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.
We rode into West Virginia from Manassas, Virginia and just short of our hotel in Marlinton Virginia, We rounded a curve. On the road were rocks that had come down the side of the hill and landed on the road. My front tire struck a rock.
You never think it will happen to you but a rock flips and hits the bike. The rock broke into many pieces and I knew I had hit something solid. Smoke billowed out the back of the bike and I knew I had to stop immediately.
After the curve there was a business parking lot which I rode into and I hit the kill switch coasting to a stop. The result of the rock damage is shown below. The irony is I had read of this problem on the webboards and had ordered a belly pan the previous Monday night, but I had not arrived by Friday morning when we departed Manassas.[I:1:J]
The oil filter looked like someone had shot a bullet through it. The fairing had deep grooves cut by the flying rock.
I was fortunate, someone driving by saw our plight and just happened to have a screwdriver, which I stuck in the hole and used to remove the filter. The oil was almost all gone, with very little left in the engine. One of my fellow riders lent me his bike to ride back into the nearest town. I found an auto parts store that had a filter that fit and took that and some oil back up the hill.
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. - 16752
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.
We rode into West Virginia from Manassas, Virginia and just short of our hotel in Marlinton Virginia, We rounded a curve. On the road were rocks that had come down the side of the hill and landed on the road. My front tire struck a rock.
You never think it will happen to you but a rock flips and hits the bike. The rock broke into many pieces and I knew I had hit something solid. Smoke billowed out the back of the bike and I knew I had to stop immediately.
After the curve there was a business parking lot which I rode into and I hit the kill switch coasting to a stop. The result of the rock damage is shown below. The irony is I had read of this problem on the webboards and had ordered a belly pan the previous Monday night, but I had not arrived by Friday morning when we departed Manassas.[I:1:J]
The oil filter looked like someone had shot a bullet through it. The fairing had deep grooves cut by the flying rock.
I was fortunate, someone driving by saw our plight and just happened to have a screwdriver, which I stuck in the hole and used to remove the filter. The oil was almost all gone, with very little left in the engine. One of my fellow riders lent me his bike to ride back into the nearest town. I found an auto parts store that had a filter that fit and took that and some oil back up the hill.
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. - 16752
About the Author:
Cliff Odenkirk is webmaster for Bikes-N-Trikes.net and writes about adventures ridingon a Goldwing
