One Scary Ride

[Jeff Higgins]

Ah, the vagaries of old motorcycles - even the ones we have known and loved for most of our lives.

I have not been able to ride much this year due to some injuries sustained when some clown managed to total my old Beetle. My clutch hand got the worst of it, so it's been extremely difficult to ride. I've had one surgery already, and another one appears imminent. Long story short, my surgeon has me on some oral steroids to reduce inflammation while I await surgery. My hand felt so good today, I just had to get out on a bike.

Well, it turns out the only one I have not ridden yet this year is the old Ironhead Sportster. So, I wheeled it out of the garage, and gave it a pretty thorough pre-flight. In doing so, I noticed the oil was low. Really low. So I did the obvious and topped it off.

*Sigh*. That was my big mistake. Much like our air cooled 911's, if left to sit for an extended period, the oil can pretty much drain out of the tank and fill the crankcase instead. Duh - I knew this. I've had the darn thing since 1979, after all. I don't know what I was thinking (I clearly wasn't). I topped it off...

I rode for over 100 miles without issue. Be-bopping along at a leisurely pace on some of my favorite backroads, I stopped for gas, stopped for coffee, stopped again for gas. Nary a hint of trouble.

Time kind of got away from me, as we always hope it will when engaged like this, so I found myself having to kind of beat feet to get home. So I hopped on the freeway and wicked it up a bit. Did about 40 miles with the old girl spinning at about 4,500 in top gear. Ran like a champ. Unfortunately, it also heated up a good deal more than my previous leisurely pace had managed. In so doing, all that extra oil vented out the crankcase breather... And all over the right rear of the bike. Including the right sidewall and shoulder of the tire.

So, here I was, oblivious to all of this, when I began to approach my exit. It's a really fun, gentle, 70-80 mph (on the Sporty) right hand sweeper. As soon as I started to gently lean into it, the rear tire slipped out and I found myself doing my very best reverse Jay Springsteen imitation. With no idea what was going on, I thought maybe I had a flat rear tire, so I managed to stand it back up and get on the front brake pretty hard. It felt stable going straight, so I was already beginning to question my flat tire hypothesis. I scrubbed off enough speed to now be down in second gear, but as soon as I leaned it over, it did it again and I almost went down.

I finally managed to stop on the shoulder so I could assess the situation. While it was all too obvious what had happened, I was still shaking like a leaf. Fortunately, it was only a few blocks to home, and they were all left hand turns.

Geebers that scared the crap outa me. Once I calmed down, I got pretty mad at myself for having made such a fundamental, potentially catastrophic mistake. I know better. Be careful out there, kids. The most familiar things will sometimes bite us. I got lucky - real lucky.

[Steve Carlton]

I was cringing while reading that. Glad you didn't go down! Nice job keeping it upright!

[911boost]

Wow, glad you didn’t go down...

Hope your hand gets better soon too.....

[pwd72s]

Glad you survived this one.

[flatbutt]

Message received and understood. Glad you didn't lay it down!

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

I was cringing while reading that. Glad you didn't go down! Nice job keeping it upright!

This^^^

Yeah, that sounded scary, for sure. Nice job keeping it vertical.

So how much oil are we talking? A pint?
Was the residual on the MC just misted or was it dripping from the surfaces?

[masraum]

Glad you managed to keep it together and upright. Stuff happens.

[rattlsnak]

Time to get a sidecar... lol.. Glad it turned out ok!

[crb07]

sounds like the clutch hand is better?

[motion]

Dang, Jeff. Was the ride worth it?

[Jeff Higgins]

It couldn't have been more than a few ounces of oil. Certainly not dripping off the bike, but enough to pretty thoroughly mist it all over. The tire wasn't really "wet" per se, it looked more like I had just used one of those tire blackening products to make it really shiny.

Yeah, the clutch hand is "better", but the surgeon was clear this is a temporary state of affairs. I swear, prednisone is some kind of a miracle drug. After six months of limited use, nagging pain, and one surgery already, this is the first thing to actually make it feel better. Can't stay on it forever, though, as the side affects apparently really suck.

Oh, and yeah - the ride is always worth it. Only because I really dodged a bullet, though. It could have gotten not worth it really fast... As we always said in AOG, "everything's fine until it's not..."

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

It couldn't have been more than a few ounces of oil. Certainly not dripping off the bike, but enough to pretty thoroughly mist it all over. The tire wasn't really "wet" per se, it looked more like I had just used one of those tire blackening products to make it really shiny.

...

Wow Jeff...glad you're OK! But I do believe the correct terminology is....

Jet Fokkin' Black

[Bill Douglas]

Good skills staying on.

[JavaBrewer]

Similar happened to me on my Triumph Speed Triple. Riding to work on the freeway I developed a minor oil leak that misted the rear tire. Very slow upright ride to the local shop where they fixed the leak. I elected for a new rear tire, not cheap for 190 sized tire to replace the oiled one that was relatively new, but I thought it was a good call. Great job Jeff on keeping it together...scary stuff.

[scottmandue]

Glad to hear you made it through and are okay.

Shouda done you best Kenny Roberts impersonation thou

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Good skills staying on.

Yep.

[RSBob]

Holy crapoley Jeff, there are a group of equally reckless bums depending on you to be slightly less reckless than the rest. Good thing your brain clicked into gear with the first slide. Very glad you are all right physically, hand not withstanding, the mental part can be cured after a few adult beverages. Keep the shiny side up, bro.

Says the cripple getting off Oxycodone and morphine after a trip to the ER.

[Baz]

[LakeCleElum]

Dam Jeff. I'm glad that worked out. Only an experienced rider would feel the tire feeling different and take the correct action you did........UB blessed....

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

It couldn't have been more than a few ounces of oil. Certainly not dripping off the bike, but enough to pretty thoroughly mist it all over.

It would seem that puking CCV's are not uncommon with many (most?) HD twins, and not just from overfilling the oil. Although, I am sure that was the culprit in this case (false "low" reading due to wet-sumping).
I know there are several "mods" that address the issue (widening the CCV bore, re-routing external CCV line, catch cans, etc.). Maybe something to look into for added insurance.

Anyway, good job keepin' the shiny side up, Higgy!
Didja get that inboard leg out, sponson-style like you were flat-tracking?