank god for gear, because i went flyiing and landed in the grass after hitting the curb, the driver kept going. <-guess he figured the washer wasnt worth what he was going to get slapped with when he stopped.  

I just had a damn semi tire tread hit my window bout two weeks ago, the window was touching my dashboard and glass all in the passenger seat...and I believe that it could take your head off if you are traveling at a highway speeds


oh yea and that morning I was going to ride my bike(I almost always ride to work) but I couldn''t find the keys to my bike...otherwise I might have tested that theory

Damn! I had one of those hit my car once coming back from Vegas I had the wife and kids in the car and it was at night too but thank god for my fast reflex''s cause I moved out the way enough to where it only the side of the car which I lost my front bumper and a nice dent on the side driver side door but nothing else and no one was hurt. Yeah hate those damn things but not scared to drive next to them or by them i will not drive behind them though LOL

I was in rush hour traffic in Cincinnati, in a construction zone, with a one of those cement barriers on one side and a car on the other, wasn''t no moving for me...

I''m a truck driver here in Canada. Usually all trucking companies retread thier trailer tires. The reason is that new ones are freakin expensive ! To replace all the ones on the traielr will cost you over $5000 can, where a retread will cost you 30-50% of that. And usually 99% of the time the tire will be good forever.
Infact Id say just about every truck on the road has retreads on it, some tires it''s hard to tell they even been retreaded. 
BUt there''s the ones where they wen''t done right, the tire was too old, and come off. I don''t know about the states because every state laws is differn''t. But here in Canada, if anything !!comes off your truck and cause property damage or hurts someone. Your liable for it!.. If it kills someone, your going to jail for man slaughter.
It''s every truckers responsiblity, to do a walk around check before they drive. That includes, checking the oil levels in the wheels, that the bolts are on tight. Checking the air brakes. Making sure the load is secure. etc   So if you ever see anything fall off a truck, call the transportation police with the liceance number. Or even the cops!! they will have him pulled over so fast it will make your head spin. That or at the next scale they will go over his truck with a fine tooth comb. Trust me, the transport cops are 100x worse then any cop can be. And what they say is final.
 

those things can take your head clean off!!!! 

I almost hit a dog once doing about 70 on my old F4i, that was scary...it ran outin front of me and turned back at the last second...
 
...I''m not usually going slow enough to have to worry about being near a big rig on the highway...

Wow 30% - 50% of the cost for retread tires..... Well they oviously don''t last forever cause they are all over the place on the highways. There''s so many accidents due this damn things flying all over the place.  

Retreads'' tread comes off in chunks.   Those big tread rings are from new manufactured tires.


Mythbusters did an episode on semi tires going thru windows.

here in michigan deer scare the hell out of me watch these videos. both r insanehttp://youtube.com/watch?v=CaSEOaJ5phY http://youtube.com/watch?v=A6VS6qsLJeY

+1 to deer in Michigan I almost hit one 2 days ago at 12:30 in the afternoon!! It jumped in front of me and then tried to take on the BMW in the other lane. I have seen tires come off and retreads come off in chunks. I ALWAYS stay away from the car haulers cars fall off those things alot more than you know. I also stay away from the motor homes with cars hooked to the back. I don''t like the idea that some 90 year old guy probably hooked that up.

quote:

ORIGINAL: thegreenbandit

It''''s every truckers responsiblity, to do a walk around check before they drive. That includes, checking the oil levels in the wheels, that the bolts are on tight.

 
And if the oil level in the wheels is low, make sure you add coolant to the taillight.

Around here it''s the dump trucks full of sand, gravel, boulders, whatever. Most of the trucks look beat half to death and crap is always blowing off. None of them are required to have their license plate where you can actually see it and the trucks have a sticker saying "Keep back at least 100 feet. Not responsible for any damage". So either drop back, pass or eat s**t and die I guess.