One small rock in the road, Sunday morning (?), front & back tires break loose, I'm off the pegs, on the seat.... Whew!
Monday morning, 1 larger rock on a TIGHT left hander... Rear tire popped WAAAAY up. Adrenalin kicks in... :P
2 on Monday- I came around a very tight right-hander on the way back from Leakey, only to find a nice sandy patch for my back tire to slide on. No Bueno!!!
All-in-all an excellent trip! No downs, & only 2 mechanicals (Clutchless George, & the PP9000)
You forgot rear brake caliper Ron
I think we are all pretty aware of my close call of the trip: First turn of the entire trip (and first experience with any elevation change whatsoever) and my bike just shuts off halfway up the hill with everybody behind me = very shaky desmolu for rest of the evening ride.
stalling half way up a hill is extra not fun when you can't even flat foot your bike!
Quote from: DesmoLu on June 03, 2008, 09:32:21 AM
I think we are all pretty aware of my close call of the trip: First turn of the entire trip (and first experience with any elevation change whatsoever) and my bike just shuts off halfway up the hill with everybody behind me = very shaky desmolu for rest of the evening ride.
stalling half way up a hill is extra not fun when you can't even flat foot your bike!
Oh, wasn't aware of that. I think that was Eagles Pass? Good on ya for saving it! I think the more little experiences you have like that, the better rider you become [thumbsup]
Oh yeah, RonR's rear brakectomy...
Almost forgot the doe & fawn that strolled across the road in front of me yesterday morning. FRONT BRAKE, DOWN SHIFT, HORNBLARING!!!!
It seemed to have surprised Svoloch even more, as I see a Xerox Copy zoom by me on the right :P
definitely had one oh sh!t moment on 337 right in the heart of the twisties, wasn't paying attention and went in a little hot, went wide, saw the edge of the road with gravel and debris and pushing hard on the handlebar and just praying I didn't hit the edge... whew...
then the dead squirrel in the road a couple of turns later... :-X
We lost the left rear strap on Rich's bike on the ride home, but made it OK [thumbsup]
when we got to Houston, after more than 4 hours on the highway, a mile away from the dropoff point can you guess what happened?
Yup, one of the tiedowns failed and dropped Hiero's bike onto it's side.. Thankfully, it fell onto the trailer itself and no mayor damage ocurred...
but still >:( :o :( :'( :-\
Yeesh!! You guys should have fabbed up some wheel chocks like my truck ;D
Quote from: bryant8 on June 03, 2008, 01:06:15 PM
Yeesh!! You guys should have fabbed up some wheel chocks like my truck ;D
Aye, those are def going on for the next trip... Wheel chocks are a must
Quote from: chipo on June 03, 2008, 01:03:59 PM
one of the tiedowns failed and dropped Hiero's bike onto it's side.. Thankfully, it fell onto the trailer itself and no major damage ocurred...
CrappityCrapCrapCrap
There had to have been some damage :o :-[ [bang]
That just ain't right.
Quote from: Duc L'Smart on June 03, 2008, 01:11:40 PM
CrappityCrapCrapCrap
There had to have been some damage :o :-[ [bang]
That just ain't right.
I think the jb weld around one of the exhaust pipes got loose, but I believe that was all...
Quote from: bryant8 on June 03, 2008, 01:06:15 PM
Yeesh!! You guys should have fabbed up some wheel chocks like my truck ;D
maybe we just all need to get baxleys.
i had a couple nice oh shit moments...i committed the cardinal offense once on the three sisters, on a sharp uphill right turn, and blew the yellow lines...i said a quick prayer to any deity out there that was listening and just pushed hard to get it back in the other lane, right before a hard left-hander.
and +1 to Lou's eagle's pass moment...though mine was on the downhill side the first time through with will and patrick (i'm bad with screen names now, weirdly enough). it was that
off-camber left hairpin that was followed by the right hairpin. man...i've never screamed at myself more in my life...i was yelling "LEAN" at the top of my mental lungs.
that cattle guard crap right in the apex of a turn i was taking at a good speed got me puckering...
and i think the thick section of the gravel road was pretty much filled with some oh shit moments.
and i almost popped a squirrel that decided to sprint accross the road.
all in all, i have to hand it to the SS for putting up with my learning/leaning curve...it never once complained and i couldn't have been happier with it's ability to bring both of us home safely. [thumbsup]
I think there's an R.E.M. song comparing a woman to "3 miles of bad road".
Damn, that's low...
found damage on the bottom of the right side case cover yesterday as I was cleaning the bike. scraped down to the bare metal, but only about a 1" section.
and just for the record, it's not JB weld around the exhaust, just some liquid gasket, don't want people to think I'm crazy like that :P
Damn hiero. :(
Sorry to here about that. Glad it was very minor.
