Attempted Hijacking yesterday

We're talking outliers for sure but they do happen. I like the idea here of pulling up to a pump, pausing and then pulling out over to another pump, gives a chance to visualize things. Once into an ambush your odds aren't good - as previously mentioned, Left of Bang book is good reading.

Coming up with a reason to have a person get their wallet or purse in their hands for an easy grab is a real tactic. You forget that a person desperate enough to grab your wallet may very well be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I'm not saying you shouldn't help someone, but be careful when doing it. While out riding, a simple measure to take when talking with a stranger is to keep the bike between you. It's an unobtrusive barrier, and if anything bad were to happen, it may give you enough time to react, or discourage a problem before it starts. If all is well, then your positioning goes unnoticed, and everyone stays happy.

I CC these two items and they have never let me down. I'm 65 and have traveled extensively, lived in big cities, "high crime areas", etc., and have never had a single situation that I had any problem dealing with. As far as I know these are legal everywhere.

Agree and remember an "ambush" can take many forms, maybe not a physical attack but a sudden appearance that takes you by surprise and exposes you to an unwanted situation. For sure, activate brain.

I've had a motorcycle license since 1970 and have never not owned one or more motorcycles from that point. I really don't know why, but until about 2 months ago I never used ear plugs or such. I never realized how serene and less fatiguing riding can be with ear plugs. One thing I don't like is how when you pull up to gas pumps or any public parking situation, you can sense the loss of an important level of awareness...sound. Just like we've covered on some of the posts prior, you often really hate to remove the earplugs unless you're going inside a business or such to be off the bike a bit. This post started about a situation at a gas pump. I do not want to take my helmet off at a gas pump...but I really notice that my eyes are a lot more active now...LOL!

I've thought about noise cancelling ear protection of some kind if that type of thing works for wind noise for riding. I shoot a lot and have trick electronic ear muffs that work great but obviously too big for helmet applications. I know noise cancelling ear buds exits for shooting, but has anyone used them for wind noise for riding?

FWIW, I ended up with custom earplugs that use filter inserts. One of my more posh indulgences. For your situation, I think they could be perfect. They deal very well with wind etc, but I can plainly hear conversations, footsteps behind me, approaching cars, my helmet speakers, and even bike noises (other than the exhaust). They came with a string attaching them, so they just hang around my neck when I'm not using them. I even ordered them in hi viz orange to make them easy for EMTs to find (touch wood). I think they're great. Given your work, maybe worth looking into.

I use NoNoise plugs for this purpose. They make a motorsports version which is orange. Can hear voices, sirens, some engine noise, etc. but cuts down wind noise and damaging decibels. Customs might be the way to go via your audiologist also.

Common sense and clear thinking, is what this comment is. It seems that the biggiest obstacle in thought is not removing yourself or your emotions from the equation. I've always said.....if you stand back and remove yourself from the picture, everything becomes clear in it's perspective.

Thanks. I actually tried that time.

I may try a set of these. After reading up on them, I think I'd stick with the foam units I've been using for longer pavement stretches, but use these for shorter urban and/or actual dirt riding. I love the almost total block out of sound with the foam units, but in some places at some times I want a little more sound.

Agree, be aware, and as important as that, LOOK like you are aware. Being obviously aware will get you deselected as a target. Criminals do not want to work hard, they want a surprise attack and easy pickings.

Anyone wants to read up on the very complicated process predatory criminals use to select/deselect targets, seek out anything by Dr. William Aprill of Aprill Risk Consulting. Amazing man. I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by him on predatory criminals, and to attend a pistol class he was instructing. Sadly, he passed away not long ago.

Barry

I have used few different cheap noise cancelling ear buds which I ordered online and they work pretty well. They take down the motor sound and the wind. I end up riding faster because the motor is so quiet. You can buy them dirt cheap and they make riding more enjoyable, and you can add music.

This subject has gone around a few times on this thread. I went to college in Brooklyn back when it was a tough area and I can tell you what kids did back then. They put " mugger money" in their wallets and then tucked their main chunk of cash some where else, in a sock or a hidden pocket. If they got mugged, they acted scared ( not hard to do) pulled out the wallet and ceremoniously handed over the dummy cash.

In terms of Left of Bang, and using your brain and mouth, we urban kids back then did all of that and more. A friend of mine described it back then as " using the force" to repel muggers. I am 6-3 and back then I lifted weights and did martial arts and I did not look like an easy target. Even so I once or twice had to turn and glare and shout down some would be hustler/mugger. It can work.

The first week of college we had a girl in my dorm shot and killed by a mugger on a street I walked every day. It was very sad but we knew she did a whole series of things which most of us would never do. She worked in Manhattan and repeatedly took the train back at 1 AM. She walked back alone. She had a purse, easy to grab, and she fought the mugger for it. A person living in a nearby brownstone heard the commotion, opened their upstairs window and yelled " Leave her alone!" which panicked her shaky crack head attacker and he shot her dead and ran off with her purse.

You want to let the rats flee, you don't want to scare them too bad or leave them no way out because they will turn and bite.

This summer I was up in Hunter NY in the Catskills and I had the misfortune of pulling my Strom into the same gas station as a bunch of HA dirtbags. Had my wife on the back, we are both wearing Hi-Vis. I did the circle around and parked the Strom on the opposite side of the furthest pump from them. I took my helmet off and kept them in my peripheral vision. I had my wife stand behind me. All done very casual and it was really nothing . I don't think my wife even knew what I was thinking and I never mentioned it to her. The HA never even acknowledged us which was fine by me. I could tell they were not even noticing us. My only play if they became a real threat would be to tell her to run into the store, lock the door and call 911 while I lost the fight outside as slowly as possible. This went through my head but not so that I became scared, it was merely thinking ahead. Like anticipating traffic As it turned out we left before they did and I made sure to get some separation and put a few cars between us and them.

Just curious, why would HA be a threat?

Sal is a Bandito.

I think I said " if they became a threat" meaning they were not actually a threat. Why might they become a threat? That assessment was based solely on appearances. They appeared big and strong and loud. However my overall feeling was they were not, but I was " aware".

Also- and I am just remembering this now - it was during that time period where there were NO COPS anywhere. Half of NYC suddenly arrived in our area and held a big covid party in the Catskills and it was a very wild and strange time. But maybe that's a story for another thread.

Here, the general consensus with biker gangs is that if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. I wondered if it might be different there.

Here is the problem with the the biker gangs. They have their rules. The general public may not know what those rules are, and if you run afoul of one of those rules, you can be targeted for assault, etc. Which is why in general we normal people consider 1% outliaw MCs a bad thing.

Carry on...

Ok, not a Bandito.
Sounds like you were just giving them some space. Nothing wrong with that.

Yep.

Rule 1: Show some respect, and you'll get it in return.

I've found that to be the rule that carries the most weight with them, and anyone else. People pick up on disrespect quickly, and some react poorly to it.

Not familiar with Dr. Aprill. However, since we're on the subject of predators, Dr. George Simon is among the leading scholars of this topic. He's best known for his work "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing", but has many other papers published on the subject. Dr. Jordan Peterson is another highly recommended lecturers on the topic.