How’s Doc? The Original WorldRider Motorcycle.

Before I landed in Greece on July 5, 2022, the last time I saw my motorcycle, the BMW F650GS Dakar (Doc), was in October 2019. I had just completed a three-month journey circumnavigating the Black Sea visiting Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey before returning to Greece. I parked Doc in the garage of my friend’s business in Athens.

A couple of weeks before my flight to Athens I arranged for Doc to be transported to Vagianelis BMW where George, Alex, and the team there would go through the bike to make sure it would be ready for my #journey2022. The bike sat for nearly three years. With a dead battery, questionable fluids, and perhaps more.

Some riders enjoy maintaining their motorcycles. I like to do the basics, but my enjoyment comes more from riding, writing, photographing, filmmaking, and other creative endeavors. I prefer to leave the heavy lifting when it comes to motorcycle maintenance to the professionals. Don’t get me wrong. I do work on my bike—when I must. But I hate to be the guy that ends up with an extra bolt or screw after putting it back together!

Well the professionals at Vagianelis BMW are extremely thorough. When I first showed up at the shop I found my motorcycle in pieces—it looked naked. That’s when Diamitros showed me a few issues with the linkage of the swing arm, bearings, bushings, and a few other innards that had been compromised not just by sitting for over two years, but by the simple fact that Doc is sixteen years old and has been ridden hard for nearly 100,000 miles.

As soon as the bike is ready and I have the motorcycle gear that I packed in my now “lost luggage,” I will be exploring new roads, having amazing discoveries, and learning more things about our great world and its people.