Part Six - Bob's AdventureI was starting to feel guilty having such a good time while Bob was off in Stanley, Nova Scotia retrieving the replacement cylinder head for my R60/2 which a friend back home in Takoma Park, MD had air shipped. I was also beginning to wonder where the hell Bob was, since the package was supposed to arrive the day he left to pick it up. Finally Bob returned on the fourth day. It seems there is only one customs officer in Stanley to cover the harbor and the airport and they had trouble connecting to retrieve the package. Bob also brought back a bonus; an original pillion passenger seat for a /2 Beemer. Even in 1975 the solo-style passenger seats which bolted to the rear fender were extremely rare, and if you could find someone willing to part with one the price was dear. So how in the heck did Bob find one?  Bob's bike was a showroom perfect mid-60s
vintage white R69/2 which was hard not to notice. Seems he was
parked in a shopping area lot in Stanley when a guy pulls up on
an equally mint condition vintage Zundap, a horizontal twin of
nearly identical design. This guy was a collector and he invited
Bob over to his house to have a look. He had two more Zundaps
just like one he was riding, and still had the original packing
crates. Bob couldn't help but notice there were three pillion
passenger seats hanging on the wall...
"Why are the passenger seats on the wall?" Bob asked "Those things? I don't like them so I took them off the bikes." "Would you consider selling one?" Bob said. "Sure, why not. How much are you willing to give for it?" At this point it would be helpful to explain that Bob made the down payment for his house with the savings from his paper route. "How about $25?" Bob offered. "Sounds OK to me." Was the reply. So Bob got the deal of the decade on a part that was thought to be extinct. I was really happy for him and glad that there was some payoff for the three days he spent cooling his heals in Stanley. It took about 30 minutes to install the new cylinder head on my bike and adjust the valves. I didn't have a torque wrench so I guestimated the tension on the head bolts, trying to tighten them evenly to avoid warping the head. I primed the carbs and gave the engine a few kicks. It started, belched some smoke, then settled down and purred like a kitten. We left the Cape Brettons HIghlands park the next day and completed our circumnavigation of Nova Scotia. As re-entered New Brunswick in the late afternoon we stopped along the side of the road to scope out a place to stay for the night. As we were studying the map a couple on a gold R75/5 pulled-up. The first thing I noticed was a brass plaque on the bottom of the windscreen which read, "Bernie Leager - Electrolux". Bernie was a gregarious fellow -- as you'd expect a vacuum salesman to be -- who after listening to our story insisted that we follow him to the local BMW motorcycle dealer to torque my bike's head bolts properly. That task was completed he them invited us to his house for dinner, and allowed us to pitch our tent in his back yard. The next morning after feeding us breakfast Bernie took us to Magnetic Hill, a local spot where a down hill section of road in the middle upward sloping one gave the illusion of rolling up hill. We bid Bernie goodbye about 10:00 in the morning and headed South towards home. Next chapter: [ Non-stop to New Jersey ] [ Title Page] |
