On two of the latest Allroad Tours there has been participants from Israel where it is not reasonable to come to Finland by own bike. So our team has helped the Israelis in the renting of bikes from Finland and so far we have succeeded. This year hunting of two about 650 cc bikes begun in February. Either one of the guys did not want to take unnecessary risks with too big and unfamiliar bike.

Because we were prepared to a long search we were delighted when one dealer promised to take care of the matter without other turns. After the waiting of a few weeks he offered one 100 % surely available bike. It was of suitable size so we agreed at once on the renting of it. In May we ensured that our agreement is still valid and the bike is available and reached an understanding of details related to the fetching and rent of it. Two days before the start we called the dealer and told him when the bike will be picked up. Now he informed us that the bike in question has been sold! We were wondering why he had not informed us of the matter. We got an arrogant comment here: "Well, you can't stop the business." However, a brand new 1000 cc bike was offered to us instead: we would get more cubic centimetres and kilos, at the same price.

The Israelis arrived at Finland at the same time. We had to tell them that the other bike doesn't exist any more and that the dealer offered a bigger bike instead. After thinking it over the boys decided not to take the 1000 cc bike but one of them would participate Allroad Tour in the lift of the service truck. No damned way! A man will not travel from Israel to Finland for Allroad Tour in the service truck because a Finnish motorcycle dealer ate his word.

We did not want to give this kind of a picture to the world from Finland and the organizer of the team, Pekka Heikkinen, immediately started heated hunting for a suitable allroad bike. There was only 24 hours left for the start and the situation began to look hopeless. One of the bikes had been rented from Mr. Seppo Suominen, the manager of Racing Bike Sidecar from Tuusula and now some panic phone calls were also made to him. But he had no other rent bike ready to go. After listening a while this desperate outpouring on the phone, Seppo made the decision. He had one brand-new unassembled KTM LC4 still in the cardboard box, but not for a long time, it would be ready for Allroad Tour next afternoon.

In a severe hurry KTM was assembled and serviced. At the same time Seppo's wife ran around the town taking care of the clearance and registration matters. And in the afternoon the bike was ready to rock and roll as promised. The running in would be taken care on the way to the start place Suomussalmi.

When renting a motorcycle in Finland, it is clear that a specific bike can’t be found by snapping fingers. Because mc-rentals are also dealers, the bikes to be rented are normally for sale too. However, reserving a bike for rental in advance has worked so far and the promises have been kept. In a business, whether it is selling motorbikes or gear, it is always nicer to do business with the trader who has the same enthusiasm to motorcycling as his customer has.

And when one senses this enthusiasm, one also remembers it.