Upon leaving Leaving Talagang, Chakwal was only 45 kms but along the way I passed the Motorway Sign which although i wanted to take, I knew full well that only bikes in excess of 550 CC's can travel on that road and seeing that I had only a 150 CC bike I would have to stay off the M2 highway and head towards Chakwal instead.
When I was driving to Chakwal I began to notice a sound which was faint at first on my drive to Talagang but now it was more and more obvious. The sound was a grinding sound of my chain which began to trouble me but I thought that perhaps with my excessive driving into the mountains I had perhaps put stress on the bike and as a result the chain was now a bit loose and grinding on something. So I decided that upon reaching Chakwal i would get that looked at as soon as possible.
When I entered Chakwal I asked around for a mechanic shop and someone pointed me to a bike shop a mile back from where I had just come. So I made a U Turn and drove back for a while and found a Honda bike showroom where they were working an three bikes. It was a small shop but very well kept and the owner was sitting behind a desk right at the footpath level as the shop was on the road. As he saw me pull up with luggage on my bike he got up and came to me and I asked if I could have my bike looked at and he inquired what the issue was. I said I am not at all familiar with such problems but I am hearing the grinding of the chain I believe. So he called a boy who was working on one of the bikes inside the repair shop and he came to look at the chain and while the owner and I were talking about my trip, where I had come from, how long it took, where I stayed at night, etc ... the boy was working on the chain and said it was indeed loose.
The owner of the shop stood there and spoke for a brief 5 to 7 minutes in total I think about my journey and the boy got up and said its done. I asked if the problem had been rectified and he said yes, its now tight and you won't hear anything. So I asked the shop owner the cost of labour and he refused to accept any payment and instead said that its lunch time now so please come in and rest for a while and have lunch with us. Naturally, I was more concerned about getting to Islamabad as soon as possible and kept refusing and trying to pay the boy and he kept refusing and this went on for a while to the point where they won the argument and in the mean time the owner had asked one of the other boys to get us tea.
I again respectfully refused and explained how important it was for me to get to Isbd as soon as I possibly can due to the already long ride I had the day before. He agreed and let me on my way yet still refused to accept any payment. He said why don't you take the motorway which you left 15 kms behind rather than taking this route. I explained to him the laws and he said that I should at least try it. I said if I go back for a 20 min or half hour drive just to see if they will let me on the motorway, which I am certain they won't. Then to drive back here again and go on the way I am already on, I would have wasted at least an hour or more. He agreed and then said to please drive for a good mile and see if I can still hear the chain and if so just come but he was sure the problem had been fixed. I did just that and found no further sound from the chain, it was smooth and quiet so I kept driving on towards Mandra which as about 60 kms from Chakwal.
The following pics are of Chakwal
