When Not to Nod at a Fellow Biker.....

[WhyNot]

So, there I was, stressed as my boss is calling me on my mobile and not being able to answer as I went out for a sneaky blast on the bike and found myself broken down on the side of the A338......

Fellow bikers riding past, waving, nodding, but none of them stopping to see if I was ok.

60 minutes, sat on the main road and trying not to get run over, and not one person thought to see what the crack was. Obviously, its normal for a girl to sit with her bike on a main road avoiding getting hit....

So, does anyone have a number for a local bike transporter just incase the need arises again?

[WR6133]

Never count on anyone stopping to help I pushed my old one back from the A303 slip road at thruxton track to Tidworth once. Sunny day masses of bikes out not a single one stopped.

AA breakdown or similar is probably best for recovery.

What broke?

[theoldbaldone]

Been there, i was sat on a road side last week with my son and nodders going passed, i don't know what AA are like but the RAC have NO bike mechanic's or their own transporters, their get a contractor from near where you are, was on the opposite side of Trowbridge too my house, contractors was coming from Radstock, got my bike started in the end

[Burbler]

A few weeks ago, I came across a huge BMW with 2 peeps looking fraught at the roundabout by the old Severn bridge. I stopped and enquired. They were in matching BMW kit, boots, hats, hard luggage etc. and were en route from Edinburgh to Plymouth. Their satnav had packed up and they had manage to screw up at Almondsbury interchange. Led them down to M5 (S) at Avonmouth, in fact not too far a deviation. They were very grateful.

[SupeRDel]

Check policies with motorcycle breakdown. Most of the free ones attched to bike insurance have a £300 limit to each call out when you breakdown. £300 does not get you very far.
Last year I got a puncture on a saturday evening on the A303 near Popham. I called out the "Ebike" free breakdown cover.

45 minutes later the van from SOS Motorcycle Recovery turned up. My £300 cover will take you about 120 miles total before you have to start paying. Actually I should say - it will take you just 60 miles as they measure the distance from the point of breakdown to home and back to breakdown point.

http://www.sos-direct.co.uk/

Chatting to the breakdown guy and he said Some insurance free breakdown cover will only take you 10 miles to a garage. Read that small print on your policies. Even the AA has a cover on a call out to a bike.

I was stuck, 50 miles from home, in the rain and all alone - its that moment you realise you need cover

[shiftyblake]

Hopefully you are up and running again ! I think if I remember rightly you can call the AA out as a non member but you have to pay for membership there and then !

[WhyNot]

Thanks for the breakdown advice guys, i'll check with my insurance but if I havent got it then maybe I should think of investing.

Turns out it was trivial and lack of fuel, lack of experience on a new bike.

In the end I dumped it by the side of the road and the old owner bought a trailer down an hour later, thankfully it wasnt stolen.

[shiftyblake]

Happens to us all, as long as you got back safety with the bike too.

[Conehead]

Dont even start me on breakdown cover through your insurance cover. Absolute waste of space and time.

I am due to be made redundant in the next year or so and I am planning on buying a van for my business but it would also be to help recover broken down bikes. I will let you all know when that is and also give you a contact number so no need to worry anymore. Just call me batman

[wheelers]

you need a friendly local bike shop with a van, not a big one that dosnt care!! been on numerous local callouts up to midnight. its the personal touch not someone funding big showrooms and their own racing. we have even met AA vans at the unit at 2am with breakdowns. thing of the past now as only doing selective work as riders prefer lower prices then complain about treatment. not sour grapes , I love the easier life Im getting now.
regarding the AA, you can wait hours, then have to wait if their driving hours have run out. only a few dedicated bike recovery vans, and knowledgeable patrol men. they prefer to take you to a garage as bikes are harder to work on due to compactness. generally they just look at fuel and battery and that's their limit.
maybe there is the need for a chain of local vans willing to call out.....