I posted some of this in another EggHunt 1000 thread but though I would tell the tail of my first failed IBA ride for posterity.
I had a simple loop planned and was taking a fairly easy pace for this ride. Being only 1000 miles and a few photos I felt I had time to be a bit more leisurely about it.
I left home and went to my start point outside Nashville, TN for some breakfast and my first Egg photo bonus at 6am. From there it was up I-24 through Nashville to I-65 for the leg north toward Elizabethtown, KY. Weather was beautiful starting out in the low 40's but with a nice sunrise and clear skies. Temps would climb into the low 70's and the sun was out a majority of the day.
I made the turn west in Elizabethtown and stopped for fuel and my second photo bonus just west off the Western Kentucky Parkway and the new I69 corridor. I ran into a small problem as the store had almost no Easter candy so I found the only Egg shaped chocolate I could and took my photo.
I continued on by picking up I-24 again around the Lake Barkley and Grand Rivers area until I reached Lone Oak, KY for a lunch stop and my third photo bonus with an Egg Roll and some good Lo Mein noodles. Heading south on Hwy 45, I-69, and Hwy 51 I dipped down to Dyresburg, TN to cross the Mississippi River into Missouri.
Being Easter Sunday and sticking to "lower use" Interstates or Highways most of the time had meant very little traffic, even getting through Nashville and crossing into Kentucky on I-65. It was a very pleasant ride so far. I picked up 55 South toward Memphis and while I did find some more traffic here it was not significant. Close to Memphis but still on the Arkansas side I found a business called The Speckled Egg Boutique and took a photo with the sign and picked up a DBR for a cup of coffee a mile or so down the road in Marion. Now it was back to Tennessee for a brief run through Memphis to pick up Hwy 78 / I-22 for a leg toward Birmingham, AL.
I passed through Memphis without significant issue and crossed into Mississippi. With 4 of the 5 bonus photos complete and a little over 600 miles ridden I was feeling like things were going well. Hwy 78 / I-22 is a road I have used of SS1000 rides before. It is fairly low use and while it does not pass through any major cities with congestion issues it has decent services along the way. I was a touch over 120 miles from my last fuel stop and 30 or so minutes West of Tupelo, MS on the Eastern edge of the Holly Springs National Forrest when my EggHunt ended.
The road surface was good but not great, it had a bit of a ripple to it. I felt a shudder and rolled off the throttle. This induced a bit of headshake so I rolled back on the throttle to see if it would smooth out. It did smooth out for just a few seconds and I briefly thought it must have been undulations in the road surface. That thought vanished when the back of the bike began to buck vertically and the bike began to shake fairly aggressively. I was in the left lane a touch over 70 mph and had recently passed two vehicles. I took a panic look over my right shoulder eased on the brakes and started to head for the shoulder. Once below 40 or 50 mph the bike began to violently wag its tail horizontally. Trying to scrub speed aggressively but smoothly I aimed for the white line so if I did go down it was not down into the ditch. Once I saw that ditch was not deep there were no obstructions I went to the edge of the shoulder for the last few MPH under braking. At this point the bike was crab walking but swinging left to right as the now flat tire moved around on the rim. With both feet out to catch the bike I managed to stop it ungracefully but upright on the shoulder.
The tire was completely shredded and off the bead. It had taken out a lower chunk of the GS's rear fender or mud guard. There was rubber residue over most of the rear of the bike. I collected my thoughts (i.e. checked my LDComfort riding shorts) and pulled the phone out to begin to asses my location and distance to the nearest exit or services. My tire kit and pump were not going to get me out of this one.
I logged a ticket with my Roadside Assistance app thankful for a decent cell signal and waited for their call. which came moments later. I confirmed my location and status with them and they dispatched the call to a Tupelo wrecker service. I received a text confirmation at 6:14pm with the towing providers contact info and an eta of 7:29 pm. A bit more than an hour but perfectly acceptable. As I waited I checked in with my wife, found a shop in Tupelo that would be open the following morning, booked a room at the local Hilton Garden, and got a call into my elderly parents to check in on them. A bit after 7pm I got a call from the wrecker to confirm my location and drop a pin to assist in him locating me. It was at the end of this call I got the news I did not want to hear, another 2 hours before he could get to me. He was over an hour east of Tupelo and I was 30 to 40 minutes west of it. He was the only wrecker in their fleet with the gear to haul a motorcycle safely. Further complicating it was I was on the east bound side 8 miles past the last exit so he had to pass me headed west to turn around and get to me on the other side of the divided highway, another 15 minutes added. The wrecker finally showed at 9:20 pm a full 3 hours after I spoke with roadside assistance and 2 hours after the original ETA. The operator was professional and loaded the bike safely but slowly. It was 10:45 pm before we were at the local shop and unloading the bike. He dropped me at my hotel a bit over a mile down the road and was getting checked in just after 11pm, 5 hours after the tire failure.
Carnage pics below.
Many thanks to the folks at Fuel Cycles in Tupelo, MS. They were at the shop early Monday morning and actually had a tire in stock. They had it mounted and back on the bike by about 9:10 am which is impressive since they normally don't open until 9am. It took me longer to take the bags off the bike and reload everything than it did for them to change the tire.
I was on the road before 10am headed North and East. I took a leisurely pace toward Nashville since my EggHunt was unattainable now. Picked up part of the Natchez Trace and some other county roads for the 250~300 miles home. Got home just after lunch and decompressed for a few hours before mowing the lawn.
TPMS is on order along with a new front and a matching new rear to replace the 140/70-17 that the shop had with the correct 150/70-17.
