Quit our jobs, sold our home and everything in it, gone riding...

[Lightcycle]

Not long after Lenka left the tow truck came and proceeded to put Neda's bike on the bed. We communicated mainly to the driver's girlfriend who spoke English and acted as a translator. They asked us where we wanted to take the bike. Lenka had told us that she used to get her BMW motorcycle serviced in Pilsen, about 15 kms away from us, so that's where we decided to go, Neda in the truck and me following behind them on my bike.

We got to the BMW dealership and it was already closed, but peering through the window I noticed no motorcycles on the showroom floor. After a bit of checking, we found out that they stopped selling and servicing motorcycles recently. Now what were we going to do?

Our tow truck driver told us that he had a friend in a neighbouring town who was a motorcycle mechanic and that he was open on Saturdays. That sounded good to us, so off we went. The town was almost back to the spot where Neda broke down. There were a whole lot of bikes in the mechanic's lot but he told us that as soon as he ordered the parts and received them, he would start working on Neda's bike. Cool. But he said he could only order the parts on Monday, and they would probably arrive on Tuesday morning, which would be the earliest he could work on them.

Well, that meant we would need to cancel our plans with our German friends. Our tow truck driver helped us find a budget hotel back in Pilsen and even drove Neda back to the city. They did *A LOT* of driving for us that day. In addition, they arranged for the mechanic to pick her up on Tuesday. And the total charge for all this towing, chauffeuring and organizing for the day: €30!

I know how much gas costs and the mileage they did the whole day plus the time they spent working on all of this, it was obvious they were giving us a *huge* discount. Neda told me later that she bonded with the tow truck driver's girlfriend while in the truck, so I think they felt bad for us and wanted to help out.

Confirmed: Czech people *are* the nicest people on Earth!

As promised, on Tuesday afternoon it's all fixed

We were back on the road! Whohoo! But first, I wanted to thank the Czech couple who helped us call the tow truck, so we bought them a gift and rode back to their house to properly show our gratitude. And also Neda got a chance to meet these nice people.

Děkuji!!! Josef & Ivana and their grand-daughter.

You know, although it made our lives a bit more complicated for these past few days, sometimes it's these small setbacks that pull you out of a routine (even if that routine is riding motorcycles around the world), and expose you to the kindness of strangers, who despite not sharing a common language, still want to do everything in their power to help you out.

 

[meme]

Holy crap! Barna! That's awesome.

Couple thoughts-you two are some of the best people I've ever met, how the hell are you gonna step up your game for the rest of your life to pay back for the incredible people you've met along the way? And while maintenance in very important, it WILL all work out in the end. Don't worry about the coulda/shoulda/woulda stuff!

Hugs from all of us!

 

[cbcanada]

Last I checked in you two were in Columbia... You are now in Europe? Wow


"If i was educated, I'd be a damn fool"

 

[Riceburner]

Great thing it was only the chain and sprockets. It's amazing how good people around the world can be. It's also unfortunate that we are surprised how good people can be. Safe travels!

 

[Supernam]

There are many kinds of insurance, health, property damagage and liability, third party injury, etc.

Our Canadian insurance only covers riding in US and Canada. Once we headed south of the US, each country we rode through has its own rules about the kind of insurance, costs and coverage are required. In Central and South America, they have special insurance for travelers (extranjeros). Typically, you can purchase it at a kiosk right at the border. The premiums are all over the place. For example, in Mexico, you can get away with liability only for about $180/year. In Colombia, $60 a month gets you third-party liability only. Belize was $4 a month. To this day, I still don't know what that covered us for...

In the European Union, it's a bit simpler. They have a system for foreign travelers called Green Card Insurance. It covers you for every country in the EU. We paid €385 for 6-months.

In addition to mandatory motor insurance, we also opted for ex-patriot health insurance. What a lot of Ontarian's don't know is that the insurance you buy when you travel out of the province is top-up only. So companies like Blue Cross, etc. will only pay whatever OHIP doesn't cover when you go to a foreign hospital. You typically get 1-year of OHIP coverage while traveling out of the province and you can apply officially for an additional year extension (which you can only do once every 5 years). If you don't have OHIP, the maximum coverage is for $50K only, which isn't worth it when you are paying over $2K/year in premiums.

We've been gone for over three-years, so our OHIP coverage expired a long time ago. We got a health insurance policy for travelers. We excluded the U.S., Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, and Taiwan from our coverage and that dropped our premiums by more than half! For a bit less than $1k/year we get $5MM coverage.

While traveling in Central/South America we also subscribed to an emergency medical evacuation plan which airlifted you back to a hospital in your home country, since we thought we'd get better care in North America. They had a rider which also shipped your motorcycle back home which was nice. In Europe, we dropped that plan because we had more faith in the European hospitals.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is.

This is great information. I am sure there will be more of us in the future that will find this useful, but probably not for 3 years. That is a very long time. Many of us have been following your travels for 3 years, that is amazing also.

 

[Face]

So sorry to hear about Neda's chain problems, but very glad that it turned into such a great experience and a chance to meet some really nice people. I guess that's what traveling is all about. Way to make lemonade!

 

[Supernam]

So sorry to hear about Neda's chain problems, but very glad that it turned into such a great experience and a chance to meet some really nice people. I guess that's what traveling is all about. Way to make lemonade!

Very well said.

I've always found that the unexpected is what makes these types of trips the most memorable, as long as they turn out fairly well anyways.

 

[MacDoc]

Probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is.

that is VERY good info.

••

That broken chain could've have been way worse on a busy hwy ....good on Neda for handling it well.

and a silver lining in all that.

I've learned my lesson about letting things slide...I have a permanently sore shoulder to remind me to change tires when I'm told by the mechanic I need to.

