It seems that, like on my previous trip, two weeks are enough to deal with every problem and be on the road again. The starter outer has been quickly and easily restored at the workshop of Dimitris Katigiannis, in Halki, Larissa. What really puzzled us the most was the enormous fuel consumption. In the first few kilometres I thought it was because of not having broken in the engine yet. The problem was, however, that the consumption was not reduced even later, in Albania.

Dimitris, while restoring the starter outer of my wounded Baobabis…

   I started experimenting with the obvious: the carburettor and the exhaust pipe. I installed a new exhaust pipe from Motosport and I remembered how it is to replace the carburettor within minutes, as I put it in and out, each time with different adjustments. Unfortunately, however, the fuel consumption did not drop at all. Finally, the magician called Dimitris found the solution to this weird problem…

   The XR, the one that we bought from Velventos, had the air input removed from the air filter box, so I immediately spotted it and placed a new one. On the XR we bought from Thiva, however, there was an air input, but the channel which goes in the air filter box had been cut off by the previous owner! That was the detail I didn’t pay attention to, causing the enormous fuel consumption. These models of XR 250s with electric starter are equipped with a very rare-used CV carburettor. So, the different flow of air was really affecting the function of the carburettor, preventing the engine of working properly.

The notes I kept while experimenting on the carburettors!

   As if I didn’t have enough, on my way to Larissa, where Dimitris would fix my motorcycle, it broke down on the road for the first time. I could hear terrifying noises from the exhaust pipe and the motorcycle would not move. I had to spend the night on my sleeping mat by the XR. The next day, after having applied various doubtful techniques, I had the spark plug changed and the engine started. The motorcycle didn’t go far though. When on the third day I made it to Larissa, Dimitris delving into everything, discovered another stupid problem I could have never found out… The contact in the spark plug wire had been unscrewed, not being able to provide a constant spark! How Dimitris came up with this, I still don’t know! The man is a miracle-maker!

   The most outrageous problems have happened but luckily they’ve all occurred while I was still around Greece. Thank God the starter outer broke down, making me return to Greece or I would have to deal with all these crazy faults while on the road…

   After having repaired my XR, we made an excursion within the borders with Christina, riding about 1,000 km (621 miles), in order to verify that both our motorcycles run properly. So, the day after tomorrow (16th of August) I will be leaving again to continue with my trip from where I left it, Albania.