A near catastrophe was survived!

While nearing my Cleveland, Ohio destination I experienced a quasi “sudden” failure of the rear wheel on the Goldwing. A failure that I believed was the fault of the company and mechanics that had performed service on my Wing just days earlier… I was wrong.

After fueling for that last 30 miles or so… a short distance that I could have easily made without a refuel, I immediately returned to the I-71 northbound. as I accelerated to passing speed of about 85 mph and established my speed and the pace of traffic, the bike began to shack and shift uncontrollably from side to side. I managed to not loose total control and ultimately brought the bike to a safe stop.

What I first thought my circumstance was, was that the trailer I had in tow was experiencing a tire failure. Of course my first thought would have been that the Wing was suffering a rear tire failure if I was not towing or had not already believed that the trailer tires were in need of replacement.

Upon dismounting the bike I was in somewhat in a state of shock or at least of disbelief that I had just had a potentially catastrophic mishap and that I had survived it! After coming to grips with my situation I began the investigation. First I checked the trailer and found both tires in tact. With that eliminated I wholly expected the rear tire of the motorcycle to be flat… I looked and it wasn’t… I was bewildered. After lying on the ground (on the edge of a fast moving highway) I noticed that one of the 5 lugs was missing. Further examination revealed that the other 4 lug nuts appeared to be in differing relative relationship to the rim. I quickly determined that the remaining lug nuts had been wearing away the alloy of the rim and were now partially pulled through the rim… barely holding the wheel in place. Now my mind turned to the negligence of the company who had most recently worked on my bike. I was angered! I was vengeful! I was wrong.

Things to take away from being on the side of the road.

• It is very difficult to hear or to be heard when vehicles are zipping past you at highway speeds.
  • Having a cellphone is not enough. Without an additional hearing device i.e. Earpiece or headphones it is impossible to have a pointed and urgent communications. Persons on the other end often feel that it is the callers responsibility to call from a better environment or location and will even disconnect your call if they are having difficulty communicating. This will result in continued call attempts, continued reestablishment of your choice of who to speak with via voice or keypad inputs along with continued reestablishment of your identity with each call.
  • Low cellphone battery conditions:
    • If you are prepared enough to have the ability to keep your phone charged while on your bike, don’t be too sure that you have this issue solved! I do have the ability to charge from my bike. But, if you have  continually call, if you are being placed on hold, if you are walking to and fro from you bike in attempt to find shelter from the elements or to try to reduce highway noise (can’t stay plugged in), or if the emergency flashers on your motorcycle have been also tasking your battery… You might find yourself without adequate power to continue to communicate and/or maintaining emergency lighting.
  • Your roadside emergency service insurance policy may not be as available, or as capable as you may think. 
  • Highway Patrol or other law enforcement
  • Other drivers and motorcyclist 
  • Water… You drink a lot of water when exposed and also wearing lots of water to stay cool.
  • Policy information in paper and in your phone
  • GWRRA Gold Book
  • Safety gear, Light, Vest, Tools, Straps, Tourniquet, Cash
  • Good attitude
  • Someone to be home-base: This is arguably the most import asset. In my case, my wife was not on the trip and performed this much needed and appreciated function. For you and perhaps me, may (in the case that we are on the road together) need to always establish someone who can be your “home base” or “base station” while on the road.The ability to know that someone on the other side of a phone knows my whereabouts, knows my issue, knows the direness of my urgency and has all the contact information for everyone who could play apart in a rescue operation is imperative.

    After the initial contact was made to the insurance company, another insurance person determined that I was not covered for roadside assistance. Pam contacted them and cleared it up. On this same incident… after waiting hours… Pam called again after a long wait… found out that the insurance company was under the impression that I had canceled my roadside rescue request!). I was not aware of it, she found out and argued in my behalf that there is no way that I’m standing out on the highway, out of state with a broken motorcycle… that I cancelled the request… She was able to get them back on track.

    If my phone went dead or if my situation status was further diminished that I could not communicate, the home base would be able… with all the information in hand, be able to provide last known location and condition information to others and an account of all that has transpired.

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So, after being stuck on the highway for the better part of 5 hours I was finally rescued and I had plenty of time to think about how this company was going to pay for this issue and my resulting discomfort.