Irish hospitality

With my friend Kev, I recently completed a mini tour of Ireland, taking in the Causeway Coast route and the Wild Atlantic Way. Kev was on a BMW R1200GS and I was on my 1998 Honda Transalp XL600V.

We were very impressed with the roads and scenery and the helpful, friendly people. All was going well until leaving a small town called Bundoran in Western Ireland, when my chain snapped. I thought I would be okay as I had breakdown cover but it turned out to be recovery only and took three hours to arrive — though, to be fair, the recovery driver had driven 75 miles to assist me and I was grateful.

Using his phone, Kev found a dealer that had a Transalp chain in stock but the shop was 45 miles away and closing at 4:30pm, so off he went. What was most helpful were the three bikers that stopped and offered to assist in any way they could. I am most grateful to another BMW R1200GS rider, Ray, who stopped and called his friend James — another biker — who offered to fit my new chain if I could get the bike to his farm, some 15 miles away. When recovery arrived, the Transalp and I were taken to James’s remote farmhouse, where he had a small workshop. Kev arrived with a new chain and James made tea and sandwiches before fitting it. As we had a hotel booked that night and 125 miles to go, we said thanks and goodbye to James, despite his kind offer to stay.

We arrived back home the next day, all thanks to Kev for getting the chain, Ray for stopping and putting me in touch with James, and James himself for giving up his Saturday afternoon and early evening to fit my chain. Without their assistance, I would have been stranded on a bank holiday weekend waiting for a garage to open to fit a new chain. Thanks to the kindness of Ireland’s bikers, I was back on the road. Michael Bowden