We got the bike back! All is good

After finding what I surmised to be an oil leak on the bike I had it trailered down to Maxwil Trading in Kilarney Gardens and had a discussion with Claus, the owner. I told him what I had found and also requested the regular service for 110,000kms, he assured me that he would find the problem and come back to me.

After an anxious couple of days Claus called me on Friday to say that he had carefully checked the differential and the engine and there was no sign of any leaks! He had changed the oil in the engine and it was good and clean however the left front fork was leaking and both would have to be re-chromed and have new seals fitted. He quoted me the price to which I agreed and he would call me back when it was finished.

Eventually Claus called me back to say the bike was ready, he had taken it for a run and it had stood overnight and there were no signs of oil leaking anywhere. The service had been completed and the forks were now cean and tight.

My buddy Frank took me down to Capetown and I had a good chat with Claus, in his opinion the bike was in very good condition and good for another ten years and another 100,000kms which was what I needed to hear as I cannot afford to upgrade inless I win the Lotto!

The ride back was fantastic and what I noticed immediately was how different the front felt, over the years (from whenever the fork started leaking) I started getting a very slight vibration in the handlebars which would tend to numb my hands and if I left go of the bars the bike would pull very slightly to the right. This I obviously got used to and compensated for but now the front feel light yet firmly planted and tracks dead straight, amazing!

The power is immediate and exhilerating, very easy to break the law! 

Needless to say we went for a ride straight away, it was amazing how much I had missed the big red machine during the two weeks it was away but now it is better than ever and fully ready for my end of April trip to Africa Bike Week in Margate, Kwa-Zulu Natal South Coast some 1,650kms away but more of that later.

If you are looking for a really good bike mechanic I can thoroughly recommend Claus at Maxwil Trading in Kilarney Gardens. He does a thorough job, keeps in contact over things that need to be done but does not replace things unnessarily, which I really appreciated.

Give him a call on 021 5568954 and tell him I sent you. Oh and he doesn't do Harleys!

See you on the road.

West Coast Biker "Shavathon" for Cancer

Last Saturday the bikers on the west coast got together to raise funds for a worthy cause, as bikers often do. The call went out over social media, whatsapp and sms and from 11h00 on Saturday they started arriving at the Phoenix bar in Vredenburg to give of their time, their hair and their money!

By the time the shavathon started the place was buzzing and as it was a hot day the bar was doing a roaring trade.

One of the first to take the hot seat was Sooi, he who in two weeks time will retire after something like 39 years in the airforce and who has declared that after that he will not shave again!

Gerda, along with Rinette, was one of the ladies who worked hard that afternoon cutting hair and doing a seemingly professional job of it too.

The end result, somewhat different!

The main event of the afternoon was without doubt the shaving of Daan and a big job for the ladies, here he is before;

Every member of the Meeulanders Club paid in R50 to see this and it was such a big job that it required the united efforts of both Gerda and Rinette!

Here's the almost unrecognisable Daan with his incredible wife Bev who also had her head shaved in support of her Mother who has cancer. I'm sure Daan had trouble getting through the security checkpoint at his work on the Monday!

 Here the ladies are still hard at work, Rinette shaves her husband Anton and Wayne, a member of the Mohicans Club rather appropriately got a Mohawk.

Another lady takes over and Gerrie get the chop. I'm not sure if it was purely altruism or whether the hot weather had an influence but the people kept coming!

Here Dan takes the seat and on the right is the cleaned-up version, he said that his crash helmet had always been a bit tight so now it would fit better!

 Another brave lady took the seat and made a drastic change in the name of charity, but as they say; it eventually grows back.

Dennis who rides for the Clique and is the chairman of the West Coast Motorcycle Association was there, no point in shaving his head so they sprayed his beard pink.

The group shot, the wonderful bikers who took part. The very festive event raised an amazing amount of just under R11,500 with outstanding pledges of around R2,000 still to come in, thanks goes to all of the bikers and to Tallie Marine for a sizeable donation.

Henrico kept the joint rocking with his disco and there was good food on sale, it really was a great day out with pretty much all of the local clubs represented. well done to the organisers, bikers rule!