We have driven out a couple of times, we got the ferry from portsmouth to bilbao. Not a bad crossing really although it feels twice as long on the way back. Saying that wecwere heading back up to scotland.

Cool, good info. Cheers for that 😛

Northwind, is the shorty a mainly a mucky weather tyre? I am about get some new tyres front and rear and i am open to suggestions. Might even dip my toes into the maxxis tyre family further with an ardent for the back, now thats a can of worms been opened

Derek, nightmare with the van and good luck chasing the cash. I bought a vivaro a few months back, an 08 plate. Within a week i had a faulty injector. I paid the same as you to get it replaces but a bit of googling throws up a faulty design on certain models that can cause water to pool on the engine bay where the injectors are. This corrodes them to the engine. Its a well documented fault. I know its an older van but have a chat with vauxhall and document everything so if another one goes you can get a deal with them for part or all of the repairs.

Beano, i go against the grain on this one. I love the Hans Damph front and rear as a decent all round choice. Never had a problem even in mud and they have taken a lot of punishment with no ill effects. Magic mary contrary to others opinions is a belter of a tyre IMO, even on rocky descents. Mine started to show signs of cracking along the side nobbles not long after fitting but it never got any worse and its still gripping and rolling along nicely. How a front tyre can be described as draggy i dont really understand.

Jon, will be good to see you buddy. 😀

The thing for me was getting my nutrition right for long days in the saddle. It makes a massive difference if you can get your energy levels sorted. Tri carb from my protein in my camelbak turned out to be a godsend. And plenty of red wine at night 😀

Na not at all, just get it in the mountains as much as possible. I live in dundee so have the Cairngorm’s about an hour away and the borders 2 hours away. I did the TransSavoie last year and the shear length of descending was a brutal eye opener. The longest was 32 minutes. On the flip side the best advice I got was to just do your best and enjoy the experience.

Akip, I know exactly what you mean. When I saw the amount of vertical for the week I got a rude awakening. But I honestly can’t wait.

Mt, I have no idea who you work for or who the inspectors you have worked with are employed through but my experience has been the polar opposite of yours. I have bounced around different companies and different fields and although you do meet the usual chancers the inspection industry is not not full of them from my perspective. But there are a few companies out there who do employ the dregs.

There are a few subcontract inspectors who I’ll glad not see again, that is unless their skill level and knowledge could be brought up to their level of arrogance. Breath and calm down.

haha, i bet you and i have met then 🙂

Weird with the sansa clips. I have 2 and they have both going strong for about 2 years.

You may be very hamfisted or unlucky. Or both 🙂

I was talking to a mate at the weekend who has an inverter wired into his van and he was quite surprised how little power it drew from the battery.

I wired up a 12v lighter near to the rear door yesterday for my dirtworker. A couple of USB sockets and ill be reet i reckon.

Solar panels haha nearly bought one at the weekend. Had to have a serious word with myself. My finances have taken a mullering.

Nice set up twang, and put up as many pics as you can upload. Gotta spread this van love 🙂

I like your control panel. Might steal that idea for a few chargers. Have you got an inverter in there yet?

Sorry there has been little progress. I have ply-lined the back and wired in the led lights and 12v cigarette lighter currently. I have actually managed to get a fair bit of riding done but not much van work.

I had to get my father-i-law (the shame) to show me how to crimp the connections and make sure all my wiring was safe 🙂 but as he is a sparky it made the pain easier.

Oh got a stealth window on the sliding door. Just needs some privacy curtains as you can still see through.

But i will continue to plod along next time i am home and i aim to have the rear floor and walls/roof all covered. I got stretchy carpet for the roof and sides and vinyl flooring for the floor. And the sparky side finished as well.

Frosty, i am a big fan of the Rock Razor and that looks like a good version. A couple of lads i know ran them in the Trans Savoie and they not only lasted the week they lasted well. One lad came 3rd and really rated it.

I need to get over this tyre fetish i have, its so so so sad 🙂

My spitfire with Xo1, 26″ Magic Mary up front and Hans Dampf at the rear and a CCDB Inline is 29.9 LBS. Medium frame.

Plus its stealth black so climbs that wee bitty better and descents faster. FACT 🙂

ahsat, i met you in GT on saturday. I was on the pretty similar spitfire as you.

I know i raved about the bike if you need any more info drop me a line. email in profile. 😀

likey 😀

Not doing many this year as they seemed to dominate my life last year. But what i am doing are biggies.

