As you may know, Boxer and I go way way back and since I moved to Georgia in December 2005 I have made a few housecalls when he needed help and for the major spline check/lube teardown. The other jobs were easy and twice an excellent pepperoni pizza shop we rode to made me happy. Since then Phil has gotten a lot better at not getting into trouble.
Update: Boxer has since moved about 340 miles away to Alabama . . . that puts a limit on those pizza barter house calls but he still knows his personal wrench is a 1 or 2 day vacation ride away.
captaincable (Mike) and I became friends after talking on the phone about BMW bikes. We 1st met when a ride to his house to shoot my pistol incorporated checking out an F800ST he wanted to buy. After his OilHead purchase I became his bike wrench and he became my gun expert and a better alternative than the Georgia state shooting range, which does not allow 10 shots in 2.5 seconds.
Our value systems are alike in many ways, so it's no wonder we both have a truck, a bike, nice new homes with wood stoves and wonderful wives. I recently helped Mike at his place with his R1100R tranny R&R for it's spline cleaning and re-greasing. It was an unhurried 2 day project that included brake R&R work, water TB synch and correcting its already removed canister vacuum/vent hose mistakes. Those 3 vacuum/vent/drain lines could not have been more mis-connected when the canister was removed by the PO since its location interfered with an after market rear rack. I had a blast target shooting my pistol and shotgun in his very remote deep woods country back yard and throwing a tennis ball for his very eager Jack Russell Terrier. My GPS says 47 miles and 1h:03m away but getting a few truckloads of cut green or cut, split and partially seasoned firewood made it a win-win barter for both of us.Update: Mike has since replaced the R1100R with a very spouse friendly mint condition Red Honda Pacific Coast where my truck participated in the one-day-evaluate-purchase-transport event. Some time later the smelly float bowl gasket fuel leak later on required a HouseCall for a carb repair kit install, float level set, cleaning and water TB synch. What a difference in instant starting, smooth running and throttle response that episode made!
Then there is OU812, we know as Steve. Just spoke 1h:11m today to catch up. We've paired together at 4 Bash rides, us alone or with the fast guy group. His very long ride from a city near Chicago meant a stay-over upstairs. We worked in my garage on his RT's valves, water stick synch, oil changes, GPS wiring and front tire replacement. Dinner out with the wife and we took a great ride up into the curvy GA mountain roads too.
UpDate: I now have an iPhone8+ so we can FaceTime if you have an Apple product too. That would be really useful for me to see your front camera's video of what you're working on . . . AS you are doing it, especially if you are really far away, like an iPad E-Mail FaceTime connect to Australia!