8 June 2018 – The Nissan
Dealership called up and told my brother, Larry, that his truck was
ready to go. The rebuilt transmission is installed and she’s ready
to roll. We drove over there, walked in, and there it sat. Larry paid
for the repair work while gritting his teeth. One of the technicians
drove it out of the shop into the parking lot and gave me the key. I
had to get his truck back home, so after the formalities were over,
we walked out and I asked him if I needed to know anything special
about driving this truck. He said, nothing special. I told him not to
lose me in traffic on the way home because I didn’t have a GPS with
me and I could get lost. So off we went. The truck and transmission
seem to work ok to me.
I pulled into the drive
way and parked. I got out and told Larry he should take his truck for
a ride and see what you think. He really didn’t want to but he did.
The bitter taste of the bill hadn’t gone away yet. We left his
neighborhood and headed up a steep incline which lasted over a 1/4 of
a Mile / .4 Kilometers. He couldn’t believe how well the
transmission shifted and that it hadn’t shifted that good since it
was a new vehicle. I never saw a guy so happy with his old truck.
After a few more miles we headed back to the house.
When we got back home, I
checked my e-mail and my broker had sent an invoice and as soon as we
pay my broker fees, we can reclaim my motorcycle. As I paid the fees
to this broker I was gritting my teeth like my brother was gritting
his while paying for the transmission repair in his truck. We put
together a small list of tools were going to take with, such as a
battery-powered drill motor, phillips screw driver tips, claw hammer
and wrecking bar.
With Larry’s freshly
repaired truck and a few tools we drove down into Los Angeles to the
Avianca Cargo Warehouse. We arrived at the warehouse and went in. We
waited for the next available clerk. Eventually, we were helped. I
provided all the paperwork to get my motorcycle out of the warehouse.
The clerk compiled all the paperwork and said that before your
motorcycle can be cleared out of this warehouse, there’s another
fee of around $55. The next thing he said is we don’t take cash,
credit cards or personal checks. Wow, that didn’t leave many
options open to us. Larry and I looked at each other and said, is
there a Post Office near here? The clerk said, there was. He gave us
the directions. Before we left, we asked the clerk if Avianca took
Money Orders. He said they did. We also asked who we should write the
check out to and the official address of Avianca Cargo Warehouse.
With all our ducks in a
row we tore out of there to get to the Post Office before it closed.
It was now after 3:00 p.m. and if we get lost, I might not get my
motorcycle out of jail. It was a bit of a struggle but we found the
Post Office, purchased the Money Order and then tore back to Avianca
Warehouse. They close at 5:00 p.m., or at least the office staff goes
home at 5:00 p.m. We get back to Avianca with time to spare. Our
paperwork is processed and we paid the clearance fee. My motorcycle
is released and we go to the waiting area in the warehouse. A
forklift driver will bring up my motorcycle as soon as it fits into
his loading and unloading schedule.
We wait about 20 minutes,
and here comes the box with my motorcycle inside. The fork truck
driver pulls up and asks if this is the box we are looking for. It
was and I signed off on his form that I received it. I then ask the
driver if he could drive down the ramp, across the warehouse parking
lot, crossing a major parking lot thoroughfare / street to a row of
trees which were on the edge of public parking. He said, no problem
and drove to my requested spot in the shade. What a lucky break on
that. I thanked the guy and he sped back to the warehouse. He
probably drove close to 200 Yards / 200 Meters to drop off my
motorcycle in the shade. He did it with no complaining. I was
impressed. I know it wasn’t that hot but it was well into the high
80+ F / 27 C. 
Now box teardown must
start. It’s already after 4:00 p.m. First, we take off the top and
then remove the sides. Lastly, we remove the tie down straps and roll
the bike off the pallet. And there she sat. It will take me a bit
before I can start my motorcycle. The battery has to be reconnected
and mirrors put back on. The battery was the most difficult. I had to
pull off one of the side panels to get to the battery, then remove
the battery covers and reattach the battery cables. I see my battery
washer made it home ok. When I hooked up the battery cables, I will
put that washer back where it belongs. The battery is hooked up,
battery covers in place and side panel put back on. I dig the mirrors
out of my top box and get a wrench out to tighten them on. That took
5 minutes and two minutes to set them correctly. Well, it’s time to
see if my trusty steed will start. I turn the switch on, the head
light lights up, the signals work, the tail light and break lights
both work. Let’s see if it will start... The gas is turned on, it
has oil in the crankcase, choke's on and I push the starter button. I
hope you all didn’t fall for that “No gas”, “No oil” and
“No battery” messages written on the tape on my gas tank. It
always had gas, oil and a battery. It was just a way to speed it thru
Brazil Customs. I learned a few things when I was in South America.
Varoom! My bike / my
trustee steed is running! I install the GPS and it comes alive. I
enter my brother's address. Together my brother and I loaded the
broken-down wooden box and pallet into the back of his pickup. This
is the Nissan Pickup he just had the Nissan rebuilt transmission put
into. He’s already has driven in 60 and 70 Mph / 100 and 113 Kph
traffic with it. I know he made the right decision about that. I did
a happy dance around my motorcycle with Larry recording it on my cell
phone. I was damn glad to have my motorcycle back. That concluded our
work at Avianca Cargo Warehouse.
It was after 5:00 p.m. and
it was full blown rush hour traffic thru Los Angeles and I had to
ride thru it. My motorcycle was running, my GPS was programmed,
everything was picked up and I had Larry’s specific directions to
his place. With me leaving Avianca Warehouse, my motorcycle paperwork
is pretty much finished. I still have a couple of loose ends that I
need to tie up with my broker but in the meantime I’m outta here.
I rode with traffic as
long as the traffic kept moving. Several motorcycles passed me,
splitting lanes or riding the shoulder. Eventually the traffic
stopped dead. I then moved to the shoulder of the road and rode 20
Mph / 35 Kph till the traffic sped up. The first thing I notice is
that most drivers were respectful of motorcycle riders. I didn’t
always find that to be the case in Mexico and Central and South
America. Anyway, I merged on to all the correct roads and exited on
all the correct off ramps. I just got off the freeway when I saw my
odometer turn over 50,000 Miles / 80470 Kilometers. That’s a
milestone as far as mileage goes. I pulled over, stopped and took a
picture of my odometer. I hope one day to see 99,999.9 Miles /
160,934 Kilometers. That day will be the last day this motorcycle
will be ridden. After taking the picture I continued on my way back
to my brother’s house. When I arrived, I rode it into his back yard
and under his lanai where I will refresh my motorcycle starting
tomorrow.
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