The Sunday morning riders, myself, Hiero, ScottDeux, Desmolu, DucDood, & Chipo were 1st arrivals on an accident. A very young man with his GF in back.
Looks like he didn't make a right-hander, low sided into the rocks on the other side of the road. Helmets, but jeans, tennies, no jackets or gloves.
The guy had bad rash on 1 knee & elbow, and probably a broken wrist.
His GF was breathing & conscious, but not moving. Broken left elbow, severe pain in the middle of her back, & no feeling that we could tell in her legs.
Fortunately DucDood had cell phone service, but it took the ambulance over 30 minutes to make the 10 miles from Leakey.
We got out of the way once she was loaded in the ambulance. I think CareFlight was on its way.
Very sad. I hope they're OK.
Wow, very sad indeed :'(
Quote from: Duc L'Smart on June 03, 2008, 03:35:07 PM
The Sunday morning riders, myself, Hiero, ScottDeux, Desmolu, DucDood, & Chipo were 1st arrivals on an accident. A very young man with his GF in back.
Looks like he didn't make a right-hander, low sided into the rocks on the other side of the road. Helmets, but jeans, tennies, no jackets or gloves.
The guy had bad rash on 1 knee & elbow, and probably a broken wrist.
His GF was breathing & conscious, but not moving. Broken left elbow, severe pain in the middle of her back, & no feeling that we could tell in her legs.
Fortunately DucDood had cell phone service, but it took the ambulance over 30 minutes to make the 10 miles from Leakey.
We got out of the way once she was loaded in the ambulance. I think CareFlight was on its way.
Very sad. I hope they're OK.
Yes,
Reported to me today, by one of the cruiser guys who was out on Sunday. They saw the CareFlight taking off on their ride. :(
Just wanted to add that everyone who went by slowed down or stopped or turned around to offer assistance. A family stopped & offered cold water to everyone, & had ice to put on broken bones & road rash.
Faith in humanity restored [thumbsup]
Did you tell them about the womens pads?? Sorry to hear about that, but glad it was not one of us!!
I had a stinging insect fly into my helmet and sow its wild oats into my chin.
Quote from: Ronr on June 03, 2008, 07:56:17 PM
I had a stinging insect fly into my helmet and sow its wild oats into my chin.
So did Duke... 'cept he wasn't wearing a helmet.
close calls:
1) was RIGHT BEHIND L'Smart when he slid the rear in gravel hot into the turn. he flailed his arm around, and I thought he was pointing at the gravel, to which I mentally yelled back at him "no sh!t, I was right on your right butt cheek when you slid!!", but it turns out that the slide and recovery actually wrenched his arm. no bueno.
2) a few times drifting to centerline and slipping on some yellow stripies... no bueno.
3) a few times exiting a turn hot to see L'Smart slamming on the brakes and checking his mirror to see if everyone was catching up.... er... Ron and I were RIGHT ON YOUR TAIL!!! no bueno.
4) life probably saved by scott mid turn when he slammed on his brakes honking at several deer wandering into the road... me too close again, sliding by scott on the right side while pounding my brakes, crapping my pants, and remembering that Ron was right on my butt with no rear brake. no bueno.
5) several flubbed turns. mas o menos.
6) one BADLY flubbed turn with scott right on my tail, and me braking rather unexpectedly. no bueno. L'Smart was not L'Amused.
7) turkey vulture flies up from road side in front of me. I duck down, still not low enough, hang off side of bike, and feel birdy touch helmet on his escape... NO FREAKIN' BUENO.
other than that, some normal butt clenching on eagles' pass, but all in all, a VERY fun ride!!!
- First ride in the evening when we got there, first corner, I was tired and hadn't gotten much sleep, distracted and promptly fixated on the railing. Had to remember to wrench my eyes away moments before I ran off road... - Ay caramba!
- Almost dropped my bike 3 times whilst experimenting with my monster's off road capabilities in the gravel road - No bueno at all
- When riding Desmolu's bike with her on the back, rolling into stop in gravel I hit the rear braske as I usually would on my monster. BAD IDEA. Her rear brake had a lot more pad on it than mine. Rear locks up and steps out a good foot. I manage to regain control and try to save a little face in front of everybody. [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang]
Apart from that, the usual oh nuts! moments with rocks in my line and nothing really serious ;D
Quote from: svoloch on June 03, 2008, 08:10:38 PM
close calls:
1) ..... it turns out that the slide and recovery actually wrenched his arm. no bueno.
