Last Friday night the wife and I headed out for one of the local bike nights. While crossing the 3 mile bridge on I-10 heading out of Pensacola the bike shuts down. I am blowing fuses and not sure why the bike is in the shop getting checked out. We pull over the breakdown lane on the bridge and immediately call the friends we are going to meet for some assistance. Within about 5 minutes of waiting a guy in a pick-up stops up ahead of us and backs up to see if we need some help. He offers to take us to the service station up the road or call for some help if we need it. I thank him for stopping and told him I already have someone on the way. He then tells me that the only reason he stopped was because I was on a Harley. I laughed and thanked him again before he left. Life on a Harley can be a beautiful thing even when things aren't going exactly as planned

 

Sorry to hear of your bike trouble, let us know what they find out. Glad to hear you had help on the way. Rock on....

 

Did you recently change grips or handlebars? Might explain maybe a pinched wire blowing fuses.

 

Where I live in Kentucky things are pretty rural and it's a haven for riders simply because of the elevation changes and twisties. If I see a bike on the side of the road regardless of what make or model it is I stop. Interestingly, If I pull over just to take a break and a cager happens by you can pretty much bank on the fact that cager will check to see that I am ok. All my neighbors, if you can call them that because their houses are fields away, own motorcycles too. I guess it's just the way we do things around here and there are more than a few times we have had to use our trailers to load one up for one reason or another. Either way, if a rider is in this neck of the wooods you can bank on the fact we'll take good care of them.....

 

Is banjo music in the background?????? J/K LOL

 

It used to be that way everywhere! This country, she is a changing.... Kind of old school stopping to help, but I always do, and it doesn't matter to me what you're riding. I've ridden most of the brands myself at one time or another....

 

Sorry about your night being cut short. It's a MAJOR hassle to have something go wrong, and it'll be interesting to hear what you find out about it.
In the meantime, ain't it great that people like folks on Harleys?
I think it's just part of the Harley culture and heritage that spills over into the "non-riding" sector! They can't help but be attracted to the bike. In this case, you lucked out (were blessed) by an ex-owner! So much the better!

 

I had a similar experience. The day before Thanksgiving last year I got stuck in the afternoon traffic on I-5. After spending almost 3 hours in stop and go traffic I pulled off at an overpass to give my a$$ a rest. As I was standing there next to the bike for only about 15 minutes, I had 2 cages stop and ask me if I needed help. That would have never happened if I was in my cage.

 

Actually I recently changed the seat. Inspected the area but nothing obvious. I'm having the mechanic start there just in case I pinched or crimped a wire with the seat.

 

The reason I asked we went on an 8 state ride and my buddy had the same problem but it was blowing out his lights. The dealer we made it to wouldnt give him a quote without tearing into the bike, in front of the service writer I asked if he had anything apart and when he said he had new grips put on, I told the writer 99% probability its in the left switch housing. That was it and my buddy got out with a $30 bill in less than 1 hour.