Shake down period continues

Over the years we have got used to hanging around in small towns for repairs now, I think.

In 2011 it was nine days in Punta Arenas, Chile. In 2013 it was four days in Antofogasta, Chile.

Now it looks to be five days in the less exotic Mikolaji, Poland.

After we left Germany and crossed the river Oder the warm dry day slowly turned wet. During a torrential down pour my gear shift became loose. Leaving me stuck in 3rd. We carried on for 20 km before a petrol station appeared that had a covered forecourt.

In the 45 minutes we were there,  with bits scattered around the fuel pump, I managed to make matters worse by snapping the tightening bolt. Luckily I was able to extract it without needing a drill. I then had to borrow a bolt from the sprocket guard to replace it and get moving again.

Fortunately we know a man, David, back in the UK with a spare lever. He is kindly donating it and posting it to us while we laze around a campsite in the Polish lake district. The trip had now become in the hands of TNT.

On a plus note, I took the time to look at the hazard light problem again. Along with more tech support from David, and a circuit tester, I established that the issue was in the dashboard. 

This is a bad thing, I had a dashboard die on me in 2011 and remembered now that the indicators were first to go on the blink.

Jean reminded me that because of that I had a spare buried in the parts pannier.

All back together again, indicators working  (but not the hazards, I left them disconnected) . Now I just have to ignore the empty fuel gauge warning as the dashboard is off at slightly different model.

Only two and a half days after it was posted in the UK, the lever arrived. This meant muchas swearing as I wrestled the old one off.  But finally, despite the heat and the mosquitoes nibbling at me it was on.

To celebrate we splashed out on a fish supper.