take your cell phone and your tow card (aaa, travel america,hog)and dont worrie.

 

I can't imagine any of the local bike mechanics including the dealerships could do any more than I just did. My opinion of the the local mechanics is that there are less and less of them that know how to work on bikes with carbs and no diagnostic port.
Most of the time I end up telling them whats wrong.
For instance, a few years ago I had an old 1988 Sportster. I brought it to the dealership to get new tires put on. I told them to check out the ignition system because I would get a delay in starting when I pushed the start button. Sometimes I could even smell burnt wire.
They had the bike for a few days and put the tires on, they called me and told me the good news.. the bike needed a new battery!! Yippee I said.
The funny thing was that I just installed a new battery that I got from Walmart. I work in an electronics company so I checked the battery out and it was perfect.
Anyway... when I go to pickup the bike the mechanic that worked on it comes out and tells me its all set but there will still be a slight delay after I push the start button. He tells me that because my motor was a Johnson Engine Technology 1200 upgrade it has too much compression and if I want the starter to turn the motor faster I need to install pressure relief valves. He even tells me that he has an old Sportster that does the same thing and thats what he had to do. I tell him that although I am not a bike mechanic I did some research and in 1988 Harley had 2 different starters for Sportsters. 883 bikes got a lower torque starter. Around 1994 they switch to high torque for all the bikes. I told him that maybe its the starter. He told me that the starter was perfect and that its the motor.
I had new battery cables too btw...
After about 6 months of smelling burnt wire and having the feeling that one day the bike might not start I ordered a new Harley Davidson high torque starter. Basically, its the stock Buell starter. I installed it myself and my bike started instantly from that day until the day I sold it. This highly decorated, inked up Harley mechanic was completely wrong.
Same thing happened with an independent some years later with a 1989 Sportster. The mechanic told me that the carb needed to be rejetted and cleaned. I told him I completely rebuilt the carb and the jetting should be correct but... I assumed he knows more than me. I also told him that I checked the coil and it checked out ok. I get the bike back after a week and its exactly the same as when I dropped it off. Stuttering, sputtering and spitting through the carb. I drop it back off and they have it for another week. I show up on a Saturday before closing because they knew I needed the bike for Sunday and the mechanic is in the parking lot with the bike frantically trying to get it repaired. Turned out to be a loose coil wire nut. They wacked me for $440.00 between the new coil and the labor to clean my already spotless carb and rejet it with the same jets that were in it.
The reason I choose to ride old school Evo's is because I can usually figure out whats wrong myself. If I thought that a dealer or an independent could do it better than I could myself I would certainly have them check it out. I just don't think they are any good at working on the old bikes. I am sure there are plenty of mechanics who are.. but they are getting fewer and harder to find.

 

I have Progressive Insurance and I paid extra for the towing package. You guys are 100% correct though.. I don't have total confidence in the bike yet and with my wife on the back I get even a little more nervous. My last bike was a 2000 Vulcan 1500 FI Classic and not a single thing ever went wrong with it. Before that I had a 2001 Valkyrie and it was bulletproof. The only bikes I seem to ever be wrenching on are my old Harley Evo's. They are also the bikes I love the most. I understand them. I just need to bond with this newest addition. I have always been extra careful and attentive to my bikes. I am sure it will be fine. I just need some reassurance from my fellow HD Forum members!

 

if it happens call the tow and go on a different adventure.

 

Exactly!
This will be the perfect trip to do just that!
Go have a blast bro' Don't even think about it!

Pete