Owie

[Raputtak]

I was on my way home from the Indian Summer Rally in Richmond, Va, hurtling down I-95 at about 60mph, checking the mirror every few seconds until Bingo! the scooter was gone. I pulled to the shoulder and hopped out to see. It was lying on it's side on the road with the front wheel still on the rack. One of the tie-downs had slipped off the handle bar.

I rode the scooter about a mile or so to the next exit and parked it on the shoulder. I walked back to my truck and brought it to the Scooter. I loaded it back onto the VersaHaul and drove to Scoot Richmond where Ed Willeman was waiting.

Many thanks to Ed and Chelsea Lahmers for all they did to help me and secure the vehicle. I am now safe and sound at home.

I am waiting to hear from Scoot Richmond after they have assessed the damage. It looks mostly cosmetic.

[Drum Pro]

I feel your pain....

[viney266]

Scoot Richmond are good people. Sorry you lost a bike like that; I have been close , but have never had that happen. Yeah, the bikes usually crash better than we do .

[jimmbomb]

versahaul?? is that where the bike sits sideways on the rear?? hooked up to a trailer hitch??
And the tie-down slipped off the handlebar??
How did you have it attached??
were you using a canyon dancer??
Man... that's tough... A Black bike too!! wow... Good luck getting back in shape again.

[Neurotic-Hapi-Snak]

When I was trailering my Stella home when I bought it, one of the handle bar tie downs came unhooked from the trailer and it leaned over with the kickstart the only thing keeping it from falling completely over onto the trailer railing. Saw literally a second after it happened and stopped in the middle of a narrow, winding road down by the Mississippi near the U of M. (after a despicable woman forced me onto an off ramp, I had come down an on ramp and was trying to merge onto 35W on the Mississippi bridge, but this woman instead of letting me in accelerates and just sits alongside me.)

[lepord155]

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[az_slynch]

Please read these guidelines before posting. Modern Buddy is a moderated forum, and we will remove anything that strays from these rules. Enforcement of these guidelines is at the discretion of the moderators and admin of the forum. If you feel a post is in violation of the guidelines, please use the "report post" function to bring it to our attention by clicking this button:

Hombre, your effort to play moderator is both amusing and disappointing. Before you try and flex on people, try getting a post count greater than one.

[az_slynch]

I was on my way home from the Indian Summer Rally in Richmond, Va, hurtling down I-95 at about 60mph, checking the mirror every few seconds until Bingo! the scooter was gone. I pulled to the shoulder and hopped out to see. It was lying on it's side on the road with the front wheel still on the rack. One of the tie-downs had slipped off the handle bar.

I rode the scooter about a mile or so to the next exit and parked it on the shoulder. I walked back to my truck and brought it to the Scooter. I loaded it back onto the VersaHaul and drove to Scoot Richmond where Ed Willeman was waiting.

Many thanks to Ed and Chelsea Lahmers for all they did to help me and secure the vehicle. I am now safe and sound at home.

I am waiting to hear from Scoot Richmond after they have assessed the damage. It looks mostly cosmetic.

Ouch! I'm cringing here, man. Hope that the damage isn't too hard or expensive to sort out. Thank you for sharing the image too; it underlines the value of crashbars.

[jimmbomb]

I say to invest in a Canyon Dancer if you continue to use that Versa Haul.

I have a 3X5? flat rack that went into my trailer hitch, and made a front wheel guide (sort of).
Anyways.. the Stella stayed on the back of my Scion xB sideways to:
Kansas City twice, Chicago twice, Indianapolis, Memphis and to NOLA for AmeriVespa a few years ago...
A Canyon Dancer NEVER failed me all those trips.
More than paid for itself.
And let me tell you that those Stellas sure did bounce around alot hanging a foot off the rear end of my xB..
good luck getting your sh*t back show ready! thats a tough looking scrape!

[luckyscroller788]

versahaul??were you using a canyon dancer??
.

First, sorry to hear about the owie. And second, I don't mean to hijack the thread, but canyon dancer is new to me, never heard of it. I am googling it and reading up on it. We haul two scooters in the back of the pickup truck, and are looking for an easier way to tie them down, and a safer way as well.

[Raputtak]

Update:
Per the insurance adjuster the Stella frame was bent and the scooter was therefore totalled.

I must say that the Progressive people are very helpful and accommodating in a situation like this.

[Rippinyarn]

Update:
Per the insurance adjuster the Stella frame was bent and the scooter was therefore totalled.

I must say that the Progressive people are very helpful and accommodating in a situation like this.

Oh dear! Do you happen to have any more pictures of the damage? Over the years, I've seen maybe 30 scooters with that type of damage, all being ridden. Was there some other evidence of bending? A weld popped or something?

[BuddyRaton]

Sorry to hear it is totaled...glad to hear that it was totaled with nobody hurt.

I think that how to tie down a scooter is one of those subjects where there are many opinions, and many different ways of doing it. There is more than one way to do it right but....only in my opinion...there are many ways to do it wrong.

It is debatable, however I do not like canyon dancers for vintage or classic scooters. Too much pressure on the shifter and throttle tubes. I do like them for bigger bikes like the 650.

Also make sure that your vehicle is rated for what you are using to tow or haul. Generally versa haulers or tilt a racks require a Class III hitch. Remember that the hauler is cantilevered off the hitch, and that it is the toung weight and not the tow capacity that is important.

I use tie down loops around the headset. I place heavy duty shop towels under the straps to protect the paint. I use a tilt a rack in a Class III receiver rated for 600 lb toung weight and have not had any problems. I also have a trailer with a total loaded weight (2 scooters) of about 1,100 lbs.

Run a search on hauling and you will find many suggestions.

[Raputtak]

I had strapped it on the same way I always do and I had just got back from a 2,000 mile road trip (To St Louis and Atlanta for Rallies).

I have two extra tie downs from the outer ends of the VersaHaul that go over the tailgate to anchor points inside the truck. This, I feel, relieves some of the torsion stress on the hitch. Does not affect the weight limits, of course.

[BuddyRaton]

You know...sometimes you can do everything right and shit still happens!

[Raputtak]

You know...sometimes you can do everything right and shit still happens!

Here's me looking for the "Thumbs Up" icon they have on Modern Vespa.