Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: normzone on May 10, 2014, 12:45:51 AM
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I'd wager I'll think of more as time passes...but I'm an advocate of removing road hazards when you can.
Consequences of such items include obligatory front end alignments, smashed windshields, and worse - injuries.
Let's see what comes to mind at this moment - drinking 9% IPA homebrew and listening to KCRW Eclectic 24.
Just going back a few years - Mira Mesa Boulevard, an industrial area edging on several San Diego canyons. Leaving work, getting ready for rush hour. The light changed and I turned left, went a hundred yards, and...traffic jam. Confused and confounded driver in the left lane, and a just-killed two point buck in the road ahead of him. Nobody moving. I put my flashers on - indicated to the driver that he should wait for me, dragged the deer up on the concrete island, returned to my truck and we started moving again.
Same commute a few years later - Hwy. 15 North on my way home. Usual stop and go, stop and go. At one of the stops, I saw a roofer's hammer on the white line a car length ahead of me. Flashers on, cautiously get out and retrieve. As I'm going back to my truck, people are yelling at me for getting out of my car and stopping traffic...I still have the hammer, but it's bent. That thing could have easily killed somebody.
Which leads me to why I started this post. I've learned that when you get out of your vehicle to retrieve these artifacts of human stupidity, you should make a big deal of it so that the spectators poised to go stop to see why you're doing this, and hopefully prevent them running over you.
Stopped at a light, on my way to lunch. Chunk of metal in the crosswalk ahead of me at a red light. Flashers on, get out, get it. Twenty pounds of reinforced casting - a square foot chunk of a manhole cover. WTF? I wave it in the air, shaking my head. As traffic starts to move and I get in my car, I hear " Good one! " First praise I've ever gotten for doing my public duty..
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A hose fitting, I think it's called a branch from the local fire brigade, they were sure glad to get that back.
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Not so much 'dangerous' per se but last year I was driving back to Bungendore from Queanbeyan and my eyes just noticed something at the side of the road. It was one of those "WTF?" Moments but there was nothing behind me so I slowed down and chucked a U-Turn and went back thinking "That can't of been what it looked like!" But it was! A large yellow vibrator! And it still had batteries in and worked! :D
I gingerly picked it up and took it home and washed it, (Thoroughly!) and took it down the pub where it caused a degree of hilarity that afternoon! As I said, not dangerous but I suppose you could of taken someone's eye out with it!
What still mystifies me is how it got there? I mean you can't imagine someone using it in their car and then thinking the best thing to do would be chuck it out on the side of the road??? There really is now't queer as folks!
Pete
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Oh, that's GOOD. I don't usually get the chance to return things. I have returned a wallet I found run over in a parking lot - had to go to the credit union and have them trace a receipt for a withdrawal. There was about $200 in it... I told the credit union - "Look, either you help me find this student and they get it back or I keep it, nothing in between. They pulled tricks with their IT folks and the database and he met me and I returned it. He offered to let me keep the cash and I let him force $20 on me.
The fire department? Oh yeah, good karma.
I knew a girl, hot redhead, a little spacey and not the sharpest tool in the shed. She was going down the freeway one day and saw a motorcycle rear wheel sticking out of a bush. Those of us who know her would not have expected much at this point - she was known for clueless left turns, dumb lane changes, and such.
But she got off the freeway, circled back and pulled over at the spot, checked it out.
She found an unconcious motorcycle police officer in the bushes with his bike - some fool had run him off the road.
Pre-cellphone era - she used his bike radio to summon help.
About a month later she did another of her usual trademark bonehead moves, and she got pulled over by an officer. He asked her the usual questions, and then said..." Wait...are you [insert hot redhead lame driver name here] ? " and she said " Yes..".
He handed her back her license, implored her to be more careful, and went on his way. Apparently the story had circulated...
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[Vasco DG] I can guess at some stories, but it would be guessing. A good time off road, and you know how often people leave something on top of the car and drive off. I have a policy - if I set something on top of the car, my keys have to go there also. Saves me a world of hurt. So tell me honestly, did it smell more of road or life? No falsehoods now :drool
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4 years ago commuting by Guzzi on the freeway in the morning traffic headed into a brilliant sunrise (my favorite time of the day) I came across a bicycle blocking the left lane. All traffic had swerved on to the shoulder to avoid it.
