Did somebody just say “twang”?
That was my first thought… Id suddenly found myself “stuck in the middle”…
In the middle of my trip -in both time and distance.
In the middle of Africa - geographically Im pretty close to the mid
point.
In the middle of a National Park -Queen Elizabeth NP to be precise
and no doubt surrounded by any number of ravenous “apex predators” too!
In the middle of a thunderstorm - Its an average afternoon in rainy
season… Not sure why these things like to happen in appalling meteorological
conditions, but it that’s certainly how it is this time.
… and all with a broken motorbike!
And my second thought was… “I know exactly what that is… it’s a broken
clutch cable… Bugger!”
I just did a pretty thorough bike check-over and refit in Nairobi
which was only about 3000Km back. And Id have to say that I checked the clutch
cable and did in fact notice that a couple of strands of the steel cable had separated…
That’s never a good sign but then again, the cable has about 30 or so strands
so a couple broken ones is not necessarily a big problem. When I noticed the
issue I of course asked the mechanic (actually “master mechanic” at the place I
was staying if they might per chance have a spare or know where I could get one
for my model bike… The answer was a categorical No! The spares that were
available were all for other bikes and too short for my bike. It was in Nairobi
and the local Honda dealer only has parts for the 150cc local bikes… All
sources for the cable in question were very far away (England or South Africa
etc.) So I asked about the probability of complete failure of the cable… Answer
was maybe yes/maybe No… Fair enough I guess since you just don’t know what has
caused the few strands to separate.
Anyway, at the end of the day I decided to leave it as-is (looks like a very bad choice from my current perspective I admit!) since it
was going to take weeks to get the part and I just don’t have that much spare
time any more… So I rode off to Uganda/Rwanda with a slightly dodgey clutch
cable… And it seems that the “slightly” was a bit of an understatement in this
case J
On the bright side, Im glad it failed here rather than in the
middle of the deasert on a barely used dirt track ... which is exactly where Im
headed immediately after I finish this side trip to Uganda! J
But, all that aside, Here I am in a bit of a pickle!
Now a motorbike can be ridden without too much difficulty without
a clutch (particularly Japanese bikes). The only really difficult bit is
pulling away from completely stopped (ie getting from neutral into 1st
gear). After that, all subsequent gear changes can be managed with a bit of
deft rev matching and careful/well timed foot work on the gear lever… That is
of course assuming that you are alone on the road and don’t have to do any
sudden acceleration/deceleration, or of course any of the usual city traffic
stop/go/ease ahead two car-lengths and stop again etc. type stuff. But Im in
Africa!... The traffic here is anything but predictable. In fact its down-right
suicidal for most of the day in the cities or on country highways… Hmmm
definitely a bit of a pickle!
But fortunately (tropical downpour and lurking predators not-withstanding) the cable has
decided to break while Im on a relatively quiet and flat and level piece of road
(even though it is dirt),,, That’s very good because it means Ill be able to do
a single handed push-start. I get off
the bike and get it into neutral with a bit of rocking and careful maneuvering
of the gear lever. Then I start the engine up and put the side stand up. Now
for the tricky bit… I start pushing the bike forward as hard as I possibly can… All 270 odd Kg of bike
and me in soaking wet full moto gear with helmet (since I cant leave anything behind once I get it going) on and slippery muddy and
loose gravel road surface… So the reality is that I only manage to get the bike up to a
maximum speed of a fast walk!... Then without falling over or slowing the bike
down I have to somehow climb onto the bike, get seated, and click the foot
lever into first gear while revving the engine just enough to allow the gear to
engage but not stall the engine…and to do that without the bike slowing down
too much means that I have only about three seconds to complete the whole
maneuver! … Should be no problem J
Somehow, I actually managed to do all that successfully on the
second try! J
So, now Im off!... Im riding, and Im headed out of the “predator
zone”. I also know where it is Im going ( a sizeable town that will have at
least some mechanical and hardware shops where I should be able to work out a
temporary fix for the clutch cable… and have a place where I can sleep that’s out
of the rain) and the GPS tells me Ive got about 150Km to get there and there
are no “Big” towns between here and there… The fuel I have will make the range,
so now its just a matter of “NOT STOPPING” …
And while the rain comes and goes and I stay rather soaked, the
gods are smilling on me, and the traffic is pretty light. I go slower than
usual and Im keeping way more distance between me and any other traffic of
course. I go through at least a half dozen small towns which would usually be a
real challenge since there are always people randomly stepping out onto the
road at the worst possible time, but this afternoon, the heavy rain has cleared
most of that problem away for me. There are still a few vehicle drivers in the
towns who pull out randomly and try to “mess with my vibe””… and I admit I get
