Featured Our 4-day Utah Trip: 2 Days Of Adventure And 3 Days Of Misadventure

Great, thanks! I'll check it out this afternoon. I'm just hanging out at home after a nice Sunday group ride catching up on forum news.

 

@Vulpes
Silver linings are always good, eh? And typically there if we look for them...or look for ways to create them. It reminds me of the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

 

Epilogue: "The Wheel Resolution" and "Lessons Learned Through Misadventure"

Well, all's well that ends well. But the events following our return home were not without their own misadventures! I do have a new wheel on my Street Glide which is sitting happily in our garage. But it wasn't the simplest of paths to get there.

"The Wheel Resolution"
One of the first thoughts I had back when we saw my wheel damage was "Thank goodness I bought H-D Tire and Wheel Insurance"! In the dozen years or so that I've been riding and across the dozen bikes or so I've owned, I'd never before purchased this "add on" insurance. For some reason when I bought my 2024 Street Glide back in February I decided to get three years worth to the tune of $900. Well, perspective is a wonderful thing. Now that $900 seems like a great deal because the cost for a new wheel and the labor would have cost me $1,272.95! Our buddy, Russell, was convinced that my coverage must have a limit to the number of claims but, nope, it's a time only thing. So I still have 2 years and 8 months left on my policy with no limit to the number of times I can use it.

But I REALLY don't want to be in a position to need it again! My financial "loss" came in the form of expenses incurred because of the problem...extra hotel expenses for Steve and myself and our friend, Chris. Trailer rental. Gas for the truck. I won't count the food bill at the Bryce motel restaurant because we'd have been eating anyway but you get the picture. I did submit a claim for trip interruption and did receive some reimbursement but it fell woefully short of covering everything. Ah, the one other expense will be to have my saddlebag lid repainted as it was scraped up when the bike tipped over on the trailer. The damage initially looked far worse than in this photo. This was after Steve tried to compound and buff it out. At first I thought I could live with it but in person it looks pretty crummy. And I don't really want the reminder staring me in the face either.



Ahh, on to the wheel. The major problem was that my particular front wheel--even though it is the stock wheel on all of Harley's new 2024 Road and Street Glides, was on back order! And on back order until the end of October! Shite! I was fairly upset (understatement) to learn that since we have two big trips to come this summer totally around 5000-6000 miles. The guys at my dealership had said not to worry as Harley has something called the Vehicle Down program which means that if your bike is "down" and unrideable and under factory warranty, they will literally take the needed part off the assembly line in Milwaukee and overnight it to your dealership. My guys also said that if that was problematic then they could just take a wheel off one of the two 2024's that came off the truck with damage. Those bikes would be up for sale but not until the cosmetic damage was resolved.

Here's my bike (on the right) sitting in the service department waiting for a new front wheel. Interestingly, the bike to the left is just like my previous 2020 Street Glide Special that I sold to my nephew when I got my new Street Glide! Same color and everything...



Well, once we were home and the bike was over at the dealership, I learned that neither of those two solutions was going to happen. Our friend, Chris, who is a service writer, had a long conversation with a H-D person at H-D headquarters in Milwaukee who said they were denying our request to obtain a new wheel via the Vehicle Down program because the damage was from a road hazard and not a manufacturing problem. Hmmm, maybe, maybe not. But they weren't going to budge (or even ask to inspect the wheel) even when I called directly as a customer. Plan B, to "harvest" a front wheel off a bike in the back room was nixed. Why I don't know. Through all of this, the Service Manager (who I have known for years and adore) was on vacation, and the General Manager of 10 years was leaving and a new guy coming on right in the thick of my mess. At this point, I was feeling out of options. So, even though I didn't really want to be "that guy", I played an ace. I called a "big wig" who used to be the GM of our dealership when I started riding. Steve and I became very good friends with him and his family. He left for Austin and a new dealership gig about 10 years ago but we've maintained our friendship--even strengthened it--over the years. Now he's the national director of a parent company that owns a number of Harley dealerships around the country, ours included. I called him to ask for advice and help if he could offer any. Short story short. Within two hours he texted me back with one word. "Done!" He checked with the GM's at the dealerships he oversees and the upshot if that my Harley dealership would order a custom front wheel for a new 2024 like mine then swap wheels when the new one came in. So my bike now has a new wheel, bearings, and tire. And my coverage paid for it! It's still a mystery how the damage happened because for the life of me I recall no "memorable event" (i.e. major pothole) that might have been the culprit.

