Mayan Prophecy Countdown
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I was ready to head off at 8, but the brekky only just started, which was quite substantial so I stuck around for a good feed then headed down to the place I had been shown yesterday, of course it was raining, but only lightly at this stage. The place I stayed was very nice, but with no internet a bit pricey, but it was clean with a range of TV channels 🙂 I arrived and introduced myself to Franz and his son Cristof, and they said sure no worries, I can do the work right here out of the rain and moved a stack of motocross bikes for me.

So, I got stuck in to the procedure of replacing the chain and sprockets. Once the sprocket cover was off, I was amazed at the amount of crud build up in there, about a kilo of gooey black greasy mud. This is a direct result of using chain spray rather than an oiler, I have to get a new one soon!! But once that was cleaned out, on with the job. This was a simple job except for one small problem, I could not get the damm front sprocket nut loose. We tried a rattle gun, which I was a bit concerned about, so we went online and I checked the VSRI forums(Vstrom Riders International) and made sure we were undoing the nut in the correct direction, and yes we were. The major issue I had was that we had done the job in a wonky sequence. Normally I would crack that front nut while the bike was on the side stand with a rag jammed into the sprocket/chain area, but we had already put the bike on the centrestand. And we had cut the chain, so it made it a bit more difficult. We tried heat and Bolt Off style penetrating spray, no chance. I tried to contact Ib in Frankfurt, but no answer. In the end I resorted to the old addage, “give me a long enough lever and I can move the world”. A long piece of bar as an extension and some good old heave ho, and I cracked it, this had added about an hour to the job!!!

But, with that front sprocket off, it was a small matter of cleaning a few things up and installing the new gear. Franz had a great tool for breaking and riveting the chain(a brand called Crane), if I only knew how to use it properly, but it was a tad large to carry with me even if I could find one. By about lunch time, the job was done and so I headed off west with a better feeling about how the bike will perform in the twisties 🙂 Thanks for all your help there Franz and Cristof, nice to meet you and if anyone needs help around this area, I am sure these guys can help out at Ernecker’s shop.

So I headed off, being without internet for a day is hard when you are relying on incoming information. I tried for the next few hours to find free WiFi at some servos along the way, but found none 🙁 I came to the major Munich interchange and had to make a decision, which way to go. Do I continue west and try and meet up with Simon, I have not heard from him, or I could head that way and meet up with Nora. I could head way north to Hanover area in Germany to meet up with David, he was getting some tyres for me. Or head to Dortmond to see Ingo, and then I had a brainwave, I called an internet friend called Thomas and he said yes come on up, so I headed north at this point, he was somewhere near a town called Karlsruhe. Of course once I had made this decision, I found internet at the next stop and found all these messages, but I had made my decision and would stick to it. I told Thomas I would not arrive until around lunchtime on Saturday a s it was too far in one hit as I started late. I ended up in a small town near Augsburg called Neusass. I only stayed there because I did not feel like riding much more without an actual address and needed to plug that stuff in to the GPS.

But, I had a nice feed at the place next door of Nurnburger sausages and chips, washed down with cool ale before hitting the sack. I had ordered Bratwurst, but this was what turned up and my cousin Bob assures me the above name is correct, and when I checked with the serving lady, she said the same thing 🙂 It still tasted great even if it was in six small snags instead of one big one

Cheers from Germany