Mechanic failure hundreds of miles from home

[rad3766]

Assuming you're in an area where you have cell service or a land line, contact roadside assistance (you do have it, yes ?)
Before attempting to use road side assistance, verify service/ coverage area.
I would look at 2 options; is this something that can be fixed at a reasonable cost/time frame? (dealer or shop repair) or is it something a little more involved, like having a piston that wants to see the outside world?
In that case its a rental truck or a very good friend or family member with a trailer and extra time on thier hands.
(I found out 2 weeks ago that AAA doesnt offer m/c services in NY state
like they do in Tx.
A flat bed wrecker in NY will set you back 95.00 for hook up, 5.00/mile, plus 15.00 fuel surcharge, gets real spendy, real fast.

[gixxerjasen]

If the DFW area is hundreds of miles away from your home, you could use these guys. Or you can use em if your local too I guess.

[dukey33]

what's this??

Goldwings aren't supposed to need tow trucks. Goldwings ARE tow trucks.

[Jack Giesecke]

If I really travelled a lot, I'd join GWRRA again. They had a good rider support program like BMWOA. I never had to use 'em, but it was comforting that the book was in the bags on a long trip. I also never had to go pick anyone up. Hmm, Wings must be reliable, well, newer ones, anyway.

[Jack Giesecke]

You know, you can always take a spare bike with you.....

[budzrex]

Years ago one of the guys I was riding with seized up a motor in the heat
in an Arizona Summer, RD350 running a bit lean on the mixture. We
pooled our cash and for 300bucks bought a used duce and a half at a
army surplus and put the bikes in and had just about as much fun
driving back to home as we did getting out there. last I saw the old truck
it was still out on the farm in Crosby

There is something to be said for being able to BBQ steaks as you roll down
the road at a steady 45mph and the law was much more forgiving of cold
beverages while traveling back in the late 70s

[texasnh]

Originally Posted by Hairsmith

It only a trip until the problems begin, then it becomes an Adventure !

[TX_northstar]

My two cents, I bought AAA (Gold I think) RV service for $125 p/year for two people. The service covers any car, bike or RV I am driving or towing. If I am towing my boat and the trailer breaks they will tow that for me as well. The first 100 miles are free and I can use it up to 4 times per year per card. If wifey and I are two up we could, in theory, tow the V-strom or anything else up to 800 miles for free. However, I have only ever had to use it to tow my pick-up.

[Jack Giesecke]

I've got Allstate travel club, guess they'll cover the bike, don't know. I've used 'em before for wife's car, the truck, an RV. It's $99 a year. I really don't travel much anymore, but I keep up the membership just in case. Heck, they pulled me out of the mud once down at my place.

[texasnh]

I do my best to keep my vehicles in tip-top shape. In my 20 years of driving (mostly old cars), I have only called a tow truck once. That cost me $55. If I had AAA for 20 years, the total membership cost would be $2000. This is why I would not join clubs like AAA.

[gixxerjasen]

Aha, but there's plenty of other benefits to joining AAA. I joined up this past year because the AAA discount on my Ryder truck (for the move back from Cleveland) was 12% which ended up paying for the membership and then some. Then we used the AAA membership discount for our hotel on the way down and have used it on hotels since.

I might maintain my membership next year, we'll see.

[HoopleHead]

Might be nice if the forum could have a "phone book" of names and numbers of members willing to help each other. Anyone desperate for help in the Hill Country area can call me and I'll bring whatever they need in the way of tools... of course I won't be likely to have parts. Do have a big ole pick m up to haul you back if we can get you into it. 830-279-9555 and the name's Ed.

[Jack Giesecke]

To me, it's not so much the cost of the travel club, it's the convenience when you are in a pickle. You just call the number, they look up the nearest tow operator for you. I've used it a lot back when my wife was driving a Chevy Cavalier 100 miles a day... They cut me off one year after the third call in a year. After I didn't have any calls for a while, I was cool. It even saved me a trip to Bay City once when she locked her keys in the car.

The TWT travel club is a decent idea for those who would participate. I will if someone starts collecting names/numbers. Probably should be a donation involved for access even though I haven't donated. I have a trailer as well as a shop with jacks, stands, air tools, and such.

[mbrew]

Originally Posted by Jack Giesecke

The TWT travel club is a decent idea for those who would participate. I will if someone starts collecting names/numbers. Probably should be a donation involved for access even though I haven't donated. I have a trailer as well as a shop with jacks, stands, air tools, and such.

There are fields that ask if you can store bikes, supply tools and the like in the user profiles. I asked Scott about that when I met him a few months ago and it seems as though he mentioned it was thought of as a feature for forum supporters but I don't remember the details. Scott you reading? I personally think it's a good idea.

For now, I've been giving my number to a few folks that are pretty active in the area so its available if someone should need a trailer. In fact I'll PM some more folks this weekend with it.