You do sound weary.....can't imagine how you've stayed out so long....I guess new things, people and places carries a lot of energy.

Maybe a mellow AirBnb for a week would recharge.

 

[Lightcycle]

Thanks for all the comments, guys!

 

[Lightcycle]

how the hell are you gonna step up your game for the rest of your life to pay back for the incredible people you've met along the way?

I suspect we'll never be able to clear the ledger, but we're going to try. The couple that we stayed with in Mexico City has hosted close to 100 sets of travelers over the years. They deservedly dipped into all that good karma when they set off on their own South America ride last year.

We've taken that example to heart. The last time we visited Toronto, we shared the apartment we rented with a couple of Belgian travelers. They've since become some of our closest friends. Our plans for re-entry will include once again extending our accommodations to other travelers passing through as well as listing our place on Couchsurfing and Tentspace. It's the least we can do.

Speaking of which, if anyone doesn't know yet, there are terrific resources for free accommodation here:

http://www.couchsurfing.com
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/tent-space-map.776925/

You can even list your place or a space on your front lawn. You never know what kinds of interesting people you might meet!

 

[yodude]

There are many kinds of insurance, health, property damagage and liability, third party injury, etc.......

Probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is.

actually, i found all the ins info most interesting,

very much appreciated,

 

[Lightcycle]

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/237.html

Our little adventure with Neda's chain has derailed our plans to spend time in Germany. Instead, we are headed back to the RideDOT.com European headquarters in Leuven, Belgium, and back to the company of our good friends Eva and Thomas.

My brother is getting married, so we're flying back to Toronto for a short bit. Thomas' sister, Karolien has generously offered to store our bikes in her garage while we are away. We're so thankful for her and her family's efforts to help us out. We've been the recipients of so much goodwill and support, getting to know these people has really been the high-point of our travels.

In other news, remember that video that we shot in Belgium a while back? Well, here it is! How exciting!

[video=youtube;0pm_JYy54LU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pm_JYy54LU[/video]

 

[Krime]

This is officially the best RR ever. Love the pics, write-ups and locations. Still going on strong after so many years.

Funny seeing Barna over there... pretty sure he had that Joe Rocket jacket with his R6 back in the day.

 

[yodude]

a well deserved if not overdue break in the action! that will surely recharge the batteries

 

[busabim]

You were really lucky with that chain. I had a master link start to go 700km from home, rest of the chain was still good. I made it home and chucked the chain; the big advantage of a shaftie...

But I have 100ft lb of torque so I wont take any chances. You were quite fortunate that it all turned out so well. How often do you stop and lube her chain? Have you been adjusting it all this time for stretch as well?

I think on a long trip like yours I would be inclined to have a shaft drive....

BB

 

[nfq]

Great updates and wonderful consistency of 'pace'. It feels like we started following you guys yesterday.

 

[Face]

You were really lucky with that chain. I had a master link start to go 700km from home, rest of the chain was still good. I made it home and chucked the chain; the big advantage of a shaftie...

But I have 100ft lb of torque so I wont take any chances. You were quite fortunate that it all turned out so well. How often do you stop and lube her chain? Have you been adjusting it all this time for stretch as well?

I think on a long trip like yours I would be inclined to have a shaft drive....

BB

Had the rear seal start leaking on the shaft drive of a Tiger Explorer last year while touring in Europe. Cut that ride short and made it back to the hotel, but by the time I was back, there was nothing left to leak. Very glad it didn't lock up on me. Fortunately it was with Adriatic Moto Tours and they had a replacement bike. If it was mine, I'm sure the down time would be much longer than replacing a chain. Pros & Cons to each I guess.

Gene, Neda, that video was great. All you need is a big support crew & you can be the next Ewan & Charlie! Hehe

 

[viccont]

I wonder if you found someone to sell rights to publish your travel adventure.

 

[Lightcycle]

I think on a long trip like yours I would be inclined to have a shaft drive....

Yeah, my R1200GS has a shaft drive. No need for cleaning and lubing every other day, but the shaft has not been very reliable and has gone through a crown bearing rebuild and a few seal replacements. It's a toss-up between regular (cheap) maintenance and a once-in-awhile (expensive) repair.

All you need is a big support crew & you can be the next Ewan & Charlie!

We had a producer who did some stuff for the Discovery Channel contact us a couple of years ago, but when we told him how slow we travel and how we would stay for weeks at a time in one place, he admitted that that style of travel had too much downtime which is too expensive for him and a crew to film.

The LWD crew had a pretty packed schedule over the 4 months of shooting, travel almost everyday. No way we could sustain that over 3+ years, and besides, this is our vacation, not a business venture.

I wonder if you found someone to sell rights to publish your travel adventure.

No really looking at this point, just busy enjoying ourselves!

 

[Face]

Yeah, my R1200GS has a shaft drive. No need for cleaning and lubing every other day, but the shaft has not been very reliable and has gone through a crown bearing rebuild and a few seal replacements. It's a toss-up between regular (cheap) maintenance and a once-in-awhile (expensive) repair.



We had a producer who did some stuff for the Discovery Channel contact us a couple of years ago, but when we told him how slow we travel and how we would stay for weeks at a time in one place, he admitted that that style of travel had too much downtime which is too expensive for him and a crew to film.

The LWD crew had a pretty packed schedule over the 4 months of shooting, travel almost everyday. No way we could sustain that over 3+ years, and besides, this is our vacation, not a business venture.



No really looking at this point, just busy enjoying ourselves!

Thanks for the info about your shaft drive problems. This, and my own incident certainly has me leaning to chain final drive for my next bike (which will be more touring orientated).

Was joking about the support crew, but that's very cool that Discovery Channel at least found you guys interesting enough to investigate.