Whew!!! A close call

[RDawson]

Had to go up into Illinois today to retrieve some paperwork for the wife. On the way back I wheeled into a gas station to fill up and noticed a saddlebag hinge hanging off the side, both screws fell out. Fueled up and pulled away from the pumps to fix it. Just as I finished and was putting the tools up a pair of HDs pulled in next to me. Just finished in time. I don't want to know what I'd have heard about a Yamaha vibrating parts off. I did get around 225 good miles in with sun shining and nearly 60*.

[Red Ryder]

Funny,

but good luck was with you not to loose any additional parts, you know, with that paint shaker.

[cowpuc]

Good on ya Corporal for gettin er done and avoiding any form of HD rider induced embarrassment in the process.. I do gotta say though, given the same situation and having not been so fortunate as to having not avoided a nasty dose of that sort of embarrassment, I probably would have proceeded like this:

HD riders pull up and start the show.. Keeping calm while listening to the banter,, I would start telling them one of my true to life on road stories.

As I'm laying on the ground looking for hinge remains:

"Yea,,, I know,, bike problems with these beat up ol high mileage Ventures can be daunting.. I do remember one time my wife, my +240,000 miles stickered covered Venture and I were coming home from a 1 month tour and decided to explore the Sturgis Rally one more time. As we were headed in from the Rally a bike appeared on the side of the road, noting its beet red faced rider sitting in the ditch and his bike sitting there with his helmet clearly visible next to his kick stand (biker code for HELP),, we decided to part company with the +150 group of bikers we were riding with and have a look. When we stopped I instantly noticed a puddle of oil under the less than a year old 88" Twin Cam the guy in the ditch had been riding. When we pulled up I could see the rider was in a world of hurt. We fist bumped and then I asked how long he had been sitting in the +100 degree heat. I was SHOCKED to hear him say "over 3 hours".. I pointed to the back of our beat up old Venture at the gallon jug of water hanging on her backside and said - DRINK your fill and do it NOW! He did. After words he asked if I knew anything about HD's.. I said a little,, then asked what it did before it did. Hearing his description and noting the 20k miles he had on his new bike (bought it brand new in his home town of San Diago), I told him it sounded like the common issue of that HD was having with those early Twin Cams = cam chain tensioners wear out, the pieces of the plastic shoes on the tentioners fill the oil pump, she looses oil pressure and it destroys itself.. Dennis (the owner of the bike) says - funny the dealership never mentioned that . After using our Trac phone to call a tow truck, Dennis asked if I had heard of a "fix" that I would be willing to share. I pointed out the screws to remove to uncover the cams and expose the damage inside and explained that if it were mine, first thing I would do is get it hauled to a HD shop, have them open it up and verify what I was talking about, then I would inquire about instead of installing another weak system, have them check the runout on the crank and if less then 3 thou, snap in a set of S&S gear drive cams and an S&S high output oil pump.. We waited with him for the Tow, talked bikes, he was just finishing the last of my water when the truck pulled up.. Dennis followed Tip and I back to Tweeks who was still sittin on the side of the road smiling at the broken HD in front of her when he hugged my shoulder and said: Ya know what,, after 2 solid weeks of Sturgis, YOU TWO are the very first REAL bikers I have met out here (I looked at my weather worn, tent campin riding partner and then back at Tweeks and acutally started giggling at that). I sat in that (blankety blank) ditch for 3 HOURS in that heat and watched thousands of my "brothers" ride by without even acknowledging my existence,, even with my helmet in the "HELP" position = they went by me and my HD like I didnt even exist. Dennis then gave us his home phone and said that if we EVER needed anything when traveling his area - just call and he would be there!!

About this time, I probably would have easily had my Venture back together at the fuel station Corporal and I would have turned on my key, smiled at those HD riders and said - seems the HD culture may have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that sooner or later,, we will all have bike problems if we ride em .

Then smiled and left as they disappeared into my rear views with no chance of catching me to put a knot on my head ..

[Patch]

seems the HD culture may have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that sooner or later,, we will all have bike problems if we ride em .

Then smiled and left as they disappeared into my rear views with no chance of catching me to put a knot on my head ..

 

On our last ride cross country SK and I stopped for a Tim's, I stretch out on the bike to close my eyes a bit SK stayed in wifi ing. Now SK isn't good around emotional people so he brought this fellow over to my bike and the story went like this; I have a flat, and you know a HD truck and trailer was here in the parking (to or from a rally) I asked if he could help me and he refused, very disappointed sure he could of helped, I can pay!

I had noticed him earlier walking in and out of Tims, I nap with one alternating eye open, old habbits;) anyway I walked over and could see what was left of a screw in the turn of the tread just before the wall. Yep no problem we took out our kit and fixed it, we posed for a pic with this rookie then packed up and headed out.

 

Now if we had more class about us we would have done the correct thing after braking the clutch lever earlier in the trip. Smart money would book a room and order a replacement handle, but we had places to go and peoples to see:)