Roger to the Rescue… Part Two!

With a leaking rear Ohlin’s shock, I had no choice but to get back to Pretoria to have it sorted, and asked Roger Smith of Bavarian Motorcycles to help me with all the arrangements. By the time I arrived at their premises on Friday morning, the staff involved had been informed and were waiting for me… I removed the panniers, duffel bag and backpack, and then together with Lenny Spinola, the workshop manager, (and a fellow Iberian I might add!) we got the shock off the bike. Roger had arranged for Alex, an independent technician who specializes in the servicing and repair of shock absorbers, to collect the shock, and whisk it away to his workshop to replace the seals…

The shock was removed, leaving the Big Fella's bum exposed...

While he was away, I stripped the left spotlight, and replaced the globe, which had popped in Botswana. With the help of Kleinboy, I removed and repaired the rear mudguard that had developed a two inch crack across it’s surface. This crack had appeared after my ride through the Eastern Cape, and lengthened considerably during my little tour to the Fish River Canyon… We got this sorted by riveting three strips of galvanized sheet metal across the crack, and sealing it with a healthy dose of silicone sealer…

Searching for a spare key among hundreds...

I have always been concerned about having only one spare key for the bike, and mentioned this to Lenny, who then pointed to a box of extra keys they had collected over the years and said, ” If you can find one that can open your seat lock, then you can have it !!” I set about trying all the keys in the box, which took almost an hour… There were only six keys left in the box, and I had almost given up finding one that fit, when the next one slid home, and unlocked the seat mechanism… Lucky day !! I now had a spare key that while not working on the ignition, did unlock the seat… and that’s a good thing, which I will not elaborate on in this post..!!!

I spent the remainder of my time watching the other technicians at work, stripping and repairing bikes, and made mental notes about where things fit and how they were removed and refitted onto the bikes… At a little after 2.00 pm, Alex arrived, shock in hand and a beaming smile on face…

“All fixed !”, he said, “Dust had got past the “cleaner seal” and scratched the main seal… I’ve replaced them both and you’re good to go…!”

Alex "all thumbs", arrives with the repaired shock...

We had a little problem a few minutes later when, while attempting to tighten a bolt on the Pre-Load adjuster, Alex put a bit too much effort into it, and snapped the bolt… Lenny came to the rescue with a spare that he had lying about, and we finally got the shock back onto the bike. (Not before Alex had dropped almost everything that was handed to him…!! He had a bad case of “dropsy” on Friday, did our Alex…!!)

Then the exhaust was bolted back on, as was the back tyre, and we were ready to roll again… I rode the bike back out of the workshop, loaded all the panniers back onto the bike and then asked Lenny to take it for a ride to give me his impressions of the handling and “feel” of the bike… While he was away, I realized that he was the only other person who had ever ridden the Big Fella… Not an uncommon occurrence amongst bikers, as we are a rather protective lot when it comes to our bikes… It is very seldom you hear a fellow biker offering his mates a spin on his bike… In my experience anyway… Allan and I discussed this when I visited him in California, and we realized that even though we spent several weeks together on the road, not once did we offer the other a ride on our bikes… It just never came up..!!

Lenny takes the Big Fella for a test ride...

Lenny, who is about the same height and weight as I am, came back after a few minutes, enthusing about the handling and balance of the bike…

“The motor sounds great, there’s no drag on the clutch, brakes are good… It feels awesome Dude !! Can I come with you…??”

“Get your bike and let’s go !” I replied…

Lenny stood looking at the bike, hands on hips and a wistful look on his face…

“My wife would kill me…!!”, he finally replied…

“Yeah, but don’t for a minute think that she will need this as an excuse !” was my response… (“Too cynical, Ronnie…” I thought to myself after saying that…)

We went into the showroom, to see Roger and report on the repair. He very kindly chose not to charge me for the service of the shock, for which I was most appreciative ! Being a little camera shy, he then chose to take the picture below of Lenny, Pierre and myself, to mark the occasion…

Lenny and Pierre of Bavarian Motorcycles. Roger Smith took the photo...

Thank you Roger ! You’re generosity will long be remembered ! Good luck with your move to your new premises in Centurion. I am certain that with Bavarian Motorcycles’ great levels of service, you will no doubt attract even more satisfied clients than you already have !!

© GBWT 2010