Around 25 miles after setting off from London en route to a camping rally near Milan a pal's bike packed up. It wasn't possible to fix it soon enough so next morning she bought a brand new Bonneville and set off for the ferry hoping to catch us up on our old AMC bikes. It needed a first service at 400 miles so I phoned and arranged for it to be done at a Triumph ad Harley dealer, AMR Motos near Vittel (a 425 miles run) who said it would only take about 45 minutes to do as it only involved a visual once-over, tightness check, an oil change and valve clearance check.
When we arrived he said he wouldn't be able to do it for three days. What a row ensued for over an hour until his rather attractive wife joined in and told him to do it now for these interesting English adventurers. He did, sheepishly, probably aware that his matrimonial benefits could be at risk.