SOS
A
ll of us have probably experienced that sinking feeling as
your bike starts to sputter and buck sounding strange
as it sputters and dies. It is that moment when all of the
adrenaline from the ride so far sinks immediately to the pit of your
stomach and you think to yourself something like, “ It’s gonna
die and I need to move to the shoulder … NOW!” You pull your
clutch-in and roll across the lanes of traffic, praying you will make it
to the side of the road before it dies completely. The bike sputters
to a stop and there you are, stranded on the side of the road.
This happened to me soon after I started riding my own bike
on my seventh or eighth trip into the mountains (of course it
wasn’t in town). We were heading home after spending a day
riding with some friends when my bike started to buck and
sputter. Luckily it was on the last hill traveling down 285. So, I
sought out my “exit strategy” and rolled the bike on the shoulder
of the road. The first thing that I thought of was, “I hope I just
either. I was at a loss as to how in the world I was supposed to
ran out of gas”. I tried to start my bike, but nothing. Checked
signal a passing motorist or motorcyclist if I needed assistance.
the stop switch, battery power etc. they were all fine. I checked
Afterward, I decided if I didn’t know, perhaps a bit of research
the petcock and realized it was in the reserve position--Oops.
was in order. So I did some research and found a few places
I opened the gas tank and staring down into the void I could
that mentioned other ways to signal that I was a motorcyclist
clearly see that it was dry, bone dry! I gently shook the bike back
in distress. To my surprise I found that there isn’t a universal
and forth and didn’t hear any sloshing. Yup, I was out of gas.
signal.
Luckily my husband Patrick was with me and he offered to go
I found that the most common signal of distress is to put
on home and bring some gas for my bike. This was my new
your helmet on the ground by the rear tire of the bike. Further
baby (well new to me anyway) an d I didn’t want to leave her on
research showed that you can also use a glove on your
the roadside at the bottom of the hill alone. So off he went the
rearview mirror or a white cloth on the back of the bike. These
last few miles home, grabbed the gas can and returned while
cannot be considered universal signals because the places
I stood on the roadside and waited for him to return with gas.
where I did my research had more than 75% of the people
I looked at the petcock and was trying to see if indeed I had saying that they didn’t know of them. The final signal I found
left it in the reserve position accidentally. I broke open the was either a thumbs up or down to passing a rider to let the
compartment that has my toolkit and owner’s manual and yup, passing motorcyclist know that you need assistance or don’t.
I had left it in the reserve position. As I was waiting, for my
I am glad that we weren’t far from home and the round trip
husband to return, I counted at least 30 motorcycles pass me
with Patrick going to get gas for me took less than 40 minutes.
by and only one person stopped to see if I needed assistance.
After we arrived home I thought some more and realized that
That was one out of 30 motorcyclists, of course that doesn’t waiting around for someone to help you isn’t the only option.
count the endless stream of cars that passed me by while I
Roadside assistance is a good thing to have if you are
was sitting there with my owner’s manual out and my toolkit on
far from home and stranded in the middle of nowhere.
my seat. As I sat there I realized that I didn’t know how to alert
Unfortunately, this happened to us a few years back on a road
passing bikers that I needed help without waving my arms around
trip to Louisiana and we were extremely glad that we had
like a lunatic and jumping up and down. This time, I ran out of
roadside assistance that we purchased from Harley Davidson
gas and my husband was on his way, so I didn’t need to signal for
Owner’s Group. I have since discovered that similar roadside
help. Good thing too, since I didn’t know how.
assistance is offered by several companies including the
Of course, most recently made motorcycles have hazard American Motorcycle Association, Allstate Motor Club and
signals now (and gas gauges), but many older bikes don’t have
14 Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado
April 2016
www.thunderroadscolorado.com