I pulled over to the side of the road after passing it, walked back and dragged it off the freeway. Can't imagine what would have happened if I had been blinded by the sunrise and hit the thing with the Jackal. Can't understand why the first person to see it did not stop and clear it from the lane.
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Too many times, I've come across bits and pieces of a Moto Guzzi Bassa on my return trips. Also coffee thermos cups, tools, cellphones etc. that were last seen resting on the bumper of my work van. I am still missing a large yellow personal item that my wife uses to stay secure on the pillion seat.
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I am still missing a large yellow personal item that my wife uses to stay secure on the pillion seat.
:BEER:
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A turtle.
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I did a double-take as I passed a large object in the opposite lane one day after work....a complete 550# 318 Chrysler V8 engine. It must have fallen from a junk-man's truck and was smack-dab in the center of the lane. Took a lot of grunt to roll and argue that sucker off to the shoulder. Imagine finding THAT in the dark!
Terry
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Dead Javalina from a road in the Chiricahua Mts. of SE Arizona (I lived in a tent there for 5 summers). I wanted to cut off its head to keep for a specimen (I'm a biologist), but my passenger objected, so I just moved it to the roadside. Many times I have moved western diamondbacks (rarely a Mojave) that were basking on roads; they usually got pissed off and objected to my action, though I probably saved a few of them--locals there don't hesitate to take them for their skins.
Jon
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Many years ago riding between Lucerne and Barstow (who knows why?) when I saw something in the middle of the road. Turned around and picked up a turtle and set him loose off in the desert.
Another time in Torrance I saw a surf board in the road and causing some traffic back up. I pulled it out of the road and hung out waiting for the owner to come back and get it. After about 10 minutes I decided that had no clue so I kept it. One beautiful day I decided to go surfing as I had never done that before. Did not look so hard. Needless to say I never made it past the breakers and the small 1-2 foot waves just kicked my arse. :-[
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One night on the Guzzi I stopped to roll a 5' log off a dark highway, a group of kids had put there for entertainment ... caught one of them hiding then running away and we went and had a talk with his Dad.
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In stop and go traffic I drove my Goldwing over some kind of anchor - in the middle of the road, and all the cars in front of me were just clearing it --- but I didnt!
I saw it when it appeared from under the car in front of me, OMG! but lucky I hit it straight on and I had instinctively stood up and timed the throttle and my weight shift to lighten the front end, (years of riding dirt bikes), enough to keep under control - the bike went up 10" in the air but went straight ahead as each wheel hit. The really strange thing at the time was that I was not going very fast, maybe 20 mph, and it felt like it happening in slow motion ... bump bump!
If I were not standing up on the pegs I am sure I would have been tossed off and then the car behind would have run over me!
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"If I were not standing up on the pegs I am sure I would have been tossed off and then the car behind would have run over me!"
Now, wouldn't the guy that ran you over have a cool story to tell..."So, onetime I ran over a guy, a Gold Wing, and a boat anchor".
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On Florida's highways, dial *FHP from any cell phone and the Highway Patrol will come and safely block traffic while removing the offending item. Much safer than the DIY option, IMO.
In answer to your question, while I didn't remove it myself (I called Highway Patrol): A couch.
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East side of Indianapolis I-70 where the four lanes each side drop to two lanes each side, removed (helped) a teen age girls body. I was trucking at the time and was was in the #3 lane. There are apartment houses on the south side of 70, and stores on the north side. A group of kids, rather than walking the 1/4 mile west to the overpass decided to risk running across I-70. I observed this girl get hit and fly and land partially into the #2 and #3 lanes. I stopped the truck just before her body, blocked traffic and called 911. ISP responded quickly, their barracks were at that exit, then EMS. Helped EMS load tha sad broken body of the young lady into the ambulance, and file the witness statement. Made the rest of my run to the east coast suck. I had to call my daughters and talk to them. Never have had a body affect me that way. To this day it makes me sad to recall it.
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Turtles!
I don't know how many turtles I've rescued over the decades. A habit I picked up as a child from my Dad--remember him stopping the station wagon one hot summer day in Georgia to pick up a turtle. A habit
If there are turtles in heaven, I expect there will be cheering when I arrive.
