This story start with a fun leisure antique motorcycle ride that was not meant to be. The game plan was 3 of the old bikes, Wooly, TJ and myself was going to ride the back roads to a benefit ride. We had bikes pulled out, spot checked for loose chains , oil, tools, always need tools and then proceed to load my old 66 hard bags with tools and 2 waters and 2 gatorades in a cooler (just in case).
We left the house on time to make the easy ride to where this benefit ride was to start. We decided because we were riding old bikes and that these bikes would be doing 55 to 65 mph. We would ride north on an old 4 lane just to not be such a burden on the faster highway , or to block faster traffic on a two lane road. So off we go on a north route and just south of Leavenworth Kansas we would take one of my favorite cross overs to the faster 435 to loop a few miles north and then head back off the faster lanes. While all this would have been fun no one thought to check what was flooded (almost everything that flooded in 1993) and a lot of the West to east roads was closed just because of flooding. Needless to say, the road I love was closed because of flooding. So 180 turn and some back tracking to get to where we could cross over to435.
Everything was going fine, I was letting the old 47 set the pace for this ride. And she was running like a champ, missing a pop once in a while but nothing to be conserened about. When I heard a sound that I thought OH FUCK instantly. The sound was loud, it was under me like something bad just happened to my engine and I suddenly had no power, the engine was still going but I had no power. My first thought was, I blew a cinyninder (I don't know what made me think that but it was my first thought). After coasting to the side of the road, a spot that turned out to be a place I am going to describe as "If I had to break down this would not be a bad place to break down spot". The road at this place in the road opened up from a two lane to a four lane split, a small excess spot even father out of the flow of traffic. Hell it would have been a great spot if it had a shade tree.
When everything goes south instantly one always thinks fast on their feet so to speak. My game ace in the hole is AAA RV Plus. Which allows me an enclosed trailer cost me nothing for 100 miles and I was 40 from home? Total time it would have taken is hour and a half. I could have been home the guys could have made the show after words. But boys are I am going to say stubborn, they had to fix it right there on the side of the road, the enclosed trailer was not even considered,
Now it is a matter of finding a master link for the chain, loosing the chain and back wheel so we have enough play to put the chain back on. So off comes my hard bags, off comes the chain guard and the rear axle is loosened, the chain adjustment is loosing and I am almost sure we had to loosen something else but then every thing seems more intense when you are doing work on the side of the road. We were striking out when all of a sudden a big guy named Jim came to help. He was on his way to church and dropped his wife off and came back to help. Jim was one of two aces that made this road side repair possible. Jim kick the back tire forward so we could get the chain wrapped back around. And shortly after we got all that figured out a friends daughter and son in law came with a master link. They were only 10 miles from where I was broke down but you try to get parts delivered to the side of the road, few are going to have the part a fewer are going to send it to you.
Finally she was running, chain was turning round and round, and I was heading home to do everything I just did one the side of the road in the comfort of my own garage. But instead of just the chain the sprocket snapped some rivets and was loose on the wheel, so more money more repairs.
All and all though I have to say it could have been worse, much worse. Someone ask me how and I said, it could have been raining. I could have broke down on a two lane with no where to get out of the way. I could not have found the chain on the road. I could not have found a master link and still had to get towed home. It can always be worse so even though my ride turned out to be a repair on the side of the road, I am grateful for the two aces in the hole that got me home. The three guys who helped repair my bike and the delivery on the side of the road. I don't know if there is a number of how many times a biker is going to be broke down on the side of the road but mine moved down one more slot.
