[ST] Good Cops / Bad Bike

[Matt Knowles <matt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>There are good cops out there!

This last Tuesday I went down to Fort Bragg to take pictures and on 
the way back the rear end started making a squealing noise when ever 
I leaned into a left turn. It sounded like brake squeal but when I 
applied the rear brake it went away. Just to double check I pulled 
over and didn't see any signs that there was anything wrong with the 
brakes. So being 120 miles from home I decided to proceed. The squeal 
got worse and after about 20 more miles it became constant. Just as I 
was passing a motorhome that pulled over, the rear end locked 
completely. Fortunately I didn't crash but the bike came to a stop 
right in the middle of the lane in a hairpin turn. After trying to 
roll it unsuccessfully, I finally restarted it and forced it to the 
side of the road. The motorhome driver clearly saw I was in trouble, 
but pulled out and left. A few minutes later a couple of Harley 
riders passed by without even a wave. Then a guy on a brand new 
Goldwing stopped and asked if I was just taking a rest. He went out 
of his way to back track and take me all the way back to Ferndale, 
where I picked up my truck and trailer and then he followed me back 
to Fort Bragg to help me load the bike. On the way back down the plug 
for the trailer lights came out and ground itself off. We got back to 
the bike just after sunset, loaded the bike in the dark and then I 
started the drive back to Ferndale.  Fortunately traffic was very 
light, in the 120 miles back, we only met up with 2 other cars going 
in our direction. The first one I pulled over for to let him by, the 
second one pulled me over with red lights. But after hearing my tale 
of woe, the CHP officer told me to proceed home, but do be careful. I 
was very thankful that night that there are good cops out there!

I'm just getting ready to go take the trailer in to get it rewired so 
I can haul the bike up to Arcata to the dealer. I'll let you all know 
what the diagnosis is once they have it apart.
- -- 
Matt Knowles - Ferndale, CA - http://members.cox.net/aestheticdesign
'99 Sprint ST - for going fast and far (2CZUSA)
'01 KLR650 - for exploring the North Coast backroads
'97 KLX300 & '01 Lakota - for playing in the dirt
'79 KZ400 - just because it was the first vehicle I ever owned

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