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A bad trip to Luxembourg
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September 14th and 15th, 2009
Tuesday, september 15th, 2009
The next morning the alarm of my mobile phone went off at seven AM. I took a shower, packed my luggage and loaded it on the bike and at eight oçlock it was time for breakfast.


Breakfast in "Le Postillon" hotel

At half past eight I was on my bike again, riding to Larochette to get some pictures of the castle of Larochette. The road from Echternach to Larochette is one of the nicest road I know so I was looking forward to this day.

At a Shell gasstation on the outskirst of Echternach, I filled my tank and left for Larochette.

After a kilometer or two, I left the N11/E29 to continue my trip on the CR118.
I knew I needed to check my chain and spray some oil on it so I stopped at a parking next to the road. I sprayed the chain and wanted to start the bike again. I turned the key, pushed the starter button. I started, ran for two seconds and died, a lot of smoke comming from under the dummy tank panels.........


Such a nice road... with a dead bike...... I am not happy

"Fortunately" I am a member of the ANWB and have Europe assistance so I called their alarm number to ask for help. With the information from my Tomtom, I could tell them exactly where I was and they told me there would be someone in one or two hours.....

I knew where I was

After about an hour, a big Toyota landcruiser with a trailer arrived. The mechanic looked at the bike and when we discussed what happened, we agreed that the best solution was to bring the bike to a BMW dealer in Luxembourg City.
We hoisted the bike on the trailer and left for Luxembourg City


Fastening the bike on the trailer


On our way to Luxembourg City

After some searching for the right address, we finaly found the dealer, Arnold Kontz, 184, Route de Thionville, L-2610 in Luxembourg.


Arnold Kontz, BMW Motorrad dealer

It was a very big shop with a few big buildings with BMW cars, Land Rover, Mini and BMW motorcycles. We unloaded the bike at the motorcycle shop and I talked with the chief mechanic.
They were having lunch first but after lunch they would start working on my bike.


The bike in the workshop

After two hours they thought they had found and fixed the problem. A oil presure sensore had a short circuit because of the rain yesterday. They replaced it with a secondhand sensor and the bike ran fine again.....that was until I left the shop and wanted to continue my trip. It started backfiring and running rough so I went back in the workshop.

After a few more hours and a few phonecalls to the ANWB, it was decided they could not fix it here in two days so it has to be transported to the Netherlands.
......I have to go home by train.......
I took a plastic bag to get all things I needed to take home with me and left all other luggage on the bike. THen I left the shop with my crashhelmet, a plastic bag and my photobag to go home.

At five oçlock, I took the bus to the train station in Luxembourg and bought a trainticket to Roosendaal in the Netherlands. First I had to get on the train to Brussels in Belgium and from there I could get a train to Roosendaal in the Netherlands.


Luxembourg Central Station


Luxembourg Central Station interior

The train for Brussels left at 17:58 PM so I had to wait for almost an hour on the station.


Waiting for the train

Finaly the train left Luxembourg and past Arlons and Namur the train arrived in Brussels at almost nine o'clock PM.


The train trip through the Ardennes

This is not my lucky day....... There is an electrical problem at the Dutch part of the railway line so the trains to Roosendaal will not ride today.........

The only thing I could do is to take a train to Antwerp. Then I called home for my son and wife to ride to Antwerp to pick me up by car and finaly at half past ten PM I was home. Feeling tired and ill and not very happy.

Update: October 7, 2009,

The BMW is back home. The ANWB picked it up in Luxembourg and transported it to the motorcycleshop near my home.
The problem is solved now. It was a wire that had rubbed against some steel part and in combination with the moisture from standing outside in the rain, it had a shortcircuit via the oil pressure sensor.
I have made a few trips with it already with no problem at all and am looking forward to the summer. (I do ride in winter but not if there is salt, snow or black ice on the roads).




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Last modified: 29 December 2010
Copyright, Jan Krijtenburg, 2009