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Bummer Stormtruck2, now for something a little lighter, I had to swerve to miss a really nice wheel barrel that the concrete boys use on 80 at the 240 yard stick, the next pickup got it before I could get stopped, the worst one was coming back from Daytona on a bagger in 2002 in Macon Ga. when a lowboy lost its big ass ramp off the trailer in front of me on a bridge, I swerved to miss it while braking really hard only to have the car in the next lane paste it and throw it back in front of me, almost got side swiped and rear ended all in one shot, I had to throw my shorts away :bike
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That's interesting timing for this thread, I found a new blanket right in front of my house yesterday next to the road (still had the price tag) Not long ago I found a 6 foot level. before that a kids booster seat for a car. No need for that, It went to the trash.
Also found a Stihl chansaw in Colorado. I was in prety good shape, stihl have it ;D
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Hmmm...
Midland, TX at dusk: migrating-breeding tarantulas crossing the road to the airport..was in my 84 Corvette on way out of town...big tires, and squashed dozens. Found them later in the wheel wells, etc, very nice yellow-orange guts.
Houston freeways, seen it all: couches, small appliances, ladders, carpet, toys of all variety, blowing bags, plywood. This one took the cake though, rolling down a section of the Southwest Freeway: a bowling ball. It was in the center median. Splain that one bubba?
Had a chrome hub cap come frisbeeing down the same freeway at me when I had my Ninja---really hauling ass, barely missed it.
Skunks and armadillos and possums by the barrel. In Tunis, Tunisia, every spring: dead kitten season on the La Marsa Highway: dozens of them...wild critters, lost count of how many I smooshed in my Peugeot 505 Break.
Brazos Bend Park, on a slow park road-- and they warn you: alligators, big ones, small ones-- moving about the various levees and swamps and lakes. Give them some room. Then there are the feeding vultures on highway 36: best to slow down and give them space too, if they decide to fly, not pretty.
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Durian husks >:(
(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2011/09/durian-gadling.png)
Regarded by many people in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.
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On the subject of turtles, if you're trying to do something nice for the turtle, as opposed to motorists, make sure you carry him across in the direction he was traveling. If you put him back from whence he came, he'll just turn right around and cross again.
A couple of years ago one fine Labour Day weekend, my wife and I were headed to the beach, about a 90 km ride. We were experimenting with headsets. At some point I saw two whitetails in the corn field on the other side of the road. I guess Jen also saw them because she started yelling "Deer!!". I answered, "Yes, honey?", which apparently merited a whack upside my helmet. Anyhow, an old couple coming toward us in what my daughter euphemistically calls a "rat van" (wedge-shaped front end) hit the first one to step out onto the road. The speed limit is 80 km/h and they were probably going that fast, and apparently didn't see it. I was already on the brakes when they nailed it. The shape of the van flipped it up in the air over their roof and it hit the road in front of us with a splat. It was like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the French catapult the cow. I turned and went back to where the van had pulled over to make sure they were OK. Completely clueless. I told the guy driving that I'd help him load it up if he wanted to back up a bit. He declined. I think he though I was crazy. So I had my wife stand guard down the road a bit, while I dragged it onto the shoulder. And off we went to the beach. It was gone when we went home that evening.
I also ran over a dresser drawer in the fast lane of what is reputedly the busiest stretch of highway in N. America. I was on my GS so I just got on the pegs at 120 km/h, crossed myself in my mind and rode right over it. On that highway, nobody in their right mind would ever get out of their car, let alone even stop. I took the next exit, checked my drawers, and got a coffee to slow my heart rate :o
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Surprized - no one has come across one of these...
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/fork-in-the-road_zps371f0da2.jpg)
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quote author=Penderic link=topic=69446.msg1075340#msg1075340 date=1399749159]
Surprized - no one has come across one of these...
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/Penderic/fork-in-the-road_zps371f0da2.jpg)
[/quote]
When I come to a fork in the road, I TAKE IT! :D
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Once on E-470 near Denver my Breva 750 and I had to dodge a metal lawn chair sitting in the middle of the freeway. View of it was hidden by a curve and an SUV in the lane on my right.
Another time on I-25 near Denver we had to dodge 8-10 flying real estate yard signs, the all-metal kind, that had gone airborne out of the back of an open pickup truck. The whole thing was hidden by a big Class A RV in front of me which swerved to miss them, presenting me with a cloud of flying steel. I hit one of the leg/spears which blew my front tire (a brand new one dammit). Lucky to be alive.
Anytime you're driving the cage and see any open pickup carrying a load of unsecured schit (they're everywhere), have a passenger 911 and report the license tag.
