Jerry Doe
Admin
- Joined
- May 21, 2003
- Messages
- 2,239
I have done about 120 miles on my 750 last week and was running so well. Its my bike of choice for the local Colorado Mountains as it handles so well. I ride it up to 7000 revs regularly and it flies with the tuned motor.
Yesterday (July4th) I decided to take the 750 on the Norton Colorado Owners club ride. I rode from my house to Golden, Colorado, where we all met (about 40 miles away, 80 MPH on freeway). Great to see everyone. We took back roads to Idaho Springs and the bike running really well. Then way up in the Mountains between Colorado Springs and Evergreen, the motor died. I was in the middle of nowhere (about 11:30 AM). I cruised to a safe spot on the side of the road in the mountain twisties. First observation was that I had no phone signal and I was in the middle of nowhere. The other riders carried on as they did not notice.
Within half an hour, nice folks from Oklahoma stopped and he happened to have a meter. I checked and my Lithium battery was completely flat. I knew I had to call AAA at this point. (For all those outside the US, AAA is an emergency towing company). The people who stopped had a weak phone signal, but I was able to get through to AAA. I was able to get long/lat using the nice peoples phone. AAA said they would be there at 2:30PM, I figured I could wait a few hours. They did not show up at 2:30PM. I waited until 4PM and figured they weren't going to show up. I had not ridden on this road before, so was not sure what was down the mountain or nearby. So 2 thunderstorms later I decided to try and coast down to see about getting a signal. I was on Squaw Pass coming down from Squaw mountain when this happened.
My buddy at the Norton Owners Club came back to find me I and I told him that I had already called AAA and all is well, so they were cool and was really good to see everyone.
I was getting ready to try and coast down the mountain and 2 lovely ladies stopped to see if I was ok and they said they would follow me with hazards on. So off I go, I was cranking, sometimes doing 45 MPH around hairpin corners scraping pegs. I didn't want to lose momentum. Really strange riding like that without a motor. There were a few places where I had to push it a bit. I coasted down just over 8 miles to the SR74. I had recently put an analog speedometer back on (removed electronic). Then my phone was dead, but the MRS just got me an iWatch for my birthday, so was able to call using that. I called AAA and they then said they would be arriving to my new location at about 6PM. Luckily there was a music festival at the park where I coasted to so that was ok. Finally AAA showed up with a flatbed and we took the bike home (approx 70 miles). The tow truck driver told me the first driver at 2:30 tried to call me , but due to no phone signal was assigned on another call.
Now back at home and checked things out. Its charging. Seems like the battery failed. I wont be using lithium batteries anymore. Never heard of this happening.
Here are some pics:
This is where I broke down:
Here are some pics of the club and bikes on the ride:
Then the breakdown period:
Yesterday (July4th) I decided to take the 750 on the Norton Colorado Owners club ride. I rode from my house to Golden, Colorado, where we all met (about 40 miles away, 80 MPH on freeway). Great to see everyone. We took back roads to Idaho Springs and the bike running really well. Then way up in the Mountains between Colorado Springs and Evergreen, the motor died. I was in the middle of nowhere (about 11:30 AM). I cruised to a safe spot on the side of the road in the mountain twisties. First observation was that I had no phone signal and I was in the middle of nowhere. The other riders carried on as they did not notice.
Within half an hour, nice folks from Oklahoma stopped and he happened to have a meter. I checked and my Lithium battery was completely flat. I knew I had to call AAA at this point. (For all those outside the US, AAA is an emergency towing company). The people who stopped had a weak phone signal, but I was able to get through to AAA. I was able to get long/lat using the nice peoples phone. AAA said they would be there at 2:30PM, I figured I could wait a few hours. They did not show up at 2:30PM. I waited until 4PM and figured they weren't going to show up. I had not ridden on this road before, so was not sure what was down the mountain or nearby. So 2 thunderstorms later I decided to try and coast down to see about getting a signal. I was on Squaw Pass coming down from Squaw mountain when this happened.
My buddy at the Norton Owners Club came back to find me I and I told him that I had already called AAA and all is well, so they were cool and was really good to see everyone.
I was getting ready to try and coast down the mountain and 2 lovely ladies stopped to see if I was ok and they said they would follow me with hazards on. So off I go, I was cranking, sometimes doing 45 MPH around hairpin corners scraping pegs. I didn't want to lose momentum. Really strange riding like that without a motor. There were a few places where I had to push it a bit. I coasted down just over 8 miles to the SR74. I had recently put an analog speedometer back on (removed electronic). Then my phone was dead, but the MRS just got me an iWatch for my birthday, so was able to call using that. I called AAA and they then said they would be arriving to my new location at about 6PM. Luckily there was a music festival at the park where I coasted to so that was ok. Finally AAA showed up with a flatbed and we took the bike home (approx 70 miles). The tow truck driver told me the first driver at 2:30 tried to call me , but due to no phone signal was assigned on another call.
Now back at home and checked things out. Its charging. Seems like the battery failed. I wont be using lithium batteries anymore. Never heard of this happening.
Here are some pics:
This is where I broke down:
Here are some pics of the club and bikes on the ride:
Then the breakdown period:
