Trouble on The Road

Spent the day at Andersonville and traveled east towards Savannah before stopping for the night at a campground about 60 miles southeast of Andersonville.

With laundry to contend with, it was late morning before I departed the campground and began the route to Savannah. It should have been a comfortable and leisurely ride. It should have been!

One of the things the Harley dealership in Newnan had wanted to check out was, an expressed concern for how hard it was to pull the clutch lever. It was just one of the, seemingly minor, things that I chose ignore. Bad move!

About an hour out of Andersonville, as I was cruising the side streets of Milan, for no apparent reason (the town just seemed worthy of a closer look). Suddenly, when I pulled the clutch lever and down shifted at the traffic light, my clutch lever SNAPPED! The cable had busted and I had no clutch. I shouted at a couple of pedestrians while turning right onto a side street - "Hey, is there a motorcycle dealer around here?" They just looked at me, seemingly stupefied!

Ever ride a Harley without a clutch? Not Fun! Shifting gears was no problem, but stopping was another matter.

I managed to get out of town with little difficulty, but, at this point, I still hadn't tried to stop and wasn't sure if I could keep the bike upright when it eventually came time to do so. If I could manage to find neutral, I could just cruise to safe stop. Without a clutch, however, finding neutral was no easy thing to do.

Surprisingly, I made it to the next town and into the nearest gas station, herking and jerking, chugging and weaving, I somehow managed to keep the bike upright (surprising even myself). While fuel was an issue, by this time, my immediate concern was what to do about the clutch.

After inquiring around I learned that the only sort of a dealer around was a Suzuki dealer, about 35 miles away in Dublin, Georgia.

By telephone, an arrangement was made with the dealer to pick up a new clutch cable. He said, that, with that being done, he could have me back on the road tomorrow afternoon. Now all had to do was get to Dublin - Without a Clutch!

With the cycle in neutral and rolling at walking pace, I pressed and held the starter down while simultaneously shifting into second gear . The bike sputtered, jerked, wavered and fired. With the starter still giving an assisting boost, I was on the road.

Missed the turn to Dublin and the 30 minute ride was closer to an hour. Fortunate for me Dublin has round-about which enabled me to make my turn off without stopping. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong turn off!

Trying to u-turn, to correct my error, I found myself stalled in the middle of the right hand lane of the four lane highway. I had, however, managed to keep the bike upright - Almost!

Actually, I was leaning too far over to pick the bike straight up and also, too far over to try to start it. A bit of a quagmire!

It's always surprising to me, to see just how many people will drive by and ignore someone in obvious distress.

Finally, however, a concerned citizen came to my rescue and helped me to get back on road.

Through the round-about for a second time, I was able to find the correct exit. There were still four lanes traffic to contend with and the traffic was now heavier. The Suzuki dealer I was looking for was across the highway. It should have been no problem, if only I had a CLUTCH!

I spied my target Suzuki dealer, but was unable cross over the oncoming lanes of traffic in time to make the exit. With the traffic cleared, I tried make legal u-turn, but at the slow speed the engine sputtered and jerked to a stopped before I could get completely through the turn.

Must have been my lucky day! Sitting in the middle of the highway, engine stalled, unable to find neutral and hence unable push the bike off the roadway - the next approaching vehicle as a COP! With police lights blinking, I advised the officer that I had lost my clutch was trying to get into the driveway of the adjacent Suzuki dealer.

In the end, late workers from inside the Suzuki dealer saw the police lights and came to my rescue.

With no other alternative, I set up tent outside the Suzuki dealership. I could live without a shower for a day.