EP 6 tour, LEON part
I'll just include the email here that I send to the European Internet BMW
riders mailing list. Maybe I'll add a photo or two later on..
All,
Warning: this turned out to be a bit longy story
Prelude:
For my recent trip, I bought a small plastic thingy with I could attach to
my tank using 5 small vacuum plastic sucking naps. This worked quite well in
Switserland.
In France and Spain however, it just wouldn't stay put. It would come loose
at the most awkard times. This sucked. So I wanted to buy the BMW tankbag in
Portugal.
EP6:
I asked Pedro to help with trying to find a tankbag for me. He made every
BMW dealer in Portugal search though his stocks for that Sac Deposito.
Thanks again, Pedro and Manuel. But all this to no avail.
Georg let me copy the pages from the White Book with all the Spanish BMW
Dealers. It was quickly decided to go for Moto Leon, Leon, Spain.
Moto Leon:
On the friday that EP6 ended, I headed north. Via some of the quicker roads
through Portugal heading north until I ran out of Esquedos, and then
continued in Spain. SO, that friday evening at 19:00 or so, I arrived in
Leon. I expected the shop to be closed, so I found myself a hotel (in view
of the Plaza San Marcos, where Jim and Verna stayed 2 days later) and parked
the bike. As I dismounted, another biker puts his bike just along mine. This
finnish guy (I never got his name) knew where Moto Leon was and suggested
that I should follow hime. Ok, so I follow this guy on his Suzuki sportbike
through Friday evening traffic in Leon. Lane splitting, red lights,
speed....Okay :)
So we end up just out of town at the garage part of Moto Leon. This guy
explained to us two not-spannish speaking guys that we should be in the City
center where the shop Moto Leon is. Okay, so again we had fun with traffic
going back to the hotel. Got directions there, and went to the Moto Leon.
Well, this finnish guy would lane split, ignore red lights and the speed
limit, but he would not use the sidewalks to get to the shop itself
(one-way street). Strange...
So, anyhow, we entered the shop (which was open until 8, surprise to me).
Moto Leon is really a small little shop. Some Suzuki bikes, 1 BMW C1
executive, and some smaller mopeds were crammed on a space which was about
the size of a car-parking space.
After explaining to the owner what I needed, he took my (Georg's) list of
spannish BMW dealers, and started the make numerous phonecalls. Several
customers came in and went, as he was busy with me. Just before 8 he gave up
and told me to come back tommorow, and tell his sister (who would attend the
shop on saturdays) to call the BMW dealers in Santander and some other
place. He could not reach them at that time. Okay, no problem. I bought some
oil from him, just to feel not _that_ guilty. (I just love the way they
pronounce R1100RT, with that rolling rrrr)
Next morning I'm there at 9:30. The shops opens up at 10, and indeed, the
owner's sister (I think) calls the BMW dealers which weren't covered the
previous evening. The owner itself calls in to check if I'm there and to
explain things. But, no luck. The central depot in Madrid is closed, and
won't open again until monday morning. Could I come back on Monday?
Sure...no problem. So I made a 2 day tour in the mountains surrounding
Leon (great scenery, read Jim and Verna's report).
Monday morning, 9:45, me Leon at Moto Leon, Leon, Spain. The owner drives
up on his HD (tsssk..), and explains to me that he made some more calls, and
he still hasn't found one tankbag. One last attempt is made at the Madrid
central depot. They do have 1 bag. The owner gives me the phone, and the
perfectly english speaking girl on the other side of the line explains to me
that'll be send to the Vitoria BMW dealer in 2 or 3 days (spannish days,
that's 3 to 5 dutch days). That's a no-go for me, as I will be in France in
2 or 3 (dutch) days. The bag was already promised to the Vitoria dealer.
After all the trouble he went through just for a non-spannish speaking dirty
guy who shows up on his doorstep, the owner apologizes to me (!) that he
couldn't sell me a tankbag!! I thanked him for everything he did, and tried
to tell him that I was very happy with the service I got from him. He really
did everything he could. What a service.
Moral of the story: If you're in need of good BMW service, go to Moto Leon,
Leon, Spain. It's a bit out of the way for most of you, but the road is
nice... ;)
I did get my picture taken with my moto in front of Moto Leon, I'll scan it
and put it somewhere as soon as I get my photos.
Leon Brunken, (c) 2001, leonb(at)steeg.nl.eu.org
(Edited in joe)