Staying close seemed/felt like a smart move, but I still couldn't put my finger on it. Sunshine, my Suzuki Bandit 1250s, is riding fine. I lubed her chain and did my morning checks but something still felt 'off' as I was headed down the long country road. The hairs on the back of my head were standing up. Something was definitely off.
The ride was nonetheless beautiful, the sun slowly warming up the world as it started to blaze higher in the sky. I got to the river valley and found a small cafe I've been to before near a local rock climbing hotspot and pulled to the right to let a car that was behind me pass. I intended to do a sharp left u-turn and park in front of the cafe.
The blue car that was tailing me passed and I started a sharp left turn with plenty of room to spare and ... Sunshine just quit without any warning. Her engine stopped dead.
I was mid-turn at the time, the bike was leaned over and I was stand-up steering her left when the engine quit. I was moving forward about 3 miles per hour, so really I had no momentum to work with. I threw my left leg down and tried to keep her upright and we did the 'hop-drop-hop-drop' dance a few more feet until she just fell over onto her left side soft bags. It was all I could do to set her down gently. I immediately cleared the area for dangers and put her hazards on and flagged the oncoming traffic to slow down. There were cars and a dump truck now in my lane and heading my way. They all slowed and gawked and moved on by, and when I had a free moment and a blank space on the road, I lifted her up and walked her over to the side of the road and parked her.
I tried a couple times to start her up in the street, but she was not interested in turning over. No starter noises or relay clicks. Nothing. I was in neutral, and checked the kill switches and kick stand, ignition was on, clutch was in, but twice I tried and twice she ignored my 'start' key entirely. I parked and got off the bike, frustrated that this is the second time she's quit unexpectedly in the middle of a turn.
I look for loose wires, check the EFI harness and look for 'check' engine warnings on the dash with the ignition turned 'on' - nothing wrong. Since it had been a few minutes since my last attempt, I try one last time to start her up and ... she lights right up. Engine revs fine, I try and she pulls in first gear, she revs in neutral, all as though nothing happened. I put her on the center stand and make sure her wheel spins in first, neutral is neutral, etc. All fine. So I decide to give her about 45 minutes to cool down while I have a coffee and consider my options.
I'm a long way away from home and my garage and tools, so I decide to head cautiously back in that direction, the slow way, using sparsely-used back roads the entire way. Now I have to fit the ride back into my work day, but Sunshine and I will get there eventually. And it's a pretty way to get home, so why not.
In all, I'm very glad I trusted my instincts again. Glad she didn't quit while I was passing a semi at 90 mph on the interstate. I can handle a controlled set-down onto her soft bags. Everything worked out ok because I am used to listening to and trusting my gut.
Yeah... it is frustrating when life doesn't give you a problem you can readily solve. But I'll get to the bottom of it. Just a matter of time.
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