So...there I was....

Wednesday, midday, clippin' along at 68-70 mph on a straight, I glance over at the cows to my left...and the next thing I know I lose all KINDS of traction on the front, and it's a rodeo for about the next 8 seconds. I held on till the horn, Thank God, I know my Guardian Angels were workin' overtime with me right then. After what seemed I downshifted and mashed the back brake for about a thousand times in those 8 seconds, I guided my XL over to the shoulder, got off, and pulled it about 12 feet off of the road.

Then, I walked over to the little burger joint I happened to be next to at that point, went in, ordered lunch and sat down and ate and waited for the shakes.

They never came, and my pulse didn't even go crazy....still tryin' to figure that one out, yanno?

At any rate, called the dealership where I had got the tires put on not even one hour before....told them what happened and they came and got me, real quick like.

Turns out that the nylon guide on the tire machine had found it's way into the space between the tube and tire...and stayed there for about 31 miles or so till it decided to make it's presence known.

I am LUCKY to be able to be writing this now, and will probably have my road name changed to reflect that.

Anyone else out there lost the front at 70 and walk away without a scratch, without even dumping the scooter??

scoot

GLAD YA MADE IT! WHAT DID THE DEALERSHIP HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THERE F' up?

Let's see. what did the dealership say?

Well, they were very sorry. And yanno, I feel that it was an honest mistake, I SAW the tech that changed go out for the test ride, and I know the route, it's about 2 miles even. I feel that I walked away without a scratch, knowing that God really DOES love me and that guardian angels DO work overtime. So, seeing as to how they replaced the tire, and the tech learned an INVALUABLE lesson on paying attention to detail...no harm done. I ain't gonna automatically sue like so many other people might do.

I'll just keep on relyin' on that Irish luck and press on....

I tell you what, though, Waco H-D will know me the next time I walk in I betcha!!!

scoot

Glad you made it ok. Last week was the week for that I guess. I had a similar angel thing on Tuesday evening. I was about to turn right, had already moved to the turn lane. A friend of mine was moving into the lane also, but hadn't crossed over into it yet. I was following a Yukon or Tahoo, late 90's version, and he had his turn signal on to go right also. He realized the Tahoo was stopping short, and pulled back into the lane beside me and throttled up. I was looking over to see what he was doing, not at the Tahoo. My own stupid fault. Tahoo stopped short of the turn, by the time I saw it I was 15 or so feet from doing a T-bone in center rear. Had my hand over the front brake lever anyway, grabbed a handful, and got a bit over-zealous with it. Front tire locked, slide out to the right, left side hit hard on the floorboard. My toe was hanging off the side a bit, jammed it so hard I thought I broke the big one. May have, haven't been to the doc. Turned purple and all, really nice and swelled still. Anyway, I let off the lever, and the front tire caught. Somehow, I missed the Tahoo, even though he was going about 10 mph and I was more like 30 mph. I've been riding over 300k miles in my years, and I've been over this in my head a couple hundred times. I shoulda either hit the pavement, hit the Tahoo, or most likely both. God must have at least one thing he wants me to do yet, I've just got to figure out what it is.

Walked away (ok, limped) with only a toe hurt. Nothing on the bike hurt, no helmet, no leathers at the time. I knew it was close, but never even had the heart racing. Guardian angel still moves pretty well.......

Holy cow, glad you guys are ok. Having a big Harley flop around underneath me would be a little unsettling. I had the front tire go flat rapidly on the Dyna at some speed some years back. I didn't like that at all. I didn't fall over so that was ok. You fellows may want to buy a lotto ticket and see if that good fortune is still riding with you......

WOW! Glad no-one was seriously hurt! Hope to god I never have the experience to talk about. Did have a close call last summer. left turn lane and staight lane with yellow blinker. No on-coming traffic and none entering from the left. 1st car making the left came to almost a complete stop the 2nd car in the go staright lane decided to slow also And started moving into the left turn lane! I was about 50 feet back with my wife on the back. was going about 40. had to stomp the rears almost skidded out then down shifted and throttled up. threaded the needle. went up about 100 feet stopped and took a real deep breath. Someone was definately looking out for us that day.

Be Safe.
Shak

God as a Biker

Well, first I am glad you guys are all OK and can sit here and tell us about it. I have been in and seen some pretty strange things over the years, lots of freaky "should have been in the hospital if not the undertaker" sort of stuff. I finally realized that God has a special place in his heart for Bikers. I mean if Jesus had come around in our time he would have probably ridden a shovel. Not a lot of tax collectors or fisherman to hang with and before the big R.U.B. evolution, we was certainly the "unclean".....sure am glad you guys are OK.

Ride Free.....

I can see that, Jesus as a biker and all. It kinda does make sense, yanno?

I've always seen the Soldiers for Jesus, Tribe of Judah, etc, and none of 'em even look remotely inappropriate on a hog, so maybe you're on to somethin', Greybear, maybe you are...

scoot