Arctic trip - Second ATD dies in Latvia

Shadowman

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
Another day another problem

The brakes are okay and should get me home. See Tech info 5 on our web site for more details.

Today the speedo made a loud clicking noise when I pushed the bike and when I rode it the needle went around the dial and stuck. I'm not really bothered about that as it is still counting the miles correctly and I have the digital one off a bicycle to show me kph. I use the mileometer trip to tell me when to get petrol.

The bike has been running great these last few days. Yesterday the road side thermometers showed 31 degrees C air and 44 road temperature. I sat at 70 mph most of the time with my jacket open to try to keep cool. (apart from a 20 traffic jam which was exhausting)
Today was cooler and a great day to ride over 300 miles. Only one traffic jam in Germany but it must have been 10 miles long so we are both getting really good at going in between the rows of cars.
Regards
Peter
 

Shadowman

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
My favourite destination

Got home on Monday afternoon. 5600 miles. 16 countries
Now I'm packing the speedo, the 2 ATD's and the front brake shoes to be repaired.
Would I do it all again.

Without hesitation,

learning from my problems my preparation would be better.
Fuel consumption was around 53mpg.
Oil consumption was around 1.5 litres and half of that leaked out in Finland.

The bike has a standard Vincent clutch which performed perfectly.

The brakes could have been a bit better especially after the chain spray I used to get the speedo gearbox turning made its way onto the shoes.

The Alton alternator kept the lights bright but we never rode in darkness.

I changed the oil at about 2500 miles and it is ready for another now. (oil is very expensive in Scandianavia, I paid the equivalent to 30 uk pounds for 3.5 litres of Shell Helix then 12 pounds for a 1 litre top up bottle.)

Some conclusions have been put on our web site. (By Graham!)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arctic_circle_bike_trip/
Thanks for all your support.
Without advice and parts from club members It would have been a lot harder.
Peter Sprot
 
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