Stranded!!!

While enjoying a nice spring day ride (solo, because riding buddies are WIMPS!!! There was a 30% chance of rain) my 83 'ceptor was running like a champ. I'd taken TN107 from Jonesborough, TN to Greeneville, TN. I cruised by the Honda dealer in Greeneville to see if there was anything in there that a couldn't live without (there wasn't). I Came out to find 4 or 5 other riders as well as the shop owner gathered around my bike. As I suited up to continue my ride, I was thinking how bad it would be if the bike failed to start with everyone looking on. As usual, she roared to life to the "thumbs up" of the onlookers. I could hear comments like "I can't believe it's been 25 years since those things came out." and "That thing looks like it's brand new." As I got to the outskirts of town, I saw a sign that pointed the way to Afton. I'd never been to Afton and thought I'd check it out. I had to make a left turn off of a very busy 4 lane divided highway. Right in the middle of the road the bike gave a big "caugh", then everything dead. I looked up to see several cars headed right for me!!! I jumped off the bike and pushed with all my might to get across the road before becoming a hood ornament. I made it by mere inches. I pulled the seat off and sidecover to find the ground cable from the batt was too hot. I pulled out a screwdriver, unhooked it and saw a big spark come from it. After a little looking, I found the + cable had rubbed on the frame and had welded itself to it. I pulled it away and secured it away from the frame. Tried to start the bike, and only got a "click".... dead battery. It had discharged while it was shorted out. Several cars just passed me right by without even a glance muchless asking if I needed help. One guy on a Goldwing did stop, but didn't have any jumper cables, and didn't offer to try to find any even though he lived only 5 miles away. Tried to push it off...bad idea...that thing is heavy and it was up hill. So, out comes the cell phone. After 4 calls, I caught one of my riding buddies at home who came with cables to get me going. I was so glad to hear her fire up and know that I hadn't blown the RR or the stator or coils. She now has a new battery and new cables rerouted to prevent this from happening again. All in all, I spent 2 hours on the side of the road with no offer of help from the locals. Moral of this long story.....always have your tool kit and a cell phone. We have to help each other because no one else will.

 

Man that sucks! I thought we were going to have problems with my bike today because it wouldn't start after being parked for a couple of minutes. Luckily after a short search we saw one of the battery cables was just loose. A fellow rider in the group had a screwdriver with him and saved the day.

It is good though that nothing more serious happened, and I'm glad you are ok!!! There have been a lot of riders down lately, hate to see another one!

 

Yep Cell phone is a must. even thou it seems like 90% of the time the places I go there's no service. Man O man how rare, Never heard of this one before, and how many miles are on your machine? just thinking why it happened in the first place, cables routed wrong? Glad to hear it wasn't worse. Damn Murphys law, now if those guys back at the dealer wouldn't have made you think will it start?

 

I had a classic 1982 GPz 550 that i ran for 2 years trouble free and then for the next 2 years it gave me fault after fault to fix. more than once i was left pushing, and in both instances the cellphone saved the day.
as the AMEX advert says, dont leave home with out one, if for no other reason than piece of mind. oh, and also, when you do take one, dont forget to do up your pocket. apparently it looks like a mini explosion when one hits the road at 60 MPH- so my buddy tells me LOL!

hey, nice new photo there VFR shorty! :yield:

 

Upon further inspection, the PO had changed the + cable to a longer one and had tucked it in behind the battery tray. He did a good job of hiding his handy-work, so I had never noticed it.
And Yeah, I think I was jinksed by the guys back at the dealer.

 

Luckily, I have only had a few breakdowns on motorcycles. But every time I did, a fellow rider helped me out. So I make it a point to stop every time I see an M/C on the side of the road to see what I can do.

So, yeah, riders do seem to have to depend on other riders.

 

I think the guys at the shop sabotaged you out of jealousy. they scraped the wire so it would short. Haters.
Glad you were able to get out of traffic.
That's why I carry tools, cell phone and the emergency zip tie.
Your story does make me want to be more aware of bikers on the side of the road.

 

Last week a guy was standing on the side of the road w/jumper cables in his hand, so I stopped and gave him a jump. So, I thought I had a jump start in the karma bank. Guess I was wrong. I couldn't believe so many people drove right by. Wouldn't even look my way!!! Glad I wasn't on fire. I will continue to help motorists, especially bikes, but it sure would be nice to GET a little help once in a while.