Strega 0 Posted April 3, 2013 I need to talk PMB into taking some quality pics of my setup and make a short video on how to do it properly. PMB, what say ye? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 3, 2013 Dave and Paul camped at the Washoo campground adjacent to Lake Powell last night.......today/tomorrow should be interesting......lot's of scheduled riding above 8-9K' in Bryce Canyon, etc. .....hopefully they won't have to re-route to pavement too often due to road closures and/or snow/mud...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 3, 2013 PMB, what say ye? Of course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoss314 0 Posted April 3, 2013 I don't like hearing that his 525 died. Any news as to a cause? All I got out of him was bike died.....removed plug.....no spark FYI...Hobiee helped me out one time on a buddies bike with clues for no spark issue on a 525... Ended up a common problem....one of the stator wires had a cold solder that broke. Removed the side cover and re-soldered the wire. Good To Go! Would suck to be out there unable to ride....especially if you get home and find it was such an easy fix Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted April 3, 2013 All I got out of him was bike died.....removed plug.....no spark FYI...Hobiee helped me out one time on a buddies bike with clues for no spark issue on a 525... Ended up a common problem....one of the stator wires had a cold solder that broke. Removed the side cover and re-soldered the wire. Good To Go! Would suck to be out there unable to ride....especially if you get home and find it was such an easy fix I should probably start a new thread as not to completely hijack this one but I do appreciate the info and I think it's relevant here. Resodering the stator sounds like a smart fix, as does Deb's recommendation on carrying an extra spark plug cap. Any known issues or experiences with a Trail Tech stator or rewind of the stock stator by Baja Designs? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SlowDown 0 Posted April 3, 2013 Hi guys! I'm writing from my daughter's place in Vegas. Jon had been towing my for almost 20 miles. We were successful in traversing many of those rocky dry stream crossings. We were killing it. We met up with CR-103 and decided to skip Bar10 and just head to St. George for repairs. We were only about a mile or so down 103 when it happened. Of course it happened very fast. I recall seeing Jon skid to a stop. I had to swerve to keep from hitting him. I recovered from the swerve but headed toward the side of the dirt road. What cam next is blurry but it looks like I slid the back end of the bike around planting myself on the ground on my left side. I'm not sure if it was from the tow rope or breaking too hard. My left shoulder hit first. We were using Strega's tow setup which works great. The trick is to try to stay in the same line as the tow bike so you don't add a torque to the rear of the tow bike. At that point we were likely going about 20-25. CR103 is a lot like Cr5 in that it was a nice flat & wide dirt road. The issue was that somehow part of the tow strap at Jon's bike came loose and made its way into his rear wheel. The wheel locked up but not before pulling the strap down pulling the rear fender down into the tire and breaking the luggage rack holding his two rotopacks. The tow strap was attached to Jon's luggage rack. This seemed like a good hardpoint away from the chain and likely would have been fine except that we attached the strap with about 20 feet between bikes. There was extra strap that was tied off further down the strap toward the self repeller. Somehow this came loose and fouled in his rear wheel. Yes. There is GoPro video of this event in my possession only... My son Jon, Dave and Paul were troopers. Jon took off my helmet and did first aid, checking for broken bones and dislocated shoulder. I sat up slowly maybe 5 minutes later. I knew my left side was in a lot of pain. Paul supported my back from behind with his knees. Jon was talking to me as the lights dimmed and my vision narrowed. I spoke to them and said, "I think I'm going to black out now..." I blacked out for 20 seconds. I awoke with Jon's face screaming something to me. They told me later that they almost hit the SOS button on the SPOT while I was out. I was more alert now. Jon kept giving me water and Dave had fruit roll-up candy to get sugar into my system. I took one of Dave's 600mg Ibuprofens. We discussed options and decided to hit the "help" button on the SPOT at 3:52pm. Soon we all realized that there was no way that I could ride again let alone be towed. We hit the SOS button at 3:56pm. Shortly after 5pm the black helicopter showed up... They found us and circled