08-31 Day 52 (The BMW Dealer – Yekaterinburg)

I’m getting tired of saying this but…

Yet another BMW dealer saved my ass

Mileage

No riding today, so nothing to report.

Time to visit the BMW dealer

Getting there

In the last post, I voiced concern about how the temperatures have been less than expected, and that I had not prepared properly. And so, today’s plan was to visit the BMW dealer, and buy some gloves, which should keep me warm, and dry. Originally, Feroz, Mina and I were to visit the dealership, and I was going to try to help Phil and Charles with their problems by presenting options, and asking if they wanted me to buy something. But, as is often the case, things changed.

Charles and Phil both decided that they wanted to visit the dealer, and look around for themselves. So, the 5 of us got into two cabs, and took the journey to the dealer. The fare was 180 Rubles, or about $2.70 USD. An inexpensive cab fare if ever there was one.

We arrived at the dealer, but were perplexed because inside of the front door, there were snowmobiles, not motorcycles. So, we walked around to the side, found the service door, but quickly realized that something was wrong. I think it was Charles that figured out that the BMW dealer was on the 2nd floor, and in the basement, there was yet another shop, which sold cold weather gear, and the like.

Shopping for gear

So, up to the 2nd floor we headed, and found Feroz already engaged in discussions about gear. For my part, I was disappointed that they did not have any gloves in my size, so I was going to need to visit another motorcycle shop, which was another 14 Kilometers away.

Phil quickly discovered that Victor would be able to sell him a barrel for his lock, with the correct keying inserted, all ready to install on the bike. Charles was able to find some gear, although he did not find a tank bag, as he had hoped. And for me, I discovered that they did not have a shift lever in stock, and they did not have gloves in my size. A real bummer. But…

Mina mentioned that the shop in the basement has cold-weather gear, so we wandered downstairs, and I quickly found gloves in my size, and I also purchased a balaclava, which should keep my face warmer as well. But, what to do about the shift lever.

A new shift lever – From a new bike

As it turns out, Victor looked up the parts for the shift lever, and confirmed that the shift lever for the 2015 GS Adventure and the shift lever for the 2019 GS Adventure were interchangeable, so he offered to remove a shift lever, and the linkage from a new bike, and sell it to me. He’d replace the parts next week, as needed.

We spent about 20 minutes, looking up the parts currently on my bike, sold to me by SW Motech, and comparing them to the parts sold by BMW. We were able to determine how many parts needed to be replaced, and Victor quoted me a price, including a discount. 5 minutes later, the Technician had removed the parts, and I had them in my hand.

So, let me stop there for a moment. This is extraordinary. To have a dealer that is willing to do this sort of thing for me, and for us is rare indeed. For the 3rd time, a BMW dealer, located in a remote area, in a foreign country has offered to do amazing things, for me, an unknown visitor from America.

Thanks again to BMW Bike House (Victor)

In Tallinn, Estonia, Marten worked miracles for me. In Moscow, Stanislov diagnosed the problem with the bike quickly, and without charge, and now in Yekaterinburg, Victor has provided hard to find parts, within minutes. I’m going to say it again… What other brand of motorcycle would offer this level of service, to customers around the world. It is the kind of situation that creates a level of brand loyalty that almost impossible to overcome.

Thanks to the others

It also needs to be said that when in Tallinn, Simo at Motodepoo helped me locate rain gear, and then again in Moscow, Pasha and Alex from Cheap Ekip went out of their way to help me get the gear I needed as urgently as could be arranged.

And so today, I want to give my sincere thanks to BMW, to Bike House, and to Victor, for being a huge help, and for addressing a small problem, in a big way. As is almost always the case, I’ve taken a video of Victor, describing the situation.

Taking care of a riders body

I’ll bet that many of you reading this blog think that riding a motorcycle is like sitting on a couch, watching TV. But, the truth could not be farther away. As it turns out, riding the bike on highways, twisty roads, uneven pavement, around big trucks requires intense concentration. In addition, even with a BMW GS, where the riding position is nearly perfect, a rider is prone to repetitive stress injuries on the soft tissue of the arm. Holding the handlebars, pulling and releasing the clutch, and holding the throttle in a tension position for hours at a time causes the muscle to develop scar tissue, which leads to Repetitive Stress Injuries.

So, today I took a break to take care of my little body. I spent 45 minutes in the sauna, sweating out the toxins from the beer and the road, and then arrived on time for my 4:00 PM massage. The masseuse spoke only Russian, so the nice guy ffrom the reception desk, who seems to be omnipresent, was once again there to help translate. I asked for, and received a deep tissue massage. And, proceeded to another 15 minutes in the sauna. Now, I feel like a million bucks, but I need a beer.

Hmm, it looks like a few more toxins are going to find their way in…

Sightseeing in Yekaterinberg

This is a beautiful and picturesque city, but instead of seeing the city, I chose to take care of the bike and the body. So, I’ll have to live vicariously through the pictures of the rest of the group.

That’s it folks

I’m afraid that, as a result of the poor internet connectivity, I’ve fallen a bit behind. So, I’ll publish this post, as is, and suffer the consequences.