Sue
Friend of the Marque
What could have been a horrible story:
Last week my son Tyler (MOA member) took his 1996 F650 on vacation. With camping gear strapped on, he and his wife headed from Wisconsin towards Gettysburg, PA on Monday morning. Although he has toured long distances with me in the past, it's been a few years - - and he has never ridden this far with a passenger.
200 miles into the trip, he picked up some road debris and got a rear flat tire. A tow truck was able to get him off the Indiana toll road and a non-BMW motorcycle shop installed a new tire, and Tyler & Michelle were back on their way.
400 miles later, the nut had rattled off the axle bolt, the bolt shifted along with the swing arm and tire, we believe a bearing seized, and ultimately it threw the chain. He was again stranded along the tollway - this time after dark and in Pennsylvania. Another tow truck, a hotel room 15 miles down the road and they were taken care of.
The Anonymous book came in handy: several local BMW riders were very helpful with locating good resources, and putting my mind at ease. I knew he had friends close-by, even though I was 600 miles away.
He knew it was bad - but did not realize how REALLY bad it was until Tuesday morning in the daylight when he saw all of the damage. (It was substantial) Luckily, there was a a Suzuki dealer about a 1/4 mile away so he put the chain back on and limped it over to the dealer who said the damage was too extensive to repair. We are all guessing that the axle nut was not tightened after the new tire was installed.
He rented a U-Haul and headed back towards Wisconsin, with a stop at the Indiana motorcycle shop so they could view the damage first hand. They sounded ready to work with him to make everything right - that's a good thing. He told them he wanted his own dealer to do the work - so he continued home with the bike in the U-Haul.
Anyway - - the bike is now at Milwaukee BMW. I haven't heard from Tyler what the damages are, but we should know by the end of the week how this is going to shake out.
The good news is he did not crash with either incident: neither the flat, nor with the rear-end failure. He was at tollway speeds for both, so I am counting our lucky stars that both he and my daughter-in-law are well, with only a good story to tell.
Last week my son Tyler (MOA member) took his 1996 F650 on vacation. With camping gear strapped on, he and his wife headed from Wisconsin towards Gettysburg, PA on Monday morning. Although he has toured long distances with me in the past, it's been a few years - - and he has never ridden this far with a passenger.
200 miles into the trip, he picked up some road debris and got a rear flat tire. A tow truck was able to get him off the Indiana toll road and a non-BMW motorcycle shop installed a new tire, and Tyler & Michelle were back on their way.
400 miles later, the nut had rattled off the axle bolt, the bolt shifted along with the swing arm and tire, we believe a bearing seized, and ultimately it threw the chain. He was again stranded along the tollway - this time after dark and in Pennsylvania. Another tow truck, a hotel room 15 miles down the road and they were taken care of.
The Anonymous book came in handy: several local BMW riders were very helpful with locating good resources, and putting my mind at ease. I knew he had friends close-by, even though I was 600 miles away.
He knew it was bad - but did not realize how REALLY bad it was until Tuesday morning in the daylight when he saw all of the damage. (It was substantial) Luckily, there was a a Suzuki dealer about a 1/4 mile away so he put the chain back on and limped it over to the dealer who said the damage was too extensive to repair. We are all guessing that the axle nut was not tightened after the new tire was installed.
He rented a U-Haul and headed back towards Wisconsin, with a stop at the Indiana motorcycle shop so they could view the damage first hand. They sounded ready to work with him to make everything right - that's a good thing. He told them he wanted his own dealer to do the work - so he continued home with the bike in the U-Haul.
Anyway - - the bike is now at Milwaukee BMW. I haven't heard from Tyler what the damages are, but we should know by the end of the week how this is going to shake out.
The good news is he did not crash with either incident: neither the flat, nor with the rear-end failure. He was at tollway speeds for both, so I am counting our lucky stars that both he and my daughter-in-law are well, with only a good story to tell.
