To step back a bit, we started out this morning in Harrisonburg, and stopped at a rest stop for a rousing roadside breakfast of granola and coffee.
Maybe 50 miles later, we were leaving the highway for our first fuel stop, and I discovered that the clutch wasn't engaging as I was decelerating up the ramp... talk about clunky downshifting! My fantastic and dedicated spouse pushed it up the rest of the rise for me, then we were able to get it into neutral and coast it downhill to a gas station.
This guy was following us on the stretch leading to that gas stop, and happened to pull off on the same exit, and he stayed with us for quite a while with his wife on the other end of a cellphone looking up numbers in the Anonymous book (ours, of course, we neglected to bring...). He had just picked up his Buell and was bringing it home, and his kindness in assisting us was the first of several really nice folks we interacted with in this smallish town. Nothing however was going to change the fact that this was Sunday morning on Labor Day weekend, and any sort of repair shop was of course closed, and most everyone is out with family.
After failing to find a magically-available mechanic after a lengthy search by cellphone, we relented and called the BMWMOA help line. They recommended a repair shop about 15 miles north of Middleton, in Winchester, and found a tow truck for us, which was great!
Then, when we arrived at the repair shop, it was even better, because there were people in the shop! It was a little less great that the shop hadn't worked on BMWs in years and were now a Harley-only shop... but what can you do?
It was more funny than anything, and the tow truck operator was kind enough to run the bike to a hotel a smidge up the road and drop it off there for us, while we regrouped.
So, wow, after a shower and some dinner, we got a couple of calls from helpful folks in the Georgia chapter of the BMWMOA, one of which pointed us to an independent mechanic in Charlottesville, who would actually work on our bike Monday if we can get it down there!
The mechanic suggested we ride it down without the clutch if we thought we could do it, but I'm not at all confident I could get it 100+ miles down there fully loaded in its current condition without incident or causing additional damage to the bike. Kenny could do it, but I can't ride his bike (it's too tall) and I'm concerned about him riding my disabled bike that far and us being separated. So, we've opted to have it towed. We're also gambling that what we lose in towing to Charlottesville ($), we gain in getting the work started a day early, plus the knowledge that the parts are there in Charlottesville, and we have no idea if one of the BMW dealers would have the parts in stock. BMWMOA comes through again for the first 50 miles of this tow, the overage will be charged to us but the tow company is very reasonable, as far as towing goes :eek
I'm still amazed at the kindness of someone who would work on a holiday to get a stranger back on the road... plus, that same poor tow truck driver is picking up the bike at 0-dark-hundred! So the good news is, it's looking like we may be back on the road sooner than we thought we might be, depending on the diagnosis of course. Will I jinx it if I hope we'll be up and running tomorrow sometime?
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