Made me smile (inside my helmet!)

Stopped at a store after work today on the Swing. Parked next to a big ol' Harley ... guy was chatting with another guy. When I came out of the store (quick trip) they were still chatting. Another guy driving an SUV pulls in and heads into the store. HD guy calls out to him, "Hey sir. I see you are a Ford man [what he was driving] but could you help push me to get me started ... I think my battery is weak!"

So as I climbed on 3B and fired him up at the touch of a button, here are these three guys trying to push start a Harley!   

As I drove out of the parking lot, I couldn't HELP but have a big ol' grin inside my helmet .....

SHOULDA GOT A HONDA!!! 

I like the looks of those older HD's from the sixties....
The Police used them here.
Later changed to BMW.
Now a mix of brands.

Are they realy that bad according some horror story's ??

Other than my Silverwing and Big Ruckus, I ride a 2007 Harley Road King and love it. No problems here. It's like any other bike. Things happen, like a dead battery and such. I would have helped get the Harley guy going cause "what goes around, comes around". Later, OH

Riding my scoot or driving a car if I see a motorbike / scooter / bicycle that appears to be in trouble I will see if there is anything I can do. Hopefully, people will do the same for me when the time comes. We are all part of the two wheeled community regardless of what we ride.

Cheers,

Well....me being about as much help as a screen door on a submarine when it comes to mechanicals on a bike, I knew I couldn't help him at all.....besides he DID have help, two other big guys were attempting to help him get going. I don't know whether either of the guys didn't have jumper cables or if they just hadn't thought of it yet.  (My battery has gone dead too .... LUCKILY at home so I could jump it from the truck). I just got a little smirk from seeing my Honda take right off and his big bad Harley limping along trying to get going ....

I recall a month ago getting all ready to ride, boots on, coat on, helmet on, gloves on, jumped on the swing to go, no start, dead battery. Had to remove all the riding gear, while waiting for the battery to charge. Dont recall ever having this happen when i had a Harley! Im sure if i had the HD long enough it would have sooner or later! Like other guys said- offer help whenever you can especially to the two wheeled community!

Hi to all, it will made me smile if I could help that guy!

Here's a smile for you; Three Harley poseurs were standing along side the Ohio Turnpike on a sweltering August afternoon. Evidently they were returning from some 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' Harley affair when one of them ran out of fuel. I pulled over to see if I could help and kind of got that look when they recognized that, 'Oh crap it's a scooter'.

Anyway, they said that 'he' was out of fuel and they had been there for quite some time trying to figure out how to remedy that problem --one guy on his cell phone trying to contact a buddy to bring fuel, and the other two scratching their puzzled heads. Finally one of them asked if I had a siphon hose and an empty bottle.

I unloaded the gear off my seat, opened the seat, rummaged around the tools & crap stored there and, to their amazement, produced my MSR fuel bottle. With fuel. Three minutes later he was running again and, after several "Thank You's",  they were gone.

The amazing thing is that all the while I was there many cruiser riders, individual as well as small groups, rode past without even a hint of stopping to assist. They said that all the while that they were there, before I stopped, many bikes passed by as well.

So there. One more coup for scooterdom.

BTW the guy wanted to pay me $20 for the fuel, but I refused, telling him to 'pay if forward'.

When my rear tyre exploded on the X9 and I was marooned in a lay-by any number of bikers of all shapes and sizes stopped to make sure I was okay.
As I'd already called the AA (who kept me waiting four hours - was I cross) I thanked them and waved as they departed but I have no doubt they'd all have helped in some way.

I remember when Harley's and all other bikes had kick starters. 
That kind of tells you what an old fart I am 
I had it on all my previous Hondas as a back up in case the electric start system failed.

jobo2mi wrote:

Stopped at a store after work today on the Swing. Parked next to a big ol' Harley ... guy was chatting with another guy. When I came out of the store (quick trip) they were still chatting. Another guy driving an SUV pulls in and heads into the store. HD guy calls out to him, "Hey sir. I see you are a Ford man [what he was driving] but could you help push me to get me started ... I think my battery is weak!"

So as I climbed on 3B and fired him up at the touch of a button, here are these three guys trying to push start a Harley!   

As I drove out of the parking lot, I couldn't HELP but have a big ol' grin inside my helmet .....

SHOULDA GOT A HONDA!!! 

You can bump start a Harley, try that on the Silver Wing:lol: . Honda rectifier/regulators are not indestructible either, the main cause for a failed battery so I wouldn't show a very wide grin if I were you  .

yammer wrote:

You can bump start a Harley, try that on the Silver Wing:lol: . Honda rectifier/regulators are not indestructible either, the main cause for a failed battery so I wouldn't show a very wide grin if I were you  .

I would say bump start ability is one reason I stick with a manual bike.   Had accidentally left the ignition on for about two hours once and by the time I realized it, my bike was in the street.  If I had the Wing still, I would have had to push it back up the driveway.