Mike

[blesk]

I'm glad someone's had good luck with AAA. When called about a blown tire in FL last summer, they asked whether the flat was on the driver or passenger side. Hmmm, front tire, I suppose that would be the driver side Then five hours later they still hadn't arrived - I'm not sure if they ever arrived.

When I used them in Idaho on several occasions the wait time was phenomenally long, even in busy well traveled areas. The last time I was stuck on a snow covered bridge for so long that the person I was doing web development work for offered to come tow me himself.

I also wonder about the accuracy of their systems. I once had two of my teen sons coincidentally break down on opposite sites of the same intersection (no collision) within half an hour of each other. AAA didn't seem to notice that we were calling two tow trucks to the same place - though indeed we needed two tow trucks.

On a brighter note, during the same trip a complete mechanical breakdown of my nearly new bike resulted in an extremely helpful and kind shop owner in Selma loaning his pickup so the bike could get hauled to Birmingham 90 miles away. You meet some of the most incredibly helpful, nice people when you're stuck on a bike.

[humanrace]

[quote=texasnh;521441]I'm just wondering what the scenario is like if my bike breaks down due to a serious mechanic problem while I'm riding thru a small town in the middle of nowhere. What is that like? How much is the cost to tow a bike hundreds of miles to home? Did that ruin the day of your riding buddies also? etc.[/QUOTE]

Back to the original question, in 1980 I organized a 10 day trip for 3 bikes, all riding double. It was also a camping only ride. Since it was all my planning, I worried about a bike breakdown with the trip planner out of the ride. The wife suggested that we take $3500 out of savings to buy a new bike if our 850 Yamaha broke down. My suggestion is get a good wife!!!!!!

I carried enough tools on that trip to rebuild an engine. About 10 years later, I went on a 31 day ride and the only tool I carried was a screwdriver with a reversible tip and it was carried because it had fallen out of the OEM tool kit and got stuck in the battery box. I don't worry about breaking down. The only time my bike quit, I was towed about 20 miles by a DR650. Note to self: Fill up with gas more often.

[Kat013]

Originally Posted by mbrew

There are fields that ask if you can store bikes, supply tools and the like in the user profiles. I asked Scott about that when I met him a few months ago and it seems as though he mentioned it was thought of as a feature for forum supporters but I don't remember the details. Scott you reading? I personally think it's a good idea.

What springs to mind is, for those of us who don't have web-enabled phones and/or a partner at the other end of the cell phone who can post for us, this:
Setting up one or more persons per area who are willing to receive calls from stranded riders, and either post for them and/or find folks in a DB of people willing to tow / show up with tools / deliver parts.

I would quite happily donate to TWT for a service like that. I'm a full-time student and I have a seasonal job; paying for even one tow and associated shop service would really sting, but I could probably afford a yearly donation.

[donroger1]

I totaled a bike in Arkansas two years ago. (I didn't know it was totaled yet) I rode it 40 miles back to Russellville and went about locating a U-Haul. The 40 mile ride convinced me that riding it home was out of the question. The U-Haul dealer I found gave me a discount (because I was injured) and came to the motel to pick me up. My fellow riders loaded the bike that evening at the motel.
Sunday morning, I got up and had breakfast with the guys and then headed out for home. It was while driving home that I realized I had more than a bruised rib. ER at home proved it was broken.

Net result: U-Haul from Russellville, AR to Denton, TX cost $230.00
The fuel ran about $70.00 and I was home in 8 hours.

It would have cost more for someone to come up and pick the bike up and taken much more time.

BTW Progressive reimbursed me 100% for rental and fuel. Seems their salvage operation is in the Dallas area and they would have had to transport the bike back as well.

[donmitt]

In 2007,my wife and I were traveling through WY and at Cokeville,WY she had a flat from a defective valve stem. No center stand on a BMW 1200C I had to call the AMA MO-TOW service. They only pay for, I think 35 miles, but at least they found someone to come get it and also fix it that day. That little town had at that time a Flying J truck stop and a motel. The town we were towed to was approx 50 some miles away and at a Ford motor dealership that sold Honda off road m/c. This did add "adventure" to the trip and we had to reroute which gave us an unexpected addition to an enjoyable ride. Over all, it was an interesting experience in our 4100 mile trip.

[mbrew]

I broke down on the way down to Austin a couple of weeks ago. Lost my electrical system and was lucky it happened where it did. A few yards down the road and I wouldn't have had a shoulder to pull off on due to construction. That would have been scary. I waited three hours for BBrew to show up with her Toy and trailer and the parts to fix it. I spent an enjoyable three hours next to the freeway after dark but Beth got a night on the town in Austin for her trouble. I changed the alternator brushes the next morning and went on about my business. Why I had spare alternator brushes that were not installed you ask? Good question. I bet they don't leave me stranded again! I'm not sure what I'd done if she hadn't been available. It would have been a long walk to the nearest Uhaul.

I never did follow up on passing my number around. I'll send some PM's out tomorrow.

Mike