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Post by skyhook on Jun 1, 2009 17:58:01 GMT 1
Where to start ? Day one, up early and all set for off, so left early than planed. Run through London at 1:45 am was nice and quiet and no probs what so ever, Cruise down A2 to Dover no probs, just a bit cold at that time in morning,Got on a early boat than planed as we had booked 4:55 am boat for £12:50 which I thought was a good price, Booked on line. Sailing over no probs, can you see where I am going with this ?? off the other side nice and early and then we are off for about 25 miles and our first stop of the day for a bite to eat and a cup of tea. Weather was bright and sunny and getting warmer by the minute, we still dressed for the British weather ( this we will pay for later in the day ) About 100 miles from Paris our troubles started and would last for two and a half days, AuNTVy started well until and overheat and spilled all her coolant beside motorway,Sensor switch did not cut in, so there we are on side of motorway, no water and no coolant ( planed for almost everything, But this ) so after cutting some wire of one horn I rigged the fan to come on with ign, and let her cool down a bit and off we set to find a service station and some water. All toped up and cooled down we set of again, only to find she was running VERY HOT, next service station out she pumps again, more water on floor, not looking to good at this point. So top up again wait for her to cool down and off we go again. YEP you got it 25 miles later and still running hot, so this time tank off and top up rad and bottle, then off again time is marching on and now we are way behind, so with my mind on watching temp gauge we enter outskirts of Paris only to find the sat nav sent me the wrong way into Paris, No probs thinks me it should get us through ( teach me to listen to a female voice who THINKS she knows the way..lol ) So 5 hours later after turning of sat nav and finding my own way out of Paris with a over heating bike we limp on stooping every service station and tempers getting a bit over heated as well, we find our selfs way behind schedule and looking for our fist night camping with hopefully enough time to sort out bike. ( how wrong was I ) About 8 pm we stop to fuel up again and let her cool down ( both of them.....lol ) me thinking I had a Britte idea decided to remover oil filler and let her breath some cool air, while we made yet another cup of tea, so sitting there a group of bikers came in, me in my wisdom decided to ride over to them and try and explain my prob with getting coolant as me reading French is not good to say the least, well I made myself understood and managed to get a 2 .5 bottle of coolant and was all set to camp up and of with the tank again and top up rad with coolant. ( Remember my brite idear ?? ) Well I did not and after topping up water bottle on bike, Jan me other half ask " whats all the stuff up your right leg ?? " Yep you got it Brit spark here forgot to screw down oil fill, so with about an ounce of oil up me leg, I then had to check the oil, which was not as bad as I thought. ( Great first day what ) SO into camp site after a long search we camp up around 9 pm and after a bite to eat and a cpl beers, I though I would sort bike out tomorrow. So not allot of pics for first day as had other things on me mind, But got 1 or 2 and lets pray for some rain tomorrow to help keep bike cool ? By the way for anyone thinking of useing the moterway to Paris, DONT it bloody cost a bomb, almost 12 euro for a bike ?? Jan on one of our many tea, cool down stops, Not a happy bunny. And getting warmer by the min. Me topping up with water, and more tea........lol and me feet getting an airring....lol Jan asking why I aint working on bike to fix problem...........lol No rest for the wicked........lol At our first night camp site, middle of no where and beyond.....lol But a very nice camp site, cost almost 20 euro.
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Post by McF on Jun 1, 2009 18:40:38 GMT 1
Great narrative, story line is getting sad though! By the end of the first paragraph I was thinking - "trouble ahead" and sorry to see I was right.
You have probably learnt lots about cooling and coolant by now, but a few things I have learnt from similar BITTER EXPERIENCE.
You can only refill the cooling system by removing the tank and topping up from the filler. The expansion tank is exactly that - a tank into which the cooling system expands when it all gets hot. When the system cools down it sucks the coolant back out of the expansion tank. (Take a look at the pressure cap, play around with it for hours and eventually you will find that the centre will pull down a little). For this reason, it is very important to fill the system and expansion tanks to their correct levels while cool. If you dump sufficient coolant out of the system, the thermo switch to activate the fan doesn't get hot enough to turn the fan on. Eventually, the steam in the steam is hot enough to send the temp gauge to the top, but sadly, the temp gauge and fan are not connected. (Temp gauge sender is in the thermostat housing (under the petrol tank. The fan switch is on left side of the radiator)
My problem wasn't overheating, the overheating was caused by the problem. I think both head gaskets have blown (subsequently measured with a compression gauge and the indications so far point to this). While the engine is running, compressed gasses from the cylinders were passing into the cooling system causing it to overpressure, this blew the coolant out, through the expansion tank. Twenty to Twenty five miles was about enough for me to notice and I was driving back from mid Scotland to North Yorkshire, so I recognise the drive, stop, cool down, top up, drive again routine.
