A tale & Some Trouble

[Kneale Brownson <knotnook@traverse.com>]

Apropos of recent threads on radar/laser avoidance, I heard a story today I
just have to pass on.  A buddy was motorcycling on what he called The
Massachusetts Turnpike, travelling at the 75 mph pace he prefers as the
most efficient in terms of travel time and mileage (higher speeds increase
gas consumption significantly, while slower ones don't have the opposite
effect).  On a long flat stretch he was being overtaken by a behemoth SUV
which hadn't quite reached him when they started a long upgrade.  About
half way up, he pulled out to pass a car going about 70, and as they
crested the hill, he was just pulling back in line when he spotted a cop.
He looked at his speedo and was doing about 73.  He looked up into his
mirrors and saw the SUV was inches from his rear fender, so he hit the
throttle.  He saw the cop starting back into traffic, so he slowed back
down with a bit of space between himself and the SUV, which also had
slowed.  In a moment, the cop is signalling him to pull over, and he's also
pulling over the SUV.  He's figuring, "sure, get me for 10 over, give me a
break!!!"  when this trooper, who looks like Shaquille O'Neal in uniform,
asks for his license and then says he bets my buddy wonders why he's being
stopped.  Before my friend can respond, the cop says, "I pulled you over
for being followed too close."  Then he explains that he understood why the
cyclist was accelerating when already going "a bit over the limit" because
just a week earlier, a rider had been killed in the same spot under similar
circumstances.  What the trooper wanted was my friend's cooperation in
charging the SUV driver with dangerous driving or some such for trying to
squeeze in to avoid a speeding ticket.  My buddy can't get over the cop's
saying he was stopped for being followed too closely.

Anyway, on to my problem:  My "spare" '864kcsq (doesn't everyone with an
Audi have a spare?) has had a wheel bearing rumble for 2-3Kmiles, and
today, while rotating wheels, I noted that the right front can be wiggled
in and out a total distance of about 2 mm at the tire circumference.  Am I
getting to the "dangerous" stage?

Thanks, Kneale Brownson  2 '86 4kcsq's (the wife's and the spare) and the
5kcstq driver.