Saturday, August 21, 2010

Q: What's slipperier than gravel? A: A mixture of oil and water

Today was a do-nothing day of relaxation.


A school friend of Deana's daughter who is now living in France and married to a Frenchman was coming for lunch with her husband and two children. It promised to be a very interesting and multicultural event.

Leslie, her husband Olivier, and children Elise and Sacha were a delightful family and we quickly made friends.

When they visited the studio, Chuck fired up his gas forge and soon had Elise hammering hot iron.
Even Olivier and Sacha tried their hands.

We retired to the house for lunch.The main dish was bonhomie.

Olivier was interested in having a ride on our bike, so a little later in the afternoon he got dressed in Wanda's jacket and pants and we headed off just as drizzling rain began.

We rode for a few miles before turning back. Chris stopped at a T junction and when everything was clear, started a right turn. The moment we reached the centre of the lane the back end of the bike kicked out and dumped us unceremoniously on the pavement. We picked ourselves up in shock and stood the bike back upright.It was then we saw the multicoloured strip on the road extending down the road in both directions. That was the unmistakeable sign of oil on wet road. Olivier said he was OK: I felt angry that I had dropped the bike, but had no major injury.

We rode back to Chuck and Deana's. It was only then that I realised that the camshaft cover on the right hand cylinder had cracked when the bike landed on the road. It had a serious oil leak. Further inspection revealed only minor scratching on the mirror housing – thankfully we were travelling quite slowly when it happened.

Later that night, Chris's right shoulder and hip pulled up really sore. We hope Olivier is OK. He said so, and generously added he enjoyed the ride.

Fixing the camshaft cover was another issue to deal with. I found a BMW dealer “nearby“ - just a hundred or so miles away - in the general direction we are planning to take in the next few days, and was able to order a new camshaft cover by phone. Of course, getting there to pick up the part would require running repairs to the cracked one.

Chuck has friends in Ashville who have TIG welding equipment, so the plan is to call them in the morning and arrange for them to weld up the cover.

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