Your 200km from home and you break down

Hasn't happened yet but.....I am thinking ahead to a season of riding. Wondering what the collective wisdom here does when / if your bike breaks down a fair distance from home. CAA ? Towing company ? Tow it home or to your preferred mechanic ? Put a for sale sign on it and hitch hike home ? I have an old bike and I am putting kids through university so I am looking forward to looking at the new bikes at the 2020 motorcycle show.
Until then though ....

Been there before. Put the number for CAA in your cell phone. If you break down, call and pay for a membership with a credit card, then get a tow. Or call a friend / neighbour who has a trailer and ask them to come get you - pay for the gas, buy them dinner, a bottle, etc.

Get CAA. Quick service and towed my bike >100km last year

CAA - money well spent. It works in some surprising places (Radisson, northern Quebec, for instance). http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=800877

Nick

PS over 200kms, there is a charge per km. Under 200, its free.

Real bonus with membership is the hotel discounts. I save 400 to 600 bucks every year with that.

FYI has to be a CCA Plus membership to have a bike towed.

I used to agonize over would my used bike make it until I realized that I'd put over 2200 worry free km on it, and that was a one way trip to visit my sister on Prince Edward Island.

Watching a video of a guy ride his enfield bullet up into the Himalayan mountains made me see what a weiner I was in North American roads and CAA coverage.

I'd suggest starting an AdvRider account, and if you run into trouble put out a shout on the forum and you may be surprised how many people are willing to put you and your bike up for a night while you get sorted.

One guy arranged to have a tube flown into Goose Bay for his bike that broke down in Labrador.

Tools are always a good help, unless you break something catastrophic, a good tool kit and a couple hours you can get up and running again. Things like JB weld quick set, are a god send if you can get the parts off and put some of that on them. Learn what is common failures with the model of bike you have and carry a realistic amount of tools to repair that or other problems. It would suck to be stuck on the side of the road with a flat and pay a tow bill when two tire bars and a basic patch kit solve the problem in an hour.

Rotten Ronnie's suggestion is great too, people in general are usually more then happy to help, riders and otherwise. So even walking up to a house near by and asking is worth a shot.

On a longer trip I pack rachet straps so I can hitch with the bike if needed. Often quicker than a tow truck and works without cell coverage.

well auto club membership is great. I have a Costco roadside membership and it is $60 for a family a year, two cars and a bike are covered for 250km tow. Have to be a Costco member first but if you are it is well worth it just in case. One tow is going to cost you way more them a membership and they do offer some member discounts at hotels and stuff.

I have always ridden old BMW Airheads. Always made certain I have the full stock tool kit, added a larger set of tire irons as well as a patch kit for tubes. Added in some spare bulbs and some wire. I have a special Visa card that will cover the costs of almost anything I may need while on the road. I also developed a very good relationship with the dealer that I almost always get my parts from. They know me well and have couriered parts to me in all sort of weird places.

When I travel, I usually carry a small tent and sleeping bag. Have camped on the side of the road and actually had parts delivered there. Alternator to a campsite near the Kicking Horse Pass. Diode board to Norris Point Newfoundland. Have patched tubes in the middle of nowhere, including just 20 miles south of Whitehorse, at -10C with light snow coming down. That was not a fun time.

I have CAA for that eventual time when I may break down to the point where I cannot fix it on the side of the road. And always make sure my cell phone in fully charged. After almost 50 years of ridding all kinds of bikes from Canada to Panama and back, as well as in Australia and Europe, I have yet to have any major issues. Of course now that I said that, this summer will be the year that catastrophe strikes.

But, over all, I have always found that locals are usually pretty willing to help in any way they can.

What's your 'old bike'? Does it have any known issues? Don't assume a new bike is going to be completely trustworthy. Old bikes can be completely reliable and when they do have issues, can often be fixed at the side of the road. If the ECU on your new bike kicks up a fault code, can you fix it?

Good preparation of the bike, but much more importantly, of yourself is much more important than the age of the machine you're riding. No bike can be 100% reliable, but if you can cope with whatever happens, no breakdown is a problem.

And if you're only 200km from home, heck - you can always walk. It's not that far.

Nick

200km? If CAA didn't make it I would call in some favors, or hitch home and bring the truck back. CAA plus is a good deal, you get 5 calls a year and one call already pays for the membership. You can use the remaining 4 calls because you "ran out of gas" and they will bring you 15 liters each time for free. So far they haven't caught on to why I keep running out of gas in my own driveway.

It depends on your comfort level and how worried you are about keeping to a schedule. There is someone on this site who's tag line is like. "Adventures start when things unplanned start". Or something to that effect

Just a thought but if you are a member of the BMW MOA there is also the Anonymous Book. These are members that are willing to help other MOA members. Mostly US but some Canadian and international numbers as well broken down geographically.

I am planning venturing a bit further afield this year so I am including this as part of my kit as well as CAA Premier membership.

200kms.... I'd become friends with a stranger and park it in his yard and get the wife to come get me with a trailer.

Now 2500 kms may be a little more detailed...

I wouldn't put myself or anything i cared for within a mile of anything owned by U-Haul. Putting your life in their hands and they do not care. I would rather push it home.

Tell me how you really feel

CAA now has a 24hr wait period between getting your membership and actually using it. I bought it the day before heading out with my RV, and was specifically told that. Just another reason to camp in the RV I guess. RV Premium membership covers me and or the bike for 320km's.
I absolutely hate being stranded somewhere, and I can only imagine how expensive a tow would be for 200km's or so. That being said, I carry enough stuff to try and fix whatever gone done break because CAA won't necessarily go up certain gravel/dirt roads.