Houston TX 11-3-2018

Maintenance is always import not only in your RV but in your tow vehicle. What you want to avoid of course is a light on your dash telling you have something wrong, we love our Mini but it can have some quirky things in operating it as well as its warning lights. I did have a Shell fitcar diagnostic plugged in and could look on my phone to see what it was. Mini Coopers are known to have thermostat problems and that is what it was, BMW (parent company to Cooper) is very proud of their parts (expensive) and the Cooper is no different. I go to a repair shop in Sugarland to see what it is going to take to get it repaired, they pulled out their book and said yes that’s a difficult install and it would 375 to 400 dollars, I said ouch let me think about it. So I go into my research mode and find an independent BMW/ Mini Cooper specialist called Bemer Motors who bragged about their fair shop rates, so I called and he said he could get me in the next day. I drove 30 miles to get there to find a really big shop with lots of BMWs for sale. This shop had thirty stalls and the service counter was busy. I was approached by the owner in a shop coat who was not only was friendly but very knowledgeable. Yes, they can get it done and it would be around $300 and about 3 hrs., I said ok let’s do it. Inside the service waiting room was a 1959 Isseta which do not see very often, it’s unusual for a number of reasons the door opens in the front and runs on a 298cc/15 HP single-cylinder 4-stroke engine- 14 ft/lbs. of torque- 4-speed manual transmission- Swing arm front suspension- Rear leaf springs- Drum brakes. It was produced by BMW but under license by many countries. These things are probably not of interest to most people except for a wrench head like me. They finished it and it comes back washed and ready to go but for about $525. I do recommend these guys for not only BMW/Cooper but as their website states Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche and Audi.

Angela & Joanne head the opposite direction to Galveston for a girl’s day out, as it turned out 250,000 motorcyclists for Lone Star Rally were there as well.