| Author | Message | ||
     U4euh |
It started off as great weekend. Got to ride in a group that (a really good rider we like) was part of. Then he broke free. I got a chance to pass a cage and got close to catching up with (a really good rider we like). Got too excited watching him dive into a corner and totally forgot to set up for the same curve. Let me tell you, watching him go through that corner was AWESOME! Anyways, I snapped to and start hitting the brakes, down to third, lean in hard, peg scrapes, and I look through only to see the curve getting sharper(decreasing radius)! At that point the pucker factor kicked in. I push on the inside bar she drops some more, thus raising the footpeg. Don't know how much but I would guess about 3/4 to 1 inch. It is all kind of gets put into slow motion from here on out. I know I am drifting towards the ditch, the back end feels real loose, I see nothing but soft ditch, soft dirt wall, and prepare to go in and maybe ride it out. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. As soon as I get close to the inner edge of the ditch I am at the same lean angle that the wall of the ditch is, so essentially the bike drops to the bottom most part of the ditch. Because of the angle I was, the left side air scoop caught first. From there it was the handle bars. The bike spun around 180 degrees, and i was still in the riding position as I went pass the tale section into the ditch. My left shoulder hit first then the helmet, the visor opened and it acted just like the airscoop, filling the helmet and my face with dirt. I come to a stop,jump up and make sure nothing is broken. Bike is covered in leaves and dirt, fan is running, the worst site to ever see. The other riders come and make sure that I am alright. Then they lift the bike up. Left handle bar is bent almost straight up, all but the front right turn signal is busted, the license plate and mounting bracket are gone. Tried to start it and nothing. After bending the bars back to a rideable position, we got it to start. Rubberdown followed me back to T.W.O.'s and the rest continued on there ride. More to come. sshhh... they are listening... (Message edited by reepicheep on March 23, 2005) | ||
| U4euh |
I had all my body armour on, factory frame pucks saved the tank( order them now if you don't have them, they work!) We made back to the campground where Cameron(Clown) from Stone Mountain HD came over to see if I was alright. He said that he would get me the new handle bars and grips driven up the next morning from his store. Too cool I thought. I go inside and put some ice on the knee, it is now really sore. Erik came in and sat down with me, to see what happened I guess. Told what happened and the funniest part was when we went looking for my plate. Found parts from all sorts of other motorcycles. He had a good laugh about that. Way coool for him to come and talk to me. Took a nap, then went outside to check all the real damage. Rubberdown and Whodom were standing next to my bike with that you're FU^%$D look. Turns out that because the bike spun around 180, the rear motormount was broken. About that time Cameron from SMHD walks up and immediatly goes into action. The shop don't have one. So I pretty much came to the conclusion that my good times were over for the weekend. He comes back a bit later.( Ya'll won't believe this!) He says We got one of our 05 XB12S's here. You can remove the mount from that bike and put it on yoursI about fell over. It only gets better from here. The 3% BRAG club was there they pitched in to get my bike up again. Wouldn't let me do anything. The shocks were disconnected and the bike was jacked up with large pieces of fire wood. They had a hard time getting one bolt loose, and everyone that tried was getting angry. Some came out and said that the kitchen was closing and told us to go in and get a bite to eat(Would something like this happen at anything other the a gathering of Buellers?) One of those guys got the bolt off, I am very sorry but I don't remember the names, I know he worked at a Honda shop and was used to working with small clearence area's. When I came out from eating they had the new mount on the bike and was putting the XB12S back together. I am still speechless at the effort that those guys put in to help a fellow rider out. I know it was stupid what I did and at that they could have said it wasn't their problem, but didn't. At one time I counted 17 people chipping to help in one way or another, including the driver of the demo fleet truck! Erik even came out to see the progress!! All that was left was to put the shock bolt back on and get the new bars, so everyone called it a night. It all came together the next day and we went for a test ride, rode fine!! Like I said, I can't remember everyone's name but I would like to say thank you to all who had a part in getting the bike back up and runnin. Stone Mountain HD and Cameron are a plus to the industry and will be a force to be looking out for. The 3% BRAG club has some members who exemplify what being a true biker is all about. They convinced my buddy Pete(Yamaha Warrior) that the trip to SMHD would be where he gets hid next bike. The episode was flooring and I am still a bit speechless. Thank you all again. For those of you who read this and frequent other boards, give the address to this post, this needs to get around the web fast. Everyone needs to know what great people were involved in this effort. | ||
