On my way to work on the coldest morning of the season, it happened. Only five miles from my house, enjoying the brisk low 30's wind, the beast - Honda Goldwing - started to lose its power, lights flickering, and eventually ... died.
There was no shoulder to pull over, I put the bike to the right side of the lane. My sweet wife comes to save me from standing in the cold weather. (And I didn't have my wallet with me - DOH!)
The story gets better. It's time to rub salt into wounds. Called Progressive Insurance for a tow at 8:30. "Sure, no problem. You will have someone by 9:45.", said Teresa. I thanked her.
@9:45 my cell phone rings with the tone of rescue. Yes, it's the tow truck guy. "What kind-a vehicle?" he asked in a typical Texas accent. "A Goldwind, it's a motorcycle, sir" replied anxiously.
"ummm we can't tow a bike. We'll get another truck" - suddenly my head gets filled with the introduction of Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
=(
So I wait.... Progressive calls back at 10 and tells me that they are arranging another truck. They promise me that the truck will be there at 11:10.
SIGH
@11:00 a police shows up - a nice young fella. He tells me that I have 10 minutes to move the bike. Another SIGH. But luckily a truck dispatch calls as I chat with the officer. I made the dispatch talk to the him - the truck will be there in 15 min.
YAY!
While waiting, the officer shares that he used to ride a 78 Honda Super Sport. We talked about that for a while - 4 into 1 exhaust, yada, yada, yada. FINALLY the truck shows up at 11:30, 15 minutes late.
I've never had to tow a bike and the driver says "I'll push you up on the bed of the truck. As soon as you get the back wheel on the bed, you put the brake and hang on to it while I raise the bed."
WHAAAAT?
(The video below cuts out before I go up on the bed. My wife's phone was full.)
Loading Goldwing to a flatbed tow truck from xamper on Vimeo.
That was one of the MOST SCARY thing that I've done in my life.
Of course, we had to do the opposite of that at home.
Goldwing on a flatbed tow truck: Unloading from xamper on Vimeo.
After four hours, I had my bike back in my grage. I think I could have pushed my 1000lbs bike back home in 4 hours.
Over night, I charged the battery. It has gotten charged up and the bike started without any problem. That's GREAT. Tonight, I will check on the alternator.
Ironically, I ordered two voltmeters over the weekend, to prevent THIS EXACT PROBLEM - getting stuck in the middle of a road. I guess my action was one week too late. =(
There was no shoulder to pull over, I put the bike to the right side of the lane. My sweet wife comes to save me from standing in the cold weather. (And I didn't have my wallet with me - DOH!)
The story gets better. It's time to rub salt into wounds. Called Progressive Insurance for a tow at 8:30. "Sure, no problem. You will have someone by 9:45.", said Teresa. I thanked her.
@9:45 my cell phone rings with the tone of rescue. Yes, it's the tow truck guy. "What kind-a vehicle?" he asked in a typical Texas accent. "A Goldwind, it's a motorcycle, sir" replied anxiously.
"ummm we can't tow a bike. We'll get another truck" - suddenly my head gets filled with the introduction of Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
=(
So I wait.... Progressive calls back at 10 and tells me that they are arranging another truck. They promise me that the truck will be there at 11:10.
SIGH
@11:00 a police shows up - a nice young fella. He tells me that I have 10 minutes to move the bike. Another SIGH. But luckily a truck dispatch calls as I chat with the officer. I made the dispatch talk to the him - the truck will be there in 15 min.
YAY!
While waiting, the officer shares that he used to ride a 78 Honda Super Sport. We talked about that for a while - 4 into 1 exhaust, yada, yada, yada. FINALLY the truck shows up at 11:30, 15 minutes late.
I've never had to tow a bike and the driver says "I'll push you up on the bed of the truck. As soon as you get the back wheel on the bed, you put the brake and hang on to it while I raise the bed."
WHAAAAT?
(The video below cuts out before I go up on the bed. My wife's phone was full.)
Loading Goldwing to a flatbed tow truck from xamper on Vimeo.
That was one of the MOST SCARY thing that I've done in my life.
Of course, we had to do the opposite of that at home.
Goldwing on a flatbed tow truck: Unloading from xamper on Vimeo.
After four hours, I had my bike back in my grage. I think I could have pushed my 1000lbs bike back home in 4 hours.
Over night, I charged the battery. It has gotten charged up and the bike started without any problem. That's GREAT. Tonight, I will check on the alternator.
Ironically, I ordered two voltmeters over the weekend, to prevent THIS EXACT PROBLEM - getting stuck in the middle of a road. I guess my action was one week too late. =(
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