My new wheel and tire!!



The first weekend back on my bike. A little Sunday ride up to Oracle Patio Cafe with our gang.



"Lessons Learned"
It does seem that we humans learn best--or maybe only--when we face adversity (through which we can also learn to smile, right @Pegscraper?!) So, yes, we learned a number of things thanks to our Utah trip misadventures.

1. Great friends are a true blessing. Steve and I learned that we have AMAZINGLY great friends! Russell missed the 2nd half to the Utah trip to ride the 540 miles from Bryce Canyon Pines to Tucson with Steve. Chris took his two days off to drive up to Bryce with Steve and the trailer, hang out overnight (with bad weather to top it off), then help load the trailer and get the bike home. We also had friends at the dealership advocate and then there's our national director friend who got the wheels in motion (no pun intended) to implement a creative solution to get my bike--and me--back in business.

2. Dress for the weather. Like Mom always said. But also bring gear for unexpected bad weather. Steve was extremely cold for first few hours of the ride down to Tucson from Bryce. He only had a perforated leather jacket and had thrown in a mid-weight polar fleece pullover. Fortunately he was able to make my winter gloves work when he most needed them. I hadn't worn my heated vest on the bike the first two days of the trip but wore it all day long while stranded at the hotel on foot.

3. Know where you're going. And do our (own) research about the route. Neither Steve nor I had the slightest idea that Bryce Canyon National Park (and our hotel!) was at about 8,000' in altitude. Steve and I typically are the road trip planners but this time around Russell was in charge since he'd done this trip twice before. But he didn't tell us those sorts of details--nor did we ask or think to check ahead of time.

4. Related to #3, know where you're staying. Had nothing gone awry with my wheel, this wouldn't be on this list. But because I was alone for two days at Bryce Canyon Pines Motel, I found it rather frustrating (read, boring!) because there was nothing else around for miles. No shops to browse, no neighborhoods to check out, no other restaurants to eat at or, more importantly, no bars to hit for a martini. #4 certainly isn't in the same league as #'s 1,2, and 3, but at least now it's on my radar.

5. Understand any insurance policies or roadside assistance providers you have before leaving home. Bring along copies of helpful documents.

6. Even if tire pressures are fine, carefully inspect wheels before a trip.

7. When trailering, ratchet type tie-downs offer more security than tie-downs with a clamshell type fastener.

8. And most important of all, count your blessings if you have a mechanical issue but are safe and whole! Things could have ended tragically if my wheel had actually failed. Instead, what ensued was primarily inconvenient and frustrating plus rather expensive. But none of it entailed loss of property or person. Thank you, Lord!

All righty! On to our next adventure--our annual New Mexico -- Colorado trip. We depart this coming Tuesday the 11th!

 

Yikes, @Pegscraper. Your deal was a bummer, too...maybe worse since you had to wait by the side of the road and you had to pay for a new radiator out of pocket. But there's always a silver lining to be had--even if just a sliver of one. At least you didn't miss the event! We're all packed and ready to head out tomorrow morning bright and early to beat the Tucson heat. I'll share about this trip, too, and hopefully it will be a "ride report" and not a "misadventure" report.

 

Thanks, @Markus! Yes, there are definitely some experiences I'd have like to missed in my life and the latter part of our Utah trip is one of those.. But I definitely did learn some new (and helpful) things. And it was a great and very clear reminder what amazing friends Steve and I have.

Thanks for the best wishes for our next trips. Tomorrow at this time (my time as I type this is 4:00 PM Mountain Standard Time), if all goes as planned (a new caveat) we'll be in the tiny little town of Quemado, New Mexico (Pop. 250) chatting with the 82-year-old proprietress of The Largo Motel, Phyllis, and petting her two cats. The temperature tomorrow at 4pm in Quemado is predicted to be 76ºF while temps in Tucson at that same time will be 105ºF. Getting out of the heat for a little bit....

 

Thanks, @Helmut Visor. I hope your pain is gone and your Aprilla is back in business! What happened???

 

Hi, @FellZebra. And I'm just now really doing a proper catch-up with the forum over a few days here.

You're welcome for the write up--hope you enjoyed it. It was sort of like two trips, I have to say. The one on the bike--and the one waiting with and trailering the bike!

The trip we did just recently was wonderful. All three bikes ran great with no issues whatsoever. Thank goodness! I'll get that report posted here shortly. Looking forward to reading your Few Days Away... thread I saw on the Front Page, too.