| Tripp |
holy crap! glad to see your here to tell about it, great story i'm almost not surprised everyone was so helpful (and to steal a honda quote) "you meet the nicest people on a buell"  (Message edited by tripp on March 23, 2005) | ||
| Rubberdown |
So I jump on the gas when Jim give chase. I don't really want part of it but I want to see the action. I pass a couple of riders sweep through some curves and set up for a left hander. I'm in a pretty good lean going through the curve and I see some guy standing on the side of the road and I think what's up with that dude? I sweep past and realize it's Jim. SLow down and turn around. Jim, WTF? You allright? Couldn't even see the bike. He planted that bike! Thankfully, Jim seemed to be o.k.. Other riders arrived and we uncovered the bike and pulled it out of the ditch. Dug dirt and gravel out of the scoop, pulled off the loose parts, and pulled the bars into a ridable position. ALl I could think at that point was let's get Jim and the bike out of there as people were driving by with cell phones in hand. Damn thing cranked up with a little persausion and off we went. Made it back to TWO without incident. Hugh later noticed a raw edge of metal showing and we discovered the read motor mount was broken off. Dang! what do we do now? Stay tuned. | ||
| Mbsween |
Jim, glad to hear one of you 3% walked from a crash. I was there for running the ridge, which didn't go quite so well. Cool story, glad to hear you and the bike are in one piece. Its also very good to hear about a great Buell dealer. Maybe things are changing in that department. Ride safe Matt | ||
| Rubberdown |
JIm's not exaggerating. The folks at SMHD/Buell were too cool to be true. They came through for motorcyclists in need, in a big way! Spread the word folks. SMHD/Buell is the dealer to deal with. Thanks to them our weekend continued for many miles. The entire Buell community was awesome. I already knew Bullers were the coolest. My buddy Pete on the Warrior was completely blown away by the help we got. He said the experience completely changed his perspective of motorcycling. In a word, the weekend was EPIC. thank you SMHD/Buell, thank you 3% club, thank you Buellers, thank you Erik, and thank you TWO campground. | ||
| Rubberdown |
Also, the Buell is one tough bike. It was stuffed into the bank hard. Fixed a couple of parts without bring it to a shop and, bam, back on the road riding again. There you go, thanks Erik! | ||
| Smoke |
the fellow that went down at the ridge event was riding at march badness leading some of the demo rides. i think his name is mike. glad to see you 3 made it back to pinehurst ok. good write up, jim. ride safe, tim | ||
| Blake |
Jim (U4euh), In honor of your experience, we hereby bequeath you with a more appropriate BadWeB handle. Great story, thanks for sharing. Glad you avoided personal catastrophe. Way to go SMHD and 3%ers!  | ||
| Whodom |
I was a few bikes (and few curves) back on this ride when U4EUh (Ditch Digger) lost it. The wick had already been turned up well beyond my comfort level. A guy on a yellow M2 in front of me backed off and I did too. About 2 curves later, we came up on the group standing around. Man, that is a bad feeling, but it was good to see Jim was OK. The motor mount changeout should go down in the archives of BadWeb. Getting the broken mount off Jim's bike was a piece of cake, but getting the new mount off the XB12 was something else. Never have so many worked so hard for so long to get out one friggin' 1/4" Allen head cap screw! I would REALLY like to see what the shop manual says about removing the rear motor mount. Probably something like "Completely disassemble motorcycle. Next, remove motor mount." We worked until at least 8:30 PM Saturday night just getting the new mount off. I had to ride back to my motel in Dahlonega after that- it was an interesting ride down 60 in the dark with my visor fogging up. Clown & the guys from SMHD/Buell definitely went beyond the call of duty helping out with the mount. The whole weekend was more than I expected- the people were great, the rides were great, even learning the hard way how to change a rear motor mount on an XB was great. Hey Blake- that's pretty slick on Jim's automatic handle change! | ||
| M1combat |
I'm glad you made it out OK. It sounds like you still had a good day and you're right, I don't know if that would have happened in too many other groups. | ||
| M2nc |
Jim, Good to hear you are okay. Hope we can get together in the near future and talk about it during a weekend ride. Way to go 3%.  By the way, I saw an XB and a Neon meet and the Neon lost. Tough bike!!! | ||
| Along4theride |
