THURSDAY 18th JUNE 2009 (CHERKASSY to UMAN)

THURSDAY 18th JUNE 2009



TODAY'S THE DAY - ready or not. Roman came around at 10.00am (not too bad for him as he had promised 9.00). Payment for everything was made. Paul not happy again as he had to pay for parts that were replaced due to incompetence and many of the parts were promised to be replaced free-of-charge. It left a bitter taste....but we just want to leave. Question anything and we get a different answer each time. Some of this is due to language difficulties, some of it due to bad management practice, some of it due to us not standing up for ourselves enough...!!!



Anyway, we got to the bike just before midday with our gear and we proceeded to figure out where everything would go. We were ready to leave by 2.00pm when Roman suggested a farewell lunch. We hadn't eaten so figured we'd have a quick lunch then leave. It's the only lunch we had that WASN'T quick....!!!




WE WERE FINALLY ON OUR WAY at 3.00pm. Destination was a town called Uman, 200 kilometers to the south-west. We were very happy to be on our way and finally out of the city.


Starting our trip we were a bit nervous as we figure we will be in for some trouble - hopefully later rather than sooner...!!!


We made the first 150 kilometers okay (at a speed of 20-40 kilometers). Slow speed due to tabs in the carbies preventing them from fully opening during the running-in period). Ludicrous comes to mind but we must listen to the ones that know...!!!



We limped the last 50 kilometers to Uman, arriving at 11.00pm. Riding by silhouette is not much fun - we had no lights (so much for the electrical master). The bike was running on one cylinder and choking to death. We met up with Oleg BASHKATOV (by prior arrangement) who had an apartment lined up for us. We were grateful for this as we were worn out with the struggle of riding flat strap at 20 kph.