A Simple Drop on my Motorcycle gets Messy
Update 44 (October 2023)
Busan to Jeonju, South Korea
Busan is Korea’s largest port and the departure point for vehicle ferries travelling to Japan. I needed to find a ferry company that would take me and the motorcycle to Japan, using a Temporary Import Permit. Not the expensive and antiquated Carnet De Passage document.
There are two or three companies that offer this service. But they seem to freak out and run a mile as soon as they find out I have a foreign vehicle or no Carnet De Passage. I still don’t really understand why. I think I just want to use the same process that the Koreans use. I am glad I started looking early. It has been over two weeks that I have been at it, and I still haven’t got a ride to Japan.
Hopefully, one day I can give a successful explanation for other travellers trying to take their own vehicle from Korea to Japan.
I decided to keep exploring Korea. I had the tip that the southern coastline was nice. So I thought I would head inland to the north and then circle back to Busan along the coastline.
Checking out an old bridge next to the highway. Rivers like this, running off from the surrounding mountains are everywhere. The water is very clear, often with some decent size fish. It is a pretty good effort considering the population and amount of industry in Korea.
The heavy industry in Korea is incredible. There is a vast network of motorways and highways crossing the country. I have never been in so many tunnels. And Samsung, LG and Hyundai are everywhere. I am even using LG toothpaste at the moment.
I managed to find some quiet roads and was enjoying the sunny day. Around now I decided to explore a small side road. It was concrete but looked interesting on the map.
Unfortunately I wasn’t careful enough and lost my balance on a tight turn going uphill. It is strange how these things play out. I was going slowly but just got my balance wrong and started tipping. There was no pulling back the weight, gravity won. It was a slow graceful fall but I was going downhill onto the concrete. I remember saying out loud, this won’t be good.
I hit the concrete hard. It hurt my shoulder and hand but I was okay. After turning off the bike I saw there was fuel and oil leaking. The fuel was okay, just the cap, but the oil was bad, obviously.
I was in a quiet rural area, but I did see a couple of men outside their home about 500 metres away. I walked over and using my translator app asked if they could help me lift my bike. It turned out to be a father with his son, in his 50’s. The son was pretty keen and we soon had the bike up and somewhat steady on the steep slope.
At this point the father starts waving at me to leave. Get going. I had assumed the oil leak was catastrophic and I was stuck. But he was right. It wasn’t too bad. The sooner I got moving, the better the chance I might make it to some help. I pointed left or right and they replied, with a right. So I thanked them and took off.
I rode back the way I had came and took guesses on which way to the biggest town. I should say it was about 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon so I wasn’t very hopeful. After about 15km I found a town and the engine oil light still wasn’t on. I was still squirting oil but it was fairly fine, rather than a gush. After a couple of helpful directions I found the local motorbike mechanic, and thankfully he was still working.
The mechanic was a legend. After understanding my situation he jumped into action. My motorcycle is not sold in Korea. So he started calling some expert repairers in the next closest city. At first it looked like I was stuck there until 11pm before someone could come. But fortunately something changed and there was help on the way. He must have spent a couple of hours helping me but refused any money for his efforts.
This was the problem. The crash bar that is there to protect the engine had actually pierced the engine oil pan. But I blame myself really. I knew the crash bars was getting closer with subsequent falls. I should have bent it out to its original position before this could happen.
The mechanic emptied the oil, cleaned up the leak and bent the crash bar out of the way. It does look somewhat like a design flaw with that sharp edge, but it did 80,000kms until now.
Enjoying the twilight and view out the front of the mechanics workshop while I wait.
My ride arrived about 6:30pm. He was from Daegu about 120km away. The first mechanic did a thorough handover and I was on my way. I had booked a hotel in Daegu that the new mechanic dropped me to around 9pm. He was a good person and I was comfortable with the way things were heading. Which was pretty good when you pause and think about it. Through translator apps we agreed welding the crack was the best tactic first. The plan was for me to hang out on Sunday and then I would catch a taxi to his workshop on Monday morning.
Lunch on the Sunday. Winner! And a nice young couple running the business. BBQ pork, western style.
Apples are in season. They are very much handcrafted here. I think there was just the one layer in this box. I have certainly seen single apples a little larger than these in Seoul, selling for 12 AUD each.
When I arrived on the Monday morning he wasn’t there. His business was wide open but there was no sign of him. The taxi driver kindly rang him. He was around the corner with the welders. I have come across this a lot in Korea. People generally respect your stuff and don’t steal it.
His business was in the centre of the motorcycle and small engine repair neighborhood in Daegu, and the beauty of it was about to unfold.
First off, it was 10am on a Monday morning and the two old guys at the welders had finished repairing the crack. We drove back to his workshop to put some oil in and finish the job.
Loading up after the aluminium engine oil pan had been welded – 10am.
Unloading. That is his workshop with the orange sign.
Not the neatest of workshops but he knew his profession.
Back at the workshop he went next door and spoke to the guy about a new oil filter. The guy took off on his motorbike and came back with a genuine Yamaha filter 10 minutes later.
He filled the oil and started it up. It was still leaking. He waved me to wait and disappeared down the road on his little push bike. A few minutes later a guy came back with him and consulted on the problem. I can’t remember what he advised but I wasn’t convinced and neither was my mechanic. He took off on the push bike again.
This time an old guy came back. He gave his wisdom and it made sense. It seems the impact of the crash bar had also bent the edge of the engine oil pan casing away from the body of the engine, creating a fine gap.
They needed to machine the connecting surface flat. My mechanic drained the new oil, removed the exhaust out the way and removed the engine casing. He made a phone call and five minutes later someone from the machine shop came and took the casing away.
In the meantime the mechanic is offering me Gimbap for lunch. I asked if it was his lunch which he said no to. I think it was, but it would have just been more awkward if I said no thanks. Plus I think it was home made and I enjoyed it.
About 45 minutes later the casing was delivered and ready to fit. An hour later and I was ready to go. It was a fantastic effort. The price was pretty good compared to what had been achieved since Saturday afternoon and I had no one to blame but myself.
I have ridden about 800km since and have no intention to replace the oil pan. It’s a solid job.
It was 2:30pm and I decided to continue my ride to Jeonju. The hotel there had kindly refunded my non refundable booking when I dropped the motorcycle. So I went there and stayed a couple of nights with them.
The welding job.
The freshly machined casing
After a couple of days I headed south towards Mokpo. It is rice harvesting time. The grass takes on this golden colour and the seeds become quite heavy and droopy.
A rice harvester in action. They are quite compact and speedy. It separates the seeds and drops the grass behind which seems to get processed into cylindrical bales sometime later.
Further on, drying some rice on the road.
I went via the coast and explored a few islands along the way. Most of the area was agriculture or fishing.