Well hot damn! I’m getting my bike back, AND my court hearing has been moved up more than 2 weeks! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Well, that enticed me to go get some chicken, and head back to my hotel. Not too long after I had been there, I received a Skype chat message from Charlotte. It said, “We’re going to a music gig (classical) at the church. Do you want to go?”

Of course I wanted to go, and I said exactly that. I stuffed face on my chicken, surfed the web, and was ready to rock and roll an hour later when Charlotte and Lison showed up in the back seat of Gabby’s car. Sweet. We even had a ride.

Minutes later we were parked in front of Iglesia de San Francisco, and I was snapping photos. Check it out Padre!



The view over the city is pretty good from up here too. Awesome.



The inside of the church is just as impressive as the outside as well. Stone pillars, painting, sculptures, wall hangings, and a very impressive back drop behind the pulpit.



We took our seats around the mid section on the left hand side. Here’s my view from the bench.



Say hello girls! From left to right are, Gabby, Charlotte and Lison.



We arrived about 15 minutes early, but by 7:05pm, things were underway, and we were being serenaded by a fantastic singer with the Cuenca Philharmonic Symphony behind her. Awesome.



Oh yea. I forgot. To my left, were two robed priests, standing, and enjoying the music while I was seated in my shorts and flip-flops. What a ridiculous presentation I made. If I had thought ahead of time, I would have at least put on my socks and sandals, and worn my only pair of pants. At least on second glance I saw that one priest wore traditional style sandals… That counts right?



I wasn’t the only one out of place thought. This dog was having a great time.



After the first set, the singing woman stepped down, and everyone gave a standing ovation.



What came next though was my favorite. This guy ripped into the Yamaha Grand Piano like it was a play toy. He shredded the keys like than Jimmy Hendrix shredded a guitar. It was awesome. And then, THEN, he whipped out his accordion, and gave the originals an example! YES! As you might be able to tell, I very much enjoyed it.



Well, the second set ended with a call for an encore, and so it was. The symphony played a second song, and the Pianist/Accordionist ripped it up again. I spent about an hour uploading a mini video of the guy, cause it was bitchin.

http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/a...t=MVI_8242.mp4




After dinner, the girls were hungry, and so we hopped in the car and Gabby took us to a café that was open. Three of us ordered a beef plate, while Lison ordered fried fish. (Seems she’s pescatarian*, i.e. doesn’t eat meat other than fish.) Three of us had a glass of Strawberry juice as well ($0.75). It was the first time I had beef since I left Bogota, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!



With dinner over, it was time to go to bed. These are working girls, and they had work in the morning. Not me! I had a motorcycle to pick up in the morning!

--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

I met the Lawyer at his office at 8am, as he requested. I was early, and he arrived in his Mitsubishi Montero. I hopped in, and first step was to drive to Biblian, to see Prosecutor Number Two.

The Prosecutor has gone about his business and accomplished everything that he has said he would, and to top it off, he had a stack of papers that needed to be copied. Perfect.

Down the street we go with a stack of 10 or more pages that have been added to the 13 or so pages that were in my original folder. We find the copying place, make the copies, pay the lady (I always pay for the copies) and go back to the Prosecutors office to hand them over. We keep a signed piece of paper, say thank you, confirm the appointment for Friday at 8:30am, and then head back to town.

I suppose I should mention that Biblian is a small town that is 3 miles from Azogues. It’s more like a suburb to me.

Back in town, it was off to take a look at the bike, to make sure it was there… Excellent. Please notice my severely displaced hand guards, broken head light, and front brake line hanging on the front cowling.



When my right hand guard got twisted upward, the make shit bolt that holds my “Advmonster” LED light (LED Auxiliary Lights - ADVrider) to my “Highway Dirt Bike” (HDB) hand guards, (www.highwaydirtbikes.com/HDB_Shop/) impacted the banjo bolt on my front brake master cylinder, and ripped it right out of its home. DAMN.



My left side auxiliary LED light lens cracked. Shit. That means water.



When you run into large object on the highway, unprepared, bikes get bent out of shape! My pro-taper 1 1/8th bars have stood the test of time. Shoot, this time, even the left hand guard got bent a little. Can you believe that? HDB Guards don’t just, “bend.”



Oh yea… My right side pannier and lid. Happy Trail, I like your pannier racks, and I like your mounting pucks. They kick ass. But I just don’t think I can handle Aluminum boxes. Not yours at least.



I saw another bike in the corner, a Yamaha 125. It had 80,505 kilometers on it. 50,034 miles, NICE.



Well, that was good enough for me. The bike is still there. No worries. On the other hand, someone else had something to worry about, as a funeral procession was taking place on the avenue outside the police impound lot. :/



Well, after confirming the status of the bike, it was off to the Jefetura de Policia’s office (A police boss man). Before that though, I needed 2 copies of my passport. Oh, and the Jefetura’s office is closed. So, instead, Mr. Lawyer Man took me to a motorcycle shop that he recommended because the Police motorcyclists use it. He took my there, I told the man what was up, and he just said, it was no problem, and that I should come back in an hour and a half. So, after more hand shaking, we went back to the Police Boss Man’s office. He was open.

First though, it’s a cigarette break.



At the office, I was asked to pay $1.50 for each day that my motorcycle remained in the Police Parking Lot. My lawyer made a valiant effort to mitigate the fee (27 days multiplied by $1.50 = $40.50), but it was to no avail as we’d have to come back tomorrow as the systems that allowed it weren’t on the same computer. So, I paid the man. So far, I’m up to $70.50.

