They call him the bike doctor
ABDUL Rahiman did not have to think twice about resigning from work to pursue a passion of repairing motorcycles.
The 54-year-old former employee of Goodman Fielder said his love for bikes began early.
Growing up Mr Rahiman was always interested in bikes but little did he know that he was going to open his own garage and run his own business.
He said he had been fixing bikes for the past 24 years and was something he did as a part-time job.
Located in Nakasi, Bike Doc Fiji is a family-owned business run by Mr Rahiman and his son Abdul Rahim a professional mechanical engineer.
He said they provided all kinds of services to bikers seeking assistance and those that needed help in fixing their bikes.
"Fixing motorbikes is something I usually do when I'm free but lately we've been getting a lot of customers who want their bikes fixed so I decide to leave my job and fix bikes full-time," Mr Rahiman said.
"Those that I fixed their bikes spread the news and now we've been doing this job full-time."
The garage, which has been in operation for the past two and a half years, provide services to customers as far as Nadi, Lautoka and those in the Central Division.
Mr Rahiman said Bike Doc Fiji offered wide range of services such as full service, brakes adjust, carbi service and tune, safety inspection, detailed wash and chrome and polishing of bikes to name a few.
Before he started doing this as a fulltime job he said he could fix one bike per week but now things had changed.
In a week he says they can service two bikes.
"We provide full service. From engine looks to adjusting, servicing brakes and taking the lights. It's not like cars, with bikes it’s complicated and not easy either.
"Fixing bikes takes patience and something that requires your full attention.
To service the oil filter, oil change, safety inspection, he said, it took them two and a half hours but to fix the whole bike itself it could take them two and a half days maximum.
In a week, he said, they could fix two bikes or more depending on the criteria of the bike.
He admits that one of the most challenging cases they came across was fixing bikes that were stripped apart with owners requesting for full strip.
"The problem is the owners have stripped it already and they could not put it together so what we have to do is try and figure out which nut goes where and that's not an easy work to do.
"We don't want to service a bike when it goes out on the road and one nut falls and then people complain."
His son Abdul Rahim who is following his dad's footsteps said they import most of the bike parts they used.
Mr Rahim said motorbikes were normal machines that needed attention to be brought back to life.
He said it was through experience that both he and his father gained mechanical knowledge.
"My dad takes care of all the practical work while I'm on the theory part.
"These days computerised bikes needs diagnosing so that's where I fit in. It's something like the older and newer generation together," Mr Rahim said.
Mr Rahim said they also had plans to expand their garage and work with companies who invested in motorbikes.
"Bikes are very convenient especially during peak hours."