The bike needs a hip surgery

Date:23/09
City: Alessandria, Italy
Kilometres ridden: 198
Cumulative kilometre: 60134
Street: Highway
Weather: Sunny, warm

The closest dealer was in Alessandria, around 100km from our hotel. So we packed up and drove there. When we arrived we met Michaela, luckily for us, she spoke English very well. That made it much easier to communicate with Omar, the mechanic. After he had a look at the bike, he gave us a price estimation which would fit within our budget and it should only take 2 to 3 days.
We agreed to get the job done.


Omar took out the gearbox oil plug… and it looked like a Christmas tree! Seeing that showed me that it was the right decision to get the job done.

Michaela was nice enough to look for accommodation for us, but there was a police congress going on and all the hotels close by were booked out. So she found a nice B&B 30km from the workshop.

For commuting we got a BMW 650 scooter which looked really fancy J

Date:24/09
City: Alessandria, Italy
Kilometres ridden: 64
Cumulative kilometre: 60198
Street: Highway
Weather: Sunny, warm

After a nice breakfast, we drove to the workshop to see if Omar found the problem and to get a better idea about the price. When we arrived, we were in shock; there was only half of a bike at the bike lift, the rest was scattered on the ground.


Just to make sure, I asked Omar if he was sure that he could assemble the bike again.. he smiled. The problem was one gearbox bearing. Below you can see the culprit. To my laments eyes it looks ok J

We talked it over and decided to go ahead. Parts were ordered and we had free time. We used that to visit a shopping centre, buying some bit and pieces and for me to go to the hairdresser. At night we got dinner from our hosts. For me it was as I envisaged Italian meals, marvellous food with three courses and wine.

 

Date:25/09
City: Alessandria, Italy
Kilometres ridden: 0
Cumulative kilometre: 60198
Street: Highway
Weather: Sunny, warm

Today was a quiet day; washing, planning and booking of our flights. At night we had a meal again at the house and also go to visit the wine cellar of our hosts.

Date:26/09
City: Alessandria, Italy
Kilometres ridden: 64
Cumulative kilometre: 60262
Street: Highway
Weather: Sunny, warm

After lunch we drove to the workshop to pick up the bike. It was ready and looked complete again J.

So we took off and visited a castle we had seen from the distance. We thought that would be a good idea before we leave. I parked the bike in front of a castle to take some pictures and then I noticed some oil drops coming from the bike. Below you can see the oil on the left hand side.

Bummer, the oil was all over the right side wall of the back tyre, great. So we returned to the workshop very carefully and showed the problem to Omar. He looked at it in disbelief, organized the keys for the scooter again and sent us home. As it turned out, he had gotten a brand new seal with a fault for the output shaft.

So we let our hosts know that we would like to stay a day longer. Hopefully the bike is ready tomorrow; otherwise we start to get into trouble, since the B&B is fully booked on the weekend.

Date: 27/09
City: Alessandria, Italy
Kilometres ridden: 64
Cumulative kilometre: 60390
Street: Highway
Weather: Sunny, warm

I started to write a rough version of our trip for a motorcycle magazine, not sure if that will work at all. In the afternoon, we got the phone call that the bike is ready. We drove back, talked to Omar. He apologised for the problem and told us that he tested the bike for 10km, which I could see on the tacho. So we said good bye, hopped onto the bike and road again to the castle. Last time we couldn’t find the real entry to the castle, so we thought we give it another shot. We were driving around, still couldn’t find the entrance either. however when I drove down the hill I noticed that the back brake failed…. When I pressed the rear brake fully, the bike didn’t change speed at all! So I stopped at the side of the road and had a look at the rear tyre. And guess what, there was an oily fluid on it again! Darn!@#$

It was nearly 6PM, so we gave Omar a call and told him what happened. He couldn’t believe it, but agreed to an appointment with us for tomorrow morning. Now it started to get a bit tight, since all rooms in the B&B were fully booked for tomorrow night. I had my doubts that the bike would be ready tomorrow….

5 comments

  1. I have lusted for that BMW 650 scooter – talked the local BMW dealership down $3000 on it (that may be that the 2014 were coming out and they needed to get rid of the 2013) – how did you find riding it? Good enough for short trips? Think it would be any good for what you were doing across Europe?

    I have been finding your post very enjoyable – the more you post, the longer the posting, the more pictures & true feeling of locals, people, bike, et all – all the better!!

    Joel

    1. Hi Joel
      We actually enjoyed riding the BMW scooter. We used it around town and for having short trips around the surrounding areas. The bike is powerful enough to go through the mountains in Europa, but I prefer to use the normal motorcycle clutch type of bike, but that is just personal preference.
      We are a bit slack with our posts, but I will catch up very soon.
      Cheers Bjoern

  2. Hi, Glad to see you guys are still at it, looks like the Suzuki’s were less troublesome than that BMW , just sayin…, have really enjoyed following your trip. Stay Safe.

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