around and set down on CR103 about 80 yards from us. Two Sheriff Deputies jumped out, one from AZ the other from UT. Dave, Paul and Jon met them. They asked a bunch of questions, took pictures of my and Jon's licenses and wrote it up as a traffic accident. I got a helicopter ride to St George. Pilot, two Deputies and me. We landed at a Fire Station where the EMTs checked me over and asked a bunch of questions. They put a neck brace on me in case there was a spinal injury. I didn't care that it was CYA. Because of my blackout, and risk for broken bones they suggested I get checked out at the hospital. They called an ambulance. The ambulance arrived with two more guys who asked a lot more questions. I got up to get into the gurney and had a massive cramp in my left leg. They gave me an IV on the way to the hospital. At the hospital, I had x-rays and a CT scan all within about 20 minutes. They were not busy and Obama care did not seem to have taken hold yet. Besides I had insurance and they were going to ride it as far as they could. Thankfully. No broken bones, no concussion, possible hairline fracture. I was discharged around 9:45pm. The three amigos showed up at the hospital about 10 pm. They had to ride out mostly in the dark from the crash site to St. George. They left my bike in "time out" at the scene hidden from site in some bushes. We checked in at a nearby Marriott Townplace Suites. I'm doing much better. Now I just need to get my wife off of the ceiling so I can plan the next ride on my new KTM 500 EXC.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 3, 2013 Hi guys! I'm writing from my daughter's place in Vegas. YIKES. Glad you're ok! Tell us please- did SPOT call your emergency numbers before responding, or did they just scramble help immediately? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoss314 0 Posted April 3, 2013 Now I just need to get my wife off of the ceiling so I can plan the next ride on my new KTM 500 EXC.... I had a feeling this would be an excellent excuse to pick up your "Spot" and slide a new bike under it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SlowDown 0 Posted April 3, 2013 I'm not sure of the sequence of events, but my son-in-law in Vegas was at his job at Zappos releasing front end web updates when he got the "help" message. He went into action and actually was talking to the Mohave County sheriffs when we hit the SOS. They seemed to be in contact all around. They called my wife first but she did not answer. Chase, my son-in-law was #2 on the list. The Sheriff's first wanted to send a tow truck but Chase argued for a bigger response. They decided to send a helo before the SOS was communicated by SPOT. It appeared that SPOT was spot on with comms. I even had a VM from the IERCC when I had cell service again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 3, 2013 I'm not sure of the sequence of events, but my son-in-law in Vegas was at his job at Zappos releasing front end web updates when he got the "help" message. He went into action and actually was talking to the Mohave County sheriffs when we hit the SOS. They seemed to be in contact all around. They called my wife first but she did not answer. Chase, my son-in-law was #2 on the list. The Sheriff's first wanted to send a tow truck but Chase argued for a bigger response. They decided to send a helo before the SOS was communicated by SPOT. It appeared that SPOT was spot on with comms. I even had a VM from the IERCC when I had cell service again. A helicopter landing out in BFE ~1 hour after pushing the SOS button sounds pretty darn good/impressive to me.....glad you're Ok..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 4, 2013 Dave and Paul settled in at Bryce Canyon last night: http://whereamiriding.com/gpsfiles/map/trip_tracker2.php?username=TSRDAVE&map_type=SATELLITE&zoom=10&weather=ON&fulltrip=ON&user_key=12345 Hopefully they won't get re-routed too much by road/trail closures due to snow and/or muddy run-off. They'll be riding at 8-9K' elevation between Bryce/Panguitch/Zion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 4, 2013 Dave and Paul settled in at Bryce Canyon last night: http://whereamiriding.com/gpsfiles/map/trip_tracker2.php?username=TSRDAVE&map_type=SATELLITE&zoom=10&weather=ON&fulltrip=ON&user_key=12345 Hopefully they won't get re-routed too much by road/trail closures due to snow and/or muddy run-off. They'll be riding at 8-9K' elevation between Bryce/Panguitch/Zion. Looks like the boys got shut out by closures/snow/(?) after they hit Tropic Reservior in Bryce.......right now they're north of Hwy 12 on a US Forest Service road heading for Panguitch......average elevation on current path is ~8K' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenosan 