Roadside repairs? Wouldn't there be a good Dutch name for that? Is there such a thing as a 'mobility guarantee' nowadays? With us classic drivers, that mobility guarantee sometimes means that you start tinkering – preferably in the rain and/or darkness – in order to guarantee your mobility again.
Well wave. Just stop…
The fact that fellow motorcyclists no longer stop when they see a fellow motorcyclist with bad luck has long been noted in the books. But there is a fairly good chance that motorists will stop that you know in no time that they used to drive a motorcycle. And I've had a girl get out of a car to take a selfie with my broken engine in the background. At least: I think the photo work was about the engine. She greeted me kindly, got back in and drove off.
With the averaging up
The debilitated car driver who jokingly popped into the hard shoulder along the A2 along the AXNUMX – sometimes you just have to catch a highway – to pretend he was going to scoop me up with the middle finger, picked himself up after I threw my spark plug wrench at his windshield . And then I lost my spark plug wrench and had to wait for the Roadside Assistance.
He thought tinkering along the A2 was too dangerous and called for a recovery vehicle. Safely parked, the malfunction was quickly rectified under the watchful eye of the recovery company. The man of the rescue vehicle had been a mechanic. But he had dropped out because he didn't like all that electronics at all. “Look, with such an old thing, things sometimes break. And then you do that. That's great, man!"
Just; drive with that bite!
But I still want to make a case for using classic motorcycles for what they were made for. And if such a veteran is just good to each other, and if you treat the thing with respect, then any classic motorcycle is just road useable. Of course something can go wrong. But that is also possible with a ZGAN motorcycle. I towed a Ducati Panigale from Ellecom to Velp with my 23 hp 750 cc side valve. And you don't have to be super technical, because you have your smartphone at hand? With that approach, after a cylinder had left the block, a friend was called. That went to my house to get another cylinder, piston and some gaskets. The case was mounted in the verge and before I had my last cigar the stuff was up and running again.
That was a roadside repair
And you can't do that if you have a brand new BMW GS. Because believe me: those things also break. But yes: then of course you have your mobility guarantee. But there is apparently a catch: a GS rider friend was not really quickly repatriated in the Ardennes. And when he got his replacement vehicle, it was a Mazda. And now you can say what you like about those extremely expensive, high, heavy and obese BMW adventure bikes. But for a motorcycle weekend in the Eifel they are more fun than a Mazda. Even if it has air conditioning.
In 1969 with a Triumph 3TA (me) and a Norton ES2 (my bike buddy) to France. The ES2 began to vomit oil fumes and imitate the sound of a tractor. So in a small village, under the plane trees in the village square, the head off, the cylinder off and we found a piglet with a lot of play. Norton on the train (coincidentally a freight station present!) with the ANWB repatriation, he goes home with his thumb, me back on my own in 2 days. So you just did that cup of lights!
We're still riding, he Ducati or Honda, me BMW. It's still the tall tales.
Hall giver, also a well-known 'thing' at BMW. The price-axis gear problem can be solved with Staburags, spline grease. You also grease the splines of the input spline shaft of the cardan with this. Rough coupling, switching actions, at torque/low speed and requiring a lot of pulling power are killing for this sliding connection. A little moisture and then the story is complete. Both problems present themselves. They are just like people who want to 'feel' and listen to BMW's (and Guzzi's).
By solving I mean preventive: you prevent. If the splines have gone far, it's a shame the bammer
Amen!
Well I sometimes stand still, the last time without petrol with my R75-5 with Steib sidecar, you should also not open both petrol taps then you will be out of reserve in no time. I walked with the combination on the bike path and a sidecar came up behind me, a Russian one anyway, but it didn't see me and drove on, a boy in a Canta drove me reluctantly on the bike path and he actually stopped but couldn't also not help with his dieseltje. Until a fantastic 6 cyl Goldwing combination saw me and it even waved and quietly plodded on. Never again do I wave to GW riders. After waiting an hour for the WW, I only walked 3 km and pushed to a pump. Once at home the WW called where I was they could not find me. Polite as I was told I that after an hour and a half I had had it with the WW. To my surprise, a large bouquet of flowers was sent later that day by the WW and the next day a voucher of € 25, unfortunately not for petrol. 1 liter of petrol in an aluminum bottle in the container…
You might consider putting “chainsaw gasoline” in your spare can. It can travel for years without getting old. Forgot the brand name. It doesn't matter if you go for 2 or 4 strokes. It does start and run.
