Confession

On my last ride down to South Texas, I was in a dusty little town waiting my turn to fill up at the only two pump establishment in town when I was approached by a guy and his riding buddy. They are both on metric cruisers. He asked me "do you happen to have a 10mm wrench? My floor board is moving around and I can't shift my bike very well." This is where the confession comes in. You see I had a 10mm wrench but I lied straight out and said "Nope, I don't have one of those." I looked him in the face and told a flat out lie. In fact I probably had more than one but to get it I would have to unpack in the parking lot. It would have taken me a half hour at least and I just didn't feel like helping. I lied to him out of my desire to get down the road but I felt bad because I could have helped.

 

For future , put tool kit near top of luggage - it may be you one day

 

I have thought that a simple tool kit, somewhere accessible would be the ticket. I have helped many riders along the side of the road. I just didn't help this one.

 

I understand your small feeling of guilt Jim; when I'm travelling, I'm travelling. Way out in the middle of nowhere, you might have thought differently, but in a town at a service station, I doubt you would be the only source of tools.

The flipside of this is, WHY DIDN'T THE OTHER TWO RIDERS HAVE TOOL KITS???? Were they not Boy Scouts at some point? (no sexism intended A-M). I have a toolkit on each of my bikes, and carry a basic puncture repair kit with me on each ride.

 

Pfff don't beat yourself up how in the H does one even process the good bad and evil in something as simple as this situation. At first it was sounding like you where in some hic town where it's was sketchy at best, so I'd probably act like you just to get the H outa there. but? had they been on another VFR I bet you would have lend a hand? IDK hard to say from here. So let it go my friend, I'll give you a pass. I'll also add he was asking to tighten down the floor board, so it wasn't like he was broke down and stranded, plus he had company.. yea you did ok.

 

My bet is they had or didn't even need a wrench, I bet they were quite interested and just couldn't fight off the allure of a good looking self sufficient gal on a good looking bike.
That's said ,if you weren't interested in them then you gave the correct answer.

Sorry guys don't want to give away any of our secrets, but at least some of you gotta be thinking of the same thing.

Guaranteed if I rode upon AM with her bike at a gas station, I would have probably come up with a better opener, but I definitely would have at least went over and chatted w/ her. Worst case scenario I at least get to here about where she's from/ where she's going, at best a new riding buddy. Regardless of their intent no doubt about it they were interested.

Regards
db

 

Dammit big fella. You done gone and done it. You lied. Now your pecker is going to fall off. The first thing that came to my mind was covered by Terry. Why were they not prepared? A proper tool kit for your bike for emergency repairs does not take up a lot of space. Then again, a credit card fits in your wallet. But if it is a two pump town, he may have been shit out of luck regardless.

 

But theres the other side of the coin here, what if it was a lure. Sounds like a somewhat fickled reason to ask, then Hmm, his partner in crime couldn't help either, I would have walked, better yet ran... just a thought, like picking up a hitch hiker , it's weird world out there that ain't too friendly. better safe, than sorry, your gut told you what you had to do.

 

:eyebrows:

You might want to go back and check the first post again...it was Big Jim, not AM that posted the confession.

But I do agree that we would all jump at the chance to help out AM ..... (not that she would need help, with all those successful solo trips under her belt)

 

Believe me, all theses thoughts went through my head lightning quick. We're they approaching me to scam Me? Not likely as it was a pretty public place. We're they broken down and stuck without my Help? No, they were not stuck and they were in no danger. If the situation had been dire I would have helped. I was just surprised at my own reaction and response. It is not usual for me to tell someone to piss off.

 

Hmmm. I might be starting ye olde ThreadJacker 2000(tm) here, but what sort of tools should you carry? I didn't get a tool kit with my bike and the "original" is, let's say a bit creatively priced from Honda. I have bought the chain tension wrench thingie but other than that I don't have anything so it might be a good idea to buy some tools to carry with me.

 

Who knows how long that sideboard had been loose--maybe he saw your bike all loaded up and figured you'd be packing tools and he'd get you to fix his bike. He knew it was loose before leaving the house--lack of maintenance and repairs on his part is not an emergency for you, especially if you have to unload and get delayed from your long-distance run.

Concerning tools to carry--it depends upon your skills and the condition of your bike. Can you field dress a motorsickle on the side of the road with a pair of vise grips and a broken hack saw blade, or do you need to have the full service manual with photos, a complete tool box, and lots of hand-holding to change a spark plug? What's the likelihood that your scooter will break down on the road and what's your aptitude for diy repairs on the spot, or calling triple-A to haul it home?

 

Confession is good for the soul. Some more that others.
This one is quite touching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2REOu-R7HU&t=52s

 

Ah go in peace my Son, your gut told ya something was amiss.
Don't pull the guilt trip on yourself, with two friends and three bikes with 0 tool? Good thing you skedaddled


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Six hail Mary's and 200 genuflections.
Oh and send $1000 to me.
Sorted.

 

If the two dudes on metric cruisers were gay, it could have become sordid.

 

range: :frusty: Damn gotta quit browsing and posting late night, lol.
Either way wierd world as you say maybe they wanted Big Jim ,maybe his bike or maybe they had been stopping every ten miles for the last one hundred and finger tightening that floor pan bolt. Hard to say what their intentions were, sounds a bit fishy anyhow.

 

The guys didn't look "bad" they just looked like a couple of normal guys out for a ride. I am not going to let it worry me. The guy asked and I said no. Nuff said. As for tools, I carry way too much. I have the standard Honda kit that came with the bike plus a socket set, a small hammer and punch (fits under the seat) a tire plug kit and a small multimeter. I do know that no matter how many tools I have I will not have the tool I need if I break down.

I also carry zip ties, duct tape, electrical tape and a small roll of bailing wire. I used to ride bikes back when you needed this stuff to get home.