JUST PLAIN DECENT PEOPLE

So on day 3 of my 5 day road trip I spot some oil on my rear tyre. Closer inspection reveals some oil drops on the diff drain plug. Out comes the 19mm ring spanner and with a jerk I tighten the culprit.....and then still a little bit more....and then just a tiny bit more.....and then...I strip the soft alloy of the diff!!! It has been quite a few years since I visited Bredasdorp and the last time round there was no bike dealer to be found anywhere. So I find my way to an engineering works, no luck, they only do cars, try the bike shop further down the street they advise. So, to the bike shop down the street I ride. No sorry, I only work on cheap chinese bikes, Urals are not on my platter, but try the oke at Overberg Suzuki he says. By now I dont expect to be helped anymore and I am thinking about phoning someone to pick up my bike trailer on the farm at Willowmore and to drive through to Bredasdorp to fetch me so that I can at least get back home. But before phoning I decide to try Overberg Suzuki...so to Overberg Suzuki I ride with mixed emotions. I find the shop, tucked away in the back of a building complex in the industrial area...first thing I notice are bikes being serviced all over the place...a guy approaches me and introduces himself as Trevor Norton....can he help me he asks. I explain my situation to him and the fact that I was just passing through. He immediately leaves everything he was doing and my Ural now has all his attention. Out comes the stripped diff plug and even I can see that there was no way that it was going back in without a major risk of dropping out immediately. I walk around in the workshop to master my disappointment with what is obviously going to be a lengthy and costly process to sort out. Next moment Trevor jumps into his bakkie and disappears around the corner....15minutes later Trevor pull up in front of the shop, move over to a bench, cuts something with a grinder and strolls over to my bike. Flat on his back now, he is threading the substitute diff plug into place and with a very very careful tug tightens the plug in place. It is only temporary he says, but it will definitely not drop out. We fill the diff and now I prepare myself for the repair cost. His wife, who runs the finances, in the mean time joined us as well. This does not bode well for me I think by myself...and then I ask the big question...how much do I owe you? I have seldom, if ever, saw such genuine surprise in two peoples eyes at the same time...nothing, they say simultaneously....nothing? I ask. You spent about an hour measuring and checking out what to do, you drove into town with your own car, bought a longer bolt at a supplier, drove back, cut it to the measured length, offered me coffee.....and you want nothing? Yeah, they say, get on your bike and enjoy the trip further, and oh yes, this is our business card, if anything happens and you need further assistance, you phone us. So as I sit here on the farm after a uneventful trip further, I can only HIGHLY recommend Overberg Suzuki to fellow dogs. Trevor and his wife are super helpful, super nice and just plain decent people, pop in to their place whenever you are down it that part of the woods and just say hi to them.