Post by ay-see on Jun 2, 2010 20:02:19 GMT -5
Took a trip up to north Georgia with some friends last weekend. We stayed at some nice cabins in Suches, and rode around the area for a few days. I didn’t get as much riding in as I would have liked since my bike chose this opportunity to have its charging system flip out, but more about that in a minute.
Some of the group arrived on Thursday so they got a bit of riding in early. Since I didn’t get there until Friday evening, my first day of riding this trip was Saturday. The plan was to ride from Suches to Morganton, around and over to Robbinsville, then back down to Suches. The morning is a little foggy and the roads are a bit wet, but not a big deal.
We had a nice little ride, split into 2 groups at first, then three when the crazy fast people split off on their own. We met back up at a gas station before the Cherohala.
We went along this road for a while, having an absolute blast. We (group 2) had caught up with the first group, who had stopped to meet us. We got back on the road when I looked down and saw that my gauge lights were flashing wildly, tach sweeping back and forth, speedometer flashing “00”. It did this for about 5 seconds, then went back to normal. “Whew” I thought, “that was weird”, thinking it sorted itself out. But then it happened again. Then went back to normal, but freaked out again. By this time, I’m starting to worry because there is no safe place to stop on this road. Nothing but one blind turn after another and no shoulder, except for the occasional scenic overlook. When I began to feel the power cutting out, I knew I need to find one of these areas. Thankfully one appeared a few seconds later, and I pulled into it. My bike died as I pulled the clutch in and I coasted to a stop.
Hopping off, I become aware of a horrible smell, kind of like a paper mill. There is steam or smoke coming out from under my seat. Some of the people I was riding with stop with me (others were ahead and hadn’t figured out anything was up yet). I turn the key back on and there is no power at all. Ok, something definitely wrong with the battery. Someone has a 5mm allen wrench, and we get the seat off. There is steam and liquid spewing from the vent in the battery. It’s toast.
So here I am on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere with a broken bike. I have no cell phone service, from where I’m standing anyway. However there is a deck that goes pretty high, and when I climb to the top I have a bit of service. We decide that everyone else will continue on the ride, since lunch is only about 15 -20 miles away in Robbinsville and there’s no sense in everyone hanging out there with me. Lauren said she would stay, and I’d call for help and have that help either find me here or meet everyone in Robbinsville and they could lead them back up to me.
Now to figure out what help I could contact. I have a membership to ROK, with roadside assistance, so I called them first. But for some reason they can’t take GPS coordinates, which is all I have. There’s no address up here! I also called my SO, but we can’t keep a very good phone connection. Between a few words here and there, and text messages, I get him my GPS coordinates and he also finds the address to the restaurant everyone is at and he gets on the road with the trailer to find me. But he’s at least 2 hours away. Oh well, we are in a beautiful spot, there’s a picnic table and a little shade, and we have some water, So we strip down to our under armor and settle in for the wait.
A group of cruiser riders pulled up as we lounged there. Who knows what they thought, with a gsxr750 and a ZX10 parked there, and two women in their underwear laying in the grass under the trees. Hahaha…
Suddenly one of the guys appears on his girlfriend’s ZX10 and the battery from his bike in his backpack. He thought if we could get some power to my bike, we could bump it and at least ride it down. However the battery is too tall and whoever rides it has to basically hold the seat down with their butt. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that, so he rode it that way and I rode his girlfriend’s bike back down.
Back at the restaurant, the bikes and batteries are restored to their rightful owners, and I settle in to wait for my SO to come and rescue me. We picked up a new battery on the way back to the cabin, and it seems like I am good to go.
Some of the group arrived on Thursday so they got a bit of riding in early. Since I didn’t get there until Friday evening, my first day of riding this trip was Saturday. The plan was to ride from Suches to Morganton, around and over to Robbinsville, then back down to Suches. The morning is a little foggy and the roads are a bit wet, but not a big deal.
We had a nice little ride, split into 2 groups at first, then three when the crazy fast people split off on their own. We met back up at a gas station before the Cherohala.
We went along this road for a while, having an absolute blast. We (group 2) had caught up with the first group, who had stopped to meet us. We got back on the road when I looked down and saw that my gauge lights were flashing wildly, tach sweeping back and forth, speedometer flashing “00”. It did this for about 5 seconds, then went back to normal. “Whew” I thought, “that was weird”, thinking it sorted itself out. But then it happened again. Then went back to normal, but freaked out again. By this time, I’m starting to worry because there is no safe place to stop on this road. Nothing but one blind turn after another and no shoulder, except for the occasional scenic overlook. When I began to feel the power cutting out, I knew I need to find one of these areas. Thankfully one appeared a few seconds later, and I pulled into it. My bike died as I pulled the clutch in and I coasted to a stop.
Hopping off, I become aware of a horrible smell, kind of like a paper mill. There is steam or smoke coming out from under my seat. Some of the people I was riding with stop with me (others were ahead and hadn’t figured out anything was up yet). I turn the key back on and there is no power at all. Ok, something definitely wrong with the battery. Someone has a 5mm allen wrench, and we get the seat off. There is steam and liquid spewing from the vent in the battery. It’s toast.
So here I am on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere with a broken bike. I have no cell phone service, from where I’m standing anyway. However there is a deck that goes pretty high, and when I climb to the top I have a bit of service. We decide that everyone else will continue on the ride, since lunch is only about 15 -20 miles away in Robbinsville and there’s no sense in everyone hanging out there with me. Lauren said she would stay, and I’d call for help and have that help either find me here or meet everyone in Robbinsville and they could lead them back up to me.
Now to figure out what help I could contact. I have a membership to ROK, with roadside assistance, so I called them first. But for some reason they can’t take GPS coordinates, which is all I have. There’s no address up here! I also called my SO, but we can’t keep a very good phone connection. Between a few words here and there, and text messages, I get him my GPS coordinates and he also finds the address to the restaurant everyone is at and he gets on the road with the trailer to find me. But he’s at least 2 hours away. Oh well, we are in a beautiful spot, there’s a picnic table and a little shade, and we have some water, So we strip down to our under armor and settle in for the wait.
A group of cruiser riders pulled up as we lounged there. Who knows what they thought, with a gsxr750 and a ZX10 parked there, and two women in their underwear laying in the grass under the trees. Hahaha…
Suddenly one of the guys appears on his girlfriend’s ZX10 and the battery from his bike in his backpack. He thought if we could get some power to my bike, we could bump it and at least ride it down. However the battery is too tall and whoever rides it has to basically hold the seat down with their butt. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that, so he rode it that way and I rode his girlfriend’s bike back down.
Back at the restaurant, the bikes and batteries are restored to their rightful owners, and I settle in to wait for my SO to come and rescue me. We picked up a new battery on the way back to the cabin, and it seems like I am good to go.
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