Greeny
Pack Dog
Here's a tale especially for those of us (myself included), who, when perusing the classifieds, have occasionally stated that 'if you didn't live so far away I'd probably buy that'.
Back in January I advertised my little KL250 on a few of the bigger classified sites, as well as offering it to a couple of Wilddogs. Had a few tentative queries but nothing serious and I let the ads expire. And then three or four weeks ago I received this Whatsapp...'Hello how are you I saw your KL250. Is the bike all original? My name is Alejandro. I live in Europe. Best regards, waiting for your answer'. Had loads of scam enquiries in the past, usually from the guy working on an oil rig, and I assumed this to be no different. I always respond by say, 'OK, give me a call' and then they never do. Two minutes later I receive a video call from a guy standing in a hangar next to a giant jet engine. It's Alejandro, who is Argentinian but lives in the Czech Republic. Cutting a long story short here...he deposits the full amount into my bank account and last Wednesday lunchtime appears at my gate fresh from an overnight flight from Frankfurt! Within a couple of hours the bike is basically stripped down to the frame and most of it placed into two suitcases all nicely bubble-wrapped. Watching this guy work is incredible. We enjoy a candlelit dinner that night, courtesy of Eskom, and the next day he finishes off as he has to catch the flight back to Germany that night! His wife, who is Czech, gives us a call during dinner and speaks to us in English, German and Spanish. Apparently she speaks Russian too!
He arrived home on Saturday, a day later than planned--all non-Germans were refused passage back on the plane because of revised Covid regs. He got a flight on Friday with Swiss Air who then went and confiscated the (vacuum packed), KL's petrol tank in Zurich. He hopes to be able to reclaim that but obviously not happy.
I still have the frame, wheels and forks here, all neatly packaged, which I will send on in a week or two. Because of Covid the price of freighting has gone sky-high. A quote to airfreight the complete bike to Frankfort was 30k plus. By sea could well be the same.
He said he had been looking for this particular model bike--in yellow--for around 30 years, Had one as a kid in Argentina. Seems that the yellow ones are particularly hard to find and were only sold in the southern hemisphere. Even though it is in really good nick he is going to do a complete nut and bolt restoration on it. It's his hobby--showed me a pic of his garage and it's as clean as an operating theatre
Police clearance was a surprisingly easy process but I had to get the bike data-dotted first. Complete waste of time and money (R500), in this instance.
Here are a few pics.
Back in January I advertised my little KL250 on a few of the bigger classified sites, as well as offering it to a couple of Wilddogs. Had a few tentative queries but nothing serious and I let the ads expire. And then three or four weeks ago I received this Whatsapp...'Hello how are you I saw your KL250. Is the bike all original? My name is Alejandro. I live in Europe. Best regards, waiting for your answer'. Had loads of scam enquiries in the past, usually from the guy working on an oil rig, and I assumed this to be no different. I always respond by say, 'OK, give me a call' and then they never do. Two minutes later I receive a video call from a guy standing in a hangar next to a giant jet engine. It's Alejandro, who is Argentinian but lives in the Czech Republic. Cutting a long story short here...he deposits the full amount into my bank account and last Wednesday lunchtime appears at my gate fresh from an overnight flight from Frankfurt! Within a couple of hours the bike is basically stripped down to the frame and most of it placed into two suitcases all nicely bubble-wrapped. Watching this guy work is incredible. We enjoy a candlelit dinner that night, courtesy of Eskom, and the next day he finishes off as he has to catch the flight back to Germany that night! His wife, who is Czech, gives us a call during dinner and speaks to us in English, German and Spanish. Apparently she speaks Russian too!
He arrived home on Saturday, a day later than planned--all non-Germans were refused passage back on the plane because of revised Covid regs. He got a flight on Friday with Swiss Air who then went and confiscated the (vacuum packed), KL's petrol tank in Zurich. He hopes to be able to reclaim that but obviously not happy.
I still have the frame, wheels and forks here, all neatly packaged, which I will send on in a week or two. Because of Covid the price of freighting has gone sky-high. A quote to airfreight the complete bike to Frankfort was 30k plus. By sea could well be the same.
He said he had been looking for this particular model bike--in yellow--for around 30 years, Had one as a kid in Argentina. Seems that the yellow ones are particularly hard to find and were only sold in the southern hemisphere. Even though it is in really good nick he is going to do a complete nut and bolt restoration on it. It's his hobby--showed me a pic of his garage and it's as clean as an operating theatre
Police clearance was a surprisingly easy process but I had to get the bike data-dotted first. Complete waste of time and money (R500), in this instance.
Here are a few pics.
