Our new battery is being wired so that it will fit in one of our panniers. An up side of needing to replace a defective battery is that we now have a simpler set up with one battery, one charger and an inconspicuous place to store it on the bike. At the end of the day, we simply remove the pannier and carry it to our room.
We are back at camp and very happy that our bike is ready for the open roadWell, the day is finally here. We have made it to Akkurad. During this "adventure" of coming to terms with our e-bike breaking down, we have had many doubts....Did we make a big and costly mistake fitting Seavo with a motor? Is our bike and load too heavy? Did we do something wrong to make it stop working? What will we do next? Should we choose an easier route? In the midst of this, Barry's mom had a slight health issue - should we just go home? Well, first of all, Barry's mom is now ok and that is the most important thing. Then we decided to see a bit more of Poland, riding to Wroclaw and staying there a few days - a very good decision. And then we came up with the plan to return to Akkurad. Oussama and Jorg at Akkurad have been with us all the way in continual phone and email support. They would have sent us the parts we need and offered to talk the local mechanic through the process on a conference call. The one thing that was clear to us was that we wanted to make the trek back to the guys at Akkurad who had done the original work. They are experts in the world of converting bikes to electric and we trust them completely. It made sense to us to go back and ensure that our bike and motor were ok. In the midst of our confusion of what to do and second guessing our decision to convert our bike, both of us never doubted that it was the right thing to return to Akkurad. So, we are excited to make the 2 km ride to see them and get our bike working again.
Our Bafang 8Fun electric motor being taken apart so that a new controller can be installed
As you can see the repair job needs efficient teamwork, Jorg and Houssem doing the work plus an interested stoker ("rear admiral" according to Barry) who is trying to learn from the experts.
One of our batteries is defective and will not charge. In fact after 8 hours of charging the battery was dead. The boys at Akkurad spent 7 hours problem solving and working on our bike. At one point they had tried two new different batteries but they wouldn't fit on the bike. Finally, this battery was chosen. It is the same power as our two old batteries and it is enclosed in a waterproof Pelican case. It will fit in one of our panniers.
Jorg is going to spend his two week holiday in Berlin helping 30 disabled riders on a bicycle tour. All the riders will be riding the trike that Mary Ellen is test riding. It is a Russian designed trike that is now being made in the United States. It is called the Anthrotech.
This is a poster at Akkurad of the Spezi Festival that is held every year in Germersheim, Germany. We have always wanted to attend the Spezi(special bikes)festival as it is the penultimate destination for lovers of all things wild and wonderful in the recumbent world. Akkurad was one of the orginal organizers of the event years ago.
Our new battery is being wired so that it will fit in one of our panniers. An up side of needing to replace a defective battery is that we now have a simpler set up with one battery, one charger and an inconspicuous place to store it on the bike. At the end of the day, we simply remove the pannier and carry it to our room.
Jorg is also heading home. Probably very tired after painstakingly helping us all day with our problems and communicating in his second language of English. We are grateful to Jorg for his commitment and caring for us and for doing such a good job.
