Life's Little Suprises...

[poak]

So, I took my bike out for a ride today...

My girlfriend and I had agreed to feed her grandfather's dogs for him while he was out of town this week, so I decided to take care of that on my ride.

He lives about 1.5 down gravel twist backs in the hills off River Rd. I've ridden up there a few times in the past, and my bike handled the terrain fine despite not exactly being built for that kind of riding

Anywho, on the way up, I noticed the recent rain had loosened the gravel a bit. On the way down, I figured out just how much

So yeah, I dropped my bike.

I picked it up, and began inspecting it. Everything looks fine, save for a few scratches on my exhaust can. I swing my leg back over the bike, and something becomes apparent:

No front brake... I looked down in the gravel to see the remnants of my brake lever... I ran through my options in my head, which were few and far between, then I decided on riding the rest of the way down the hill to River Rd, then 6mi back to 49, then 4mi over the river and to Ashland City all w/ no front brake, and chanting "Rear brake, rear brake, rear brake!" in my head.

I made it, all though it was a little nerve racking... Those who ride know how important their front brake is.

The lever that broke was one of the pair of cheesy ass fake carbon fiber ones that came on the bike. I've had a pair of Lockhart Phillips levers I had been meaning to swap out anyway, so when I made it home, I made the swap.

That's my excitement of the day, now it's Miller, err.... Shiner Bock time.

[Guest Arko]

Guess you did lots of engine braking to get home. Glad you didn't tear it up worse.

[poak]

Guess you did lots of engine braking to get home. Glad you didn't tear it up worse.

You know it!

Luckily, the SV has ample engine braking.

[enfield]

Lucky you! When I broke a lever, it was the clutch. Had to move the brake lever over and hook it up upside down to get home, rear brakes only.

[gregintenn]

When I used to trail ride, several of us who rode together would order brake/clutch levers a dozen at a time. Glad you weren't injured.

[oldogy]

So,

I made it, all though it was a little nerve racking... Those who ride know how important their front brake is.

Yeah, 70 plus%. Gravel roads and street bikes are not a good combination. My drive is about 1/4 mile gravel and I always dreaded that first ride out on the Sportster after a hard rain. The old Honda trail takes it in stride.

oldogy

[poak]

Lucky you! When I broke a lever, it was the clutch. Had to move the brake lever over and hook it up upside down to get home, rear brakes only.

Dealing w/ stuff like that is never fun, but you gotta admit, making on the fly field repairs is oddly satisfying!

When I used to trail ride, several of us who rode together would order brake/clutch levers a dozen at a time. Glad you weren't injured.

Yeah, luckily I had some levers waiting on me at home. This situation has given me serious consideration of being a good boy scout and throwing an extra lever or two under my seat!

Yeah, 70 plus%. Gravel roads and street bikes are not a good combination. My drive is about 1/4 mile gravel and I always dreaded that first ride out on the Sportster after a hard rain. The old Honda trail takes it in stride.

oldogy

Maybe I can use this to convince myself I really DO need a dual-sport to accompany my SV...

I've got nothing on this cat

[Verne]

Any incident you can walk away from is great. If you have to wait on ambulance/life flight/friend, odds are it is not going to be a good rest of day. Have done a couple of those.

And remember "Adventure Riding is taking inappropriate equipment to far out of reach places." Back in August I ended up on a road in KY, on my SuperHawk, that crossed a creek three times then turned off and the creek was the road. Ended up dumping the bike and all I could do was laugh my butt of about it.