From: "Dan Pilcher" <dpilcher@cochamber.com>
To: emrat@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2013 1:59:03 PM
Subject: RE: [emrat:3351] Another agony and ecstasy story....
Martin, what a story! I'm sorry that you ended up with some scratches on your new bike! I wish I could have gone with you (not that my now two bum shoulders would be much of a help in the lifting, tugging and holding department any more).
Perhaps we should have a topic one night at our EMRAT meeting: types of MC trailers, ways to tie down bikes, what not do to. I broke the side stand on my 1976 Bonneville by putting too much stress on the bike while hauling it in a trailer without a chock/front wheel brace. I had tightened down all the straps . . too much, as it turns out.
And I hope you have not damaged your shoulder as well!
Dan
From: emrat@googlegroups.com [mailto:emrat@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Martin Albright
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2013 1:52 PM
To: EM Rat Motorsports
Subject: [emrat:3350] Another agony and ecstasy story....
Ah, now that I have a computer and am not posting from my iphone, I can tell the rest of the story.
So, the bike was located in North Fort Collins, actually more or less in between Wellington and Fort Collins - way up there, about 75 miles from my home in Englewood. I took my little utility trailer to work and figured I'd leave work and head up there. Traffic was awful, as it often is on I-25 leaving Denver, and so it took me more than 2 hours to get to the guy's house.
The bike was in perfect condition, despite the miles (53k) the only glitch was that when we pulled out the title we noticed it was a 2002 rather than a 2004, which means it is a single-spark engine vs the twin-sparks that came out in 2003. Based on the error in the year, we negotiated a price and he signed the title over to me. Then he helped me lash the bike into the trailer. Now, I had used this trailer to haul a bike before, but never for this distance so I had added a cheap Harbor Freight front wheel brace. We also braced the back tire with wooden blocks so it couldn't slip sideways and make the bike fall down.
I tied it down tight with three ratchet straps, two at the handlebars and one across the back, and it seemed pretty solid. Checked it again before I hit the interstate and when I stopped for gas in Erie (where the picture I posted on Facebook was taken) I checked it again. Everything seemed to be fine and the bike was as immobile as I could make it.
Coming home to Englewood, I turned off of Santa Fe, then onto Windermere, and as I was turning on to Tufts - this was literally the second-to-last turn I would make - the bike flopped onto its left side!
Needless to say I was pissed and said a few choice words, but since I was at this point only about 4 blocks from home, I went ahead and drove to the house and pulled up in front, then jumped out to right the bike.
After much heaving and ho-ing (I was by myself) I managed to get the bike upright and onto the side stand. I still don't know what happened, but my theory now is that the bike was not perfectly upright, it was tilted ever so slightly to the left (because it had been sitting on the side stand when we started strapping it in.) When I took that sharp left-hand turn that was enough to make the bike slip just enough and - wham!
After getting the bike on the side stand, I then straddled it and started backing it down the ramp of the trailer. Just as the back wheel started rolling down the ramp, it came to a sudden halt. I couldn't figure out why and then I realized that I hadn't raised the side stand, which was now jammed on the lip of the trailer's bed! Again I dismounted and mustered all my strength to pull the bike forward against gravity (since the rear wheel had already started going "downhill") It took a lot of muscling and more than a few choice words, and I couldn't even go inside to get Liz to ask her to help me because I was afraid that if I let go of the bike it would flop onto the street on the non-sidestand side.
After much struggling and huffing, I got the bike pushed forward far enough to raise the sidestand, then jumped on the saddle and backed it down to the street. At that point I spent a few minutes catching my breath and then started pushing it into my driveway.
Unfortunately, there is still quite a bit of ice in the driveway and as I was pushing it to ward the garage, I slipped on some ice and nearly dropped the bike. I think I may have pulled a muscle in my shoulders, but the good news is that the bike did not hit the ground.
I finally got it into the garage, and up on the center stand, to survey the damage - looks like I lucked out and the worst I could find was a couple of small scratches on the left engine case. I haven't tried to fire it up since then, I was just exhausted and had to go to work today.
So that's my story. The bike is home and I'm hoping to get it registered on Monday so I can do some riding before our next blast of arctic weather hits!
Martin
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