Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:41 am
Got home late Monday.
Off to collect GYU from the trailer storage today.
Alternator failed on Day 2; I heeded earlier advice and brought a spare so it was a relatively quick roadside swap for us in the sunshine with Tristan and Lou's help.
An infuriating intermittent total cut-out problem eventually became permanent; Team North happened to pass by and Dean located the problem, which was the wire from ignition switch to ballast resistor (exactly as predicted by Bengt).
Wore out 2x front tyres; had 2x spares so no problem.
Otherwise, ran beautifully on fabulous roads, amazing scenery, great company, too much food and drink, bank account empty, waistline overflowing.
Great job by all involved especially dealing with tired people complaining.
Special honours go to Andy Carter and Graham Rood for putting in 28 hours work each day fixing multiple issues (sadly ADU 311B and Andy Yates' cracked bellhousing were beyond their help), and Ruth for endless smoothing of paths.
Hopefully in due course we can compile a list of common failures so we can all learn from it, but a few from my recollection: Alternator, generator, regulator, clutch master, front bearing welding itself to stub axle (spare on truck), sump plug coming loose, cracked steel wheels, propshaft wearing out, fuel evaporation in the Cote d'Azur heat - and running out of fuel!
The hardy and the brave are still out there, on the vineyard tour, the Iberia tour or the Italy tour, or merely driving all the way home to Sweden.
Worth a Cat's Whiskers on its own.
Off to collect GYU from the trailer storage today.
Alternator failed on Day 2; I heeded earlier advice and brought a spare so it was a relatively quick roadside swap for us in the sunshine with Tristan and Lou's help.
An infuriating intermittent total cut-out problem eventually became permanent; Team North happened to pass by and Dean located the problem, which was the wire from ignition switch to ballast resistor (exactly as predicted by Bengt).
Wore out 2x front tyres; had 2x spares so no problem.
Otherwise, ran beautifully on fabulous roads, amazing scenery, great company, too much food and drink, bank account empty, waistline overflowing.
Great job by all involved especially dealing with tired people complaining.
Special honours go to Andy Carter and Graham Rood for putting in 28 hours work each day fixing multiple issues (sadly ADU 311B and Andy Yates' cracked bellhousing were beyond their help), and Ruth for endless smoothing of paths.
Hopefully in due course we can compile a list of common failures so we can all learn from it, but a few from my recollection: Alternator, generator, regulator, clutch master, front bearing welding itself to stub axle (spare on truck), sump plug coming loose, cracked steel wheels, propshaft wearing out, fuel evaporation in the Cote d'Azur heat - and running out of fuel!
The hardy and the brave are still out there, on the vineyard tour, the Iberia tour or the Italy tour, or merely driving all the way home to Sweden.
Worth a Cat's Whiskers on its own.
