Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 3/3)

Finally, after being very busy, I’m able to conclude TDE2017‘s TLC for TW560. After ~30’000km driven since I bought the new pack, I figured it would be time to see how the cells were doing and balance the pack to restore its full capacity. Unlike my last pack that just had 15 balancer ports, this pack has 2x3x7=42 such ports. (The answer to all questions πŸ˜‰ ) Balancing this battery pack will definitely take longer than before! According to Ralph, inventor of the TWIKE and vendor of my current pack, balance cycles per port should be around 15 minutes – […]

Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 2/3)

With part 1/3 TW560 taken care of, it’s time to put my focus on two other issues: After just one day of constant wiper usage during a storm in Hungary, TW560’s acrylic windscreen is badly scratched and needs urgent attention. When the sun or lights from oncoming traffic hits the windscreen, I’m almost blind. Lots and lots of dirt in my TWIKE Let’s start with TW560’s windscreen: This is how my windscreen looked like before I started the procedure.   Luckily, a few years ago, I found a new method to polish the plastic back to perfection.   Another picture […]

Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 1/3)

Unlike our many other yearly TWIKE adventures, TDE2017 took a heavy toll on TW560. Time to give TW560 some TLC and make TWIKEing great again! πŸ™‚ First stop is at Andreas Martin’s Ksenotek, Switzerland’s newest TWIKE service partner in northern Switzerland. The 360Β° sphere below was created by me during TWIKE Klub Switzerland’s 2016 general assembly which started at Andreas’ workshop.   Use your mouse to pan around in any direction. Andreas workshop is right behind you πŸ™‚   As usual, Andreas greets me enthusiastically and before he starts working on my TWIKE offers me a coffee and catches up […]

TDE2017 – Day11: A last climb to 1675m & home sweet home!

Welcome to the last day of our trans-European TWIKE trip, TDE2017. Weather throughout the last few days has been more or less grey and cold. (or just plain horrible). With our roof on, we can brave more or less any kind of weather, but TWIKEing is definitely about the experience with the roof off – enjoying the quiet humming of the electric motor and being able to hear the sounds around the vehicle. Today, we were pleasantly surprised by rays of sun waking us and some blue sky greeting us outside.   After breakfast, we get back to our fully […]

TDE2017 – Day 10: Salzburg and (finally) back to the Alps

I blame, yet again, post-midnight alcohol consumption for us not leaving early… Austria’s very drinkable white wine is just too tasty and chatting with members of my family just makes time fly by much too fast. We bid our farewells until October, where we all will, as every year, meet again in Styria. Driving out of Linz direction Wels, we finally see something we’ve both missed dearly for some days now: Hills and mountains. We both agree that it’s absolutely more fun to cross mountain ranges than flatlands.   Unlike the last few days, today, we take our time. Weather […]

TDE2017 – Day 9: R&R in Linz

We stayed up until way after mid-night. I blame the very tasty white wine. πŸ™‚ Our only drive-free day on this year’s TWIKE adventure is filled with feel-good activities and interesting stuff for my daughter. Exiting the building my uncle lives in, I chuckled at yet again a very Austrian name and the implications it could have if applied to an international – specifically, an English-speaking – environment…   This name reminds me of the last names of two Swiss people I’ve met: Mr. Killer and… Mrs. Boner πŸ˜€ Today, even TW560 gets some well-deserved rest!   First thing planned […]

TDE2017 – Day 8: Bye bye Vienna – hello Linz

Since yesterday’s evening lasted well into the early hours of today, we get up later than usual and have a slow breakfast with my family in Vienna. Eventually, we had to get back on the road to Linz. Fortunately, apart from being overcast, today’s weather was fine. We disconnect the TWIKE and start today’s 180km drive towards Linz.   The leftovers of yesterday’s freak weather event were still very visible today…   Winds were still high – shaking the snow off the trees and giving us a real winter wonderland feeling…in late April!   About 50km outside of Vienna we […]

TDE2017 – Day 7: No fun!

Even with us both visualizing a sunny day today, we are greeted by heavy rain with interspersed snow flakes. YUK! After breakfast we leave Budapest on the motorway – we don’t like driving along smaller roads when it rains. Should the rain stop later on, we still can leave the motorway and go back to our original route.   My Austrian family is waiting for me in Vienna and expects us sometime after 5pm – with all this time at our disposal, we had planned to visit Bratislava – Slovakia’s very pretty capital city. (TW560 has already been to Bratislava […]

TDE2017 – Day 6: Hotel Intercontinental to the rescue!

Sun streaming into our room wakes us this morning and we enjoy a beautiful view of Balaton lake. Our breakfast remains in true style of this hotel’s left-over soviet groove: Both my daughter and I don’t feel like eating anything from the warm buffet – both the moltofil-like scrambled eggs and the barely fried bacon seem to be comfortable in their puddle of fat – I’ll spare you the description of the other things on offer. The whole breakfast process reminded me of my last experience with post-soviet breakfasting. I had some (exceptionally tasty) cold-cuts and patΓ© with some crispy […]

TDE2017 – Day 5: Pushing the limits & welcome Balaton.

Welcome back to our adventure! Today we’re going to drive rather far to reach Balaton lake. Whilst doing so, we will cross most of Slovenia and cross in and out of Croatia before entering Hungary and reaching our destination. After a night of heavy rain and high winds – which we got to feel directly with the rain beating against the windows of our hotel room. Being kept awake because of this was only a minor inconvenience, since rain falling though the night is not rain falling the next day. As we emerge from the cozy warmth of the parking […]