August 5: Good Samaritans to the Rescue

One of the things I love about my motorcycle adventures is what I learn from the mistakes I make while I am on the road. I’ve also found that by God’s grace, sometimes these mistakes occur at the best possible times and locations. Today’s ride could have been rather harrowing. But thanks to good timing and the support of friends old and new all is well.

I left Liechtenstein this morning headed for Nyon, Switzerland – a place that feels like home to me as I spent so many summers there with my grandmother. I booked several nights in the village to give myself a mini vacation within my vacation – an opportunity to go on some favorite hikes, eat at beloved restaurants, and even read a good book! I decided to take the direct route because the mountain passes were rainy, foggy, and cold and not forecasted to change for days.

I first headed south on E43, taking in a few more views of the craggy cliffs of Liechtenstein enshrouded in fog at the base of the Rhine River before entering Switzerland and turning north on highway 3. My breath caught when I glimpsed the stunning view of the village of Quarten on Lake Walensee to my right – picturesque homes and businesses clustered in thick evergreen trees on the bank of a silver grey and blue lake with towering granite mountain peaks above. My heart sang with joy that I would be spending several days in this breathtakingly beautiful country.

After passing Zurich I headed west on highway 1 towards Bern and passed the tiny village of Niederbipp, a place that captures what I find so attractive about many Swiss towns – little homes situated on large plots of farmland with the mountains rising straight up in the air above them.

From there I was re-routed to highway 5 due to several accidents. As I was passing through the town of Alfermee on Lake Bielersee I did a double take when I saw a motorcycle themed café to my right with a sign out front welcoming bikers and their friends. The inside was full of bike parts on the walls and ceilings, stoplights, and tables and chairs made from parts of bikes and cars.

Forty minutes later I was traveling at about 80 miles an hour in the middle lane near Corcelles-Pres-Concise when my bike lost power. Although it was unresponsive to me pulling on the throttle, I had enough momentum to coast to the side of the road. The timing was extremely fortunate as my route today had taken me through over a dozen long tunnels with no shoulders, some of which only had one lane in each direction. A breakdown then could have been disastrous.

The oil warning light was on and although I had just serviced the bike ten days ago, when I looked at my oil gauge, I saw there was absolutely no oil left. Fortunately, I was able to use my phone’s translator to communicate with a biker who stopped by, and he offered to get some oil for me. He refused to accept any cash even though I offered it several times and we filled up the bike.

Ten minutes later as I was heading south towards Lausanne, the bike lost power again and the check oil light came back. I suspected that I might have put too much oil in the bike and called my friend Grant Myers because my phone was not functioning properly and was directing me to mechanics and towing services in the United Kingdom. Within ten minutes he had located a towing company nearby and the kind owner offered to stop by with a mechanic who was able to drain some of the oil from the reservoir.

Thanks to the kind help of all of these good Samaritans, I was able to safely ride the rest of the way to my destination and even pick up some groceries and a good book before the stores closed for the weekend.

I’m planning on calling a mechanic when the motorcycle shop opens next week. I’m hopeful that there is nothing wrong with the bike and that the last dealership just didn’t put enough oil in. Either way, I’ve learned a few good lessons – I need to check my oil level each day before getting on the bike, carry extra oil with me, and make sure not to overfill it!