I will devote the whole of this page to this wonderful family that run a moto business in Estepona.
I had stood the whole day in Gibraltar on the Monday because of the worse weather I have seen for a day.
I had checked out the hostel and sat it out in the afternoon and the evening in the bars trying to stay dry without success.
I couldn´t find a decent shelter but the rain stopped so I slept under the smallest canopy there is and woke soaked to the skin again as the rain had resumed.
After changing my currency and having a warm and dry breakfast I set off in thew pouring rain.
The route was tedious running the Autovia that runs next to the resorts along this stretch of the Med.
I had a target of Estepona for a coffee and turned off the Autovia when the problems commenced.
I couldn´t get through the gears at all and came to a stop in the middle of an Industrial estate. I saw the moto shop so pushed it up to there in case there was anything I could buy that would solve it. I started to strip the covers off to see if there was a problem with the outer mechanism but couldn´t see anything at all.
It was then that Maria Angeles and her brother Alberto came out to go for lunch. They came and spoke to me abouty the problem and they and I were convinced it was internal and nothing that we could do.
I noticed a British run body repairs and asked them if there was anywhere in the area I could store the bike as I feared I was at the end of th road as regards the ride and they agreed to store it for a month.
I went back to the bike to replace the bits and decided to have one more look. This old guy appeared from nowhere and started to ask questions. I couldn´t understand his dialect very well, but suddenly started gathering up all my stuff and transported the bike my gear and me into the workshop, where he started inspecting the mechanism. This manm turnedm out to be Maria and Albertos retired father Francisco. He agreed it was internal and then suggested we remove the engine and strip it down. If you aren´t familiar with mechanics you wont know how big a job this is.
Meanwhile Maria Angeles had brought some food for a sandwich and tried to convince me if it wasnt eaten it would go to the animals. She was so good, mechanically too and knew more about the individual components of the gearbox than myself
After 7 hours of cleaning the gearbox of a whole lot of debris, the bike was reassembled and ready for the road again. Including new oil and a top up of break fluid.
It was late and perhaps I didnt insist hard enough, but they refused any offer I made to recompense them.
I will do what I can when the ride is over, because, if it wasn´t for them I would be flying home mission failed.
I left them in the dark and headed for the centre where I enjoyed a couple of beers before getting soaked again in a leaky shelter. The following morning I was having my coffee and tosta in the cafe opposite and was telling the bar owner my story and apparently the lived only round the corner
http://www.motosbracho.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment