Stranger on your bike

Just wondering how you would react if you came out of a lets say a fast food place for example and saw someone you don't know sitting on your bike, what would your first reaction be?

This happened to me and lets just say I didn't handle it very maturely, which is very uncharistic for me. When I parked my bike I seen a couple of gangbanger type dudes about ten feet away from my bike and I made a mental note of it, and sure enough ten minutes later one was on my bike, my first reaction was it was getting jacked.

 

I'm not sure how I'd react due in part it's to easy to say what I'd do here, but once there in person seeing it happen, guess it would depend on the whole what I think is happening? A good looking girl getting a photo Hmm could be ok I'll have to ask for the camera thou, if it was like in your case I'd no doubt be in their face pretty damn quick. Thanks
RW for asking

 

I would not be a happy camper ... to put it mildly. If they weren't going to steal it, I'd be afraid they'd drop it or something ....

 

How did it end? I'm not sure how I would handle it, other than I would be pretty P!ssed. On the other hand, here in ABQ, people have been shot for less. My friend has a real nice Ford Lightning and came out of the movies and saw a couple of "gangbanger's" hanging around with one sitting on the hood. My buddy started yelling at them from about 20 feet away to "get the F#ck Off My Truck". The guy sitting on the hood calmly hopped off, pulled a pistol, and let off a few rounds in my friends direction. Now I really, really, like my bike; however it’s a bike and not worth getting shot over.

 

It's actually happened to me. Me and 7 others were at the Zaxby's in Sumter, SC when I was stationed at Shaw AFB. We came out of the restaurant and there was, just like your instance, 4 gang type thugs sittings on 4 of our bikes, mines happened to be one. When the impromptu leader of our group asked Mr Ghetto to get off they replied in Ebonics but basically said "We aint F'ng anything up man so why you gotta be like that?" All 8 of us said to get off the bikes and right now. They gave us some more attitude. This is where I should point out that the group of guys I was with were my buds from the local shooting range. 6 out of 8 had CCL and the 6 of us that did were all packing heat. All 6 of us pulled said heat out of the concealed holsters and to them to amskray. They ran pretty F'ng quick let me tell you. It's funny how three 9mm's, a 40S&W, a 45 1911 & 380 Auto make ghetto thugs run like the punk bitches they are. Before any of the sensitive pansy liberals go off calling me a criminal or anything like that, I was fully in compliance with SC law. Motorcycle theft is a huge problem in Sumter & it is very common for riders to pack when riding since you can't leave your bike anywhere you can't see it. My 1st VFR was stolen 4 days after I bought it so I packed heat anytime I wasn't going to or from work.

KC-10 FE out...
lane:

 

Always safety in numbers .... especially when the little guy like me runs with the big guys ... and stands BEHIND them.....

 

There have been some really rational posts here along the lines of "it's just a bike" and "it's not worth getting shot over" etc. On the other hand I can tell you from experience that "gang banger types" whether wannabes or the real deal do not respond well to politeness, they see it as a sign of weakness. They are like dogs and can smell fear.

I'm pretty certain I would be in said banger's face in about half a second and if the red faced-tipped over-psychotic look I was sporting didn't cause said banger to high tail it like the coward he is I would be calling for medics to respond to remove my boot from his ass. Seeing someone on my bike without permission is no different than seeing someone in the driver's seat of my car, a reasonable person would assume they are trying to damage or steal it.

R.W., I'm sorry this happened to you and I hope it turned out OK, let us know how the story ends.

 

I'm with MrDe

 

I feel safer in a country, like NZ or Aussie without hand guns.

 

I think the response to seeing someone on your bike all depends on the type of person on it. Gangbangers aren't a frequent site in Sydney, though there are certain spots I wouldn't park and leave my bike (certainly not out of site anyway).

I agree with fullcircle in that if someone is on your bike, it is probably not because they are cleaning it.

 

.......since i live in rural northern NH, i havent had that problem,people around here are in general pretty respectful of each others property,BUT since the subject came up, i was wondering what the official 'LEGAL" PERSPECTIVE" actually is....i would liken it to something like someone breaking into your house or car, they have no buisness being there, so where do youre rights begin and end.....i hope we have someone who knows the legalistic limits of the situation, cause NOW i wanna know!!!

 

I tend to agree with those on this thread who say that a reaction is situational. I have had people who I do not know, ask to sit on my bike and I politely say no. I have also caught one person while I was coming out of class sitting on my old beat up gs550. You would think that wouldn't bother me (being that the bike had been down several times and I consider myself to be an aforementioned pansy a$$ liberal) but I was chapped and yelled at the guy to get off, which he did after seeing that I wasn't playing around. I agree that your bike isn't worth getting shot over but I hate to be disrespected so would probably make a big scene. Since I do not carry a gun (I would be more likely to shot myself if I did) I should probably be more cautious.

 

I know nothing of NH law, but in California it's pretty safe to say it's never okay to use lethal force in defense of personal property alone. Now, the issue changes if you fear for your personal safety (or your familiy) and act in self defense. It's much more complicated than just this, but to keep things simple that's the jist of it here.

