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Once a biker, always a biker (puncture adventure)

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So many people asked me, what is so special about being a biker?
Is it the speed?
Is it the macho image?
Is it the machine?

Yes, I answered, all of the above and something more.

Many years ago, 3 friends went on a ride together.
They travelled 680km and then discovered a puncture.
They were in Penang.

Malaysia is a wonderful country, full of motorcycles.
They have many "Honda Cups", those 80cc "mosquito" racers.
They do not usually have a spare tube for our 19inch-front.

We were dismayed at the puncture, and was already discussing how to get home via a truck or by plane.

Luckily we chanced upon a small shop which told us to go to another one.
When we arrived at the recommended shop, our punctured tire was already badly "damaged".

There was a middle-aged man in the shop, fixing something on his Harley.
Now, a Harley in those days (1990s), in Penang Malaysia, only belonged to the rich and powerful.

We were wary, 3 of us on "cheap" DR650s.
The man with the round spectacles smiled and took a quick look.
He said he had a spare in his house and promptly took off to get it.

When it was all fixed up 2 hours later, we proceeded to want to pay for it.
The soft-spoken man said no. He is not even the owner of the shop. He was just a regular customer.

He said something which stuck to my mind til today: "Bikers help others in need".

We were lucky to have met Dino.
He also happened to have the ONLY African Twin in Penang which also had a 19inc (I cannot remember if it was 19 or 21).
If not for him, we would have to think of a way back. Ordering a new tube would have taken weeks.

So lesson learned:
Always be ready to help. A good deed will always be remembered.
Once a biker, always a biker.

Hope you enjoyed this true story.

~Joe
:eek:
 
Plus "Juan"....you see this especially at the track. Riders always helping others out. I have in more than one occasion helped a rider in need even on public streets when they were on the side of the road due to a mechanical. I have helped an injured rider on the side of the road also. I have also gotten help when I was broken down on the road. A Harley rider who was driving his truck put my sportbike in the bed of his truck, bought me water and food, and drove me home.

You don't need to be part of an MC to be part of the 2 Wheel Brotherhood. The only thing I always ask whenever I do a good dead to another fellow motorcyclist is to just pay it forward.
 
once had a car pulled up are you ok mate??
just ran out of petrol.. jump in we'll get some.
came back to my bike put fuel in ..he wouldn't take any money off me.
that was back in the 70's,now you couldn't leave a bike on the side road and expect it to still be there after 1/2 hour.
 
once had a car pulled up are you ok mate??
just ran out of petrol.. jump in we'll get some.
came back to my bike put fuel in ..he wouldn't take any money off me.
that was back in the 70's,now you couldn't leave a bike on the side road and expect it to still be there after 1/2 hour.

Not when most bikers nowadays have more cash in the bank than the driver in the automobile.
Lawyers? Doctors? Internet millionairres?
:p

Plus one more thing, there is a petrol kiosk every 200m ....
 
Yep bikers do help each other. On first trip to France several years back I low sided when joining motorway and both myself and the bike slid across the lanes and hit the central reservation. The bike had lots of cosmetic damage and the gear lever had snapped at the bottom. It was difficult to ride stuck in 3rd gear and with a painful knee, shoulder and busted rib but managed to nurse it off the motorway to a service area. After a half hour a guy in a white van approached me after he filled up his tank and in broken English asked what had happened. He told us to wait while he went home and an hour later was back with a drill and bolt. He drilled the bottom of the lever and threaded the bolt through the rubber from the piece that had broken off. Turns out he owned a GSXR1000 and could not leave me stuck like that. Top guy and would not accept any form of payment as a thankyou. The bolt worked so well that it stayed on the bike for another 4 years until I sold it :)
 
Thank you all for those nice stories. I've helped and been helped on the road several times as well. My nioce story is when I pulled over on 16 to take a photo and a smoke break, two Harley riders coming from the other direction pulled in and asked if I needed help. We had a real nice conversation for 10 mins or so.

You meet the nicest people on two wheels :D
 
Last month I was up in the Alps (mountains), and I came across a KTM biker who has opened up his bike in the middle of nowhere UP THERE.

I stopped and signalled to him if he needed help.
He waved me on.

Somehow, I don't see anyway doing that in a CAR.
:p

PS: I am not patting myself on the back, it is just something "natural" for me as a biker.
 
I'm glad to see that bikers in Europe are still stopping and checking on their fellow bikers. Folks at one time did that here in states, but I guess the cell phone stopped stopping.
 
Some of you have seen me post about geocaching. A lot of these are hidden on the side of the rode so I'm pulled off on the shoulder all the time. I have had tons of people pull over and ask if I need help since moving to Arkansas. I think where you live comes into play.

I have never been in a situation with a motorcycle like was described by the OP. I guess I have been lucky over the years and never had a serious breakdown. Might be because I never kept a bike long enough or because they were all Hondas. Kidding :rolleyes:

The most I have ever helped a stranded motorcyclist was to load his bike in the back of my truck and take him home. We both lived in Fayettville, NC. I probably only drove 15 miles but he was grateful and I was happy I could help.
 
Earlier this year on a Sunday late afternoon my wife and I experienced a flat rear tire in central Oklahoma on a trip to south Texas. It turned out that the valve stem had split and was causing the leak and could not be fixed on the side of the road. During the time that I had pulled off the road on a rural highway, I had three different bikers stop willing to help and two different people in pick up trucks stop to help.

Since the repair could not be done on the side of the road, one of the people in their truck went back to their house and got their trailer to take me into the next town about 15 miles away. We could not find anyone to replace the valve stem on a Sunday evening. My mother lives about 70 miles from where we were and the the gentleman who took me into town offered to let me take his 2010 Ford 4x4 and trailer to my mother's house and bring his truck back after I could get my valve stem replaced. The man explained that he was a biker and had been helped out in the past by others and wanted to help fellow bikers in need.

Also, when we were on the side of the highway, an older woman stopped and offered to let us sleep at their farm house located a few miles away so we would not have to stay at a motel if we could not fix our bike that night and get back on the road. She explained that she and her husband had toured for many years across the US on a motorcycle.

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed by the willingness of complete strangers to help others in need. By the way, the gentleman with the truck drove me to my mother's house at 11:00 that night and helped me unload the bike into her garage where I repaired it the next day. He would not take a single dime, or allow me to fill his truck up with gas. Before he drove back home, he simply said I might have the opportunity to help a fellow biker in need some day. I was extremely humbled and thankful there are still some really fine people in the world today.
 
I will stop to check on/help any biker who looks like they may need help. The last time I stopped it was for someone who had not ridden since the previous year and had put his bike away with an almost empty tank and ran out of gas on his way to get gas.
I think most riders in my part of the country will stop for a fellow rider still. I hope this always holds true.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
 
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