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Mechanical Misadventures

Over the years I’ve done hundreds of oil changes, valve adjustments, brake bleeds, and tire swaps. I’ve hunted down and exterminated electrical gremlins, changed fork seals, built and trued spoke wheels, replaced bearings, flushed radiators, and even done nut-and-bolt restorations of vintage bikes. Sadly, along the way I’ve also rounded off a hardware store worth of bolt heads, dropped the errant washer down a spark plug hole, and smashed enough knuckles that my wife doesn’t even comment on the bloodbath anymore. This long and messy apprenticeship has elevated my stature from “incompetent” to merely “hamfisted.”

Short Way Round

Originally published in On the Level, the magazine of the BMW Riders Association. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing it!” The refrain rings out through the intercom as my wife, Meredith, and I get underway, echoing the famous words of Charley and Ewan as they begin their 18,000-mile odyssey in “Long Way Round”. The difference,…