a bit rattled but its nothing a heavy use of the horn button, a few shouted
curses, and a fist waved in the air or two, and some nimble dodging of the
giant bike cant fix…
And lo, a couple of hours later Im rolling into the “big” town. I
find the nearest suitable spot (which means facing downhill, not in the way of
traffic, and with enough clear space in front for another push start) and stop
the bike. I just get off and leave it there while I walk around and check out
my options. A few questions here and there and Ive found a motorbike
repair/parts place, a bicycle repair place, and a mechanic I can work with if I
need to… and its still raining steadily of course… Right then, Ill fix the bike
in the morning (which will almost certainly be good weather). The next problem
is a place to sleep. A few more questions and I think I know where I want to
go. So I start the bike again and get moving (much easier with a downhill roll)
and head off… But the directions are inadequate so I ride around in circles at
a couple of locations in front of a small groups of bemused locals who watch
the crazy mzungu shouting strange questions at them while he does some kind of
moto-circus act!... The locals are understandably of pretty much no help here,
so eventually I park the bike again and figure it all out on foot…
I finally manage to get to the right place (completely sodden and
exhausted) and I let the clutch cable problem move to the back of my mind while I had a warm shower (actual HOOT water is something of a rarity in these parts) and some hot food and rested up.. Ill deal with the bike in the morning.
After a good nights rest I got some help from a couple of the locals at the place I was staying and we pushed the bike up the steep driveway and out onto the road... facing down-hill :)
Then I loaded up my stuff and headed off into town before the traffic got thick.
I parked in town in front of the mechanics shop and then went to see if I could get some bits... Fortunately the motorbike repair shop was open already and busy fixing some ones bike... So I showed them my broken cable (pulled it out of the sheath on the bike when I parked it. And I explained what I needed. We sized the cable up against the replacement ones he had but as expected they were all of a lighter weight than the one from my much bigger bike. We looked at front brake cables as well and they were a bit better but still lighter weight... but the main problem was they were all too short. We looked some more and found one that ws just about the same length so I bought it and I also bought a universal cable (very long) that would slide into the existing cable sheath and I could cut to length as needed... It was lighter weight than wanted but it would get me back to Nairobi.
Then while walking back to the bike I decided to stop for a coffee since I still had 45min before the mechanic I had spoken to last night was due to arrive. But once Id had my coffee and walked back to the bike I found the mechanic was already there and working on the bike... He had solved the problem the exact same way I had and was busy fitting a universal cable into the existing sleeve. We got it all installed and adjusted and tested within a half hour. I decided to keep the cables I had bought as back-up in case this fix failed in the near distance.
I paid a few dollars for the parts and labour and got on the bike and toodled off down the highway... Not so stuck any more... Actually a pretty easy fix!
... I got off lightly there... It could have been a lot worse! :)
After a good nights rest I got some help from a couple of the locals at the place I was staying and we pushed the bike up the steep driveway and out onto the road... facing down-hill :)
Then I loaded up my stuff and headed off into town before the traffic got thick.
I parked in town in front of the mechanics shop and then went to see if I could get some bits... Fortunately the motorbike repair shop was open already and busy fixing some ones bike... So I showed them my broken cable (pulled it out of the sheath on the bike when I parked it. And I explained what I needed. We sized the cable up against the replacement ones he had but as expected they were all of a lighter weight than the one from my much bigger bike. We looked at front brake cables as well and they were a bit better but still lighter weight... but the main problem was they were all too short. We looked some more and found one that ws just about the same length so I bought it and I also bought a universal cable (very long) that would slide into the existing cable sheath and I could cut to length as needed... It was lighter weight than wanted but it would get me back to Nairobi.
Then while walking back to the bike I decided to stop for a coffee since I still had 45min before the mechanic I had spoken to last night was due to arrive. But once Id had my coffee and walked back to the bike I found the mechanic was already there and working on the bike... He had solved the problem the exact same way I had and was busy fitting a universal cable into the existing sleeve. We got it all installed and adjusted and tested within a half hour. I decided to keep the cables I had bought as back-up in case this fix failed in the near distance.
I paid a few dollars for the parts and labour and got on the bike and toodled off down the highway... Not so stuck any more... Actually a pretty easy fix!
... I got off lightly there... It could have been a lot worse! :)
