great story about helping out maybe soeone knows them

[bob1665]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/a ... 3?cmp=fbtl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Lucasind]

Thanks for sharing that story, bob 1665.
Traveling on older, overloaded tires is likely the cause of this bad story. The weight of the bike, the rider and passenger,and everything they had on the bike for their trip....then add the very hot day ,where the surface of the road was hot as a frying pan....and something had to give. I am glad the couple lived to ride another day ! The quality of your bike tires ,is perhaps the most important maintenance task that you can do ! I remember Ekap telling me that he installs new tires on his bike every other riding season,regardless of tread depth. The ol' "ounce of prevention" thing applies here !...........Tony

[Me Again]

Thanks for sharing that story, bob 1665.
Traveling on older, overloaded tires is likely the cause of this bad story. The weight of the bike, the rider and passenger,and everything they had on the bike for their trip....then add the very hot day ,where the surface of the road was hot as a frying pan....and something had to give. I am glad the couple lived to ride another day ! The quality of your bike tires ,is perhaps the most important maintenance task that you can do ! I remember Ekap telling me that he installs new tires on his bike every other riding season,regardless of tread depth. The ol' "ounce of prevention" thing applies here !...........Tony

I'm glad these people are going to recover , It could have been a lot worse but for the efforts of their "Angels".
Assuming that such an accident is caused by poor maintenance is really poor judgement.
Maybe they had brand new tires with a flaw or they picked something up on the road.
I am terrible about maintenance ,running on bald or cracked tires is not unusual for someone like me . In 40 years of riding the only flat I have had was in my driveway with a nail in an almost new tire. Would the accident have been my fault for not seeing the nail ahead of time .
How would you feel if you had an accident and everyone said it was your fault even if it was just an accident.
Make sure you have all the details before passing judgement.

[Lucasind]

No judgement WAS passed. I said "LIKELY":.....not that it "WAS" ! Read more carefully before responding like that.

[Me Again]

No judgement WAS passed. I said "LIKELY":.....not that it "WAS" ! Read more carefully before responding like that.

Using the word "Likely " pretty much gave your opinion.
That being said I think it was "Likely" just a freak accident and should not have anyone's blame put on it.
Once again .Glad they are OK and hope they find their angels

[trikebldr]

Once again .Glad they are OK and hope they find their angels

They did find them and are planning to meet up with them at Sturgis this year. Their daughter set up a FaceBook page for them.

One thing I learned from their experience is NO HALF HELMETS for me! Just look at Jeff's face after the crash. At least a full helmet (not full-face) with a good face shield. My last helmets were full-face Kawasaki units that came with my '83 Voyager with mics and speakers to work with my Voyager 1300's system. Nice in the winter, but awfully hot in summer. I wore full helmets with full-length face shields before and my worst accident (hit a deer at 85mph at night) tore up the face shield and helmet, but only scratched my chin where it wasn't covered by the shield completely. But, my head and face were OK. Jeff has a lot of road rash on his face from their accident. He and Jeri were wearing half helmets.

[Barry]

A flat tire can be very challenging when it comes to stopping. Having only experienced one flat in over 800,000+ miles, I feel fortunate that the bike remained vertical. There is no way to practice for this event. I've also been involved in a single motorcycle accident that in hindsight was preventable. Traveling with a group I've also witnessed several flat tires on brand new tires. My point is this: You can prepare and try to be safe, but accidents still happen. The results when traveling on 2 wheels are worse than other forms of transportation.

[krasmu]

I've had two flats while rolling in my years of riding. Both on good tires. One on the rear on a crowned brick paved road while riding alone and one on the front while riding two up on the interstate at 75 mph. Thankfully someone was looking out for me both times. I did not lay it down either time. I know there was something more at work those days than just my riding skills. Fact is, they call them accidents for a reason. the only way I know of to never have anything bad accidentally happen is to never leave to couch and enjoy life as we all do each time we get on our bikes. We just have to do everything right the best we know how and trust that the everyone else on the roads does the same. But when the unfortunate does happen, I pray that the person following me has the compassion and willingness to stop and help me or you or anyone else who may be in need. After all that is what this thread was for in the first place. Not to lay blame but to honor what those kind compassionate folks following behind did for some strangers they never seen before. I've had strangers help me out of bad spots in my life and I'm proud to say that I've paid it forward any time I've seen anyone in need. So lets all play nice here and learn from this. go out do whatever maintenance you feel you need during this winter down time and put the odds on our favor and I challenge you all to paying it forward at least once a week, even if it's just taking the old lady next doors paper to her door for her..

[cushman eagle]

I've had two flats while rolling in my years of riding. Both on good tires. One on the rear on a crowned brick paved road while riding alone and one on the front while riding two up on the interstate at 75 mph. Thankfully someone was looking out for me both times. I did not lay it down either time. I know there was something more at work those days than just my riding skills. Fact is, they call them accidents for a reason. the only way I know of to never have anything bad accidentally happen is to never leave to couch and enjoy life as we all do each time we get on our bikes. We just have to do everything right the best we know how and trust that the everyone else on the roads does the same. But when the unfortunate does happen, I pray that the person following me has the compassion and willingness to stop and help me or you or anyone else who may be in need. After all that is what this thread was for in the first place. Not to lay blame but to honor what those kind compassionate folks following behind did for some strangers they never seen before. I've had strangers help me out of bad spots in my life and I'm proud to say that I've paid it forward any time I've seen anyone in need. So lets all play nice here and learn from this. go out do whatever maintenance you feel you need during this winter down time and put the odds on our favor and I challenge you all to paying it forward at least once a week, even if it's just taking the old lady next doors paper to her door for her..

I like the way you said that,krasmu,good advice

[kjsett]

Yes, things can happen even with maintenance. No sign that, get this, the tire stem was going to fail and it was replaced only 2 years before (last change).
Going between Barstow, CA and Needles, CA on what we thought was the last day of a 5 week trip we were approaching the "Essex" Reststop (has been closed every time I go by there). which is 100 miles from Barstow. It was starting to get warm and I knew that soon we would be dropping into the heat of Needles (about 109F that day).
Nothing felt wrong, but as I pulled over to the stop on the far side On ramp my front end went all wonky (is that a word?). As i dropped off one of those 3-4" pavement edges my tire stem fractured and dumped most of my pressure that quick. Had it done it at speed (about 60 - 65 ish) on the freeway with me pulling a loaded trailer (5 weeks out with camping gear including 6 man tent). I can only guess. I "KNOW" we were being watched over. Maybe I will relate that trip in a more complete article later.
Thanks to all "Good Samaritan's" out there. We didn't need one that trip, but we have in the past. And also to: River Rat Motorsports / Bullhead Kawasaki for taking care of me and fixing my tire quickly by moving me to the head of the line on a Saturday afternoon.