Tauerntreffen 2010

[guest146]

I love bikes and riding but I dont get this torture when going camping in snow. Is it the the beer or the chalenge of riding in it?  I am cold enough in on a bad day here. I could just about see the challenge of riding in it if I were in my 20s or it was part of a longer tour.
Tell me what I am missing

Ken

[guest7]

For me it's the challenge of the trip, despite the fact that the locals ride and drive in that weather all the time 

GC

[jules]

Tell me what I am missing

Ken

If i had to explain you wouldnt understand

[Mark]

Tell me what I am missing

Ken

If i had to explain you wouldnt understand

Excellent.

Does this post mean you are back home?

[jules]

Yep,
home and now thawed ,although still trying to get used to my surroundings,have to remember that i dont have to crouch right down to get through the front door,empting the boot on the chair and found a still frozen(covered in ice) tin of Goulash soup,it was cold cold cold full trip report coming soon

[Mark]

Looking forward to the report.

[guest868]

Awesome.

[Andy M]

Glad everyone made it. Full report to follow, but I made it to the elefant with the start of an electrical problem (spent an hour on the side of the A-3, it's traditional you know  ), so decided to get the rally related shopping done, have a walk round and retire back into Regensburg just as it was getting dark. BTW, If Triumph ever make a 395cc single with it's own spare pot built in, don't buy one,  they are flat out at 55 and make a horrible mess of the exhaust that's in use. Had another couple of little fault finding sessions on the A-3 next day then a full on white-out complete with multiple car pile up and trucks that then couldn't climb the hill past it due to ice, between Frankfurt and Koln  Found the loose *****y wire before I retired to a local hostalry though  Koln-Amsterdam was fine once I'd done a bump start routine (different fault  ), got totally wrecked in Amsterdam, then did it again (next day obviously) to get to the ferry. Had to do a rolling bump start down the ferry ramp this morning complete with massive exhaust pop, which woke up the boys in blue and had at least one reaching for the safety catch  . (Their dog gave the handler a right dirty look when he ducked, which had me smirking through security, passport control, customs etc.    )  Now at home (obviously), the big fault seems to be lack of charging. I think a battery fault I had last summer may have come home to roost, but we'll see.

A slight correction, I've done this trip three times. I got the full experience in 2004, the visits onto the hardshoulder that year were down to sliding Dutchmen and their BMW's. In 2007 I turned back at Regensberg after falling off three times in fifteen miles in a blizzard (going on a solo Bonneville on road tyres, was, in hind sight, totally ****ing insane). This year I got the badge, the hangover and the means to get another hangover (at least a years supply of dutch gin   ) even though my (possibly) total loss electrical system (no horn and slow flashing indicators by the time I reached Leeds; it was close) did sort of cut down the fun.

Thanks for the invite to the Dragon, but I've a feeling homelife will be easier if I decline, I've my Dad's 65th on Saturday and I've a feeling beer money may be heading towards some sort of investment in copper.

Many thanks for the kind thoughts and encouraging texts.

Andy

[guest18]

Great stuff, glad you all made it and had a (couple of) grand day(s) out 

[Simon#83]

Glad to hear you made it to the Eleffant Andy. Road conditions were certainly challenging at times!

I spent yesterday acclimatising to the warmer environment and sorting out the bike and camping gear. There was a small pile of Austrian snow on the garage floor after I unrolled my tent!

I gave the bike a quick wash and it seems to have scrubbed up well. Part of the painted swingarm has received a light polishing from the snowchains.

Electrical gremlins seem to have been the order of the day for me, with the starting issues at both rallies (seems to be sorted now) and salt water getting into the auxiliary power socket rendering it useless, and also premature corrosion of a connector on the heated grips (impressed with the muffs though!) and on the HID headlight bulb. The water/salt or cold also killed off my cheap Sat Nav unit which refuses to wake up. The battery charging seems to be working OK, but I can't get anything on the display. I'm wondering if very cold temperatures can kill an LCD display? I'll open it up tonight if I get a chance.

Having only done about 500 miles on the Tenere before setting off, I now have a much better understanding of the bike. I really like the big tank range (I understand you can get up to 300 miles) and found the seat to quite comfy and slightly better than the DR's was. The neck ache I'd experienced on the Llanthony weekend didn't appear and I was getting nearly 60mpg on a few stints which I reckon is pretty good considering the weight it was lugging.

I adjusted the chain a little (didn't carry extra Scott oil for the whole trip) and if I get a chance I'll see if I can get the power socket to work again. I put a conventional bulb back into the headlight at one of the petrol stops, so that's sorted. I'll probably leave the heated grips for now seeing as I didn't have them turned on all the way from Austria.

I took a few photos and a tiny bit of video footage at the Tauerntreffen which I'm hoping to get online soon.


Simon

 

[Andy M]

. I'm wondering if very cold temperatures can kill an LCD display?


 

Certainly. The automotive LCD displays used by one of the competitors at my former job would work OK down to a little below freezing and survive to wake up again down to minus 40. If they froze with a code displayed that's all they'd ever show again, they assumed your workshop would be heated and no driver would ever manage to set the (diagnostic) display going (obviously never met a British truck driver). We used an LED to flash out a code, jurasic technology but they worked when the electronics inside were down at minus 40. I'm sure the right sort of LCD can work at minus-stupid temps but they'll have a price tag to match.

Glad you made it.

Still working on my electrical problem. With the battery now charged the number of button presses to get it to turn is now down to about one in three. Jumping the solenoid gives 100% sucess. When the engine runs it charges. I'm now thinking some sort of short. I've a new starter solenoid on the way and think the next plan is to take the frame-loom and switch gear out of the picture.

Andy