Modern motorcyclists: good people

Motorcyclists come in all types

My favorite motorcycle is a Russian pastry from the year jar. When driving uphill in the Ardennes, the brave twin suddenly climbed high in the revs. The cardan shaft had turned through its teeth, so all the power, the stated 34 hp, could no longer be transferred to the ravaged asphalt.

I asked for help from a local garage mechanic who was weeding in his garden. With his drill I pierced the sleeve and the cardan shaft. Russian steel must have it of its mass, not of its quality. With an 8 mm bolt and nut - I got them for free - the connection between power source and rear wheel was restored. The emergency repair was forgotten until a whole new cardan was scored at a trade show for 56 euros. But that was a few months later.

Last week the bell rang on Sunday

No Jehovah's. Common citizen. From the two at the door I recognized a neighbor from a street behind me. The second man looked gloomy. Man Two turned out to have visited the kind of neighbor. On the motorcycle. And that thing didn't work anymore. And because I also rode a motorbike ... I grabbed my universal meter and my starter battery and followed the duo. On the garage path stood a shiny, richly equipped tourmalodont. The starter relay ticked tired. Where was the battery? The stranded motorcyclist had no idea. The starter battery was connected with a bit of a squab and the V4 started with a satisfied growl. The universal meter reported that such an 17 volt was pumped into the battery. That is a lot. And in the meantime, that battery was stinking almost completely dry-boiled.

Just got the bottle of demi water at home and put a hold in the 'divers' box

Then an 12V voltage regulator is the first thing you find. A handful of AMP plugs, the stripper and clamp and a few meters of electricity rope caught. Back to the bleak-looking, stranded midlife cruiser. I explained to him that voltage regulators are stupid things and that I would provisionally tie the one that I had withdrawn from my supply to his engine. Then he could go home, and then go to his garage.

The man heard it all confused and without much comment

I positioned the loose wiring and the voltage regulator with some Duct tape and a few tie-wraps. The V4 was started and the battery received a neat 13,6 volt. I packed my things and drove home very satisfied. Two hours later the phone rang again. The kind of neighbor and his companion. Kompaan had a hard time with it.

Of course he was happy with my help and the fact that his engine was working again

But that repair; it was like that geproprovishonored. And the other voltage regulator, was it of the right kind or good? In short: if I wanted to take the whole thing off because he didn't dare go home like that. He had called the ANWB and his motorcycle would be repatriated. And the ANWB telephonist also seemed to be very dangerous, that messing around with electricity. I told him that disassembly of the stuff would cost him 50 euros and that if he didn't find that an option, I would tell everyone what a lost child he was.

The man and the kind of neighbor disappeared from view

I saw the kind of neighbor recently. He apologized for the behavior of his visit. The WegenWacht, which had first investigated, had approved the emergency repair. But our Hero of the Highway also had no faith in that opinion. Because: "Not Original." And with the right to repatriation. Typically an example of someone who is not a motorcyclist, but a nice person. So the kind of neighbor. Not that cloud-covered arch with its pimped Titanic and fear of stain.

For more than forty years, since the creation of the BMW R 75 / 5 and the Honda CB 750 F, you no longer have to be a talented technician as a motorcyclist. All key skills from before that time were based on the poorer quality of the engines of the past and the poverty of their drivers. As a normal person, you can't even do a lot of maintenance on a very modern motorcycle. It is usually not necessary either. So for forty years you can focus on the best part of motorcycling: driving. And if you still have an original voltage regulator: "PARTY!"

But I have the feeling that classic lovers have a different party.