2 Posted April 4, 2013 This is an area that should not be trifled with, especially this time of the year. My neighbor in Page (Gawin, Page Honda) has a cabin near Panguitch. When he goes there most times of the year he doesn't bring a motorcycle or even a quad but hooks up his trailer with two snow mobiles on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 4, 2013 Good BBQ in Panguitch. Very good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenosan 2 Posted April 4, 2013 Good BBQ in Panguitch. Very good. +1 But don't try to get there by motorcycle unless it is summer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 5, 2013 +1 But don't try to get there by motorcycle unless it is summer. Last time I got there by U-Haul Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crawdaddy 96 Posted April 5, 2013 I assume you're talking about "Cowboy's Smoke House"? ....... Looks like they're about ~10 miles east now.......that's what I texted to them.........they'll probably have to take a lot of pavement (89) down to Zion tomorrow......elevations are too high above hwy14 to ride trails down to Duck Creek........likewise, some elevations as high as 9K between hwy14 and hwy9....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goofy Footer 539 Posted April 5, 2013 Last time I got there by U-Haul I don't like the sound of that... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 5, 2013 I assume you're talking about "Cowboy's Smoke House"? ....... YES! The real deal, and you know how I am about BBQ. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paulmbowers 236 Posted April 5, 2013 I don't like the sound of that... Oh, just never you mind... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagstr 287 Posted April 5, 2013 Better 10 miles out after a day of riding, than watering the trees B I assume you're talking about "Cowboy's Smoke House"? ....... Looks like they're about ~10 miles east now.......that's what I texted to them.........they'll probably have to take a lot of pavement (89) down to Zion tomorrow......elevations are too high above hwy14 to ride trails down to Duck Creek........likewise, some elevations as high as 9K between hwy14 and hwy9....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tsr 0 Posted April 7, 2013 I am working on a trip report to post (hopefully) later today. Having read the previous four pages I can add a bit. Paul (Bowers) might have an idea about what happened to Ron's bike, but we were stumped trail side. When the plug was pulled we were amazed the bike got as far as it did. The plug was extremely fouled and the electrode was nothing more than a small needle. A picture of this will be in the trip report. The plug change didn't help any, so Strega's tow system was put in place. (I put a post somewhere on this site with a still picture of the set up) It actually worked quite well, as Ron said. The "boys" were looking like champs towing through the rocky stream beds and motoring along the trail, at all times in constant comms with each other. I have GoPro film of them while towing. The tow strap had been tied off to the rear of Jon's rack. Ron has had more time to look over the damage to Jon's bike and the video, so he may have the correct order of events for the cause of the failure. I believe that the towing bike should have the strap mounted to the frame somehow instead of to a rack. The loads put on the rack due to slack being taken up were likely pretty high and I'm not convinced that the rack didn't fail first causing the chain of events. Having too much tow strap is something to correct, however. The video shows a small dust cloud with Ron veering offline to the right a bit, a bigger dust cloud as Jon's bike hit the deck, followed by Ron high-siding off the left side of this bike and landing on his left shoulder (and then a big dust cloud). As I rolled up, Jon was already off his bike and at Ron's side - that sequence took < 1 sec !!! The other parts of the trip will be saved for the trip report, but things learned from this are to have the shop check over the WHOLE bike (that spark plug should've been discovered during a maintenance session, we thought), the tow strap from the towing bike to the climbers rope in Strega's system should be about 20 feet (it was quite a bit longer, and thus the extra strap was tied off), a SPOT is invaluable as are comms, and riding in a group of at least 3 might be a consideration. In all, Ron is okay, and that's the most important part. We passed many a KTM shop on the way home and we all suggested that he stop by and bring home a different orange bike (hoping his wife can't tell one from another :coolio:/> ) ... trip report will be coming soon ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
