26-10 Zagora Zagora 5Km Clutch broken

I have planed to have a day off in Zagora, but as we’re feeling good we decide to do the first part of the following stage, this means going to Mhamid, a hundred km and to go to the dunes named the Jew’s dunes, in order to test how are the loaded bikes in the sand before crossing over the erg of Chegaga.

Zagora in the morning

Palm grove

At first, mechanical workshop in the lobby, to fix the puncture, Patrick removes the tyre and I paste the repair patch on the tube, team working. There still are thorns inside the tyre, Patrick try to extract the most he can. “ This tyre will be ok, you will see “ he said.

We go downtown to the Said’s garage to extract the baffle in the exhaust pipe with a drilling machine, Patrick buys a new tube. We change money in a bank, and we fill in the tanks in a station close to the bank, when I take my wallet I realize I lost my passport, great moment of loneliness aïe …

I run to the bank, closed, but the guy inside see me and go out to give me the passport , ouf.

Okay, now we can go. We find the track quickly, but less than 2 km and Patrick stops, “ I have a problem” he says, “ the clutch doesn’t work anymore, it looks like the cable has been broken but it’s not “Aïe the problem is inside the engine, he removes the clutch cover, all seems normal, but in fact a little part of an axle is broken, it is wedged between the fork and the casing, it is a less evil, that is better there that at the bottom of the engine.

Analizing the damage

It starts badly, we can drive without clutch but we have more than 1500 km to do.
Return to the departure, it should be a day off.
Patrick proposes to call his insurance, I propose to return to the garage, maybe they will have a solution, I read that in Africa they was the kings of the resourcefulness.
We explain the matter to Said, he looks for a spare in her parts stock and then goes away with the broken part.
Patrick calls the assistance of his insurance and surprise they say to him, “ sorry but you don’t have Assistance”, oups, hopefully it is not a broken leg, otherwise….
We are waiting Said for a long time, a mechanic offers us the mint tea. The mechanic calls Said and he informs us that they are welding the pieces of the axle and they are also turning a copy of the part.
We are surprised, Inch’allah, nothing to do but waiting. We picnic in the garage, we visit the workshops of the mechanics in the neighbourhoods. Spirits is raising.
Said come back, shows us the part rewelded, it seems not so bad, and the copy. We try it but it doesn’t work, return at the turner.While I return at the guesthouse, I meet Antoine the boss, he is laughing seeing me, we are back for second round, it wasn’t so bad.

The axle rewelded

Return to the garage, once again we try to put the part copied, but It doesn’t work. This time I pick up Said with my bike, we go together at the turner.
This time it works, at least engine stopped. We put back the casing. Patrick starts the engine, first gear ok, he moves on, second gear and……… nothing the clutch get blocked Aïe. Removing the clutch cover, the copied axle is blocked and it is impossible to remove it. But since this part has been turning with the clutch ( normally it doesn’t ) and it has been machined by the fork and now there are a lot of small pieces of metal in the engine oil. In fact the axle has not been well done .

The Turner workshop

We fight during an half hour with two screwdrivers and a hammer ( chirurgical kind of mechanical ) we achieve to remove it.
We put back the original rewelded part, we manage the copied axle and keep it as spare just in case. I ask to Patrick if we change the oil because of the filings, “lets it down, the filter and the strainer will stop that”.

It’s getting late, come back to the guesthouse Dar Raha, beers, tagine, red wine, daily routine.
We get a call from the insurance, Sorry it was a mistake, here the number of file, that makes us a beautiful leg as we say here.

Sleeping on the roof under stars.

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