Worst thing that ever went wrong on a long bike trip?

[celt_rock]

Let's hear the stories, I'm heading out on my first and want to know what I should prepare for
and to avoid! Breakdowns, forgotten items, lost, weather, etc. What've you got?

[parksie]

Went to Phillip Island Super Bikes and forgot my wet weather gear. And yes it poured down all the way home all 700kim (440miles) of it. It was like taking a cold shower for 8 hours and I got no sympathy from my mates who rightly said SERVES ME RIGHT..

[GT750Battleship]

Hi,the worst thing that I can remember on a trip was seeing a friend "wrestle" his GT750K to a stop when he got a flat front tyre at 80+MPH I don't know who was more scared,him,or me watching
Cheers,
Roger

[tz375]

Stuff happens. In no particular order:

Broken clutch cable (zx6)
Dead capacitor (points ignition)
Clutch came loose (56 Triumph T100)
Exhaust came off (same bloody Triumph)
Seized pistons (several Yamaha air cooled twins)
Broken clutch cable (RZ350)
Broken clutch cable (my first bike)
Nipple pulled off throttle cable (Yamaha twin)
Blown bulbs (various)
Water in the electrics and sparks through the clutch cable to left hand (Triumph twin)
Water in electrics and sparks through carb and right knee (Goldie)

For a long trip, tape spare cables alongside the originals so you have a quick change spare already in place. Lube, clean and waterproof anything that needs it and carry a few spare bulbs and fuses and you should be good. And be careful and have fun.

[yeadon_m]

Clutch cable (GT380) long way from home. Wrongly assuming it couldn't be used, I walked 30miles to a pals house through the night, only to get a lift back via the dealer mid-morning. I was only 18 I didn't know better.
Clutch adjuster (GT750) more than once came loose under the adjuster cap. See above - a clunky clutchless ride home x 2. Now pack tools for roadside fix!
Exhaust loose (GT750). Got home by stopping several times and enjoyed doing them up best I could with a gloved hand. Lesson, bring some darned tools!
Total elec failure (GT750) followed by recovery. A simple connector had come undone. Lesson: sometimes its simple (this fool didn't see it)
Points cam plastic gear failure (GT380, but only at 42K miles so cannot complain). Lesson, sh1t happens, there is absolutely nothing than can be done at the roadside - probably the only one of the triples for which a single, simple failure must strand the rider.
GSX1400 - never missed a beat (boring, but reliable
Mike

[Cliff]

Worst for me on a long ride was stopping for the night in a DRY county and I had no beer!!

[GT750Battleship]

Worst for me on a long ride was stopping for the night in a DRY county and I had no beer!!

Hi,you may enjoy this...Aussie Bush Song on You Tube
Search: The Pub With No Beer - Slim Dusty

Cheers,
Roger

[garry55]

close to the end of a 7500 mile tour around Europe, the aluminium rear sprocket on my Bimota Mantra "lost" its teeth and stranded me in Dresden, Germany.

[GT750Battleship]

close to the end of a 7500 mile tour around Europe, the aluminium rear sprocket on my Bimota Mantra "lost" its teeth and stranded me in Dresden, Germany.

Hi,not enough "tooth paste"
Cheers,
Roger
GT750A

[garry55]

it was negligence on my part - I got what I deserved.
Bring back centre-stands

[ConnerVT]

close to the end of a 7500 mile tour around Europe, the aluminium rear sprocket on my Bimota Mantra "lost" its teeth and stranded me in Dresden, Germany.

Many places would be much worse to be stranded than Dresden. Good excuse to spends an extra day sitting in a beer garden next to the Elbe.

I lived in Dresden for about 2 months, on a work assignment. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to find a replacement sprocket.

[jabcb]

close to the end of a 7500 mile tour around Europe, the aluminium rear sprocket on my Bimota Mantra "lost" its teeth and stranded me in Dresden, Germany.

Many places would be much worse to be stranded than Dresden. Good excuse to spends an extra day sitting in a beer garden next to the Elbe.

I lived in Dresden for about 2 months, on a work assignment. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to find a replacement sprocket.

After a good dinner & some beer you might decide to order a sprocket from Australia because it will take a long time for it to show up.

[garry55]

My mistake - it was Leipzig, not Dresden, where I got the bike fixed. I did enjoy my enforced stop-over in Leipzig though - an interesting city which I toured by open-topped bus. My hotel overlooked the main train station, which was divided during the "Cold War" years. Ducati Leipzig ordered a new chain & sprocket kit for me "from the west" (of Germany) but that closes on a Monday, apparantly. And it was Monday when I arrived at their premises, having been sent there by the very helpful staff at Suzuki Halle who had searched their stock of rear sprockets for a likely replacement, but to no avail.
One of the non-Ducati service parts on a Mantra is the rear sprocket.

[pull the wire]

I had a 75 GT550 Ram Air. When the down pour started it turned into Ram Water cooled. The 2 outer spark plug boots displayed the power of the of the ignition system to jump to soaked blue jeans. Ouch X 3000RPM

[joolstacho]

Ah... Oh... I can hardly bring myself to recount this.

Off with the boys for a week fanging around TasMANIA. Off the ferry and into roads made in biker-heaven, -just fabulous. I'm on my white VFR.
Day 2 on a tight mountain switchback section I stupidly use a touch too much, too late, back brake into a blind downhill hairpin. The gravel decided my fate!
Ouch... scrapes, radiator minor leak. Lesson learnt, straighten things up and keep going.
Day 4. Now, Dave was on his FJ1200 and was pretty interested in trying the VFR, so we swapped bikes and... (Yes you guessed it)...
On a (different) tight mountain switchback section I stupidly use a touch too much, too late, back brake into a blind downhill hairpin. The gravel decided my fate!
Yup I did it TWICE !!! But this time I mangled a mates bike.

I paid for my stupidity by spending a horrible few weeks carefully re-aligning, repairing and repainting his fairing, headlight mirrors, indicators.
Pig of a job.

Funny thing is, I had a great week really.

Anonymous