Watch For Flying Debris

GoldenMotor.com

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
11,199
47
38
Aztlán, Arizona
Man did I have a scary one on the way to work today...

A Ford truck was heading in my directions when I heard all kinds of noise coming from that truck. Just as it got closer I heard and saw something bouncing on the street headed towards me.

It was skipping across the street coming towards me and I tried to move out of the way but at the last moment it skipped on the pavement and went right under my front tire.

My front end got air, bike shot off to the left out of the bike lane right in front of traffic. All I could hear was tires squealing behind me as I just waited for a impact.

Thank Goodness the lady who had locked up here brakes was able to avoid me. She jumped out of her car screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God are you okay!' I think she was just as shocked as I was at that moment.

The driver of the Ford truck never stopped. After a few minutes of me and this lady catching our breaths I went on my way.

After about 2 miles later my front tire goes flat. After fixing the flat I finally made it to work.

But the lesson is always watch out for debris on the road, and anything that can and will fall off vehicles. Stupid serpentine pulley, almost killed me.
 

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2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
Wow! Glad you're safe, David.
Many moons ago I was on a divided highway(not on a MB) and a dump truck coming in the opposite direction lost the outer dual wheel from the left rear. It bounced across the concrete divider right into the windshield of a Camaro that was in my lane just ahead of me. The guy lost control, slammed into the divider then across three lanes of traffic into the outside wall. He was hurt badly from flying glass and the resultant impact.
I can only imagine what that would have been like if he'd been on a motorcycle instead of a car.
Good warning for all of us to keep in mind.
Tom
 

camlifter

Active Member
May 4, 2009
1,033
16
36
acme labs marion ohio
i had a close one after the last ice storm. it had warmed up enough for the ice to start to melt. a pickup with a tono cover pased me at about 50 mph, just as he pulled back in a huge sheet of ice the size of a sheet of plywood and about 2" thick lifted off the back of his truck and crashed in the road right in front of me, scrared the crap out of me. i made it through all right but the pucker factor was huge.
 

The_Aleman

Active Member
Jul 31, 2008
2,653
4
38
el People's Republik de Kalifornistan
Hazards abound! Flying bugs can get ya too. Twice I've been pinged in the bare head by those big black California bees on a mission. Many bugs off helmet, sometimes while hitting a pothole that came out of nowhere. I usually keep a pair of safety glasses for night rides, because even a nefarious hoodlum with a squirtgun full of something not very nice can get you swervin. Seriously, they are out there.
 
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Mac

New Member
Dec 3, 2009
486
1
0
Maine
Dave,
Glad your OK, keep that pulley, I KNOW you can use it for something!!

mac
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
2,784
26
36
Indianapolis
I suppose you can rest easy in the knowledge that the guy in that truck couldn't have gotten very far.
I, too, would say that's a safe bet. Being that it obviously came from a serpentine belt system, that's a "one-belt-does-it-all" type of system that is very common these days. One belts drives everything, including the things your vehicle DESPERATELY needs - like water pump and alternator. It would seem likely that, at some point, that truck died and might well require an expensive rebirth.
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
The worst story I've ever heard about things falling off into the road concerns a guy, a former coworker, who was following a flatbed trailer piled with junk. He was doing about 55 and a complete V8 engine rolled off the back of the trailer and he ran over it. His truck, a pickup was totalled but luckily he wasn't hurt. Now that's about 500 lbs of debris.
Tom
 

LS614

Active Member
Dec 22, 2009
1,236
3
36
CT and MA
Good lord! They sure don't make engines like they used to :D You could keep going if you his say a honda 2 liter nowadays rotfl
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
2,784
26
36
Indianapolis
The worst story I've ever heard about things falling off into the road concerns a guy, a former coworker, who was following a flatbed trailer piled with junk. He was doing about 55 and a complete V8 engine rolled off the back of the trailer and he ran over it. His truck, a pickup was totalled but luckily he wasn't hurt. Now that's about 500 lbs of debris.
Tom
My uncle once told me about a time when a buddy of his in high school was drag racing his Ford Fairlane on Park Ave. He'd learned this technique called "Slapping Second" where you stand on the gas, barely work the clutch, and slap the stick into second, then of course on into third.

Well, one day he slapped reverse, and sent transmission parts tumbling down Park Ave. for everyone behind him to run over.