Imagine: A saturday – my family fully booked with horse riding and shooting, weather forcast superb for all of switzerland… I decide to leave bright and early to drive wherever TW560 takes me. although i started out as random as possible, arriving in chur gave me just a limited choice of places to go. therefore, i decided to do this trip in the opposite direction, without the passes, since they were still covered in snow. i took the motorway, since i wanted to move away from where i usually am as fast as possible. then, slowly, my battery was quite […]
my commute to work
just wanted to let you know how my everyday trip to work looks like! i’m very happy to live in switzerland! this is the view i am treated to every day. (in case of good weather, that is!)
repairs – work in progress
another quick update: TW560 is back on the road! feeling very lucky that my insurance paid for most of the damage. also, thomas did some pretty amazing work on the outer hull – most of the bits an pieces found were put back into place. below are a few pictures showing what has to be done. tw560 was treated to a new battery bay – very nice, but my favourite sticker is gone, too! ah, let’s see if i can find another one – my favourite statement! as a last touch, thomas replaced my current tyres with my favourite summer […]
IEC type 2 for TW560
remember us lamenting the unavailability of a reliable solution to connect to IEC Type2 socket – to allow for a tri-phase charge of at least one TWIKE, better two. well, finally, TW560 gets it’s type2 plug. there are multiple ways how to make this work. i downloaded the official documents from mennekes and combined the info with some of the ideas floating around on the internet. the hardware was bought in china and assembled at home. initially, i had a short cable with the release switch close to the mennekes plug. now, my solution has a longer cable with the […]
damage assessment
one day after my catastrophic rim failure, TW560 arrives at möckli elektrofahrzeuge. thomas mails me a few pictures and lets me know that this time repairs will not come cheap! let’s have a quick look, shall we? one of the first things to be subjected to abrasion is the battery bay. TW560’s battery bay wasn’t in a good shape in the first place: first rim failure and … obviously my 3 weeks in india. furthermore, a very expensive part of TW560 has had enough: the plexi hood. they are not being produced anymore and replacing it will mean sourcing some […]
check your rims, often!
last thursday evening, on my way home, TW560 experienced a major problem: a rim broke whilst going around a corner at about 55 km/h. it was a harrowing experience. first of all, a big bang. then loss of most maneuverability. after that, VERY ugly splintering and scraping sounds coming from behind whilst trying to break and trying not crash into some containers just a few metres away. after what seemed an eternity, TW560 came to a shuddering halt. i stayed in the TWIKE for a few seconds to draw some deep breaths and then got out. what i saw hurt […]
water & dirt everywhere
does your TWIKE suddenly take on massive amounts of water? is the foot well carpet always wet? …i might have a hint for you 🙂 first of all: take out the carpet! then, have a look around! aha! the culprit! an emergency stop pushed back the front wheel suspension as far as to crack the front assembly panel. all the water coming off the wheel went directly into the interior! the solution: silicone! clean out the dirt, hang up the carpets to dry and get your trusted and seasoned co-pilot to visit you and help with the repairs! being able […]
DRL project completed!
i am happy to report that the drl project for TW560 is completed. below i will share the details of how the project came together and how the bom looks like. after ordering the switchback led’s from a US-supplier and blinker covers in germany i was perfecting my DRL amtel-chip powered LED switchback solution and even created a pcb according to the prototype i wrote about in one of my last posts. after only one week – this during the festive season! – the led’s and the covers arrived and i was very happy not to have had to pay […]
happy new year!
happy new year! thank you for reading this blog! TW560 has been a trusted companion for over 19000kms in 2013. i am looking forward to an exiting 2014 with many happy e-kilometers!
DRL > a new project for TW560
18jan14-update: project finished, see result here. swiss road laws are changing. from january 1st, 2014 onwards, every vehicle on switzerland’s roads must have DRL – daylight running lights – when in motion. older vehicles without dedicated DRL can comply with this law by keeping their main lights on during daytime. a TWIKE, obviously, doesn’t have any dedicated DRL and keeping the main lights on during daytime is not an option for most TWIKE pilots, including me: using 210-260W on just a bit of lighting just seems a tad wasteful and – in tw560’s case – will shave of 6-10 kms […]