Bonding with the Wheels

Enthusiasm matters. Not your age.

To form a bond with the wheels, you wheels; you must demonstrate your willingness to understand how moves, what makes them move as soon as you twist or push the throttle after shifting the gear necessary. Otherwise, it's just another machine you are operating blindly. Therefore, it might fail at any moment causing serious trouble; even claiming your life.

A few days ago, my sister's bike was seized on its way. Nothing much technical— the rear wheel was punctured. So, this little helper was called upon to take care of it. Being the senior sibling of the family, I am often summoned to take care of such issues. And I enjoy it, to be honest.

So, I called the mechanic and brought him home to remove the wheel and take it to the service centre for necessary repairs. It all went well. The nail pierced through the tyre got removed and tube restored.

Unfortunately, the mechanic didn't notice another hole caused by the metal nail and after a few hours, the tyre flattened inevitably. We noticed it in the afternoon and I rushed to the service centre again only to find it closed. To make things worse, all service centres in our area were closed at that time as it was the weekend.

But we need to fix it immediately as my sister needs to join the office early in the morning the next day.

Being an experienced biker, I know a few things about it. Now, it's time to put them into action for the first time. Unfortunately, again, we don't have required tools at home.

So, I managed an alternative to remove the wheel and successfully did it, doing some damage to the parts.

Doesn't matter. At least, the wheel is removed.

I rushed to the vulcanising shop and found out that the nail went through the other end. The serviceman apologised again and again. What is done is done— I wasn't angry anymore.

But who will fetch the tyre again? Obviously me. And that is where things went off track.

Although, fitting the tyre is a pretty basic task, it was my first time. So, I had to struggle but finally, managed to do it with a flaw in the braking system. It wasn't working properly. Perhaps, the drum brakes got displaced when I was fitting it. But the wheel was moving okay.

That's enough, I thought. And I repeatedly asked her to check the wheel on her way to the office.

But she didn't care.

And it got seized again a few days later. This time, the driving chain got dismantled. A woman with a seized bike on an empty road in the evening is no joke, especially in our parts of the country.

So, this little helper was called again and I hurriedly went there after a 20 minute drive.

In the meantime, she managed to find a repair shop and fixed it. When I reached there, she said it wasn't her fault— she had no idea about what happened. She has been driving it for 3 years or so, can you believe that? She literally had no clue what happened there. All she noticed is she was pushing the throttle but it wasn't moving and only making noise.

I have never seen such an indifferent person who only cares about throttling— nothing else. She never cleans it or even tries to understand the basic components. All she does is fill up the fuel tank, rev the engine and hit the brakes if needed.

On top of that, being a clutchless bike, she never bothered about shifting the gears appropriately. She starts rolling it at 4th gear and forgets about it no matter if it's a straight highway or bumpy roads with numerous potholes. It always has to be in top gear.

Poor bike— her owner doesn't give a shit about it. And I feel sorry for the engine. Even my little son knows more about the engine than she does. He knows when it smokes black or white. He knows the switches, clutch, and brakes. He knows when to lube the chain and how to keep it clean.

Enthusiasm matters. Age is just a number.