Cheap Towing & Repair

[RWasson]

Your Nightrider was back on 2 wheels at 8:00 p.m. last night (Saturday) after being broken down on the side of the road 100 miles from home a few hours before. Near the end of the first half of the beautiful (sunny and 65 degrees F) ride around Lake Okeechobee with the Sunshine Chapter on my '78 T-140 (newer than all but one other of the 25 bikes in the ride), my throttle cable became detached where the single wire connects under the tank to the separator used to pull both carbs in unison.

First came the tow 70 miles to my mechanic's shop in Fort Lauderdale. The trip on the flatbed with a cycle dolly cost me nothing. The $30 extra I pay per year for my "RV" coverage on AAA towing was paid back several times over on that one 70-mile tow.

Then came the quick and low-cost professional repair at Wes Scott Cycles. Wes usually closes at 6 p.m., but when I called him he stayed until 8:00 to repair the cable (which he had in stock, of course). Price $11.95 for the parts and $20 for labor. Great deal, huh?

Most people would have been out of commission until Monday at the very least, after paying a couple of hundred bucks to be towed home on Saturday and finding a place to do the repair after the weekend. I hear I won the "Hard Luck Trophy" at the awards ceremony after the ride. It should be the "Good Luck Trophy" if you ask me.

Back riding at night, like originally

Roy

[Vanguard]

Whole story

Since you decided to bring up the situation that required the towing of your bike,
why not tell the rest of the story.

The bike was not so much broken down, as fallen down.

It was not really the side of the road, more the center of the road.

This occured when you ran into the back fender of another member.
He had decided to wait until it was safe to enter the flow of traffic.

Among the damages caused by the accident, was the throttle cable strained to the point of breaking.

Lets just stick to the facts.

[RWasson]

"Ouch." It hurts to be put on trial in the "Court of Popular Opinion" for expecting that the rider in front of me would complete his left-hand turn into a "T" intersection and not stop suddenly in the middle of the highway divider, especially in light of the fact that there was no other vehicle within a quarter mile.


I do not see Judge Wapner from "The Peoples' Court" or a jury present (nor any eyewitnesses to the piddling event, for that matter), so I see nothing to be gained by casting blame onto anyone. No one was hurt and the other rider and I left as friends and riding brothers, I believe. So let's look at the positives instead of the negatives (glass is half full instead of half empty).


It was a beautiful day for a ride (halfway) around Lake Okeechobee. I returned home on the same 2 wheeler I started out on in the morning, with a new throttle cable replacing a 25-year-old part, for an expenditure of less than $35. That is a successful day of riding in my book. Thanks to the Sunshine Chapter for welcoming me into it.

Roy

[k.perry]

Hahahahaha. Funny story. That's good!
Man!!, That's sitcom material you guys.

[AdminGuy]

Sadly this happens from time to time. Unfortunate - but it does. My comments below are not implying anything, or pointing fingers. I'm just expressing some personal insight.

I belong to a number of clubs. From time to time we have new members or existing that need to be reminded of a few things. So every couple of years we talk about traffic patterns. The calculation of speed VS catch-up distance. Proper group riding protocall, hand signals, lane positioning, etc. Those with good breaks -and not so good breaks. ...folks that want to go fast leave first and we all meet up somewhere. 45 yr old+ speed demon deliquents are asked to cool it a bit. And those on new Antique bikes are asked to kindly ride with caution. Those who cannot see (aaahhh...very much) are asked to take special precautions. Usually with time folks find a group, within the group, they feel comfortable riding with.

It's not the destination - It's the journey.
Take care - Ride safe - Have fun.

Paul Edwards