New12R is the one who helped that worked at the Honda dealership. He's a great guy!!!! We were all glad you were OK!! It was cool to walk by when you guys were working on the bike and always see a min of 4 guys getting their hands dirty for a good cause. At one point there was quite the crowd, everyone working to solve the problem if only in conversation. Cameron never fails to amaze us with his quick thinking and generosity. He has pulled parts off showroom bikes during big dealership events to get a stranded Buell rider back on the road. He's quite the guy!! | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Most folks just don't understand... This is EXACTLY why I ride a Buell. | ||
| Kinger |
I was fortunate to have a bunch of buellers help me out at homecoming last year! No crash, just an electrical gremlin!! | ||
| Loki |
What a family we have. | ||
| U4EUh (Ditch Digger)h |
mbsween- I'm not one the 3%'rs. That is one of the reason's it was so outstanding, they didn't know me from adam. If anyone has any pictures, please post'em. I am resizing mine to post on this thread. New12r-cudo's to you. We were getting frustrated and you stepped in and done the impossible. We`all were at the conclusion that the motor is the only way to get the mount in or out. But there was enough minds working to change that thought. | ||
| Aydenxb9 |
U4EUh, er, Ditch Digger. Glad to hear you're O.K. What an adventure. Like what pilots say about landings, anyone you can walk away from is a good one, any get-off you can walk away from is a slight one. Going down has to be the oddest sensation I've ever experienced. Never any fear, just determination to not do it til you can't then -damn! (I'm the guy who totaled the Neon with my XB9. If it weren't for the foot peg bracket screws being broken off in the frame, I could have ridden the thing off. The Neon had to be towed!) SMHD and the 3% are what Buelling is all about, it's good to have the baddness! | ||
| Glitch |
I'm not one the 3%'rs. We are ALL 3%ers! Ya'll are always welcome to come ride with us. You guys are all good folk. Smoke, Ditch  , Rubber, Whodom, all ya'll, it was good meeting, and getting to know you. Ya'll gotta come down this summer, we'll show you some more of North Georgia, since the Badness is over we'll have more time just to ride. Cameron and SMHD&B are great! It's what I've said all along, now ya'll see what I mean. I'm real glad it all worked out. | ||
| S2pengy |
I think the thing that sooo impressed me was the fact that there was no hesition on Cameron's part to do whatever was necessary to get Ditchdigger back on the road... Tear a dealerships brand new running bike apart to provide a part to get another bike back on the road no problem!!!!!!!!! I feel very lucky to be a part of this group of 3%s and to have been part of an incredable weekend.... Cameron, thank you..... | ||
| Daves |
Glad to hear you are ok! As far as the rest of the story, that's the way it's supposed to be. Good job Clown and all that helped!  | ||
| Cataract2 |
It makes me very pleased to see a story like this one. Helps keep faith in the human race over all. | ||
| Glitch |
 Clown makes the call Photo by Odie | ||
| Whodom |
Glitch- that's a nice shot of the broken motor mount. You can see where it snapped off around each of the four screw holes at the base. The more we looked at it, the more we said "you know, I'll bet this thing was specifically engineered to break like this". If it hadn't, there would have probably been a BIG hole in the top of the transmission case and the repair would have cost several thousand bucks instead of less than $100. The more I see of these bikes, the more I am impressed. | ||
| Jlnance |
Jim - Sorry about the bike. Glad you seem to be mostly OK. I haven't read this whole thread yet, but let me make sure I understand this right. You and Erik Buell went out to look for your license plate? D**n thats cool. Something tells me you will be riding Buells for the rest of your life.  | ||
| Djkaplan |
Damn, Jim. I can't believe I missed you. I'm the guy from Columbus who knows George Upham. I dropped by your old store and said hello for you. Jorge Davila was happy to hear you went back to school. Most of the crew you worked with are still there and were pleased to hear from you. So it was you! I was at TWO Saturday and Sunday and had a great time! Sorry I missed you. The only downside for the weekend (for me) was not getting a chance to meet you. Maybe next year! | ||
| Paint_shaker |
I tried to post this one once before.... U4s bike just after the new motor mount was put in...  | ||
| Paint_shaker |
Notice the change in lighting from the pic of Cameron on the phone... SMHD/Buell, 3%ers and others worked until the job was done!!! U4, had I not needed to return to Florida Monday and had your bike not been fixed, I would have hauled ya back to (I believe) N.C. Buells rock!! Buell Riders Rock!!! And I can't wait to get back to the mountains!!! Soon come mon!!! | ||
| Gusmyster |
Man, this whole story gives me goose bumps. Glad your OK! Can't wait until the homecoming to meet up with some fellow Buellers! g u s | ||
| Kaudette |
Glad you made it out mostly unscathed... Cudos to the Buell guys on getting your bike back in one piece. As for the spills and thrills, best to keep both for the race track - too many stories of people going down and not getting back up again. Ride safe. |
