The Honda Riders Club was planning a ride to West Virginia. I had my new Goldwing fresh from the dealers showroom. What could go wrong? I had heard that rocks could be thrown by the front tire and damage the oil filter, but it was my first long ride and he belly pan I ordered aftermarket had not arrived. I was warned by a friend.
He told me about his relative striking a rock and having it strike the oil filter on the new Goldwing. I had also read about bikes being damaged from debris and had ordered a belly pan online. It had not arrived by the time we were leaving for West Virginia.
Our route was Manassas, Virginia to Marlinton, West Virginia. We had our hotel arrangements at a motel north of town. Coming out of Marlinton, We started up a hill, rounded a curve and there were rocks on the road that had fallen from the side of the hill.
The rock flipped up from under the front tire and hit the Goldwing, making a loud noise. It sounded like something had exploded. I could see smoke coming from the bike and had to get off the road and shut down fast.
I stopped the bike and killed the motor in a parking area for a business just around the curve. See the picture below. Having known of the problem and ordering a belly pan after reading about the damage a rock could do, I thought I could get this one ride in before my belly pan arrived.[I:1:J]
The rock put three deep grooves in the grey plastic housing that holds the fog lights. There was a big hole in the oil filter.
A passerby happened to have a tool I could use to remove the oil filter. The engine sump was almost empty. I had lost all my oil. Another club member offerd to let me use his bike to go find oil and a filter in the nearest town. I rode back down the hill and purchased an oil filter and 4 quarts of oil.
In the parking lot, I did a roadside repair and installed the oil filter and oil. The Goldwing started up just fine. I appreciate the fellow riders who trusted me with their motorcycle after mine was struck and also was lucky that the person who stopped had a screwdriver that helped me remove the damaged oil filter. We rode the last two miles to our hotel with no problems.
He told me about his relative striking a rock and having it strike the oil filter on the new Goldwing. I had also read about bikes being damaged from debris and had ordered a belly pan online. It had not arrived by the time we were leaving for West Virginia.
Our route was Manassas, Virginia to Marlinton, West Virginia. We had our hotel arrangements at a motel north of town. Coming out of Marlinton, We started up a hill, rounded a curve and there were rocks on the road that had fallen from the side of the hill.
The rock flipped up from under the front tire and hit the Goldwing, making a loud noise. It sounded like something had exploded. I could see smoke coming from the bike and had to get off the road and shut down fast.
I stopped the bike and killed the motor in a parking area for a business just around the curve. See the picture below. Having known of the problem and ordering a belly pan after reading about the damage a rock could do, I thought I could get this one ride in before my belly pan arrived.[I:1:J]
The rock put three deep grooves in the grey plastic housing that holds the fog lights. There was a big hole in the oil filter.
A passerby happened to have a tool I could use to remove the oil filter. The engine sump was almost empty. I had lost all my oil. Another club member offerd to let me use his bike to go find oil and a filter in the nearest town. I rode back down the hill and purchased an oil filter and 4 quarts of oil.
In the parking lot, I did a roadside repair and installed the oil filter and oil. The Goldwing started up just fine. I appreciate the fellow riders who trusted me with their motorcycle after mine was struck and also was lucky that the person who stopped had a screwdriver that helped me remove the damaged oil filter. We rode the last two miles to our hotel with no problems.
About the Author:
Cliff Odenkirk is webmaster for Bikes-N-Trikes.net and writes about his experiences ridingon a Goldwing Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
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