In the early evening we went to Kiril’s garage to see if I can do an oil change there. No problem of course. Kiril had a few goldwings apart there and it was interesting to see how Honda engineers them. The free riders turned up and before long the BBQ was on. Dinner was laid on and a great night ensued.

The free riders, as far as I can gather, is a kind of non-club of friends. I didn’t fully get the concept, but they’re a great bunch. Bankir (with the bowler on) lives in Omsk, and already we’ve been invited to stay there. That happens to be our next major city before Kazakhstan, so once again the planets are aligning nicely.

We found out later that Ken’s shock is in Moscow right now. It’ll be a couple of days yet before it arrives. (Hopefully by Friday and not Monday!). I have good quality oil on order which is also due on Friday. It could turn out to be a busy day!