It's Sunday morning and I'm on my way to Plymouth on the 800GS for the ferry to Santander. Magnet and I are on Sedgmoor Services having a coffee when I get the dreaded EWS. It's gone 11 and the ferry boarding closes at 3 'ish'.
SWMBO is dispatched to join our party and I ring 'Rescue my Car' and wait for recovery, responding politely to the all the advice about 'bump starting etc.
Just after 12 SOS Recovery roll up, pronounce the battery dead, roll the bike into the van and hot foot it for Plymouth intending to source me a battery from Halfords. I'm slightly sceptical because, based on the experiences of Micky of this parish, I suspect that the Voltage Regulator might have died ,given the bike has 54k on it, and if so it may have taken the stator with it.
SOS man has a brainwave and checks with his controller to see if Ocean are open. Not only are they open they have a battery and offer to put it on charge and fit it for me. We roll up there just after 1.
This is the lucky bit. They are open on a Sunday because of the 90th Anniversary celebrations. They also have a technician on site, are offering free fitting, free hotdogs and tea. My luck is changing.
The battery goes on and they discover the regulator is, as suspected, ferked. Without delay they set about cannibalising their showroom bike, fit the regulator, and discover the stator is also well fried. Now I'm getting nervous!
No problem. They keep on cannibalising and as we approach 3pm the back is back together and running. I get a very acceptable bill due to the free fitting offer and some BMW goodwill and to top it all, because I'm not familiar with Plymouth the Manager Peter Cramp, who organised all this gives me a guided tour to the ferry.
To be honest we were a few minutes late, but luckily so were Brittany Ferries and I join the remnants of the queue with a smile on my face
So many thanks to the 'man with no name' from SOS who had the initiative to whisk me down to Plymouth and find Ocean open. Many thanks again to Peter and all the people at Ocean BMW who took great trouble to make me feel welcome, feed me, sort out the bike and send me on my way to catch the ferry on time.
Above and beyond the call of duty
SWMBO is dispatched to join our party and I ring 'Rescue my Car' and wait for recovery, responding politely to the all the advice about 'bump starting etc.
Just after 12 SOS Recovery roll up, pronounce the battery dead, roll the bike into the van and hot foot it for Plymouth intending to source me a battery from Halfords. I'm slightly sceptical because, based on the experiences of Micky of this parish, I suspect that the Voltage Regulator might have died ,given the bike has 54k on it, and if so it may have taken the stator with it.
SOS man has a brainwave and checks with his controller to see if Ocean are open. Not only are they open they have a battery and offer to put it on charge and fit it for me. We roll up there just after 1.
This is the lucky bit. They are open on a Sunday because of the 90th Anniversary celebrations. They also have a technician on site, are offering free fitting, free hotdogs and tea. My luck is changing.
The battery goes on and they discover the regulator is, as suspected, ferked. Without delay they set about cannibalising their showroom bike, fit the regulator, and discover the stator is also well fried. Now I'm getting nervous!
No problem. They keep on cannibalising and as we approach 3pm the back is back together and running. I get a very acceptable bill due to the free fitting offer and some BMW goodwill and to top it all, because I'm not familiar with Plymouth the Manager Peter Cramp, who organised all this gives me a guided tour to the ferry.
To be honest we were a few minutes late, but luckily so were Brittany Ferries and I join the remnants of the queue with a smile on my face
So many thanks to the 'man with no name' from SOS who had the initiative to whisk me down to Plymouth and find Ocean open. Many thanks again to Peter and all the people at Ocean BMW who took great trouble to make me feel welcome, feed me, sort out the bike and send me on my way to catch the ferry on time.
Above and beyond the call of duty