 

Something similar happened to a friend of mine @ wayside in PA on his way out to DC for the 4th of July a couple of years ago. A car that was not there when he went in was parked next to his bike, w/ four gang banger types one of whom was perched on his Intruder that was loaded down w/ all his road gear. Being of smaller build & travelling on his own he remained calm, asked the guy to get off, who replied "man you should really let me take this for a ride". He remained calm & continued conversing but pulled out his knife & began casually cleaning his finger nails. The point was taken rather quickly, but then again he has the appearance of someone that may not be exactly "balanced" especially when decked out for a road trip. He did tell me that he never went under 90 til' he was out of PA after that.
The following year also in PA he had a overly freindly Sportster rider that really, really wanted to camp with him for the night. The guy follwed him almost all the way thru the state, needless to say though he planned on camping in PA for the night he kept going. He's not a big fan of PA & avoids it like the plauge now. I am by no means against packing heat I've done it myself on several occasions even though I live in a state that will not allowed concealed carry(my safety is more important to me than the rules @ times). But....you need to know your capable of pulling the trigger or your better off leaving it @ home & it has to be big enough to get the job done in one or two rounds. The above mentioned friend wanted to borrow a .22 revolver from me on his last road trip, which I didn't do because you'd just piss some one off with that. I did buy him a 9mm for Xmas this year!!

 

Reading all this has me looking at Glocks, say a 10mm?
I'd like to think I'd be smart about it, but my gut says WTF and goes into shoot first ask questions later mode. It would be how ever what I saw right off the bat, really if it was a family of sorts letting their kids crawl all over it I'd have to be somewhat polite and say Hey whats going on, hows your insurance? if it was looking like thy VFR was in harms way by some jerks being stuouid and playing around they'd get a verbal Hey Get the F%$k off and away, as I reach for the cell phone 911 then sizing up the situation would have me either say whats up dude or a bashing of sorts might be needed, I'd rather it went smooth, but if that didn't work right off the bat hard telling what would happen. Then if it was a good looking Gal trying it out for size, well.. just might have to let her to do that....after I help her get off and go over all there is to go over for a ride to come about.

 

I have had people I work with, or when in college, people I have had a class with, sit on it without permission. Knowing/assuming it was mine. Most of the time I have been pretty friggin' rude about telling them to get off. I just don't accept it. And it is never a person, who if they asked, I would have said yes.
Weird, most people would never consider sitting in someone's car.

But I haven't had that happen in a long time.

Never lived in a real urban area, so I have never dealt with the gang types.

The worst was when I was living in Sausalito, CA. I lived right in the downtown area, and not to far from a motorcycle only parking zone. Now Sausalito, especially the downtown area (such that it is), is a pretty touristy area. Although I suspect, I don't know the people mentioned here were tourists. Anyway, one nice day I came out of my apartment with my helmet and black leather jacket, walking towards the bikes. There was a Hardly parked next to mine. Now I am not into them, but this particuarlar one was obviously someone's pride and joy. Very clean, lots of chrome, etc. Anyway, as I get closer, there ae two youg kids on the bike, one just drilling, his not very clean sneakers into the what appeared to be ostritch skin saddle bags to try to position himslef, the other kid had recently had something with chocolate in it, and was not especially clean. Dad had put them up on the bike for a photo op! As I came up, dad says something about "is that your bike?" with a big goofy grin on his face. I said, in as menacing voice as I could, and not loud enough for the kids to hear, "no, but if it was, I would kill you for what they are doing to it." As I got on my bike, he quickly took the kids off the other one.

Again, probly not a bad guy, and wouldn't dream of doing anything like that to someone's car, but somehow a bike is OK?? I just don't get it. It still isn't yours, so don't friggn' touch it. Simple enough really.

I am constantly surprised at people's poor behavior to vehicles that aren't theirs at car and motorcycle shows as well.

Spike << good manners were always important to my mom

 

My initial reaction choice would be to get pissed off and yell. But if they are gangstas and bigger or more of them than me I would probably just call 911 without them seeing. If it was one thug I would go and request him to get off and if he declined that offer I would get physical: put on my helmet and gloves and kick his ass! I have an alarm on my bike too so if anyone sits on it, it would be very annoying to stay anywhere near it. I hope first of all I never have to deal with this. It is unfortunate that some of the have-nots of our society think they can do whatever they want without recourse.

 

Couldn't the 8 of you just beat the hell out of the 4 of them instead of pulling three 9mm's, a 40S&W, a 45 1911 & 380 Auto, it would sure seem like it would be more satisfying than a near O.K. Corral type situation.

 

Once, while at the gym I saw a group of kids (15 to 17 yrs old...4 of them...hard to tell if they were gangbangers or not) as they walked past my bike, they stopped, put their hands on the controls, and assume they made vroom vroom noises. I was too far from the door to say anything to them but I kept a closer eye on it. A short while later, the same group of kids (walking back the other direction) stopped and did the same exact thing. I was able to get out there and I told them that they should get the owner's permission before messing with it. They mumbled something and walked away.

That being said...I do have a CHL (CCL), but at no time did I feel the need for it. Even had they tried to get physical, I felt confident that I would take them without problems (one was pretty big though). Also, on my way out, I told the girl at the front desk (who just happens to be my daughter) that if things got ugly...call 911. Fortunately, things did not get ugly.

If the situation were different (i.e. they were gangbangers or I felt that they were trying to steal it), I would have at the very least let my hand gun be seen...and only take it from the holster if necessary.

As a CHL holder, I hope I never...never...find myself in a situation where I need to unholster and/or use my weapon. However, if the situation warrents it...I would do what I have to.

 

I guess that means the only people who carry handguns in NZ are the criminals.

IMO...everyone who has No criminal history, the right mental stability, and the proper training should be allowed the "Choice" to carry. And I say choice, because it does take a great deal of consideration for each individual to reach that decision.