Anytime we stop we always check the bike to make sure the tie-downs for the bike, on the motorcycle lift, are tight. We checked them at our first stop this morning and then just a few minutes down the road we stopped and filled up with fuel but I didn't check them then since we'd just stopped a short while earlier.
We're driving down I-78, approaching the off ramp for Newark, NJ. We had just gone over a bridge and there was a considerable bump going onto the bridge and coming off of it. We'd just gone over the bridge and I hear a grinding noise. I asked Linda what that noise was I was hearing. Simultaneously I looked in the side mirror and I see the bike skidding on the highway behind us, still tethered to the rig by the tie-down straps. I told Linda to stop...the bike had fallen off. Luckily we usually only drive around 58 m.p.h so we quickly pulled off the side of the road and came to a stop. Keep in mind this is a four lane highway and the traffic is just whizzing by. As we pulled off the road, the straps released from the rig and the bike was left laying in the far right lane. As fortune would have it, traffic was able to veer out around us as Linda I ran to the bike laying in the road.
We always load the bike with it in gear so it doesn't roll forward or back so consequently, even though we were able to lift the 600# up, we couldn't roll it off the road. Slowing by dragging it and me kicking it into neutral (the gear shifter had gotten severely bent into the side of the engine) we got it off the road and us out of harm's way. Very scary !! 
We called our insurance company and was in the process of getting a tow arranged when a state policeman stopped and came up to my window. He asked if we had arranged for towing and said we needed to get off the road ASAP as some horrible things happen along this stretch
and we were in harm's way. He said the state police contract with a towing company that has to respond within 10-15 minutes or they lose their contract with them. Our insurance company said that was fine....they could come to wherever the tow company would take the bike. The roll back arrived and I helped the guy roll the bike up the ramp. Once he had it under control, Linda and I continued on to our campground. We were only 10 miles from the campground when all of this happened !The damage is pretty much isolated to the right side of the bike. Handlebar is bent, right mirror busted, front fender scuffed up, back tail light bent, gear shifter bent really bad into the engine and side of gas tank scuffed up. There could have been so many more worse outcomes to this. If the bike had let loose sooner and gone into the traffic lanes, it could have created a pile-up. We are really thankful that we are safe. The bike can always be replaced....
2 comments:
Oh, Sweetie Pies, I am so sorry to read about the bike mishap!!! Thankfully it went well under the circumstances.
Write the song! Some country star will pick it up, make it a #1 hit, and you'll be rolling in money!
There -- an optimist's view. So glad you're both okay, and you're right, it could have much much worse.
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