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. […]

Since deciding that I needed some time off, time has just flown by. Now, just one day away from my next trans-European TWIKE adventure TDI2019, everything is as ready as it can be. The usual GPS-tracking is going to be active and unlike other years, I will not write the entries at the end of […]

What a year this has been – completely destroying my vehicle in an accident, fully rebuilding it during 6 months! Very happy to report that all is back to normal and TW560 is a joy to drive again. Haven’t been blogging in a while as my job at a start-up has been taking up most […]

As one of the last parts of my full restoration of TW560 after an accident completely destroyed the vehicle and needed extensive re-building from the ground I thought it to be fitting to go all the way and spend some money on a new interior. This isn’t a decision based purely on luxury – the […]

How time flies – it’s already been 2 years since I installed my 51Ah 17.7kWh LiNiCoAlO2-Cell-based battery pack. For better battery health and less ageing my daily charge is only to 3.8V cell charge, I never discharge below 3.3V and balance the cell packs from time to time. As my daily commute is only around […]

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 […]

After my first km and various smaller trips resulting in extensive testing of TW560’s rebuild, it was time to go to Ksenotek for one last rebuild session for some last finishing touches. A new wooden battery bay cover – the last one was just plain wood. This time over I’m getting a beautifully lacquered one. […]