Ride to New Orleans. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
#1
10-23-2016, 10:10 PM
Ride to New Orleans. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
My nephew and I started doing an annual ride last year. Last year was a short weekend getaway about 600 miles round trip. This year we chose New Orleans. I'm living in CT now and he lives in Pittsburgh. I did over 3200 miles on my Softail, my nephew did just under 2400 miles on his Sportster 1200 with a shitty seat. 3 consecutive 300+ mile days each way, two of those days being 500 mile days. He didn't complain once. His *** took a pounding, now he's a man. lol
We had a great time but had some issues with my bike that didn't have to happen. Incompetence was the culprit. I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible and use bullet points instead of writing a book.
Oct 6:
> had 2 new tires mounted by an indy nearby.
Oct 7:
>Left CT for Pittsburgh to pick up my nephew.
>noticed front end felt funky, front end not stable. Got worse once I hit open road and got speeds up above 70.
>Stopped at Williams HD in Lebanon NJ to get it checked out. They told me I needed front wheel bearings and steering head adjustment. Gave them the ok to do it.
>Got back on the road, felt bumpy with a wobble in front end while on I-78. Too late to go back, Williams HD closed. Decided to ride it out. Behind schedule got dark 100 miles outside of Pittsburgh and started to downpour. Nasty conditions. Nowhere safe to stop on that stretch of I-76 for rain gear. Got drenched. Rode it out for 40 miles then stopped to get a hotel in Donegal, PA.
Oct 8:
>Short ride to Pittsburgh. Took the bike into Hot Metal HD. Told them the front wheel bearings were replaced and steering head adjusted at Williams HD. At this point I'm thinking I either got a bad "out of round" front tire or my laced wheel is out of whack. Asked them to check the runout.
>Tech came out and told me the tire was out of balance by 2 ounces. Ounces, not grams. That's ALOT! No dyna balancing beads in the tube. I cut it open myself. But I said good....we found the problem. Put a new tube in it and balance it with weights. Rode a few miles back to my nephews house. Bike felt better. Sent a text to the dude who mounted my tire and told him to check his dyna bead machine. First and last time I use dynabeads in a tubed tire. Yes, you can use them in tubed tires but for me.
Oct 9:
>Left Pittsburgh with my nephew heading to New Orleans. Took back roads the first day. Don't think we broke 60 mph. Bike felt better but not the same. Not bumpy but still not stable. Thought that maybe it might be in my head after riding 425 miles to Pittsburgh with a bumpy unbalanced tire.
Oct 10:
>Heading to Nashville to spend the night and see a friend. Took some interstate to make up some time. Bike was all over the place at 70+ mph. Slow and very noticeable left to right wobble, especially from tractor trailers wind blast. What could it be! Are the winds stronger than I think? Is it all in my head? **** it. Got to Nashville and got drunk and had a good time. I'll worry about it tomorrow.
Oct 11:
> Rode over 500 miles to New Orleans. During the ride down I'm thinking that if the dude who mounted my tires in CT ****ed up the front tire, maybe he ****ed up the rear. At this point I'm thinking he didn't align my rear wheel. In fact I was convinced this was the problem because what else could it be? The front wheel has new bearings, steering head was adjusted, and the front tire was balanced. Checked in our hotel.
OCT 12:
>Took the bike to New Orleans HD to have them check the rear wheel. Gave them history of what other dealers did. Got bike back. Service manager said they didn't find anything. Said bike felt fine on test ride. I'm at my wits end now. I know my bike. Ive ridden it all over in all kinds of weather, high winds, and speeds. Never felt like this. Something is wrong and no one knows what it is.
HAD GREAT TIME IN NEW ORLEANS. GREAT FOOD. AWESOME WOMEN. CRAZY PEOPLE. LOTS OF THINGS TO DO AND SEE. WISH WE HAD MORE TIME THERE BUT HAD TO GET BACK TO PITTSBURGH, THEN TO CT. STILL HAVE ISSUES WITH BIKE.
OCT 20:
>Bike goes back to Hot Metal HD in Pittsburgh. At this point I rode 2600 miles with my bike not right. I told them I was still having problems. They took it for a ride, took it in and sometime later the tech calls me into the shop. Said he wants to show me something. Lo and behold. He saw something no one else saw. Both pinch bolts were missing from the triple tree. Son of a bitch. The MF'ers at Williams forgot to torque down the pinch bolts after they adjusted the steering head and they fell out as I was riding. It's amazing I didn't bend my fork tubes. It's amazing I didn't wreck. It could have gotten ugly. I was pissed at myself for not noticing the pinch bolts missing but then I saw that the throttle cable and front brake cable blocked my view on the right side, and a camera mount I had on my lower bars blocked the left side.
None of this would have happened if the dude who mounted my tires didn't screw up because if the tire was balanced I would never have brought it in to Williams HD for them to **** up my bike even more. Unless of course I really did need wheel bearings, which should have been picked up on by the dude who mounted my tires. If they were that bad he should have noticed when he pulled the front wheel. Williams HD is going to hear it from me tomorrow. I wanted to wait until I got back to CT.
I usually do all the work myself unless it's something I can't do but on the road you have to depend on others. Moral of the story. Go through your bike with a fine tooth comb after someone works on it.
Anyhow, that's my story. All in all it was a great ride. Especially since my nephew came along. Next year. Denver!
SIDE NOTE. In between all my problems, in Bowling Green, KY my nephew got a flat front tire. Cause of the flat was not a puncture in tire, it was a pinched tube. He had new tires mounted too before he left. Different shop though.
We had a great time but had some issues with my bike that didn't have to happen. Incompetence was the culprit. I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible and use bullet points instead of writing a book.
