- Joined
- Oct 1, 2018
- Messages
- 98
- Age
- 70
- Location
- Titanic America, Banana Republic
- Bike
- 2022 BMW RT 1250
Hi, on my last solo ride, the ST got a nonrepairable flat rear tire. This was in the mountains where due to the heat, I do most of my summer riding. There is no cell service. It's about 12:00pm.
So happened I was stopped at a defunct restaurant when the tire went flat. The pay phone is out of order. There was a group of three motorcyclist hanging out and they offered to call AAA when they got to the next town after a second planned stop. After about an hour and a half, they took off for their next stop. (Very nice, but I know I would have cut my stop short to make the call sooner than later.) While waiting for AAA to show, another rider on a new BMW stopped. He waited with me for over two hours. While he waited with me, we flagged down a forest service worker. She drove me to a remote fire station where I used their phone to call AAA. All is good. Per AAA, the tow truck would be there by 3:30, less than an hour. Perfect! During the wait, several cars stopped (one was going to make follow-up calls to AAA) and graciously offered food and water (of which I had some). About 5:30pm, another group of bikes show up and as still no truck, 'Darrin', offers to call my friend to come pick me up if I'm not home by 9:00pm. He also asks that I call him if I get towed or my friend picks me up. He stated if he doesn't hear from me, he's going to come looking for me. WOW! Tow truck shows up about 7pm, we carefully load the bike and we're in front of the house about 8:30pm.
On the way home, I call Darrin and my friend that the bike and I are on the way home.
My question after all this, how do others handle breakdowns? I know the obvious answer is to only ride where there is cell coverage (not possible) and to only ride with a friend(s) (possible).
Oh yea, don't break down!
It was a bit unnerving (ok, I was frazzled) having to rely on the kindness of strangers (and not knowing if the other calls to AAA were actually made) to get home. Due to where I was stopped, I was never in any real danger, but as dusk approached I was thinking I might be spending the night. You begin to wonder if AAA dropped the ball?
So happened I was stopped at a defunct restaurant when the tire went flat. The pay phone is out of order. There was a group of three motorcyclist hanging out and they offered to call AAA when they got to the next town after a second planned stop. After about an hour and a half, they took off for their next stop. (Very nice, but I know I would have cut my stop short to make the call sooner than later.) While waiting for AAA to show, another rider on a new BMW stopped. He waited with me for over two hours. While he waited with me, we flagged down a forest service worker. She drove me to a remote fire station where I used their phone to call AAA. All is good. Per AAA, the tow truck would be there by 3:30, less than an hour. Perfect! During the wait, several cars stopped (one was going to make follow-up calls to AAA) and graciously offered food and water (of which I had some). About 5:30pm, another group of bikes show up and as still no truck, 'Darrin', offers to call my friend to come pick me up if I'm not home by 9:00pm. He also asks that I call him if I get towed or my friend picks me up. He stated if he doesn't hear from me, he's going to come looking for me. WOW! Tow truck shows up about 7pm, we carefully load the bike and we're in front of the house about 8:30pm.
On the way home, I call Darrin and my friend that the bike and I are on the way home.
My question after all this, how do others handle breakdowns? I know the obvious answer is to only ride where there is cell coverage (not possible) and to only ride with a friend(s) (possible).
Oh yea, don't break down!
It was a bit unnerving (ok, I was frazzled) having to rely on the kindness of strangers (and not knowing if the other calls to AAA were actually made) to get home. Due to where I was stopped, I was never in any real danger, but as dusk approached I was thinking I might be spending the night. You begin to wonder if AAA dropped the ball?