Gettysburg Bike Week incident... a request..

[oldfart1956]

Fellers this past weekend watched a passle of riders heading for Gettysburg, Pa. for Bike Week. Good to see so many riders out. Coming back from gittin' groceries in McConnelsburg, Pa. as I got near Harrisonville they was a bike broke down along Rt. 30 and since I been there/done that I had to stop. I'm in the Corolla now, not riding..but I had to stop. Spent a lot of years on a Norton and know what it's like to sit there on the side of the road. Anyways, there was a group riding from Ligioner (sp.?) Pa. and when this feller came to a halt he was in a fix. All but 2 of his "friends" kept going and basically left him sit. The two that stopped...left and headed fer Gettysburg. WTH? Is that how it is today? Me and my gal still ride about 10K. a year as we're retired now but back when I rode with family/friends/groups we'd have never thought of leaving a fellow rider stranded. The problem was a stator or voltage regulator so I got out the jumper cables an me an him jawed a spell while I charged up his battery. A temporary fix but enough to git him to Bedford, a hotel and mebbe a call to a friend with a trailer. I had a trunk full'a ice cream, frozen pizzas and shrimp an other perishables so I was kind'a limited on what I could do. But I feel bad. Should'a pitched the groceries and took him home. I sent him off with a set of jumper cables and follered him to the top of Sideling Hill. If anyone hears anything concerning this I'd be grateful to know he made it home. Should'a got a name/number or had him call me but hindsight is 20/20. Thanks. Audie....The Oldfart.

[lightman]

Good on you for being a stand up guy. Kinda surprised his buddies bailed on him. I would be looking for some new riding buddies.

[3leggedturtle]

My chain on my bike broke about 30 miles north of Lake Kluane. Had an Austrian guy on A BMW R800 cross bike tow me there and since there were no parts available started towing me again to Haines Junction. A Principal in a Tacoma stopped us and loaded my bike up. Ended up helping him drive to Ft. St. John and dropped me off at a Honda dealer. Was a car/bike show going on that weekend, found gent who fixed and made custom bikes and he had master links and chain to get me going. Otherwise I would've had to sit until Tuesday as it was a Canadian holiday. So if a buddy broke down or saw some one broke, i wouldnt leave them except to go get a truck or parts!

[corbinace]

Funny you mention Kluane lake.
Pretty sure that is by the Dall Sheep lookout, and where I loaded a broken bike for a ride to Haines junction.

[Hickory]

I met a guy who said his chain broke on his motorcycle in Death Valley.
He "fixed it" about a half dozen times with fence wire before figuring out that top speed was 15 mph to keep it together.

[3leggedturtle]

Funny you mention Kluane lake.
Pretty sure that is by the Dall Sheep lookout, and where I loaded a broken bike for a ride to Haines junction.

Are/were you from Delta Junction? You also had a motorcycle you needed driven up from Washington and couldnt find no one to commit to it? This was June 29th or 30th, 2012

[RED BEAR]

I would never even considered leaving a friend or anyone for that matter. Some friends is all i can say.

[bob208]

back when I started riding(a Norton ) we stuck together looked out for one and other. if we had a party and some one drank too much we would not let them ride home . but with the this new bunch of people getting bikes it is every one for them self. I could tell some stories about some of the all for them self I have run into in the last few years. it is not just the riders. just yesterday there was a ambulance coming up behind us. we were the only one to pull over and stop to let it by.

[lightman]

Me and a buddy entered the freeway the other day from the on ramp and immediately saw a group of bikers in the middle and left lanes blocking traffic by going slower that the right lane. Some punk in a pick-up was dogging them dangerously close trying to get by. Looks like 2 cases of stupidity to us. There were about 18 of them altogether. We were not on bikes by the way.

[DIRT Farmer]

Many years ago had a load of feeder cattle on a possom belly pulled by a road eating Internatioal. I was coming around a slower simi when a bike with a gal behind the rider shot out and braked hard to slow me down so the whole group of riders could pass the simi in front of me. Like a stupid kid I shook up a load of cattle bad enough that a few had to be put down when I arrived rather than run over a stupid. Been idjets on bikes for a long time along with the good ones.