any similar experiences? August 11, 2015, Bakersfield, CA to Barstow, CA along state road 58 East of Mojave. air temp 110+, cruising 75MPH.
I smell something burning. look around, out of the corner of my eye, left side I see it's me. look back to the front and start braking hard. 1/2 an instant later the plastic saddlebag melted to the point where it fell from the mounting brackets, in the rear view mirror I see cars and trucks trying to dodge a flaming ball bouncing down the highway spewing flaming clothes and everything else as the bag burst open still on fire. thankfully a trucker pulled over as well with a fire extinguisher and put out the flames belching heavy black smoke from the burning plastic in the travel lane and to prevent another brush fire from starting.
there were no chemicals, solvents or fuel in the bag, just clothes, raingear and paperwork. it would appear the hot ambient air temp and the heat rising from the exhaust pipe caused spontaneous combustion within the bag to ignite the contents OR the bag just softened to the point where it rested on the exhaust pipe and ignited the plastic.
have any other people experienced anything like this in the desert with your bags catching fire?
YES, I was OK as was the K, less the burn stain on the chrome exhaust.
the next day I was hospitalized for 3 days having succumb to the heat myself. my kids talked me into leaving the bike in Nevada and flying home to recuperate. I had been on the road for some 5 weeks when this happened. guess I'll be finishing this ride in Oct or Nov when I go back to retrieve the K GT.
I smell something burning. look around, out of the corner of my eye, left side I see it's me. look back to the front and start braking hard. 1/2 an instant later the plastic saddlebag melted to the point where it fell from the mounting brackets, in the rear view mirror I see cars and trucks trying to dodge a flaming ball bouncing down the highway spewing flaming clothes and everything else as the bag burst open still on fire. thankfully a trucker pulled over as well with a fire extinguisher and put out the flames belching heavy black smoke from the burning plastic in the travel lane and to prevent another brush fire from starting.
there were no chemicals, solvents or fuel in the bag, just clothes, raingear and paperwork. it would appear the hot ambient air temp and the heat rising from the exhaust pipe caused spontaneous combustion within the bag to ignite the contents OR the bag just softened to the point where it rested on the exhaust pipe and ignited the plastic.
have any other people experienced anything like this in the desert with your bags catching fire?
YES, I was OK as was the K, less the burn stain on the chrome exhaust.
the next day I was hospitalized for 3 days having succumb to the heat myself. my kids talked me into leaving the bike in Nevada and flying home to recuperate. I had been on the road for some 5 weeks when this happened. guess I'll be finishing this ride in Oct or Nov when I go back to retrieve the K GT.
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