Biker enters gas-station with helmet and shades on...

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Para Bellum

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What would you have done:

I once was in a gas station looking for a special chocolate. Then a biker came in with his leather-suit AND helmet AND shades on. Gas stations get robbed a lot arond here. They therfore all have a sign at the entrance asking bikers to take their helmets off.

He went straight to the clerk and had a little bag in his hand, big enough for a weapon. I silently positioned myself in a safe angle behind the biker, hand on my guy, 12ft away. The biker paid his gas and went away. Everything very cool.

If , however, he would have threatened to kill the clerk with any weapon, I would have had a very good chance to stop the threat without endangering any innocent bystanders. There was just a fridge and a wall in the direct line between myself and the bikers head.

So I would try to optimize my position in order to maximise my chances for a successfull interference if such action became necessary.

Take care,
PB
 
You did well, Condition Orange from the start and you positioned yourself well. This is a scenario we will all face at sometime when we travel.
 
It is rather odd, but there is no justifiable action to take except watching the situation closely.

Calling 911? What are you going to say? "There is a guy with a helmet and sunglasses in a gas station, come quickly!" :rolleyes:
 
If , however, he would have threatened to kill the clerk with any weapon, I would have had a very good chance to stop the threat without endangering any innocent bystanders.
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Interesting how that is always the assumption in these things, that when the GG intervenes that everything happen just right and there won't be any problems and nobody will get hurt except the BG.
 
Its not bikers I worry about. I worry more about teens with chips on their shoulders that travel in groups. The kind who keep their hands hidden under their hoodies or shoved in their pant pockets as if they are holding their pants up. I am always very worried when I cant see the hands.

Bikers are, in my experience, a very honorable and amicable lot who only fight amongst themselves when they do fight at all...
 
I guess this thread astonishes me more than any I can remember. As gun owners/enthusiasts, we really dislike being the object of uninformed prejudice painting us as knuckle dragging outlaw Neanderthals so we certainly shouldn't do the same thing to "bikers". Did the tinfoil in your hat tell you any biker wearing a helmet while paying is some kind of criminal threat? I've never in all my years of riding (started in 1940) seen any such sign prohibiting wearing a helmet inside any gas station and I've been in a lot of stations.

For openers, outlaw bikers are a tiny percentage of bikers and, as a rule, are the least likely to wear any protective gear such as helmets and leathers. Using a bike as a getaway vehicle instead of a car is totally not practical. Wearing a helmet is in no way the equivalent of wearing a ski mask to foil identity.

If a biker is wearing a helmet a plus "body armor" leathers, he/she is likely to be one of the most informed and law abiding riders on the road. Helmet prices for quality models start at some $250.00 and up and good leather "body armor" jackets - at least that much. Making a brief stop for gas shouldn't require removing the helmet - which would tie up one hand to hold it while trying to gas up the machine - or paying for the gas - or using rest rooms - all a lot more inconvenient than just leaving it on your head.

Alternatives include resting the helmet on the seat of a bike on a side stand - risking it falling off - most common advice is, if your helmet falls off like that, it should be replaced. Laying it on the oil stained pavement is less appealing and hanging it on the handlebar invites stealing it.

Bottom line is if you see a "biker" wearing a helmet and "body armor" leathers, he/she is likely the most conservative and law abiding customer you will encounter in the filling station or on the highway. It could be me - though I usually avoid filling stations because auto drivers tend to be much less considerate of bikes (their "right of weight" and tendancy to cut me off at any pump they want) than full size vehicles and I do most of my bike gassing from containers in my garage.

I am a retired general and cardiovascular surgeon - practiced nearly 40 years (after volunteering for service in WWII and Korean War) - and am a Charter Life Member of the AMA (AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION). My most recent speeding citation was in 1962 and was in a car.

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Note the "safety" stickers.;)

:D
 
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Just because most bikers are good guys doesnt mean you wont have a bad apple...
They therfore all have a sign at the entrance asking bikers to take their helmets off.
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is enough reason for me to at least get suspicious...
I dont think what Para did was really that prejudice against bikers...
I just recently joined the biker ranks fyi ;)
 
Is everyone making the assumption that motorcycle helmets are bullet proof?