I hope we're going to hear your problem is simpler than mine!
PS - Jan does not look like a happy bunny in those photos! I hope she is a little cheerier now!
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Post by rj2para (Bisto) on Jun 1, 2009 20:24:13 GMT 1
What a start, I was looking forward to a tale of sun clear roads and two happy bikers heading south to gods own country.
Edge of the seat stuff, if a little more touch and go than I was expecting.
Top start. R.
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Post by McF on Jun 1, 2009 20:58:51 GMT 1
two happy bikers heading south to gods own country. Do I need to reteach the geography lesson? Skyhook lives in LONDON, which is in the SOUTH God's own country is YORKSHIRE, which is in the NORTH To get from London to God's own country travelling south is a long and awkward journey, it's much easier to just head North. Pay attention at the back - please!
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Post by skyhook on Jun 2, 2009 11:49:13 GMT 1
Day 2 Well after a bad day we was hoping for a better day, so after a tank off top up with COOLANT we set of late in the day about 11:00 am and weather was a bit cooler. Me keeping an eye on temp and speed down to 60 mph things started to look up, After a cpl hours riding temp started to move into the hi mark but not to hi, we prayed for some rain to help cool bike down, Someone must have heard us coz after about 2 in the afternoon thats what we got, so 10 mins riding in rain we pulled over to put on wets, this proved to be a waste of time. Not 10 mins after putting on wets rain stooped after a light shower, but this was enough to cool down bike, Then it hit us our worst nightmare. Mountains, BLOODY big ones and open roads ( motorway ) So there we are keeping speed down to 60 mph, nice big motorway and a overheating bike, Us thinking will she make it ??. So the big climb starts up the first bit and you guessed it up went the temp, now its sitting at the top mark but not in the red so we push on. After a stop or two to let bike cool down I begun to think its the thermostat thats causing the prob, but with min tools not the place to tackle the job, so me being the Britte spark again decides to coast down hill to help with cooling, This worked and brought temps down enough for us to push on,But we had to up the speed to help with cooling. ( I know that don't sound right, but it worked ) The views where great and the ride was getting better, but we still had not reached the top. One thing I will say at this point, other bikers where GREAT and always waved at us and even when we pulled over on side of motorway, many stop to ask if we where ok, SO my hats off to all foreign bikers. After a few stops for pics and a bite to eat we pushed on to get over the top, after reaching the summit I thought great now I can do lots of coasting to help cool bike, then it HAPPENED. Just got over the top with temp sitting on the top mark and i took my eye of it foe a sec, only to look back and see it drop like a brick to half way, Me thinking something had broke and was I seeing things ? I pulled into next pit stop. Now after checking bike over and finding nothing wrong I am now very confused. So again we push on and weather being very hot and me thinking someone has answered our prayers the temp sits at just below half, so I push the speed up to 80 mph and still it sits at halfway, Now with all the bikers who waved I feel like i have been riding with only one hand on the bars, as the other one is always waveing........lol But things started to look good and I even managed to pass a group of BIG bikes and give them a wave and my dust.....lol ( felt bloody good to me after being passed by so many ) So with bike keeping cool, weather getting hotter, the views getting better we pushed on with lifted spirits, and at a faster pace, We made up a bit of time, and me feeling like a pig in sh** after passing some bikes. ( Now if only I could have got a pic of the grin on my face ).....lol Now this part of the motorway was great, coming down the other side it was quiet a bit twisty and the views where to die for, did not get many pics as did not want to stop while things where going right....lol. So now time to look for our second night camping ground, this proved to be a bit daunting as after going through a village and picking up the signs for camping we had come quiet away of the beating track, but we found our camp site and set up for the night, Jan feeling a bit better by this time and even brought me a beer.........lol ( God the things I have to do to get a beer.........lol ) Second day and feeling a lot better, You can see how much we had on the bike, and the panniers acting like air brakes prob did not help at all. The view from a pit stop and a bite to eat, what a better day this was, and getting better by the moment. Our second night camp site, and if you look you can see the coolant bottle we ended up with and half empty by this time.