Oct 6:
> had 2 new tires mounted by an indy nearby.
Oct 7:
>Left CT for Pittsburgh to pick up my nephew.
>noticed front end felt funky, front end not stable. Got worse once I hit open road and got speeds up above 70.
>Stopped at Williams HD in Lebanon NJ to get it checked out. They told me I needed front wheel bearings and steering head adjustment. Gave them the ok to do it.
>Got back on the road, felt bumpy with a wobble in front end while on I-78. Too late to go back, Williams HD closed. Decided to ride it out. Behind schedule got dark 100 miles outside of Pittsburgh and started to downpour. Nasty conditions. Nowhere safe to stop on that stretch of I-76 for rain gear. Got drenched. Rode it out for 40 miles then stopped to get a hotel in Donegal, PA.
Oct 8:
>Short ride to Pittsburgh. Took the bike into Hot Metal HD. Told them the front wheel bearings were replaced and steering head adjusted at Williams HD. At this point I'm thinking I either got a bad "out of round" front tire or my laced wheel is out of whack. Asked them to check the runout.
>Tech came out and told me the tire was out of balance by 2 ounces. Ounces, not grams. That's ALOT! No dyna balancing beads in the tube. I cut it open myself. But I said good....we found the problem. Put a new tube in it and balance it with weights. Rode a few miles back to my nephews house. Bike felt better. Sent a text to the dude who mounted my tire and told him to check his dyna bead machine. First and last time I use dynabeads in a tubed tire. Yes, you can use them in tubed tires but for me.
Oct 9:
>Left Pittsburgh with my nephew heading to New Orleans. Took back roads the first day. Don't think we broke 60 mph. Bike felt better but not the same. Not bumpy but still not stable. Thought that maybe it might be in my head after riding 425 miles to Pittsburgh with a bumpy unbalanced tire.
Oct 10:
>Heading to Nashville to spend the night and see a friend. Took some interstate to make up some time. Bike was all over the place at 70+ mph. Slow and very noticeable left to right wobble, especially from tractor trailers wind blast. What could it be! Are the winds stronger than I think? Is it all in my head? **** it. Got to Nashville and got drunk and had a good time. I'll worry about it tomorrow.
Oct 11:
> Rode over 500 miles to New Orleans. During the ride down I'm thinking that if the dude who mounted my tires in CT ****ed up the front tire, maybe he ****ed up the rear. At this point I'm thinking he didn't align my rear wheel. In fact I was convinced this was the problem because what else could it be? The front wheel has new bearings, steering head was adjusted, and the front tire was balanced. Checked in our hotel.
OCT 12:
>Took the bike to New Orleans HD to have them check the rear wheel. Gave them history of what other dealers did. Got bike back. Service manager said they didn't find anything. Said bike felt fine on test ride. I'm at my wits end now. I know my bike. Ive ridden it all over in all kinds of weather, high winds, and speeds. Never felt like this. Something is wrong and no one knows what it is.
HAD GREAT TIME IN NEW ORLEANS. GREAT FOOD. AWESOME WOMEN. CRAZY PEOPLE. LOTS OF THINGS TO DO AND SEE. WISH WE HAD MORE TIME THERE BUT HAD TO GET BACK TO PITTSBURGH, THEN TO CT. STILL HAVE ISSUES WITH BIKE.
OCT 20:
>Bike goes back to Hot Metal HD in Pittsburgh. At this point I rode 2600 miles with my bike not right. I told them I was still having problems. They took it for a ride, took it in and sometime later the tech calls me into the shop. Said he wants to show me something. Lo and behold. He saw something no one else saw. Both pinch bolts were missing from the triple tree. Son of a bitch. The MF'ers at Williams forgot to torque down the pinch bolts after they adjusted the steering head and they fell out as I was riding. It's amazing I didn't bend my fork tubes. It's amazing I didn't wreck. It could have gotten ugly. I was pissed at myself for not noticing the pinch bolts missing but then I saw that the throttle cable and front brake cable blocked my view on the right side, and a camera mount I had on my lower bars blocked the left side.
None of this would have happened if the dude who mounted my tires didn't screw up because if the tire was balanced I would never have brought it in to Williams HD for them to **** up my bike even more. Unless of course I really did need wheel bearings, which should have been picked up on by the dude who mounted my tires. If they were that bad he should have noticed when he pulled the front wheel. Williams HD is going to hear it from me tomorrow. I wanted to wait until I got back to CT.
I usually do all the work myself unless it's something I can't do but on the road you have to depend on others. Moral of the story. Go through your bike with a fine tooth comb after someone works on it.
Anyhow, that's my story. All in all it was a great ride. Especially since my nephew came along. Next year. Denver!
SIDE NOTE. In between all my problems, in Bowling Green, KY my nephew got a flat front tire. Cause of the flat was not a puncture in tire, it was a pinched tube. He had new tires mounted too before he left. Different shop though.
Last edited by JekyllnHyde; 10-23-2016 at 10:19 PM.
#3
10-23-2016, 11:00 PM
Cruiser
#4
10-23-2016, 11:37 PM
#6
10-24-2016, 01:44 AM
LOL, it was an entertaining read. Sorry you had to deal with all that but it'll still be a good memory......
Could have been worse. Buddy of mine went down there for a wedding about a month ago. Him and his buddies got robbed at gunpoint two nights in a row. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't read the police reports :-)
Could have been worse. Buddy of mine went down there for a wedding about a month ago. Him and his buddies got robbed at gunpoint two nights in a row. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't read the police reports :-)
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10-24-2016, 03:22 AM
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10-24-2016, 04:47 AM
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