We were on the way to Fairbanks and I noticed that Feli’s bike’s left fork seal was leaking oil, on the same side as the brake disk is – not good. So we decided to go to the BMW dealership to get it fixed or get the parts and do it ourselves.
Arctic Ground Squirrel
Alaska is so dry right now, not much snow in the winter and the forest fires are consuming huge areas of forest. We drove right by one and the highway from Denali to Anchorage was actually closed because of a huge forest fire.
When we arrived at the dealership we were up for a surprise. They could do it in two days, parts $ 140 and $360 labour for a total of $500 US – crazy.
We decided no way we gonna pay that. Got my membership book out for Airheads and phoned Bob Coleman in Fairbanks to ask for help and a workshop to use. He said to come to his place and we would figure it out.
So we arrived there at about 7 PM and got working after we got the parts from BMW. We were stuck at one point – the sliders would not come free. So Bob called around and we finally got help from Dan Armstrong from Advcycleworks.com. He runs a little repair shop out of his house in the garage – quite a guy. He is opinionated , but he knows what he is doing. It took him 1 hour to do the job, he supplied all the parts (because BMW gave us the wrong parts) and at the end he only wanted $ 70 to cover his labour. We were so glad for his and Bob’s help. It shows you that when you are stuck – good things are going to happen. I will never forget that. You meet so many characters here in Alaska – it is a real treat.
Nenana River Denali National Park
So we were done after midnight and were dead tired, got some food, drank some beer and Bob offered us a guest room to sleep. Thank you Bob for your kindness and hospitality.
Next day we got going again and rode to Denali National Park, were we will stay three nights.
Moose on a salt diet
On the way we noticed two moose (mother and calf) munching on a hug pile of road salt in a maintenance compound. It was funny to see. I know moose like salt in spring but I have never seen them eating it pure from the pile. They must have high blood pressure.
Heinz