:confused::confused::confused:

I also own a motorcycle. Am I automatically a bad guy? :confused:

I often keep my helmet on also because the alternatives are 1) carrying
the helmet in my hands 2) hanging the helmet on the helmet hook.

Carrying the helmet in my hands is awkward. If I need both of my hands
I'll have to hold it between my legs or set it down.

Hanging the helmet on the helmet hook means I have to take the helmet off,
remove the rear seat, hang the helmet. While I'm inside birds or anything or
anybody else can introduce garbage into the open receptacle that is the
helmet. Then, I have to remove the helmet from helmet hook and put it
back on.

So, the right response when you see a biker with a helmet on his head
(where else should it be? :confused:) and a paper bag is to call 911?
You better hope that the cop that shows up is not mounted. He may as
well arrest you for filing a false police report.

Ridiculous! :mad:
 
before i gave up bikes i wore a full face helmet and rayban shades. the shades had to be put on after the helmet and it was a tight fit.
rather than waste time getting everything"just so" i usually walked into places with the helmet and shades on.
trust me, a helmet is not a good way to hide your identity and still have all your sense's awareness during a crime!
 
Why is it that some people with a CCP think that they are undercover police here to protect the universe. Had I been worried in this situation I would have slipped out and called 911. What if he had been a friend of the clerk and wanted to show him his new pistol? Would you have drilled this guy in the head? Shoot a 1%er and I would not want to be in your shoes, house, car, job, skin etc.... Not all bikers are bad people. Not all wannabe posers are bikers either.
 
Criminal on a MB

Hi speed chases when the bad guy is on a two wheeled escape system can be very traumatic to the body on a bike!

Some criminals suffer from lack of smarts! Bikes do not fit in to their life styles!
 
Why would interfere at all, are you LE ? Would shoot the person if he had drawn a weapon ? Best to watch from a distance and call 911 if it turns into something.
 
If , however, he would have threatened to kill the clerk with any weapon, I would have had a very good chance to stop the threat without endangering any innocent bystanders.
Click to expand...

Interesting how that is always the assumption in these things, that when the GG intervenes that everything happen just right and there won't be any problems and nobody will get hurt except the BG.
Click to expand...

Where is the assumption that everything will happen just right? That there won't be any problems? That no one will get hurt except the BG? I don't see it. I just see where someone feels that had a situation gone bad, they would have had a 'very good chance.' A chance is just that.
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Count me among those that would mind my own business, pay him no more attention than everyone else.

I'd be more likely to go into the store (with my helmet on, when I wear one) and make a comment about the goofy sign. As if a guy using a motorcycle helmet to hide his identity and rob the place would pay attention to the sign!:barf:

I see way too many people who could be a BG to constantly hide in the corners and have perfect outcome fantasies.
 
i was just thinking if he threatend to kill the guy i woulda pulled the gun slowly advanced behind him (if possible put gun to his head) and say freeze or ill shoot!:mad:
 
I almost never take my helmet off at the gas station, like others have said it is a pain in the butt. Come to think of it I usually just use the CC option when riding which makes things even quicker. I am a big fan of helmets and leathers though, in fact they kept my injuries to a broken collarbone and knuckles when I crashed at a trackday a few weeks ago. Pretty good considering I was doing about 85ish when I hit the pavement.
 
Did the tinfoil in your hat tell you any biker wearing a helmet while paying is some kick of criminal threat?
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in situations like this, sometimes we just have to rely on intuition...

Intuition has many related meanings, usually connected to the meaning "ability to sense or know immediately without reasoning",
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Taken off of wikipedia.com
 
I was having lunch in a southern AZ resturant one day, and two Hells Angels MC members came in. The small one was 6'6" 290 lbs.:eek:

Then things really got scary, they sat down and ordered lunch. :D

Come on my story is just as scary as a guy paying for his gasoline.:rolleyes:
 
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