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Post by Jaz66 on Jun 2, 2009 14:10:16 GMT 1
Ah skyhook, what an epic....Don't know whether to laugh or cry ;D Just reading before going to work, will post back later. Ps no wonder bike was having trouble, Just look at the size of tent you Feckin well got..... and its green ...YUK
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Post by skyhook on Jun 3, 2009 15:55:34 GMT 1
Day 3 A nice night sleep and an early start we off on our last leg of the trip to Spain, This we had to push a bit as we was way behind our planned timetable, with a tad over 400 miles to go and not looking forward to any more overheating bike. This was our best day so far all though it was a long day, Everything went right for the first time on this trip, Bike run cool weather was nice and the roads where just right, With enough twist and turns and straights to make it a joy to ride. But it was not all plain sailing, Just after crossing the border we decided to run up on the motor way and try and make up some time, up until now we had done well with miles and time. Then 5 miles up on motorway it happen, Standing still traffic and peeps walking all over road, so after about 2 hours of very slow filtering we got of motorway onto the national 2, and getting hotter again, Us that is not the bike for a change........lol So around 9:00 pm we roll into our camp site, knacked and very thirsty, after a quick chat with campsite rep we jumped into shower and off to the bar for a drink and a bite to eat. Our lodge Jan on the booze.......lol Just resting her saddle sores Just a coke for me.....lol Just haveing a coke, Honest..........lol This was outside a friends bar in Tossa De Mar about 10 miles north of where we was staying.
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Post by skyhook on Jun 4, 2009 9:32:31 GMT 1
The start of our Hol at camp site. Well after a good nights sleep and a long lay in we set of up to Tossa De Mar to check out an old m8s bar, been a long time I was last up this way, and also last time i was driving a coach, so forgot how twisty the road was. But what a bikers dream road this was only about 5 miles of it, But it was great fun trying to keep up with the locals who use it for a speed run, lots of twist and turns and enough to keep you on your toes, Lucky for me Jan was on the back and pulled me up, or I might have done myself some damage.......lol. Spent a cpl days riding this road as it was great and was just finding my lines so could almost keep up with the locals........lol ( I wish........ lol ) Blanes was a bit dull after a cpl days riding this road and each time we went back to camp site we took a different route, On one time going back we had a nutter who tried to ram me coming off the pavement, Then only to try and overtake me with him so close he had he's knees inside my fairing, I not sure who jumped the most Jan or him when he relished how close he was, SO after me riping me helmet front up and shouting a bit of abuse at him he back of quiet abit and turned of as we where going up a one way street, Lucky for him as I was about to stop and show him the side of my helment..........lol The week went soon enough, what with lazy around the pool and beach and a few nights in the bars, SO time was getting round to when we would have to start the trip home. The view from the road halfway up to Tossa Some of the road The beach The pool, and yes that is my feet.........lol, As you can see the place was only half full so was quiet for this time of year, So even they are feeling the crunch. Chris the one on the right, Campsite rep, and a biker.......lol So had long chats with him, over even longer drinks............lol Has not been on hes bike for awhile so here he is getting some practice in on a bar stool.........lol Come on Chris get yer knee down man, lean into it a bit more..........lol
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Post by wellsplattered on Jun 6, 2009 12:43:14 GMT 1
Hey, enjoying the read. Bad luck on the problems with the bike! Very envious you saw some beach. Looks fantastic Looking forward to the next installment
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Post by skyhook on Jun 7, 2009 15:13:50 GMT 1
Trip home. The trip home only took us two days as the bike preformed like a dream with no probs what soever, no over heating even in the hottest part of the day, Which makes me believe it's a thermostat problem. Our fist night stop over was even better as the site was run by a Dutch cpl who where bikers and made us feel very welcome, and even offers us a group discount should we decide to come back with more biker's Even to the point they would lay on a band and a main meal all in, Which I might add was very good rates and on par with the rest of sites in France. So something to think about should some of you decide to go as a group. Me and Jan would like to go back again, so anyone thinking about it give us a shout..........lol. Our second days run home almost went uneventfully except a cpl times we almost run out of fuel and could not find a fuel stop, We managed to do 30 miles first time on reserve and 35 the second time on reserve, But was panicking the second time as the roads where very empty and out in the middle of nowhere.......lol We made it home about half past four in the morning after a 560 ish mile ride, Knacked and looking forward to a big comfy bed.....lol Jan, all doom and gloom as we are on way home.........lol Bike taking a well earned rest after first days run home. Our home away from home.........lol Pit stop for tea.........lol One of many........lol Nice roads when just after this we switched to reserve and no fuel stops and did 30 miles on reserve. After one days running, Wonder if this caused the over heating.........lol Yes i did clean her everyday to keep this down. View on one of many pit stops.
