pissed

[DRxBMW]

A motorcyclist ended up in the hospital Monday morning when he hit a stainless steel urinal on the Edens Expressway just past the Lake Cook Road southbound exit near Chicago. 

The urinal fell off a flatbed truck headed southbound on the Edens in the middle lane. According to police, at 6:35 a.m. the motorcyclist switched from the left lane to the middle and struck the urinal laying in the road, causing him to fall off his motorcycle. He suffered a broken left ankle and was transported to Evanston Hospital.

The flatbed truck driver was cited with failure to secure load and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 26.

What the weirdest piece of trash you brickers have spotted or struck on the road ?

Mine was a port a potty that slid off a truck-bed. Thank God, it was far enough ahead of me to swerve out of the way.

[Ocelot]

Five a.m., had just got on 250 south leaving Schaumberg IL heading out on a thousand mile trip to bring a new to me 2007 KLR650 not yet named Biffy Bullfrog back to Dull-Aware.. Whole crapload of trucks with the same idea: trying to get a jump on traffic round Chicago. Truck in front, another to my left, truck right behind, cement barriers to the right. No one inclined to let me out of this trap. Flatbed in front carrying bundles of 2'x8'x1/2" foam insulation boards. Bundles laid longitudinally on the flat bed, strapped down from side to side. A bundle in the middle blew out of the stack and tumbled into the road and started flipping end to end. Doink, flip, doink, flip. The foam itself wouldn't have hurt much, just knock me down and let the truck behind do the work. Couldn't tell where it was going to be when I got there, couldn't stop (KLR derives from the Japanese for "no brakes") and besides, there was this truck behind me. Nowhere to veer. All I could do was aim right at it and hope it was gone when I got there. Ducked and it brushed right over me. Truck behind splattered it into a thousand bits. Looked up, and there was the stack with a hole through the middle where t.hat one had blown out. Other bundles round the hole wiggling and sliding. Put my left signal on, and the truck to the left braked to give me a place to dodge. He and the truck behind both got on their radios, shaking their heads. I got the heck out of there.

I bought Biffy from a guy in Elgin who was getting laid off from Caterpillar at the beginning of our economic woes. It was the dead of Winter, snowing like a bandit in Chicago. Have a friend here with a brother lives in Schaumberg. Had the PO deliver it to him. I flew out in April and rode her home. I like buying bikes at a distance. Always fine adventures.

[frogy]

Was not on my bike ,but was driving my dads car...him as passenger.
Driving on Highway when dump truck in front of us started making loud noises in rear(this was one of the big 8 rear wheel jobs).Sounded like the noise from a rear with bad ring gear(I was a mechanic at the time),so I figured I'd chang lanes just in case.Half way to the new lane the truck rear diff.decides its had enough and spitts itself out.Watched that large pumpkin roll by my door with inches to spare at highway speeds.Dad and I looked at each other and did'nt say a word.

[frankenduck]

Was driving in a car with a buddy of mine at about 9pm once.  Freeway at about 70mph.  Out of nowhere there's a huge crash and a giant break in the middle of the windshield.  We pulled over to find it on the roof.  It was a skid plate off of a differential or something.  6" diameter 3/8" thick steel plate.  I think if that hit you while riding you would just be dead on the spot.

[DRxBMW]

Was not on my bike ,but was driving my dads car...him as passenger.
Driving on Highway when dump truck in front of us started making loud noises in rear(this was one of the big 8 rear wheel jobs).Sounded like the noise from a rear with bad ring gear(I was a mechanic at the time),so I figured I'd chang lanes just in case.Half way to the new lane the truck rear diff.decides its had enough and spitts itself out.Watched that large pumpkin roll by my door with inches to spare at highway speeds.Dad and I looked at each other and did'nt say a word.

Another time, I was burning up Loganton pass, only to see a dual set of tractor trailer wheels rolling down the mountain.

[Ocelot]

Another time, I was burning up Loganton pass, only to see a dual set of tractor trailer wheels rolling down the mountain.

Shit. Many too many moons ago, I was riding in the back seat of a Citroen when I spotted a wheel spinning past us, and off the shoulder. "That's bizarre," I told me friend driving. "Didja see that? A wheel just came rolling by."

"Oh no!" quoth the driver.

"Yep," said his gal, glancing out the side window, "I'm getting sick of this."

He pulled over. She fished a plastic bag out of the glove box. Handful of about 10 mm funny little left threaded flat head allen socket machine screws in the bag. He fetched the wheel out of the brush. It was their rear right wheel! I shit you not! Citroen with it's rear two wheel closer together than the front was the only vehicle that could run on any three wheels --- and needed to. Despite four lug nuts, the whole attachment resolved to this one central flat head socket screw, which frequently unthreaded itself.

Un Frickin Believable. The Franch. Ought to stick to omelettes and fashion.

[johnny]

truck bed liners are popular in california... i have seen them on the shoulder... i have seen them in the median... i have seen them in lanes... and yesser i saw one launch outta a pick up on the 5... they really get some air...

j o

[ned37]

leaving the daytona 500 back in the day in my mustang.  got on i-95 with the rest of the yahoos and was cruising 75-80 when ahead about 200-300 yards somebody's hood flipped open, went sailing about 100 feet in the air.  everybody behind playing dodgem thinking they were on the racetrack.  hood landed just off the road.  i don't think anybody even stopped, including the guy who lost it.

[ibexonabike]

Last fall on my 250 I rounded a blind turn on Rt 27 in Sudbury, watched the car in front of me do a bunny-hop with its left side, then saw the aluminum ladder laying across the road. Say what you (or I) will about 250's being low-powered, they are maneuverable as all get out, so I got out and weaved around the 1 foot patch of uncovered road on the right edge of my lane. Very happy I had kept a few extra car lengths of space between me and the car in front.


Completely unrelated, my buddy and his college roommate went on a cross-country roadtrip from mid-state NY to Telluride. No stops, one drives, one sleeps in the back with the ski-boots. They're in flat-horizon-tall-grass-country around midnight, and the roomy passes the driving off to my still-sleeping friend. My buddy gets the car about about 5 miles down the highway, then proceeds to calmly remark, "Hey, I just drove over a giant Mini-Mouse head." Roomy says "Stop the car, go back to sleep, I'm driving."