From there, it was all straight forward. We got a signed piece of paper that said I had paid, and headed back for the bike. I couldn’t start my bike, because the kill switch was jammed closed, so I couldn’t ride it to the motorcycle shop. Mr. Lawyer Man had an audience in 30 minutes, and wasn’t about to miss it. In 3 minutes, he had a truck lined up to haul me and the bike a mile or so to the shop.

The three of us heaved my bike into the back of a short-bed, dual-cab pickup truck, and with a single length of rope, the driver tied it in. I hoped in the cab of the truck, and off we went. It turned out that the driver spoke pretty good English, and understood me even better. He had lived in the United States for 11 years, and the child in the back seat was even American.

Only a few minutes and three dollars later and I was dropped off at the Motorcycle shop. Que bien.



Inside of 4 minutes, the shop owner had placed a new front brake master cylinder in my hand. How much? $18.00…. I’ll take it.



After installing that, adding brake fluid and bleeding the brakes, it was onto the head light. First step was removal.



Second step was convincing the helper that was now assisting me to retrofit the high-output 60watt halogen bulb from my old busted headlight into the new one. I wasn’t too fond of the idea of riding with a 30watt halogen bulb in my new $10 headlight assembly. He agreed it was better, and we installed it.



Say goodbye to the busted head light! Adios you pile of crap!



Next step was to address my broken clutch adjustment screw.



And then after that, to deal with the burnt our break light that hasn’t functioned since the first week of Mexico. That turned out to be a BITCH, as the light bulb had rust/welded to the insertion slot, and removing it turned out to be impossible.



Marvel at the rebar turned tire iron that measures about 3.25 feet long.



Watch the shop assistant saw off some tabs on the edge of my new rear light bulb socket to replace the old one that was chopped out.



By now, its 2pm and according to the boss man, seen below on the far left of the table, it is time for lunch. The guys are getting hungry as well. I am invited, and so I go along. I hadn’t eat yet, and I was damn hungry as well. Meet the guys that fixed up my bike!



While we were sitting there at lunch, I asked the shop owner how much the meals cost. He replied that they were $1.50/each. We’re talking about a bowl of bean and noodle soup (that I think is really damn good), and a plate of rice, vegetables, and meat, accompanied by a glass of fruit juice. I almost laughed because it was so cheap.

Right before we left, he got up to pay the bill for himself and the shop workers. He was probably going to pay mine as well. However, I beat him to it, and when he set down a $10 bill, I snatched it out of the waitresses hand from behind the counter, slapped it back on the counter in his direction, and handed over my own money. $7.50 for 5 meals. Call it a donation to THEIR fund. The owner said thank you to me no less than 3 times. He meant it too.

Back at the shop after lunch, I was hard at work tweaking things, and making sure everything was good to go. The front turn signals were addressed and I had new L.E.D lights on in a flash ($8.00 a pair).

After that, I locked the hand guards back into place, adjusted the lever positions, tightened the mirror, and shortened the screws holding my Auxiliary Light brackets. Putting the front cowling on was a slight chore as the new headlight unit is slightly larger. Adjusting the inside diameter of the cowling proved simply enough by using a hack saw blade to remove a few flanges, and VIOLA, I’m functional again.



Next on the list was to take care of the Chain. I had replaced the chain in Bogota before I left, and used a 525 o-ring master link to do it. However, the master link was such a bitch getting it on, and not of the right fit apparently as the chain formed a kink at the master link and wouldn’t flex at that point. It was the right size as per the package AND stamping on the link (DID 525), but if just didn’t fit.

Getting it off proved to be easier with a 4” dye grinder, and it was replaced with a 530 master link as a 525 was not available. To make it fit, one of the o-rings on the chain was ground down, as the 530 link was JUST too short to make it fully to the other side. I’m not worried about it. I’ll last.

Next, was creating a buffer zone between my left hand aux light and water. I unscrewed the outer bevel that holds the glass plate in place and removed the plate as the release of pressure allowed it to fall into 3 pieces. I then placed 3 layers of clear plastic bag over the exposed LEDs, and screwed the bevel back in place, forming the plastic into a 3 level waterproof barrier. I then wrapped electrical tape around the light to prevent seepage from the not fully screwed down bezel. Until I can find someone to cut me a perfect circle out of glass, this will have to do.

And now, the only things left on the bike to worry about are the right side mirror that was shattered, and finding a replacement windshield, as I broke mine when I body slammed it. I’m willing to bet that finding a new mirror will be the least of my worries, and a windshield will show up in due time.

Last but not least, I pay the man.... Total?... $40.00....



Then, for the first time in 27 days, I got on my motorcycle, and rode it back to the hotel, wearing flip flops, shorts, and a long sleeve shirt. I didn’t even have a helmet or sunglasses. That’ll be the last time that happens.

I stopped off on the way back to the hotel to ask a welding shop if they could fix my side bag. They suggested another shop, and that was that. I’ll go their tomorrow after the hearing.

Now, I just have to mentally prepare myself to leave this place. Saturday will mark 4 weeks that I have been here. I am thinking Monday, the 31st, Halloween, will mark my date of departure, and my subsequent entrance into Peru…

Hot damn boys and girls!

ONWARD!!!

--Alex

__________________
NJ, NR, NBTTN

Excellent news! Well done.

Congratulations for having your bike back.
I wish you a safe trip and lots of fun.

__________________
Jan Krijtenburg

My bikes are a Honda GoldWing GL1200 and a Harley-Davidson FXD Dyna Super Glide

My personal homepage with trip reports: https://www.krijtenburg.nl/
YouTube channel (that I do together with one of my sons): motormobilist.nl