[ST] The Good, Bad, & Ugly: ST Trip Notes (long, but I need the therapy)

["Jeff Viehmeyer" <jviehmeyer@xxxxxxxx>]

Well, I just got back a few hours ago from a 1600 mile trip around
California in 5 days on my new blue Sprint ST. The wife was out of the
country on family business, and I badly needed some riding therapy time. So
I took off a week and made a trip I?ve thought about for some 30 years of
riding. When I left Monday morning, the bike had 804 miles, carefully broken
in, lubed, waxed and polished lovingly. Maps were marked, mileage estimated,
extra tools & items packed, all systems GO! The trip was perfect?except for
the last 3 miles.  Here?s the story?

The Good

The Roads: As many top riding roads as I could jam into the trip: US1 from
San Francisco down to LA via Big Sur, the LA canyons, Angeles Crest, Rim of
the World Highway, Palms to Pines Highway, Ortega Highway, many more? And
the parks: Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, more...but this trip was
about the road, not sights.

The Bike: ran perfectly from 40 to 110 degrees, scratching through the
canyons and 100+ for hours?almost 50 mpg US average for the trip. I became a
much better rider on this trip.  And the Triumph hard panniers were
fantastically practical. The bike drew admiring comments at every stop. I
washed it every day before starting out. A nice moment was a stop at a
scenic overlook in the desert. An elderly gentleman with a walker came over,
supported by a woman who turned out to be his daughter. He was so excited to
see a new Triumph! His daughter explained that he had always loved
motorcycles, used to ride a lot, and for many years now his health wouldn't
permit it. He said, ?you ride that thing all you can while you can, young
man!? I agreed. They both waved as I rode away? The bike does that to
people.

Other Drivers/Riders: Not even ONE close call the whole trip. Cages and
bikers alike were observant, courteous, and polite. I was shocked. Also,
99.9% of the riders I passed waved, no matter what they were on. Maybe it
was because of ?.

The Bad
It was surreal riding through outstanding scenery, savoring the excitement
of the long-awaited adventure, only to wake up Tuesday morning in the motel
and see what had happened while I slept. The rest of the trip, as the wheels
turned, so did my mind. Not only the unfortunate passing of my wife?s
wonderful father, but now an entire nation of grieving people? My journeys
took me through Vandenberg AFB, 29 Palms Marine center, etc, and all were on
high alert, and everyone was sad and angry at the same time. It got so that
I wanted to hurry through the day so I could stop and see what the latest
news was. I gave thought to coming back home, but then I happened on some
riders near the Rock Store on Mulholland Drive in Hollywood. They were from
all parts of the world, on all types of bikes, and like me, had been drawn
to the road for therapy. The coincidental meeting was uplifting for all of
us, and I decided to continue my trip. Which leads me to:

The Ugly
I was thinking how proud I was, to have covered so much, and had such rich
experiences, without so much as hitting a pothole. I was looking forward to
posting a nice story  on this list without a ?dropped bike? ending. But it
was not to be.

I was 3 miles from home, after an exhilarating 3 hr high-speed run on the
freeway back to the Bay Area. Triumphant return home, last leg. I pulled up
to the last entrance in a high-speed acceleration lane into a tunnel onto
the island, and?.guess what broke??!! The clutch cable!!!!  Some of you had
this happen at a "safe" time. Not me. The lever went limp, right to the
grip, just as I prepared for my entry. Instead of accelerating from idle
into a smooth right turn into merging traffic, suddenly the bike "popped"
the clutch in first gear at about 5mph and shot me out broadside to oncoming
traffic, in the dark! I got hard on the brakes, but the engine powered on
strongly in first gear, finally jerking to an abrupt stop, right on top of a
pile of gravel at the edge of the lane. I couldn?t keep the front wheel from
washing out, and it fell over in slow-motion on the right side. I was able
to keep it from crossing into oncoming traffic, and the drivers behind me
all stopped in time so I didn?t get hit as I fought the bike down.

Several onlookers rushed over to help me get the bike up and direct the
traffic. I was ok, except for a few bumps & bruises from the pegs etc. But
my bike!! I was so angry! Right side fairing and the bags took the load.
Big, ugly gravel-rocks did a number of gouges in the fairing and r/h bag.
R/h peg broke, lever & mirror scratched. Other hardware bits too. One of the
carefully packed panniers had popped off and slid down the road a few feet.
It took me hours to assemble that thing? With help, I got the bike home. Not
quite the ending I had imagined.

Tomorrow, I?m calling my dealer with the story. I?m expecting Triumph to
replace, not only the cable, but also the parts that got damaged in this
incident. They?re lucky the damage is so small, and that I wasn?t injured.
No way am I going to make an insurance claim and pay a deductible for this.
Because of reading all your comments, I asked the dealer SPECIFICALLY about
the clutch cable at the 500 mi. service before I left, but they hadn?t had
any failures (yet). I took the care to lube it thoroughly anyway TWICE.
Ironically, I passed by another well-known dealer in Fresno just before the
final leg of the trip today, and while looking at the bikes, their service
manager told me they WERE aware of cable failures. So you listers, this IS
AN ISSUE!  My bike didn?t have so much as a scratch, now besides the obvious
damage, I?ll never be sure if something else has been affected. This is
besides the lump on my wrist, gouge in my leg, and messed up clothing.
Fortunately I was well protected and got control immediately. But I could
have gotten killed. I haven't dropped a bike in 30 years. Equipment failure
on a new bike inches from oncoming traffic is not excusable. We need some
serious attention to this safety issue by Triumph! How can they not be aware
of the problem?

Oh yeah; my mileage when it broke? 2406! And 2/3 of those are highway miles
put on this week. Blake, so much for your theory at lunch last week at Enzo?
s!!!  Check your bikes, folks?

End of STory?for now.

Jeff
Alameda CA
Dawg-Gone  :(



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