'Geezer
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Bangladesh , 1976
Dead bodies put across the road.
Had to pay "toll" to have the body put to the side of the road so we could continue.
When they had enough money they would bury the body.....Alan
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:o
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As a LEO (retried). I saw too many weird thing in the road. Everything from watches to weather vanes to a mattress with a couple on it doing the horizontal mambo. One thing I saw really sticks with me to this day. It was a hi-top basketball shoe with a human foot still in it! It belonged to an accident victim who cashed a three wheeled home-made contraption and was ejected from it and flew in to a guard rail. The sharp edge of the rail removed both of his feet with surgical precision. He lived to inherit his father's car dealership. To this day I believe this is the reason the ends of guard rails are now buried in the ground.
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Also as a former LEO and working on the motorway (freeway to you yanks) in Auckland, NZ's largest city, I picked up a 4-tine pitchfork one afternoon and on another occasion, a 41 piece, 1/2 inch drive socket set. I still have both.
One night I was stopped at a crash site and picked up a polaroid of a very nice looking and totally naked young woman sitting on a bed smoking a cigarette. Still got that too.
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A 2 year old homo sapien . Yes , you read that right . Poring rain , limited viz , highway 59 in Oklahoma just North of Idabel . Mom didn't even say thanks , just gave me a GTH look and went back to her potato chips and beer . Not gonna repeat what I called this woman .
Dusty
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Commuted for a few years on the Washington Beltway. Saw a lot of things, but no bodies. However, I finally did see the kitchen sink; cast iron, white, in far left lane. I wasn't in that lane, so no lightning fast reflexes required. But I did feel a sense of satisfaction for finally spotting that last object on my list.
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A 2 year old homo sapien . Yes , you read that right . Poring rain , limited viz , highway 59 in Oklahoma just North of Idabel . Mom didn't even say thanks , just gave me a GTH look and went back to her potato chips and beer . Not gonna repeat what I called this woman .
Dusty
You shoulda brought it home with you. That's where I get all my dogs and cats that need a decent home.
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Not as exciting as any of the previous.
Was in my works vehicle not long after the Feb earthquake, driving along the outer lane of a three lane avenue. A truck next to me just caught a very large rock with it's rear tire and fired it in to my vehicle. Made a hell of a noise. Pulled off the first chance I could to inspect the damage. It actually caught the wheel trip and put some rather nasty cracks in it. Went and removed the offending rock from the middle of the road as soon as I could reach it. Would certainly take out a motorcyclist.
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You shoulda brought it home with you. That's where I get all my dogs and cats that need a decent home.
Yeah , sad to say even as screwed up as I was at the time , the kid would have at least been on a leash :o :D Seriously , that incident has haunted me for years , a second later and that poor kid would have been under my car.
Dusty
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We were following a Nissan Patrol 4x4 towing a Pop- Top caravan when the large Fibreglass roof of the van came off at around 80 kph. Was coming straight at us ,about 16 ft high 8 ft wide, and just as the Poo started to come out , it turned sideways in the air and missed us by a feeler gauge width.
I caught up to the driver and waved him down, he was totally oblivious to what had happened, thought I was trying to Road Rage him, his reponse " Don't worry about it "
My thanks to the manufacturers of Brown underwear.
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Years ago - maybe 40 - I was heading out of Frenchglen, Oregon - a dot on the map in SE Oregon. On the steep switchback south of town a semi full of cattle had tuned over. Smashed cows, half-smashed cows moaning, dazed and injured cows wandering around on the and off the highway. Some running off into the desert. It was horrifying, and still lodged in my mind like a bad dream
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Diamond back rattle snake :-\
(http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag65/guzzistajohn/SNAKE_zps2fd8431e.jpg) (http://s1299.photobucket.com/user/guzzistajohn/media/SNAKE_zps2fd8431e.jpg.html)
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Not exactly cleared...but...A woman who was carrying a bag of groceries laying face down in the road ..No one paid much attention and traffic was driving around her. This was in NJ near NYC
Riding a 650 Triumph in heavy traffic following a flat bed truck/trailer hauling a dozer when a piece of wood chocking fell off the trailer. No where to serve so I cringed and ran over the board at 50 mph. The bike bounced over the lumber and continued on like nothing had happened...Other than a smile in the rim... >:( And the board got flung to the shoulder.
