riding the KLR from LA to ushuaia, bound to have a mishap or two on such a long road. luckily, one of my worst was in quito

i lost the cap on the end of the swingarm of my KLR that is an integral part of controlling the chain tension. my chain was thrown off, and the cap was nowhere to be found... think they sell those here??!! me neither.

luckily, i had met albert at his bar, the turtles head, in quito a few nights before. i went to speak w- him about the bike and he drove out to look at it with me

albert immediately put me in touch w- a friend of his, hector, who works at albert's other bar. hector is a fine machinist and, in one day's time, produced an exact replica of the piece i had lost (by using the one from the opposite side of the swingarm as a pattern)

now, seriously, it would have taken 4 weeks to order that part because it's something a kawa dealer in the states doesnt even keep on their shelves, but thanks to albert and hector, i had the part in 48 hrs!

you meet nice people along the way, sometimes at the most opportune times. dont go through ecuador w-o visiting albert at the turtle's head, and dont leave the turtle's head w-o trying (several) tortuga ales and the potato skins w- loads of bacon! both were staples of my diet in quito

thanks albert! and give my thanks to hector, too!

You got me thinking - i have recently embarked on setting up a motorcycle rental and tour business here in Dunedin NZ - as a result good friends have shaken their heads with concern - too risky, mate !

Every customer to date has been a good bugger - someone I could easily have invited inside for a drink and a yarn (if we had the time).

It re-charges my faith in human nature to read your story and know that the wave we (usually) all do to other riders acknowledges the two wheeled brotherhood - long may it last.

H
Motorcyle rentals Dunedin

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Howie
V-strom 650, Transalp 650, DR-Z250