Years ago I had a 85 Goldwing Aspencade.Got hit in the windshield by a piece of truck tire and it broke off part of the windshield and cracked the fairing.I do believe that saved my life and stopped me from going down.To this day I avoid trailing semis and try to get around them ASAP.

okay that video was pucker ass scary!!!! from now on passing trucks as quickly as you can is SOP!!!

I always stay way back, or hi-tail it past them.

My dad drives a logging truck in Canada, and I used to ride with him when I was a youngster. People are so stupid when dealing with big rigs. They are not cars, and can't stop or turn like them.

Usually they are really respectful of me on the bike, but occasionally there are the complete morons who give a bad name to truckers. I tend to ensure I stay in a spot where they can see me, then when opportunity shines, I throttle her back and fly past. I can't imagine driving a big rig, seeing a bike and knowing they were coming up on you, or are behind you, and then you can't see them at all. I know it would freak me the heck out, so I try to give them the same courtesy.

ultrastar wrote:
In the past I really never gave any thought about passing semi trucks on the hwy but yesterday riding home from work I was passing a truck and as soon as I got by his rear tractor tires one started coming apart and rubber started flying everywhere talk about an a$$ pucker on a scale of 1 to 10 I have to give it a 10 damn I had to pull out my boxers when I got home so keep that in mined when passing a truck

Know what you mean...

Wife and I were coming home from a nice Vacation taking our two motorcycles.

We came upon a Pickup towing a triple axle fifth wheel camper.

All of a sudden I get pelted in the leg... then again... and again.

I motion my wife to go ahead and pass quickly... I stop at the guys window... telling him his trailer wheels are disintegrating. He starts acting all scared and looking straight ahead... ignoring me. I hear his tire lose all air... and another one pop completely. Glad the wife and I were past him when everything let go.

Well fine. Wife and I go on ahead and stop about 10 minutes up the road, to stretch and drink some water and have an ice cream. About 30 minutes... just before we are going to take off, who do we see pull across the street in the closed store parking lot... checking his tires. The guy we tried to tell him about his tires.

He takes back off slowly, he come up behind him, he pulls off into a full service station and gets out right away... I wave at him and he waves back enthusiastically. I guess he realized I was trying to warn him rather than being a 1%er to be afraid of.

Meh... not all motorcycle riders are people to be scared of, though I guess me being a fat-butt and my wife being a red head... well, make you own conclusions.

Glad you are alright... tires are not fun things to experience being next to when the "go".

About a week ago I was getting on the expressway when a pickup truck in the left lane had a tire that was disintegrating. There were pieces of tire tread flying everywhere in front of me. I slowed down to let him pass in front of me to the shoulder. I saw that episode of mythbusters and had a little pucker factor working. I did check my shorts when I got to my meeting.

Back in the old days, I was passing a semi on I-95 and the rear tire on my Kaw 900 went flat about half way up the side of the trailer.
The bike was loaded cause I was on a extended camping trip going every where. The bike went left and right I finally muscled it into the grass median and laid it down.
Wound up being a large bolt went into the treads on the back tire.
Scared me plenty though

That's the EXACT reason I quit riding with the local Star chapter here, because the R/C liked riding in the slow lane behind Trucks, as a driver of 30+ years OTR / Local I know what those "Gators" can and will do when they fly! They will decapitate a human in an instant. I usually take all the side roads around here when I ride, but if I need the freeway I stay as far away from these things as possible. As for running re-treads on the trucks Federal DOT laws allow them on Driver's and Tandems, but NEVER on the Steer axle, although I've seen it happen before. Stay Watchful out there! and BE SAFE!!!!

I just get away from anything that looks precarious on the road... They always look so much better disappearing in my rear view mirrors.

I think I read somewhere that the typical "road gator" weighs around 40 pounds. Don't doubt it a bit.

I was on my way to work one morning and was passing a truck when I heard one of the trailer tires starting to SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP really loud. I assumed that wasn't good, so canned it and passed him like he was standing still. Once I was about 20 feet in front of the truck, I noticed some pretty flashing red and blue lights in the rearview.

When one of Minnesota's finest came up to the bike, I explained about the tire and once he checked my record - squeaky clean now that I've "grown up"( well, kinda ), he told me to have a nice day and watch out for those tires! NICE!