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A 20 ton bottle jack. I strapped it onto the back seat of my bike and still have it.
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Yesterday the freeway slowed to a stop, and I found a mattress in the next lane. I waved to the guy in that lane and put the bike on the side stand (idling still, we'll come back to that) and with my head on a swivel dragged the mattress out of lanes.
The guy whose lane it was in blocked diagonal for me, I threw him a salute as I got out of there. Then I washed my bike at the spray wash as planned.
Afterwards I noticed my oil light was on. I figure I either have a wet oil sensor or I damaged my engine leaving it idling on the side stand. Time will tell...
UPDATE: After a couple of days of the bike sitting in it's carport space, I rode to work today and no oil light issue.
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Turtles!
I don't know how many turtles I've rescued over the decades. A habit I picked up as a child from my Dad--remember him stopping the station wagon one hot summer day in Georgia to pick up a turtle. A habit
If there are turtles in heaven, I expect there will be cheering when I arrive.
Stopping for a turtle saved my life a couple of years back , the slight delay kept me from crashing into a truck that came around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road .
Coming home from Cedar Vale last year there was a group effort to rescue a couple of of turtles crossing the highway , fun stuff .
Dusty
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As a former MODoT employee I'veseen a lot.
Hit a flying wheelbarrow one night on a C10 Kaw doing about 65.
A guy in a NEW Blazer ran over it.
My son is a vol firefighter and responded to a crash. Personal item were scattered everywhere. Sems the gal driving the car had a spat with her girlfriend and was moving and crashed.
All her "toys"were scattered about. The girl'd dad ordered y son to pick the stuff up so she wouldn't be embarrassed. He told the guy it was bad enough to touch herto get her out of he car he wasn't touching her things.
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I once was on the Wash DC Beltway and crossing the Cabin John Bridge there was a toilet in the middle of the road. I did not cross six lanes of traffic to move it, I would be certainly too bashful to use it.
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A man I hit and killed with a car.
Long story. I hit him, but we could not find him. He ended up stuck under the car that was following behind me. We, the other driver and I thought he went over the bridge guardrail and into the Ohio river. Little old lady came walking up and ask what we were doing. She then pointed under the car and said there is something under there, did you look? Sad and ugly day.
Pulled a Cardinal bird out of my coat sleeve one time. Not very pretty either. It's pecker went thru my glove and poop out its behind.
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Half of a cow. I was working on a small ranch in central Texas in about 1985 and was driving along inspecting fence when I saw a flock of buzzards and came upon the back half of the cow in the drainage ditch and the front half laying in the county road about 20 feet away. It had happened in the last hour or so since I was coming back from the end of the fenceline. Looks like a semi hit it at speed and kept going as there was a clearance light bar laying near the front half. I reunited the halves in the ditch with a few nudges of the truck. There was a buzzard party for the next few days as I had to fix the front end loader first so I could get it to the dump. On the upside it wasn't one of the cows from the ranch and didn't have a brand and no one claimed it.
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Last Fall near Williamsport, MD - a garden rake laying in the road, tines up. Fell off of a landscaping truck I'm guessing.
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aluminum construction ladder. i countersteered the wing hard and did glance downward to see my right hand cylinder head pass over it.
later, in my cordoba - finest corinthian leather - i steered hard and got the front wheel to miss...but not the rear, a small engine like a briggs. tore all hell out of a brand new tyre.
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If any of you guys find a left side H-B 40 liter bag somewhere between Bozeman and Butte, it's mine.
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The one that always comes to mind was one of those one
piece roof racks full of camping gear all nicely tied in place,
Right side up and all intact.
Maurie.
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A crate of live chickens at 9:30 at night which took out the left front headlight and fender of my '60 VW Bug...can't imagine why a full 6V of illumination didn't warn me in advance :grin:
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I once picked up a kickstand from a Triumph Bonneville.
Come to think of it, that's not really odd. :grin:
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I once picked up a kickstand from a Triumph Bonneville.
Come to think of it, that's not really odd. :grin:
Probably one I lost :rolleyes: We are still looking for Fubarguzzi's yellow convert sidestand , it is somewhere in Kansas :laugh:
Dusty
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Probably one I lost :rolleyes: We are still looking for Fubarguzzi's yellow convert sidestand , it is somewhere in Kansas :laugh:
Dusty
Poor FUBAR at the first CV he had to lean his Vert against a tree!!! But he pulled a 300# picnic table a third way across the park so we could have a place to sit that nite around the camp fire.
