Honda Africa Twin Forum banner

Unforeseen DCT benefit

2554 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  superfunkomatic
Whilst out and about today on a gorgeous sunny day in Blighty I happened across an elderly gent in a beaten up old Subaru. Normally this is nothing unusual but today it was noteworthy as he had turned across me without looking properly and was doing the "thousand yard stare" pretending that I didn't exist.

DCT is outstanding in the fact it allows you to be braking hard and gesticulating violently at the same time. I suspect he was aware of me at the end of all that. Perhaps he'll forego a second glass of port after his next lunch...

So, for all you lovers of hand gestures, the DCT is a winner!
  • Like
Reactions: 5
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
There was a time in my riding life where I would have reacted like you Yromulus. At the risk of coming across as patronising, I like to think that I'm older and wiser now. Before every time I hop on the bike I mentally rehearse a little mantra to myself that the only thing that matters is to have a good time AND to refrain from trying to educate or reprimand ANY other person out in traffic. My sole mission is just to stay out of their way, proactively read the traffic, avoid blind spots blah, blah - you know what I mean. Yes, I know 95% of them are morons that got their licence in a Captain Crunch cereal box, but life is just too short and precious to let the bastards grind you down. Even if your hand gesture DID ring a bell with him (overwhelmingly likely it DIDN'T!) there are just too many others like him out there and raising the standards of conduct and driving skills of the general population cannot be done while riding a bike with a helmet on, DCT or not;-)
You make a fair point - and I actually agree with a lot of it. I'm 54 so I'm not a spring chicken myself and generally I'm fairly laid back. When someone threatens my life however I do get a bit annoyed.

You've possibly made an assumption to do with the nature of the hand gesture though - it was a frantic wave to alert him of my presence. I didn't even swear!

DCT certainly makes emergency slow-downs very easy though - you can just brake hard and then pull away. In the past I'd have had to make sure I was in the right gear etc which can add to my embarrassment were the incident of my own making.
  • Like
Reactions: 1
There was a time in my riding life where I would have reacted like you Yromulus. At the risk of coming across as patronising, I like to think that I'm older and wiser now. Before every time I hop on the bike I mentally rehearse a little mantra to myself that the only thing that matters is to have a good time AND to refrain from trying to educate or reprimand ANY other person out in traffic. My sole mission is just to stay out of their way, proactively read the traffic, avoid blind spots blah, blah - you know what I mean. Yes, I know 95% of them are morons that got their licence in a Captain Crunch cereal box, but life is just too short and precious to let the bastards grind you down. Even if your hand gesture DID ring a bell with him (overwhelmingly likely it DIDN'T!) there are just too many others like him out there and raising the standards of conduct and driving skills of the general population cannot be done while riding a bike with a helmet on, DCT or not;-)
If I do all that and they still try to kill me by being on their mobile whilst driving....then can I scream at them whilst saluting. please?
You make a fair point - and I actually agree with a lot of it. I'm 54 so I'm not a spring chicken myself and generally I'm fairly laid back.
We're the same age then, and I hope I didn't come across as a ****. Waving is all good!! I'm loving the DCT as well - 1500 k's on it now and the left fingers have settled down. Just got the knobbies on and life is GOOD! Cheers!!
If I do all that and they still try to kill me by being on their mobile whilst driving....then can I scream at them whilst saluting. please?
Scream to your hearts content - don't try this on though, OK?:wink2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpjZNUWNaww
Gives you more time to wave to other riders.
When faced with the same situation as you being cut off, I usually give a mocking wave like "Hi, nice to see you, too!">:)
The other driver usually gets that one and it doesn't lead to more rage - most of the time... :wink2:

"gesticulating violently"
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top