Leaving Linz

When i picked up the bike, the other thing that the mechanic mentioned was that the exhaust smelled of oil, this is always a worrying sign, the infamous blue clouds when the engine is cold. Normally when the engine is on i'm wearing earplugs and a helmet so it doesn't sound to bad, but with them off it was rough.

I took the bike out for a run to test it and to buy a jack for the bike. For bikes like mine without a centrestand maintaining the chain is a bit more difficult and if you get a puncture at the rear you need bricks (or a beachball) to prop the bike up so you can work on it. There is a company called Louis from Germany who make a one sided bike jack which lifts the bike up at the rear, leaning it more on the side stand and using the front wheel as the other balance point, with another part of the kit being a strap that fits around the front brake lever so the bike doesn't just roll forwards.

Louis has a store near Linz so i headed off for it on the first decent motorway run since it had been fixed. What i noticed immediately is that it was down on power, and more worryingly that the power delivery was very lumpy. I couldn't get it to do much below about 4,000rpm which is ok on the motorway but not good anywhere else. The store was on the side of a dual carriageway with an entrance on the other side from which i'm approaching, so i need to do a u-turn and head back, as i do this i sort of forget about the whole ride on the right thing and turn into four lanes of traffic stopped at the lights. A quick swerve soon sorts that out but it's a timely reminder.

I buy a few bits and pieces then head to a shopping centre to buy a charger for my phone, it makes more sense to get one that fits the cigarette lighter on the bike so i can use it on the trip and when i get home. When i go to start the bike again i need to use the choke despite it being run for long enough to warm it up. Another worrying sign.

I took the bike back to Linz and then wander about all day thinking through the options. The rear wheel was a concern, but it's fixable, but adding the engine problems to it just make me think the bike won't make it to Kathmandu and i'm really not keen on abandoning it in a country which requires a carnet. Every mechanic that's worked on the bike thinks i'm mad and the guy in Linz was especially funny when although he was very polite he asked if we have an MOT in the UK and did my bike really pass it.

In the end i've just lost faith in it. It's completely my fault and i can't say i wasn't warned about it, though every part that has failed was something i wasn't concerned about when i left. All the parts that did worry me have been fine. In the end it was poor preparation on my part, i hadn't run the bike for long enough or hard enough before i left.

At this point though the trip becomes about trying to get the bike home in one piece, or actually maybe more than one since there seems to be a few loose ones in the engine. From Linz it's lust over 1,000 km back to Zeebrugge. The ferry runs on Monday and on Wednesday so i think briefly about detouring to Prague for a couple of days, but that puts me back on the autobahn during the week and i don't think the bike will handle that. I figure i can run for one long day, then one shorter one, which shakes out at Cologne for Saturday night, then on to Bruges on Sunday night which lays me up 10 miles or so from the ferry port on Monday.



I wander back to my friends late on Friday night and let him know i'll be heading off in the morning. He seems relieved, i guess part of Austrian hospitality is that the host feels responsible for you. I think next time i'm going to say my expensive new video camera was lost or stolen and see if they buy me a new one.