Limping into Limbe

The morning after our slaughter on Moon Head Hill, Morten and I where feeling pretty grim.  We where battered and bruised with aching muscles and shattered egos. 

Stunning view from high above

My big worry was my bike not starting.  It was a good sign that I managed to jump start it, and that it ran ok with Morten’s battery.  The most likely causes where that the battery just had a hard nock and is not working properly anymore, or that with all the stopping and starting (falling actually) it just didn’t have time to charge.  Starting a bike uses so much power that you need to run it for about 30 minutes to recharge the power used.  For the last bit we never even came close to that.  To top things off I left the lights on for about half an hour when we reached the top.  Probably just enough to kill the last bit of power in the battery.  We had no way of knowing which one, until we made it to a bigger town where we could properly charge the dead battery, and then we would have to give it a test run afterwards.

I was desperate for the battery to be the cause, about motorbike electronics I know very little.

The next big town was Dschang, only 50 kilometres away, but still through forest tracks.  We where promised the road ahead was much better. As proof we saw lots of cars in Menji, a good sigh that other vehicles can do the next stretch.  There where no cars along the Moon Head Hill stretch, it was impassable for normal vehicles.

With my confidence in pieces, and my body aching, I was really hoping the road would be much better.  Another Moon Head Hill would certainly be my end.

Our plan B for the bikes was to put my battery in Morten’s bike, and his good battery in mine.  His bike doesn’t have all the electronics (fuel injection, ECU etc.) that mine does and he can run on much less battery power.  We where also secretly hoping the battery would charge while on his bike, would be a very good sign.  My battery was so dead that he couldn’t even kick start his bike, we had to jump start it using both batteries, OUCH!  But it worked and we had two running bikes.  Limping but running.  WHOOP WHOOP.

Our fabulous host for the last nearly 24 hours, Evaristas, treated us to a huge spread for breakfast, we couldn’t even finish half off it. He really went out of his way to make sure we got the best possible food and rest while we where there.  When we set off he was very keen to follow us and help where needed.  As great as this would have been if things went wrong, we couldn’t let him.  His bar has pretty much been left unattended since he started helping us.  He has done way more than many people would.  We where extremely grateful, and couldn’t let him do anymore.  It was with a surprisingly heavy heart that we said our goodbyes and set off.

Please let the road be better!!

The first 10 kilometres off the better road was actually surprisingly tough.  Nothing compared to the previous day, but still tough.  It wouldn’t have been so hard, but my confidence was in pieces.  Instead off relaxing and just letting the bike do the work, I was tense and frozen and because of that steering was a nightmare.  I wasn’t dancing around potholes and ruts, I was lumbering through everything, my speed down to a crawl.  Aw man, this was going to be a long day!!

To my great relief the road eventually opened up and became quite decent.  We did a gorgeous climb to nearly 2000 meters, with a view to die for.  After the climb it was mostly downhill and it started to look like we would make Dschang.  My mood lifted a bit and I was back in the Africa I love so much.

But only for a short while.  About ten kilometres out of Dschang Morten’s bike started coughing and spluttering.  He was loosing power.  We where really limping.  AAGGHHH.

Taking things apart in the middle of nowhere

Please let us make the ten kilometres.

Six kilometres out his bike died on a really small hill.  He just didn’t have the power to make it to the top.  We desperately looked for any other cause, but in the end we changed the batteries back again.  The good battery was now in his bike, and it run perfectly.  Not a good sign for me, instead off my battery charging in his bike it lost power.  And we where only six kilometres out off town.  Only six!!

Taxi driver who brought me a battery

Morten head into town with his perfectly running bike, found a hotel, put my battery on a charger and then got on a moto taxi to bring me his good battery.  We made it into town without any further problems.  We tried looking for a replacement battery, but couldn’t find anything to do the job.  We could only hope my old battery wasn’t to broken to charge!  The battery needed to charge until the next morning, and we couldn’t do much more that rest our aching bodies.  Was much needed and we where both in bed by sunset.

Our plan was to meet up with Dominik in Limbe.  One of Cameroon’s famous beach towns.  Well know for its black sandy beaches and abundant fresh seafood. 

Nearly home

We all wanted a bit off R&R before heading into Central Africa, and we though Limbe would be the perfect place.  Camerroon’s main industrial town, Douala, is also only 70 kilometers away from Limbe.  We thought that I might be able to find spares there if there where bigger problems with my bike.  Limbe was only a couple hundred kilometers away, could I make it?

The next morning we eagerly fetched my battery, and checked the voltage.  It was ok.  WHOOP WHOOP.  Looked like it charged after all. So we decided to make a run for Limbe.  The road to Limbe was all brand new beautiful tarmac.  Never thought I would be so glad to see tarmac.  Coming out off the mountains the scenery was breathtakingly beautifull, but I just couldn’t appreciate it.  My mind was running at lightning speed. 

Morten talking to locals while I do roadside repairs

Best case scenario the battery only lost charge because of the torture of Moon Head Hill, and a proper charge brought it back to life.  There where a few things pointing agains it, but still a slim possibility.  Fingers crossed!! 

Mt Cameroon in the distance

Middle case scenario, I just needed a new battery.  Not to hard, but not easy either.  There are many 12v batteries available, but they are for the small Chinese bikes.  My bike requires quite a big reserve capacity (12Amps/hour) to run the starter a few times.  Most of the small batteries only have enough to start my bike once, maybe twice (2-5Amps/hour).  I could use one of these small batteries as a emergency back up, but not much more.  I might be able to find a bigger battery in one of the big towns.

Worst case scenario my whole charging system was shot. Spare parts would be close to impossible to find, and could be very expensive to fix.  Maybe shipping from the UK, again!!  And I know very little about bike electronics.  VERY VERY LITTLE!!

Limbe

We already had a backup plan A, B, C, D, all the way to Z.  The chances off this ending my trip where miniscule, but I just couldn't get the idea out off my mind. Yes I could easily finish without the bike, Plan Z, but the bike was my adventure.  Africa on a motorbike is the shit!!  With my mind racing the road to Limbe was pure torture.

Grilled seafood

About 70 kilometres  out of Limbe we stopped and my bike wouldn’t start again.  That threw best case scenario out off the window.  F***.

We managed to jump start the bike from Mortens’ and I tried to make it to Limbe.  Not a chance.  My electronics where going haywire as the battery died, and the bike finally stalled 50 kilometres out of town.  The battery flat again.  Luckily there was still enough juice to run Morten’s bike and another battery swop got us into Limbe.  This time the battery seemed to charge a little on his bike, but only a little.  Strange.  And his battery was not charging on my bike.  Not good.

Limping into Limbe…  So smooth on the tongue, but such a horrible feeling.





That night I pigged out on fresh prawns, fish and shrimp.  Grilled to perfection.  So good that I had dinner twice.  Better than chicken soup for the soul.