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Bad Day (long)



Well it finally happened to me. On Wednesday October 11 @ 11A.M. I left my
home in Melbourne, Florida heading for the 'Feast in the East" a long
distance style rallye condensed into one day. The Rallye was in Morganton,
N.C. and  I was leaving a couple of days early so I could enjoy the
wonderful roads and sites that we had during our TSRA Rallye in August. My
plan was to take the smallest little gray lined roads I could find thru
Georgia and South Carolina into North Carolina and pick up the BRP. From
that point I wanted to head north up to  Virginia's highest point, Mt.
Rogers then back down to Morganton for the rallye. Wednesday evening found
me in Louisville, Georgia at the Louisville Motor Lodge, it had been a great
day. Riding thru small towns, cotton feilds, and pine forest of south
central Georgia. Thursday morning I was up early and after a relaxing
breakfast @ the Huddle House next door, I was ready to face the 37 degree
morning. An hour later, as I approched the intersection of Pollards Cornor,
Ga the Triumph quit! I restarted and pulled into the station across the
street. The bike was ideling rough and I assumed I had picked up some bad
gas ( the bike, not me) at the last stop. I had a cup of coffee and went to
get a pair of glove liners when I realized I didn't have the key to the
panniers. In a mild panic I phoned the hotel and the lady said they had
found the key on the floor in my room. I mounted up and made the 60 mile
return trip thinking this is starting out to be a bad day. The bike seemed
to be running fine the roads were fantastic and the weather perfect. I got
the key, didn't need the liners by now, and had a cup at the same place I
started 2 hours ago. I again took off heading north and as I approached
Pollards Cornor everything seemed fine. I stopped to top off the tank and
continued on. 7.4 miles later the bike started to miss a little then began
to "shudder" or "rattle". As I came to another crossroad and pulled in the
clutch it quit altogether. Cranking it revealed an aweful sound and it would
not start. No cell service, no anything in site except for pine trees. As I
was standing there wondering what could have gone wrong with my beloved
Triumph and how I was going to get out of there, a lady stopped and ask if
things were alright. I informed her they were not and she offered a ride to
a phone. I inquired as to how far that would be and she responded "just
around the cornor". GREAT! I thanked her and pushed the bike about 1/3 of a
mile around a bend and sure enough there it was, the Clarks Hill Blue
Herring Bait and Tackle Shop. I called my sister in Ashville, N.C., 3 hours
away and ask her to bring their truck. Four hours later, after learning much
about the local fishing scene, she arrives. I had found a place that would
serve as a natural loading ramp and instructed my lil' sis to position the
truck accordingly. I pushed the bike into position and set the side stand. I
then stepped a few feet away to direct my sister when I hear this crash. The
bike had somehow rolled off the side stand and crashed to the hard rocky
ground. Broken Zero Gravity wind sheild, broken left side foot peg, bent
shifter, left pannier knocked off mount and scratched bad and both left side
fairing panels scratched up pretty good. BAD DAY. Three hours later,  at her
home, I attempt to medicate myself with large quanities of barley and hops,
even a rare cuban cigar, but nothing seemed to help. I called a very good
friend back in Florida who left his house  @ 4:30 A.M. the next morning and
picked me and the ailing Triumph up @ 2P.M. We were back home @ midnight
Friday. Saturday I took the bike to Cycle Riders of Orlando. After listening
to my story they promised to get on it this week and even try to get
Triumphs customer service to take care of the damaged body work! I am truely
impressed. Well, there you have it, a bad day for sure. However, a wonderful
little sister, a truely good friend, a dealer who understands the situation
and a really wonderful motorcycle that will soon be as good as new and you
have a wonderful life! Enjoy.                                     Mark"Big
Dawg"Hanke



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