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Post by skyhook on Jun 7, 2009 15:31:49 GMT 1
Now anyone thinking of doing a trip like this ? GET OUT AND DO IT, As although we had a cpl probs we had LOADS of fun and would do it again in a heartbeat, maybe a little bit better prepared but yes we both agreed it was well worth the time and effort put into it. Cost was min, Time ? not enough, Fun factor= MAX and plus' Do it, don't wait until its to late, don't find excuser's, Make up your mind and go and have max fun min cost, worth every penny and time spent, Roll on next year........lol As I said before every time we pulled over on the road and looked like we had probs almost every bike that past us stop to ask if we was OK! except the 3 British bikers who passed without even a wave ( Shame on who ever they where ) and yes they could see we where Brits as they came up road behind us and could see our reg plate. Route ? Find your own route, thats half the fun, camp site ?? again find them as and when they come up, again thats fun as you never know what your going to get. Time ? two weeks is about right, enough time to get there and enough time to rest before the trip home, Which I might add is half the hol in its self. Cost ?? We spent a little under £800 for whole trip and thats with beer money and food, so no excuse for not trying it your selfs. We of coarse had backup money which we did not need. Would we do it all again ? When can YOU!! be ready...........................lol We already are..................lol
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Post by rj2para (Bisto) on Jun 8, 2009 20:36:10 GMT 1
Thanks guys great tale. Shame you had problems but pleased the bike seems ok now. An inspirational post. I plan to do it at some point when the kids have left the nest . Thanks again. Roger
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Post by skyhook on Dec 8, 2009 17:00:32 GMT 1
Thought I would post this here so them that have not read about our last trip to Spain could read up on it. Next year we plan to retrace our steps but without the probs....lol. We already have one bike (2 up) and pos a car as back up for next year, So any one want to try for a cpl weeks riding in the sun is more than welcome. We try and stay well clear of toll roads and not much motorway riding and enjoy the country side. Plane is to do about 300 miles each day and I start the ride on the other side of the channel, Boulonge is where we start out first days run, down the coast for a bit to Rouen so staying well away from Paris............lol First night stop just south of Orleans just to give you an idea of the route, Try ed putting a map on here but it ain't working.......lol Woo Hooo I got it to work.........lol Try the link at bottom.......lol B is our first night, C our second This is just a rough guide as things could change. Roads are a bit of a mix so some think there for everyone, Took me about 5 tanks at a rough price of £15 to refill tank again just a rough guide Any thoughts or tips again is welcome, and again anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome. This again will be about end of May begin of June, again this is just a rough guide. Sky N Jan's Spanish run to the sun map
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Post by oddjob1 on Dec 8, 2009 18:58:54 GMT 1
i might be interested...similar route i use to visit my relatives..place near tonniens..about 50 miles sw of bergerac..same route up to vierzon then i go through chateauroux,limoges,perigueux,bergerac,marmande...usually do this trip in 1 go..700 miles about 13 hour trip including ferry....not sure my ntv gonna be good enough yet
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Post by skyhook on Dec 8, 2009 19:21:01 GMT 1
Looking to do not much more than 6 hours in the saddle at a time, Should give us enough time to look at views ... ETC
!3 hours is a bit much, I know I have done it and felt knackerd for a cpl days after..........lol But your more than welcome to tag along even if it's part way.
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