TBLISI
Resolving the Front Fork Problem
19th July - 22nd July | 2023
The next morning James went to find a workshop to sort out his leaking front fork, meaning finding fork seals that will fit his bike and someone doing the job. In the meantime, I went to the metro station to take the Metro to the city centre. Not easy as the woman spoke only basic English and insisted on cash payment even though she got a card machine. A nice young Georgian man helped me; he spoke fluent Spanish! How funny is that - glad I speak Spanish ;-) Once I had the Metro card, he helped me get the correct tube and was gone - I couldn't even ask him for his name!
The Metro is fast, so you must hold very tight to the grips! At Liberty Square, I got off and it was the longest and fastest escalator I have ever taken in my life! I thought it will never stop to take me back to street level! Once back at daylight, I strolled along to the Clock Tower, which was in a really cute old part of the old town, full of little cafes and art. I continued strolling through the town, which I enjoyed with the old houses. Whilst I had an iced cafe, James called me as he was back at the hotel. We picked a meeting time and place in town, at the piece of the wall of Berlin. From there we went up to the area of the Hamman, the Bridge of Love and the waterfall. In the area of the Hamman, I had a pinpoint of the oldest Chaikhanna of Tbilisi, but it wouldn't have a name on the door. It was not easy to find it, so we had to ask in a souvenir shop and she guided us to the owner that was just sitting in the back of the side street. He was surprised that we knew about it and took us to his Teahouse. No wonder we didn't find it - it was downstairs! It was a place where the neighbours would meet to play cards or backgammon. The owner's wife made us a pot of tea, which was really nice to drink the tea in this old-fashioned place.
The next day, James could leave his bike with Van of General Motorcycles Georgia (google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/5CGTUtnmNBGqhxMJ6). As Ivan didn't have the right fork seals, James went to get them at Pitstop, another motorbike shop in Tbilisi. It was agreed that James will leave the next morning the bike with Ivan to change the seals and replace the fork oil. So we both went to the garage leaving the Yamaha in the trustful hands of Ivan. We then went both 2-up on the BMW to visit the sculpture of “Chronicles of Georgia” and the old town of Mtskheta. A very tourist town! We had a stroll around and some lunch and then drove back to the hotel. Later that afternoon Van informed James that the bike will be only ready the next day as the forks were damaged by some metal scraping; not sure how, but some metal dirt must have found its way into the forks that caused the damage.
The next day it was a pretty lazy morning. About lunchtime, Ivan informed us that the Yamaha is ready for pickup. So we went both 2-up on the BMW to the workshop. It is not far, but the traffic is pretty dense and they are not really used to scooters or big bikes (yet). After Van explained to James what he had done to the forks and what should be fixed next, we asked him about the issue I have with my rear brake. Nothing dramatic, but especially offroad (standing position) it is really difficult to brake! Van had a tool to test the oil quality and it turned out that my oil is not anymore of good quality. That could easily happen with overheating the break. I would say, easily done in Greece with all the twisty roads and the tough offroad I did on Evvia Island. So he quickly changed the oil on my rear brake - also to get some air out, which we suspected to be in; the reason could be the same as above.
Back at the hotel, I finally rinsed the Rukka gear (www.luhta.com) with hot water in the shower in the hope to get the worst of all the sweat and dirt off. I hope I didn't damage the Gore-Tex as I surely will need it here in Georgia as we surely will hit some rain in the mountains.
The next morning we finally hit the road again, with the direction of Omalo-Abano pass, one of the most dangerous roads in the world (well, in google it didn't appear within the first 16 ;.) ). As we wanted to have an entire day to do the pass, just to be on the safe side, we stopped at a private campsite close to the start of the pass. James had heard on social media of the private campground Jughaani Farm & Camping (www.jughaani.com). It is run by an English Overlander couple, Chris & Gaby. They travelled towards Thailand by bicycle!! Now they are starting the business in this lovely corner of Georgia. Chris had some useful information about going up the pass as he occasionally does it on his BMW F800GS.
In the next blog, you will find out how Steffi has takkled the Abano-Omalo pass. In the meantime try a traditional Khachapuri.
Places | Cities:
Tbilisi, Mtskheta.
Driven km | Trip:
Total | Steffi: 14015 km
Information Border Crossings (in July 2023):
./.
Maintenance | Breakdown:
YAMAHA SuperTenere:
Fixed the damaged front fork.
Health issues:
./.
Special thanks to:
Ivan of General Motorcycles Georgia (google maps: https://goo.gl/maps/5CGTUtnmNBGqhxMJ6) for his prompt and professional help.