Thursday, October 8, 2015

8 October - Melbourne and Glenmaggie

The Beemer went to Melbourne yesterday for a chain and sprocket replacement. Everyone I've spoken to is amazed that I reached 36,000 km before needing replacements, I guess that's the benefit of fairly sedate riding and regular lubrication. I checked the local BMW dealer and was quoted nearly $800 which seemed a bit steep when you look up the prices of the chain and sprockets online, and after a bit of investigation I found BM Motorcycles in Ringwood which is an independent BMW repair business which gets generally good reviews. Their quote was $440 and estimated it would take 1.5 hours. I also checked with Southbank BMW (where I bought the bike) and didn't even get a reply to my request for a quote but I'm guessing it would have been at the high end as well. So, I rode down to Melbourne Tuesday night so that I could be there bright and early at 08:30. I was immediately impressed with BM Motorcycles and felt confident that my bike was in expert hands while I had breakfast at a place next door. Whenever I drop a car or a bike off for a service I always dread that phone call to advise you that there are additional issues which require to be fixed. Sure enough, just as I was finishing my breakfast the phone rang. It seems that my rear wheel bearings were also on the way out, and it seemed expedient to get them done while the wheel was out of the bike. Even with that job the total bill was still nearly $300 cheaper than the BMW quote for the chain and sprockets alone. So, by 10am I was on the road again and as it was a reasonable day I had plenty of time to return via Lilydale, Launching Place etc. - a nice ride. On the basis of my experience I'm very happy to recommend BM Motorcycles of Heatherdale Rd, Ringwood.

Today was another great day and while I hadn't planned to ride, on impulse I decided to take the Shadow out for a quick spin this afternoon. Rode to the nearby Glenmaggie dam which has been the major source of irrigation water in this part of the country since the 1930's. Creation of the dam required the flooding of a town and back in the 80's during a severe drought, the water level got so low that houses and fences started to emerge from the diminishing water level. Also recovered was the remains of an aircraft and pilot which crashed into the lake in the early 1940's. Bits of the plane are on display nearby. The training aircraft was a Wirraway similar to this one.
From a riding point of view the next few months will be interesting. Emergency Service here are bracing themselves for a hot dry summer and this means we may actually have days where it is too hot to ride. Time will tell.

2 comments:

  1. I’m amazed not only at how many towns have been submerged by reservoirs, but that—often—most structures simply are left intact. I suppose that it makes sense: For farming and ranching, settlement usually occurs in valleys and river bottoms, areas that could be future reservoirs; and it’s not as though structures will break loose and float to the surface. But it must be kinda spooky to see town remnants emerge years later, when water levels are low—cool spooky.

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  2. Very cool picture of the dam.Sure would be odd to see parts of houses or fences emerging from a lake.

    Glad your BMW is race ready, nice when you get great service for a good value.

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