That's Aspen. There is something with different types for different applications I thought
A clear learning moment!
Yes, even BMWs break down. No matter how good it drives, there are more reliable engines.
As an example that a friend of mine suddenly had no drive during his motorcycle trip through (yes) the Ardennes even though the K75 was in gear. A crackling rustle somewhere near the clutch made it clear that the trip was over. The BMW was allowed to camp there in the street for a while, after which later in the day, with a trailer for motorcycles, he repatriated the K to the BMW specialist here in the south. There it turned out that the input shaft no longer had teeth. I don't see that with other bikes. And three years ago I managed to save my '82 R45/65 Blauwtje from that toothlessness. Also need to replace the input shaft
A worn drive shaft is a BMW thing; I had the same experience with an '84 R80RT.
It has very fine teeth, similar to your gearshift pedal, and that's just a design flaw.
Apparently BMW never felt the need to change that.
The 1981 Wing has never let me down on the road. I do have some tools tighraps silver paper etc with me.
Nice article Dolph! Especially about that GS. It's too ugly to be true, even in the 90% rainy Ardennes!
I had a nice experience 2 years ago after my V-belt gave out on my beetle. It happened on the A1 at the Apeldoorn exit. After 8k had left the highway and assessed the damage in a carpool parking lot, a Volvo Amazon first pulled up and stopped and asked what was going on. Unfortunately he didn't have the opportunity to help me further, but still… Shortly afterwards a man and woman came over and when I had explained what was going on, and how we sometimes solved it with tights, the man shouted that he had one in his car. The woman looked at him in surprise, but he turned out to be a painter and filtered his paint with it.
The tights mounted and back on the road. Unfortunately the tights were not of a decent quality and after a few kilometers the charge light started to come on again. In the meantime it also started to rain hard and the only option was to call the Anwb.
He arrived after half an hour and didn't have a V-belt with him, but had the idea to repair it with a few big trips.
Suddenly an Audi TT stopped and the window opened and a nice woman handed me an umbrella with the words please and quickly drove on.
So it was still raining heavily and surprised I suddenly stood dry under an umbrella to watch the roadside assistance who was ready and kept checking me all the way home to make sure I got there.
Thinking about it brings a big smile to my face again and I still have faith in helpful people along the way.
There are plenty of nice people. But 1 jerk can ruin your day. So don't let that happen
With my old refurbished Dodge pickup I drove one of the first test drives and suddenly stopped. Of course in the beginning I brought my mobile and called the ANWB when I couldn't fix it on the spot. After a while he was there and told him what had happened to it and what it looked like and such.
Well, there was nowhere to plug in to the laptop and apparently that was difficult, this was clearly not of the old stamp.
Brought home with a tow truck, by far the most economical kilometers in the life of this Dodge...!! At home what measured and searched and sure enough: the brand new dots in the also completely renewed ignition circuit made closure, you do not think that. The supplier called and he had never experienced it and sent a new set without fail. Put it in and haven't had a problem since. It's still fun!
With my current modern engine (Aprilia RSV 1000R from 2006) I have to bleed the clutch every 2000 km: the cylinder is on the block and that's not the most convenient place. Even at Rovaniemi it was necessary again at the time, a road-side repair. By the way, wonderful reactions from Scandinavians that you dare to ride such a sports bike there: the “character” of Italians is also known there. Often the comment that they had always wanted such a bicycle, but did not dare. For example, a man came to look at my wrench and said that he wanted such a motor “when he grew up”. “And now I have this” he said, pointing to his camper, wife and children. Lots of laughs there :-)))
New items can also be broken or broken. But that is of course just what you do not expect. And that camper story? That's what midlife crises are made of. You must regret the things you did. Not about things you haven't done
A little classic driver is often (of necessity) a great roadside mechanic..
And indeed; somehow always in the dark in a drizzle…
A burned-out dynamo was my share at the time, the Roadside Assistance Sir had a heavy full battery for me with which I came home.
Tribute!
Your roadside assistance ticket is the best tool you can have. Besides your cell phone, of course. Where have all those emergency telephones gone?