At the service center four guys attack the bike and have it apart in short order. It was very late in the day, but I had the feeling they were going to finish no matter what.
Here is the sacrificial engine in its final death throes as it gives up its cylinder to breathe life back into my bike.
Yeah baby, who is the master mechanic??? Here is the offending piston, with the sides heavily scored from slapping. Basically the rings soften up , and no longer hold the piston straight in the barrel so it slaps back and forth. The mechanics were looking at me with new found respect in their eyes.
Back together, and now the bike starts and runs perfect. Yeee haa. Bike loaded up the next morning in front of the Hump guesthouse , and I am off.
A mile long line of trucks. I saw this a lot. One truck will breakdown on the narrow road. But there are so many oncoming trucks they cannot pass easily so they end back up behind the broken truck. Great to have a bike and thread my way up to the front.
Pretty beat up copy of a BMW.
Came into this tunnel with my sunglasses on.........It was like someone switched out the lights in a room. Am used to tunnels with lighting. I tried to keep straight as I could and come to a stop without running into the tunnel walls. In the future sunglasses off, and all lights on before entering any tunnel.
You are probably wondering what is going on here . In this area at about an elevation of about 2000 meters it was cool and dry, perfect for growing wheat. So they lay the wheat in the road to let the trucks run over it, breaking the wheat from the chaff. There was endless miles of this, sort of fun to ride over.
Here they are using a fan blow away the final small pieces of chaff . In most of the areas they just use the wind.
So the bike is running perfectly all day. Fixed at last ! Lots of power, and never stuttered all day. Think I have that problem fixed . However once again I have underestimated the time needed to travel to Dali from Kunming....Four hours by bus, unknown hours on the bypass road . So now get caught in the dark in the mountains. No problem, just taking my time winding along the road.
Finally come off the mountains and down into the flats. Now speed up a bit, very little traffic on the road . I see a truck coming towards me with very bright high beams left on. I politely dim my lights and turn off the driving lights. He of course never dims his lights, and I am completely blinded. At that exact moment in time.......of course there is cart full of wood with no lights at all being pushed down the middle of my lane.:eek1 I never even had a chance to swerve, just plowed into the back of it about 60 kph. Shit !! One frigging week in China and I have entered the face plant zone...Next thing I know, big impact , and I am sliding down the road..After coming to a halt I do a quick body check before I try to move. Yep everything ok, just bruised badly. Dodged a bullet ! The woman was protected by the cart and was not hurt. Here is the offending cart which ended up being pushed off the road by the impact.
I get up and drag the bike off the road before I am run over by a truck.
Here is poor nightime accident scene picture of my bike. Does not really look that bad in the picture but everything was bent up. It started up , and was barely ridable with the severely twisted handle bars.
The accident happened just outside a village. So of course in short order guess what ?? Yes, the giant evil foreigner who has harmed one of the locals is now surrounded by angry villagers. When I test start the bike a group gather in front of the bike to block it, thinking I going to do the classic Asian runner.I then whip out my phrase book and indicate the police should be called in. The head guy indicates that they have already called them.
So now we are all in a weird standoff waiting for the police to show up. I called my friend Levin who speaks excellent Chinese to try to make some sort of settlement so I can be on my way . It was pitch black , I was cold , partly in shock, and I had not eaten all day. So I wanted to move on.
Could not work anything out , maybe because the police has already been called. In SE Asia a sad fact is when there is an accident, the two parties quickly settle and leave before the police show up , as the police will want a cut of the action. Here the police show up at last. Sorry for my weak flash.
They were very polite and courteous. They took pictures of the scene, and made drawings as well. Of course the group of villagers were pressing their case the whole time. When he came over to me I simply
pointed to the back of my bike showing the tail light, and then pointed to the back of the cart showing no light. I then rested my defense.....The police could not speak a word of english. I was a bit nervous as in essence I did not have a Chinese driver license, and did not have insurance. So I called Levin again who spoke to the police on my phone. He told them it was my first time in China and that I was really scared. A bit of a fabrication but sounded good to the police. Leving also said the villagers were probably afraid they were going to have to pay me for damage to the bike. The police told him to tell me to not be afraid. After a while when the police man got tired of the villagers bending his ears he called someone who spoke excellent english and handed the phone to me . This guy apologised profusely to me, and said I was free to go. He asked if I needed any help or medical care. Wow !! This is a far cry from Thailand where the police ransom your bike if you have an accident regardless of who is at fault.
So I limp the last 20 kilometers into Dali with the bike barely ridable, arriving at midnight completely beat. Just wanted to let you guys know life on the road can have some downside . Not all glamour and beautiful scenery.
Next day wake up in a world of pain feeling like I had run into a wood cart. Wait, now I remember that is what I did ! An hour of feeling sorry for myself , and then time for bike fixing. Here is a view of the handle bars.
A piece of luck for me , the hotel had a nice inside area where I could work on the bike. Even including an operating table for my parts and tools. I guess that should be my new criteria for a hotel, workspace.
The right front fairing piece was completly broken off. So burned a bunch of holes , and then stitched it together with stainless steel wire I had . Came out perfect. I remembered this trick from Ricardo Kuhn.
"I am sorry sir, there will be a scar left over ".....No problem, scars add character.
Damage was extensive but fixable. Axle was bent, broken fairing pieces, broken headlight shell , driving lights mount all twisted up , instrument cluster mount broken , and on and on and on. Good thing I brought lots of epoxy, spare parts, and most importantly steel wire. Will be back on the road almost as good as new tomorrow. So overall I feel pretty lucky .