1. May – EWS Tweedlove. 600 maniacs racing round the borders. F@@k yea 🙂

2. June – Trans Provence. Although ill be racing i am sure my results will be less than spectacular so i will take my usual out look which is to do my best but to make sure i enjoy it, drink a few beers and meet some cracking people.

Seems to work for me up till now 🙂

As with everything there are haters and lovers and Hans Dampf tyres are no exception. There are a few threads about them on here.

Personally i love them. I have never found them particularly draggy but they grip like sh1t to a shovel. Not once have they ever let me down.

Trailstar on the front and pacestar on the rear.

Saying that i have a 2015 Nobby Nic going on the rear for trail duties soon. But as soon as the mountains clear the Hans Dampfs will be out to play again 🙂

How wide are you guys finding it, i like a bit of chunk up front ;-0

I am, been in the industry for about 6 years.

Currently work in the North sea but i have bounced around the globe before i got sick of the continually long pain in backside trips.

Firstly there is a bit of a marketplace saturation with techs. Basically far too many guys getting the tickets and not enough companies offering work to inexperienced guys. Even though you have experience offshore it doesn’t mean the companies will take you on unfortunately.

A good mate of mine recently paid a small fortune to get the qualifications he needed, luckily he got a contract in Saudi for NOV, 8 on 4 off. He is the only guy working out of all the people he met in the 6 weeks he did the training.

I am a level 2 on the ropes with enough hours to get my level 3 but i am weighing up my options currently and will probably make a sideways career move soon.

My email is in my profile, drop me a line with your number and i will give you a ring OP. There is a lot of info you need and it would be a lot easier to explain over the phone.

🙂

pbooker1995 – yep i get what you are saying but when i have 2 expensive x01 mechs in the garage i am not going to buy an XTR and shifter on top as my funds really don’t stretch that far. I had read a post on here where someone was running this set up and just got to pondering if there was a chance of running a Shimano shifter with SRAM mech. Now funds could stretch to a new shimano mech 🙂

njee20, cheers buddy.

Cheers guys. I have just ordered all the electrics for the van so before i fit i will have a play and see what works and what doesnt.

Multimeter – good shout 🙂

Oh its a switch, i got it to wire the LED lights up to.

I am selling a Thule 974 which is a cracking carrier. The only reason is my new frame is an odd shape and doesn’t work that well with it.

Also look at the buzzrack ones. Very good for the money. Not as refined as Thule but very good.

If you venture onto T4Forum Then thats the way madness lies.

Go onto the conversion sections and follow some of them. I am currently converting a vivaro but those Transporters are a thing of beauty.

One of my favourites Linky

Been looking at adding herbs to gin 🙂 after working on the van ill be experimenting tomorrow 🙂

Its a grower. Really good album after a few listens 🙂

Nice one.

Awesome, i really like those 🙂

Hey twang, nope i have been offshore for the last few weeks. Home tonight and have ordered a plywood lining set. Need to give megavanmats a call tomorrow and order the carpet and floor lining.

I have the lights and switches and all that gubbins ready to roll. Just got to spend a few days getting my mitts dirty.

Infact if anybody could tell me how to wire this switch i would be grateful 🙂 3 clips and no instructions 🙂

If you entered Scotland that’s E1, Enduro 2 was a different category.

Cancel that, I’m being a Muppet. E1 baby

Weird, i got a booking confirmation but not what category i am entered into.

Awesome, I’ll be in a coma for weeks 😛

Plodding along, great work on the van. Very close to what i have planned but as mine is a SWB i am a bit restricted with space.

Love the seat swivel. Do you have a link for that? Oh and was it easy to fit?

hora – Member
Why isn’t it selling? Have you ever ridden one? Then there’s your answer.

I slagged off the 1/ 1/8 headtube one on here and was flamed for it. Awkward old school set of angles etc. The next one (bigger headtube) was a totally different beast.

This is a joke….right??

I could go on and on about how much i love this bike. But i cant be arsed. Hora, you are an odd chap for sure.

Few pics of the work i have done so far. I know its not much but really enjoying the conversion.

Ply and electrics next 🙂

Before i ripped out the old ply

As it is today, Insulation on both sides completed, roof and floor next.

Its a lot more time consuming than i was expecting. The Celotex fitting took ages 🙂

The marshalling is a good way to spend the weekend, my girlfriend does it sometimes and ill bimble round the courses 🙂

Sazter, are you doing any of the SES rounds this year, if so we will have to have a van off 🙂