I had a simple loop planned and was taking a fairly easy pace for this ride. Being only 1000 miles and a few photos I felt I had time to be a bit more leisurely about it.
I left home and went to my start point outside Nashville, TN for some breakfast and my first Egg photo bonus at 6am. From there it was up I-24 through Nashville to I-65 for the leg north toward Elizabethtown, KY. Weather was beautiful starting out in the low 40's but with a nice sunrise and clear skies. Temps would climb into the low 70's and the sun was out a majority of the day.
I made the turn west in Elizabethtown and stopped for fuel and my second photo bonus just west off the Western Kentucky Parkway and the new I69 corridor. I ran into a small problem as the store had almost no Easter candy so I found the only Egg shaped chocolate I could and took my photo.
I continued on by picking up I-24 again around the Lake Barkley and Grand Rivers area until I reached Lone Oak, KY for a lunch stop and my third photo bonus with an Egg Roll and some good Lo Mein noodles. Heading south on Hwy 45, I-69, and Hwy 51 I dipped down to Dyresburg, TN to cross the Mississippi River into Missouri.
Being Easter Sunday and sticking to "lower use" Interstates or Highways most of the time had meant very little traffic, even getting through Nashville and crossing into Kentucky on I-65. It was a very pleasant ride so far. I picked up 55 South toward Memphis and while I did find some more traffic here it was not significant. Close to Memphis but still on the Arkansas side I found a business called The Speckled Egg Boutique and took a photo with the sign and picked up a DBR for a cup of coffee a mile or so down the road in Marion. Now it was back to Tennessee for a brief run through Memphis to pick up Hwy 78 / I-22 for a leg toward Birmingham, AL.
I passed through Memphis without significant issue and crossed into Mississippi. With 4 of the 5 bonus photos complete and a little over 600 miles ridden I was feeling like things were going well. Hwy 78 / I-22 is a road I have used of SS1000 rides before. It is fairly low use and while it does not pass through any major cities with congestion issues it has decent services along the way. I was a touch over 120 miles from my last fuel stop and 30 or so minutes West of Tupelo, MS on the Eastern edge of the Holly Springs National Forrest when my EggHunt ended.
The road surface was good but not great, it had a bit of a ripple to it. I felt a shudder and rolled off the throttle. This induced a bit of headshake so I rolled back on the throttle to see if it would smooth out. It did smooth out for just a few seconds and I briefly thought it must have been undulations in the road surface. That thought vanished when the back of the bike began to buck vertically and the bike began to shake fairly aggressively. I was in the left lane a touch over 70 mph and had recently passed two vehicles. I took a panic look over my right shoulder eased on the brakes and started to head for the shoulder. Once below 40 or 50 mph the bike began to violently wag its tail horizontally. Trying to scrub speed aggressively but smoothly I aimed for the white line so if I did go down it was not down into the ditch. Once I saw that ditch was not deep there were no obstructions I went to the edge of the shoulder for the last few MPH under braking. At this point the bike was crab walking but swinging left to right as the now flat tire moved around on the rim. With both feet out to catch the bike I managed to stop it ungracefully but upright on the shoulder.
The tire was completely shredded and off the bead. It had taken out a lower chunk of the GS's rear fender or mud guard. There was rubber residue over most of the rear of the bike. I collected my thoughts (i.e. checked my LDComfort riding shorts) and pulled the phone out to begin to asses my location and distance to the nearest exit or services. My tire kit and pump were not going to get me out of this one.
I logged a ticket with my Roadside Assistance app thankful for a decent cell signal and waited for their call. which came moments later. I confirmed my location and status with them and they dispatched the call to a Tupelo wrecker service. I received a text confirmation at 6:14pm with the towing providers contact info and an eta of 7:29 pm. A bit more than an hour but perfectly acceptable. As I waited I checked in with my wife, found a shop in Tupelo that would be open the following morning, booked a room at the local Hilton Garden, and got a call into my elderly parents to check in on them. A bit after 7pm I got a call from the wrecker to confirm my location and drop a pin to assist in him locating me. It was at the end of this call I got the news I did not want to hear, another 2 hours before he could get to me. He was over an hour east of Tupelo and I was 30 to 40 minutes west of it. He was the only wrecker in their fleet with the gear to haul a motorcycle safely. Further complicating it was I was on the east bound side 8 miles past the last exit so he had to pass me headed west to turn around and get to me on the other side of the divided highway, another 15 minutes added. The wrecker finally showed at 9:20 pm a full 3 hours after I spoke with roadside assistance and 2 hours after the original ETA. The operator was professional and loaded the bike safely but slowly. It was 10:45 pm before we were at the local shop and unloading the bike. He dropped me at my hotel a bit over a mile down the road and was getting checked in just after 11pm, 5 hours after the tire failure.
Carnage pics below.
Many thanks to the folks at Fuel Cycles in Tupelo, MS. They were at the shop early Monday morning and actually had a tire in stock. They had it mounted and back on the bike by about 9:10 am which is impressive since they normally don't open until 9am. It took me longer to take the bags off the bike and reload everything than it did for them to change the tire.
I was on the road before 10am headed North and East. I took a leisurely pace toward Nashville since my EggHunt was unattainable now. Picked up part of the Natchez Trace and some other county roads for the 250~300 miles home. Got home just after lunch and decompressed for a few hours before mowing the lawn.
TPMS is on order along with a new front and a matching new rear to replace the 140/70-17 that the shop had with the correct 150/70-17.
