| Andy's Adventure 2011 | ||||||||||||
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| The Adventure is over but the memories remain | ||||||||||||
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| The next adventure is in the planning stage. See Here | ||||||||||||
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| If you are interested in hosting a 3 hour presentation for your club etc., and you can supply a digital projector and screen, please contact me via e-mail | ||||||||||||
 Andrew E Lander Stow |
 Joatmoa |
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| My Grandchildren in Scotland sent me two pictures - Thank you Kristian and Evie xxxx | ||||||||||||
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| The Adventure began on Friday 13th May 2011 | ||||||||||||
| I was an Englishman in a land of foreigners! Follow me on Facebook as well (Andrew E Lander Stow)` | ||||||||||||
| Diary Updated - 1st July - Photos added from Week 4! | ||||||||||||
| At the age of 58 (I was
hatched in 1952) all of the rattling noises in my head finally stopped as the
last 'marble of sanity' made it's escape from my head! Free from all constraints of sanity, reason, sensibility, and common sense, I've made up what is left of my mind to go and see a statue. To do this I have had to decide upon a mode of transport which would keep me happy and a plan of attack. So the order has been placed and the game of 'logistics' can begin. |
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| I started this idea a few
weeks ago when I visited David Angel at
F2 Motorcycles on
the 14th Oct '10. David is the importer of the Jawa 350 motorcycle which I was
interested in looking at. The bike weighs in at 149kgs - give or take a few
European kilos. This makes it nearly ideal for carrying in the back of a
motorcaravan for when Brenda and I retire. Unfortunately David is also the
importer of a Russian bike which I've fallen for! I suppose I'd better show you a picture of it now.......... |
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| Andy's Adventure 2011...cont | |
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| Ugly ennit? | |
| Reasons for buying a Ural
750cc Cross... 1) 750cc air-cooled engine with a flat torque curve starting just above tickover 2) Carburettors not injection 3) Manually adjustable valve clearances with screw and locknut adjustment 4) Stainless exhaust system 5) Brembo front disc brake 6) Sachs Shocks 7) Herzog gearbox internals - including a proper reverse gear (unlike the electric Goldwing reverse) 8) Keihin Carbs 9) Shaft drive 10)Nippon Denso Alternator with enough 'oomph' to run a car 11)A spare wheel which fits the sidecar and rear wheel 12)Italian electrics including electronic ignition - Yes, it's not UK spec but better than the original Russian spec 13)Waterproof electrical joints 14)SKF Bearings and proper metric oil seals 15)Electric and Kick-start 16)It's got three wheels and doesn't fall over so easily as a motorbike 17)I'm nuts! So there we have the vehicle. |
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On the 17th November '10 I'm off to Melton Mowbray to buy some pies...Sorry... to have sidecar lessons with Len Tempest. No website but his telephone number is 07831 778083 or e-mail at len_tempest@msn.com. |
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| 17th Nov 2010....Had a very successful lesson with Len. His Suzuki 800 V-Twin is quite a handful but Len is patient and explains the technique well. I now know that I'll be perfectly OK as long as I only go straight ahead or turn right. This may make a small modification to the route to Mongolia as I may have to go via America and Canada (joke). | |
| Now all I needed was a purpose for buying this amazing machine....To that end I picked this statue to go and see... | |
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| If you click on the statue
it will open a new window with a Google map of where the statue is. You may
need to zoom out rather a lot! That's all for now other than to say that I'm extremely fortunate to have a wife who may not understand my love of bikes but realises that I am a banana and need to do what a man/idiot/herb has to do! Also thanks to Ian Coates and Hubert Kriegel and of course the only man who is slightly screwier than me...my brother, Nevil! Interesting fact....Bananas are slightly radioactive! |
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| Instant update...not sure of the route home yet | |
| 6th Nov 2010. I've started a discussion Forum HERE for any input you might think is helpful. | |
| To download and play a fabulous 'quaffing' song.. Click Here | |
| 18th Nov 2010...Went to
see David Angel at F2 motorcycles and got to sit on my unpacked, but not
fettled, outfit. WOW! I'm so looking forward to picking it up in
December. We discussed several options and I've settled on a Russian screen. David thinks they're ugly but I think they are eminently practical and I can shut the reflected noise up by judicious use of sound deadening material on the inside. It will allow me to bolt/rivet stuff to the lower hal;f of the fairing. |
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| The screen is available in
Green or Black but I think Green would be better. The downside is that as David
doesn't like the screen he doesn't keep them in stock! I will have to wait
until January for the screen. Below is a picture I took of my bike - sorry it's a bit blurry...I had the flash turned off...Doh! |
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| The sharp eyed will notice it has a stealth front brake disc. | |
| After a bit
of discussion we've decided to leave the front headlight on as it is primarily
a RHD one which you twist anti-clockwise to make the pattern legal in Britain.
Therefore, by twisting it back to vertical it is set up for the rest of the
world! The special tool needed to rotate the headlight in it's housing is
called a 'hand' and it takes approximately 1 second to do. Both Nick (my cousin) and I were gob-smacked by the build quality of the whole outfit and, once again, equally amazed by David's dedication to the breed. I have every confidence that the bike will get me to Mongolia and back. We discussed a list of spares to take and I mooted the point about a spare ECU (£145). David said it would be much cheaper to take a standard coil and a complete points set (inc housing) and, IF the Ducati electrics were to fail, it would only take an hour to swap the lot over. Then spares for the points would be readily available all over Russia. At the moment the list of spares includes cables, oil filters, oil, gaskets, sump plug washers, Hylomar, and so the list grows. I've asked David to fit the K&N Air Filter and to remove the 'Cats'. This will give me a bit more oomph and better fuel consumption. |
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| 22nd Nov 2010 - the pick up date for my new bike is 16th December 2010 - Happy Christmas to me then! | |
| The start date for this adventure is the 2nd week in May 2011. I expect it to take approximately 3 months. | |
| Contact: Andy E Lander Stow, Ivybridge, Devon. 01752 895362 or | |
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