I forgot about that. After his slide and miraculous recovery, I saw him shaking his left arm/hand assembly like he hurt it, but I was pretty sure it was his right hand that had been injured recently. Couldn't tell what had happened. Nothing serious I hope.
I remember you said you saw L'Smart ass growing large rather quickly on a couple of occasions. I've seen McCain ass do that before, and it wasn't pretty :o
Quote from: svoloch on June 03, 2008, 08:10:38 PM
close calls:
1) was RIGHT BEHIND L'Smart when he slid the rear in gravel hot into the turn. he flailed his arm around, and I thought he was pointing at the gravel, to which I mentally yelled back at him "no sh!t, I was right on your right butt cheek when you slid!!", but it turns out that the slide and recovery actually wrenched his arm. no bueno.
2) a few times drifting to centerline and slipping on some yellow stripies... no bueno.
3) a few times exiting a turn hot to see L'Smart slamming on the brakes and checking his mirror to see if everyone was catching up.... er... Ron and I were RIGHT ON YOUR TAIL!!! no bueno.
4) life probably saved by scott mid turn when he slammed on his brakes honking at several deer wandering into the road... me too close again, sliding by scott on the right side while pounding my brakes, crapping my pants, and remembering that Ron was right on my butt with no rear brake. no bueno.
5) several flubbed turns. mas o menos.
6) one BADLY flubbed turn with scott right on my tail, and me braking rather unexpectedly. no bueno. L'Smart was not L'Amused.
7) turkey vulture flies up from road side in front of me. I duck down, still not low enough, hang off side of bike, and feel birdy touch helmet on his escape... NO FREAKIN' BUENO.
other than that, some normal butt clenching on eagles' pass, but all in all, a VERY fun ride!!!
Svoloch, I love your style of writing. make the beast with two backsing hilarious. I nominate you for writing the
anals next time.
Quote from: chipo on June 03, 2008, 01:03:59 PM
when we got to Houston, after more than 4 hours on the highway, a mile away from the dropoff point can you guess what happened?
Yup, one of the tiedowns failed and dropped Hiero's bike onto it's side.. Thankfully, it fell onto the trailer itself and no mayor damage ocurred...
but still >:( :o :( :'( :-\
just curious, how many straps were on his bike and how were they tied down (two front straps pulling forward and two rear straps pulling rearward)?
cdc
Quote from: cdc on June 06, 2008, 08:43:53 AM
just curious, how many straps were on his bike and how were they tied down (two front straps pulling forward and two rear straps pulling rearward)?
cdc
yup
Quote from: hiero on June 06, 2008, 09:17:27 AM
yup
Way back when, some told me to route all straps forward so if one snaps or loosens the three others will still hold the bike in place.
cdc
I had a bike try to come up over the wheel chock in an emergency stop when I didn't have enough strap pulling it aft.
The suspension will compress way more than you think in unusual circumstances and will put the bike into all sorts of funny positions. Big chugholes are a common example of a quick shock to the suspension.
One thing to think about, is most common trailer axles are designed to support 3500 pounds. When you have a 400-500 pound bike, the trailer suspension barely does anything, so most of the shock goes directly into your bike suspension.
Two forward and two back is best, and I used to do a lateral strap wrapped around the base of the rear wheel to keep it from coming out sideways (again from experience).
Most everyone I know, except a few, strap their bikes 2 forward + 2 to the rear. I've seen two bikes fall strapped that way. Of course thousands of bikes strapped that way have not fallen so what I've seen are probably outliers.
On one long trip, I strapped the bike that way since the U-Haul enclosed trailer I got had four D-rings on either end of the floor but I hesitated to load the two forward D-rings with four straps under tension. With the cam lock straps on and the sportchock, one forward strap loosened and the bike shifted and when I stopped to do a routine check the bike was a few more contortions before it would fall. The rear straps were pulling the bike rearward and away from the wheel chock while the one forward strap was pulling the bike towards it and had little tension. As the bike moved rearward, the rear straps lost their tension. I dodged a bullet that day as I was trailering the 916. I redid the straps and put four straps forward. I checked often and got home without a problem.
I'm lucky that I have not had a strap rub enough to break. What I am more concerned with are the S hooks coming off whatever they are anchored too which is why I think carabiners would make better tie downs.
Regarding cam locks vs, ratchets, I have not had good luck with cam lock straps and better luck with ratchet type straps.
Maybe the taller wheel chocks and a strap which binds the wheels to the chock is necessary to keep it from riding up, maybe putting the bike in gear when trailering to keep it from rolling, and finally using six straps 4 forward and 2 rearward is ideal.
Live and learn!
cdc
Quote from: cdc on June 09, 2008, 10:57:15 PM
Live and learn!
If only more people would take your advice... [bang] ;D