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Stranded (and recovered) in Ryde

needles said:
Spent last Sunday on the shoulder of a Delta levee road for five hours waiting for a tow that never came — because AAA sent a flatbed with no motorcycle equipment despite me selecting "motorcycle" in the app and entering the R1250 GS by make and model. Good times.
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The short version: rear tire went flat fast (razor blade, as it turned out — not the valve stem failure I'd diagnosed roadside), AAA dispatched the wrong truck, second dispatch produced a truck two hours out with no ETA updates, and a rep eventually told me that if I needed help I should "call 911." Fifteen years of Premier membership, specifically because Premier covers motorcycles.

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What actually saved my afternoon: a Delta farmer who noticed my mirror sparkling while he was cutting grass, drove back to check on me, and gave me a ride into Walnut Grove. A random dude on a 10-year-old R1200R with "creative" registration also stopped to troubleshoot — couldn't fix it, but solid human.

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Anyone else had AAA completely drop the ball on a moto breakdown? Curious whether this is a dispatch training problem or something systemic. I'll be having a pointed conversation with them.
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On the upside: if you haven't ridden Salmon Falls Road out of the Gold Country early on a Sunday morning, put it on the list. And the Delta levee roads on CA-160 are genuinely good — just maybe bring more water than you think you need and don't trust your valve stem diagnosis.

Full write-up if you want the whole story: https://dashedyellowline.com/2026/05/03/stranded-in-ryde/
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Oof - that sucks… I had a pretty good experience with AAA after running over a utility blade (tire plugs wouldn’t seal).

The guy showed up in about an hour with a flatbed and tie-down straps, drove me about 30 miles home.
 
jon r said:
Oof - that sucks… I had a pretty good experience with AAA after running over a utility blade (tire plugs wouldn’t seal).

The guy showed up in about an hour with a flatbed and tie-down straps, drove me about 30 miles home.
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I guess it's dumb luck on who you get... I did push them on sending out the first truck that didn't support motorcycles which was their issue entirely. Got some free months of coverage to make the situation better. :bump
 
AAA roadside has left me holding the bag in my Taco the last 2 times I used them: one a dead battery at OAK, someone gave me a jump, the other keys locked in, had bike in back of truck so after an hour and a half I unloaded the bike and road sans helmet home to get spare keys.
AAA's roadside assistance seems to be a real crap shoot.
 
And also related to AAA and MC's; I called for a tow last year on my minivan with ripped sidewall, and after the actual tow person finally got back to me they said because I had a motorcycle on the hitch rack they wouldn't tow it.

(I had brand new tires on the van, so I thought I could hold off on carrying a spare. nope)
 
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