Stranded on the road? Yusof's team to the rescue

Mohd Yusof Mohd Noor founded Minyak Hitam Jalanan, or Street Black Oil, a team of mechanics who repair stranded motorbikes wherever they are.

The 29-year-old father of two has three jobs: he is an e-hailing rider, a motorbike mechanic and runs an online shop for spare parts. Here he waits for orders via his e-hailing app on his phone.

It's afternoon and Yusof prepares to for his second job: servicing motorbikes.

Yusof opened his motorbike repair service during the Covid-19 lockdown to help e-hailing riders who were struggling to find a workshop as not many were open at the time.

Yusof attended school until Form 3 and then worked in various jobs such as a street vendor selling shoes, fish and durian. He works between 12 and 13 hours a day in order to have a stable income every month.

Yusof uses social media platforms such as TikTok to publicise his services. Here he prepares his video while a customer waits for his motorbike to be serviced.

Yusof changes a set of chains on a 155cc Yamaha motorbike in Petaling Jaya while recording the video for his TikTok video.

Yusof's assistant Ahmad Haikal carries out repair work on a motorbike.

Most of Minyak Hitam Jalanan's customers are e-hailing riders who are familiar with the team.

For the past three years, Yusof has made Jalan Raja Laut in Kuala Lumpur the scene of weekly activities with his Minyak Hitam Jalanan team mates.

Yusof's motorbike is a workshop on the move and he brings a variety of spare parts with him wherever he goes.

Former postal worker Muhamad Nizam Zainon is also part of Minyak Hitam Jalanan and serves customers in Klang and Shah Alam.

A customer waits for his motorbike to be serviced by the roadside.

Yusof's team not only creates jobs, but also provides much-needed assistance to motorcyclists in need on the road.

Yusof's family is a source of inspiration for him to further expand his rescue team.