Turn signal horn beeping

Galago, definitely all you wrote is the most important bits necessary to stay alive and well while riding a motorcycle, but having the horn as a last resort just adds that tad of safety that even you with 50K accident-free miles will one day need. The odds are against us bikers, even against the most prudent and experienced. It just takes ONE single lunatic car or truck driver to end those 50K accident free miles, and he could possibly have been warned by a blaring horn (of course it should be of the attention-getting type :-) of commiting his dangerous blunder.

But definetely the horn is not the right thing to remind the forgetful rider of the blinkers still blinking after leaving the intersection...

To those who 'never use the horn', how the hell do you signal to the gormless driver changing lanes that he is about to crush you against the car in the next lane (or whatever)?

I generally either whack the throttle open and jump ahead, or drop the anchors and pull in behind depending upon which would be easier

horns are useful in a car, but not so much on a bike - IMO

Matt

... It just takes ONE single lunatic car or truck driver to end those
50K accident free miles, and he could possibly have been warned by a blaring horn...

I doubt it.... and I never said that I was without 'close calls' or 'near misses'...
I have had my share of hair raising events but none x NONE of them had a chance
to be avoided by use of a horn, of any magnitude. The horn wont save you...
but like I said... if it provides you with a sense of security, then by all
means use it. Its just that IMHO it is a false sense of security and to
rely upon it is a recipe for disaster. I do not, and probably never will...

Relying solely on the horn to avert traffic dangers would truly be stupidity at it's best. I am 100% with you on that. It can only be an added bonus to a plethora of REAL disaster prevention measures every seasoned AND old biker eventually develops. The others tend to die young :-(

I doubt it.... and I never said that I was without 'close calls' or 'near misses'...
I have had my share of hair raising events but none x NONE of them had a chance
to be avoided by use of a horn, of any magnitude. The horn wont save you...
but like I said... if it provides you with a sense of security, then by all
means use it. Its just that IMHO it is a false sense of security and to
rely upon it is a recipe for disaster. I do not, and probably never will...

You must be living on a different planet to the one I live on.

SURE. you can hit the brakes, accelerate away, swerve and avoid and all that, but sometimes a pedestrian starts walking across the road looking the other way, or the car next to you starts doing a lane change to where you are....and just a beep means you don't have to do anything apart from keep riding in a straight line. It just lets someone know you're there, that's all.

Using the horn to let someone who hasn't seen you be aware of your presence makes a lot more sense to me than having to take evasive action.

... Using the horn to let someone who hasn't
seen you be aware of your presence makes a lot more sense ....

especially if she's at the beach in a bikini or
around town in a mini-skirt/sundress.........

8-p