It’s time to tackle a new project: last year’s display restoration entry hinted at me wanting to start the process of restoring the main console and other wooden parts in my TWIKE.
Using wood as the main working material for all the visible console and control surfaces and casings seems like a good and sustainable idea.
23 years later, the wood is showing the strains of being exposed to bitter Swiss winters at -26°C and scorching heat. The wood is splintering and breaking and all my attempts to keep the wood clean and in oread about the repairne piece were not successful.
The middle console itself is a complex piece of wood with multiple angles and two different types of displays. The top one was developed by TWIKE AG itself and houses all switches plus a digital speed display. I’ve had to repair this upper display unit already – if you want to see how the inside of this part looks like … read about the repair. Today it just remains a pain to keep the plastic part in the wooden part without the help of lots of glue or double-sided tape.
The lower display is essentially Wood’s controller panel that has been removed from the inverter and – with the help of a longer cable has been moved to the lower part of the console. I’ve already shown the bad state the plastic is in here. The buttons still work most of the time but the plastic is very brittle and is breaking off bit by bit, This, unfortunately will only be repairable by replacing the panel with an old-new part of which I have two left.
Buying an other inverter from Wood’s and repurposing the panel would be a possibility…only problem is that these inverters are pretty sought after and even after 20 years cost an arm and a leg. Without the panel the inverter is essentially worthless – this is why I’m currently very happy to have two spares ready.
The handbrake stalk is in good shape except for lots of residue – sweat and sunscreen. This will be easy to remove and restore.
Same thing with the yoke. Here the damage to the wood is slightly more extensive as the hand never leaves the yoke. I’ll have to speak to the experts on how to restore the lower part where there is only raw wood.
I’ll start with the restoration after TDF2023 – TWIKE 560’s newest long-distance adventure!