TWIKE 560's adventures

During the last few days I’ve been publishing ‘old’ entries on my blog and a few readers reached out to me as they were wondering if something was amiss. All is good (…as someone else tweeted regarding something much more serious) – These entries were just overdue and I’m posting them with the correct date […]

At the end of 2019, I look back at a very nice and fun-packed year with my favourite of all vehicles: TWIKE 560. 2019 was a very busy year. It saw me travelling around 80% and being away for weeks at a time. Most notable was November where I enjoyed full two weeks in warm […]

After a gloriously refreshing night of undisturbed sleep thanks to super-fresh air and no noise, I wake super-refreshed even after a boozy night smoking multiple cigars.   Seb and I meet downstairs for breakfast with fresh Zopf and home-made jam and honey which we eat enjoying the same incredible view on his balcony. Life could […]

Given that I slept in a communal space, it was surprising that I woke up refreshed when the rays of the early morning sun filtered into the room. Grabbing my overnight bag I head upstairs to the upper desk passing still-closed bars to get a glimpse of what’s going on around the ferry and find […]

My last day in Spain has come. I have to get to Barcelona early, as I need to get a full charge to be able to get to Seb’s on one charge. Seb is a long-time friend and reader of this blog who lives in lower Valais. There are only a few commercial charging options […]

After not having slept well due to excessive noise levels outside of the hotel, I get up early and look out of my room to check if TW560 is still there. Two things to report … Good news: it’s still there. Bad news: something else TW560-related appeared overnight: a huge new oil leak. I really […]

We get up at 5 am and pack both car and TWIKE. My family is heading to Sète in southern France as they liked the pictures and description I gave them and wanted to experience the place for themselves. I will drive to Valencia today. Instead of taking the same road back along the coast, […]

This entry is a compilation of some thoughts, stuff TW560 or I experienced and some pics of my stay in southern Spain this year. First, in Switzerland in 2019 there is already a massive market penetration rate of electric cars, especially Tesla’s, but also many other brands. When driving the 20km to my office, I […]

After a very relaxing night at our home in Liria, we parents get up early. Today we’re up at 6 am, as we are covering much less distance today. Our kids will sleep late until around 10 am and then have a Spanish breakfast at one of the local Churrerias before leaving towards San Juan […]

Returning to check on the charge after our drive-free day in Valencia (a town well worth a visit!) everything was OK regarding the charge… but there was another issue manifesting itself on the floor of the garage I was parking in: A puddle of oil! Hmm. Even if a TWIKE only has around 150 ml […]

A relaxing drive-free day in Barcelona with my family is just what I needed. As a family, we’ve been to Barcelona many times. Long before flygskam we loved taking the train from Switzerland to our place in southern Spain. Door to door this trip took us a full 24h and was a great way to […]

Drinking generous amounts of French Rosé Wine induces deep sleep – this is my learning for yesterday’s fabulous evening with my B&B’s hosts, sharing dinner and them telling me many things about France I didn’t know yet. Today, I’m crossing into Spain and will meet up with my family in Barcelona. Before thinking further about […]

Another great day greets me at 5.30 am. Cool air promises a few hours of perfect TWIKEng across France before the sun heats up the air again.   Today I’ll be driving to the sea and along the coast before heading to a small picturesque village called Cruzy and a stay at a B&B. Another […]

I’m probably getting old … for two reasons: Didn’t sleep too well after staying up until way after 1am and having a few drinks whilst chatting with old friends and my body wasn’t at all impressed by me wanting to get up at 5.30 am instead of my usual 5 am and saw me super-awake […]

Today is the day! The side-bar countdown seemed to melt away in no time during the last 20 or so days. With my experience of many TWIKE adventures I was able to pack my bags and required cables for this trip within 30 minutes late Thursday evening after a late business meeting that saw me […]

TWIKE560 is on it’s way to southern Spain! Follow me here with the usual entries and see where I am exactly thanks to TW560’s GPS track!

Balancing batteries is an important part of maintaining pack health. Especially with a battery pack that doesn’t have an active cell-level BMS monitoring every cell. TWIKE 560 currently has three 100-cell stacks which all would need an own balancing connection – a BMS would be adding weight, considerable amounts of cabling and complexity to the […]

It’s been a while since my last post – life’s been hectic and super-busy. There are many draft entries in my queue waiting to be finished… One thing I’m looking forward, though, is our summer holiday as a family this year. We’re heading to Spain and staying at my wife’s parents apartment outside of Alicante. […]

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned anything about the development of next-gen TWIKE’s. My TWIKE is a third-generation TWIKE that went into production over 27 years ago and is still in production today! The first version of TWIKE’s were a human powered recumbent bike for two people, capable of sustaining 50 km/h for 50km. […]

Have you had canopy fasteners coming off the frame and staying in the canopy thus creating a not-so watertight problem? Don’t despair – I have a handy and easy way to fix it.   Just buy M4x15 screws, helical spring washers, M4 nyloc nuts and a 4.1 metal drill. Carefully place the drill in the […]

Part of the TWIKE community reaching out to me after destroying TW560 was me being offered to drive TW600. Caroline and I have known each other for a few years now and I’ve been her primary gateway for most questions around her vehicle as we both live in the same (small) village. During the handover […]

Finally – the day I’ve been waiting for has come! TW560 is ready for a first week of driving in minimum configuration in order to detect any major problems before going ahead and concentrating on the remaining details. I will be collecting TW560 from Andi in a ‘barely driveable’ state. This means: No fog lights […]

As TW560 cannot monopolize Andi’s business for days on end, TW560’s revival had to pause for a few days. Other TWIKEs need repairs, too! We rejoin the action for the second part of TW560’s re-build. The goal for today is to get TW560’s back on its own wheels, able to break and propel itself – […]

I was very much looking forward to this part: Finally, TW560 is going to be put back together, as a Chimera of TW560’s main parts, TW524’s outer hull and TWxxx’s hood. It will take time to get used to. But I have really missed my TWIKE unlike any other possession I’ve had in my life. […]

Three months without TW560 taken its toll on me. No long therapeutic drives across Switzerland’s beautiful landscapes. No tinkering with my TWIKE to keep it in tip-top shape. After working really hard for a few weeks, I decided to take a day off from work and asked Andreas from Ksenotek if I could take on […]