He told me the worst was trying to fuel the thing on the way home without any stand. either center or side.
BRAVO, the IRS should cut him some slack for perseverance (if they only knew)
:-)
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How about leaving debris? Back in the 70s me and another driver were trucking honey bees on I-35. It was cool enough that we didn't need the nets. Due to that we had a bundle of tack boards for the nets complete with the nails tied to the back of the truck. At our next stop we realized that we had dropped the bundle. Probably ruined a lot of drivers' day and made some tire repair people happy. Oops!
GliderJohn
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Not so much 'dangerous' per se but last year I was driving back to Bungendore from Queanbeyan and my eyes just noticed something at the side of the road. It was one of those "WTF?" Moments but there was nothing behind me so I slowed down and chucked a U-Turn and went back thinking "That can't of been what it looked like!" But it was! A large yellow vibrator! And it still had batteries in and worked! :D
I gingerly picked it up and took it home and washed it, (Thoroughly!) and took it down the pub where it caused a degree of hilarity that afternoon! As I said, not dangerous but I suppose you could of taken someone's eye out with it!
What still mystifies me is how it got there? I mean you can't imagine someone using it in their car and then thinking the best thing to do would be chuck it out on the side of the road??? There really is now't queer as folks!
Pete
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Nothing worse than loosing a good tool. Might be some reward money in it for ya Pete. :laugh: :laugh:
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8 foot step ladder
Thank you
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Hey Pete, when you found that device was it still running?
Maybe some pantyless miniskirted pillion passenger had a blow out.
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Road-kill puma. Middle of the night on a snowpacked road west of Craig, Colorado. I did NOT move her from the road.
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Interesting question, all the bad objects I've encountered have been in QLD. A ladder open and on its side, lengths of steel rod, timber off- cuts (which I had to ride over with my wife asleep on the back of the Pantah) and a 4ft carpenters clamp on a roundabout that I was able to rescue and find a new home for. A local who lives in the bush around here told me to check under some of our old wooden bridges for objects bounced out of the back of utes, he showed me a very nice vintage Plumb axe and tools that he had found doing this.
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Back in the early '80s ,Deb and I were running north on a busy, nasty two lane in Texas near the Louisiana border. We went by two pairs of shoes on the side of the road. It was unusual but we didn't stop. After we got home we learned they belonged to an elderly couple who were struck and killed by a hit and run driver and the bodies were in the ditch when we went by. Sad. On a lighter note, found a rubber chicken, don't know anything about that"... :evil:
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Lots of small hand tools.. and a 32' fiberglass ladder, how anyone who not notice that sliding off a truck is beyond me. I'm still using the ladder
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A busted up boat trailer, sans boat. It had the gooseneck broken and saggin. I got some rope and a 2x4, made a splint, and dragged it home. I cut 4 feet off the bed, welded up the neck with braces, decked it and now it is a 4x8 flatbed trailer. Red suspender special.
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Off the road in the trees I found one of those old metal speakers they used to hang on your window at a drive-in movie.Still had the cord attached.
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I've had a generous share of odd and scary s***, on the road while driving cars, trucks, buses and mcs.
Crossing the Throgs neck bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Is., NY a box spring suddenly blinded me. Heavy traffic left no choices. It did a vertical shot, coming out the back end, of the car. Didn't even get a flat. When I next serviced the car there was rather heavy spring steel wire wound around the drive shaft.
I've carried many turtles; most of them snappers. Some big enough to be dangerous when lifted and carried. Claws are nasty, but that violently swing neck and head are more so.
Don't ride behind p/up trucks! A 4x4" square of 1/2 or 3/4" ply came at me like a frizzbee. It felt as though I would loose my knee.
Potentially much worse: K11RS. While following the car in front of me (left lane, 4 lane expressway), the car moved to the right and exposed a P/up that had a wooden picnic table w/benches tipped upside down over the roof of. It was floating on its end in the wind blast. There was no place to go at 70+. It hit the flasher button and the brakes. The table and benches, still together had flipped over the tail gate and dropped onto the highway. Fortunately it kept sliding as I was slowing, allowing more room to stop. I went over the smashed table top at ~30m/h, ABS clacking away and my heart in my throat. Or was it my stomach. Of course the P/up never stopped. And no flats! R3~