Some terrific photos there.
Can't believe the colour of that sky!

Quote from: Hugh on December 17, 2021, 03:43:40 PM

This was the 2017 IBW return leg and on this site you'll find an excellent write up by Dave DND that will take you through the whole trip including the horrendous ordeal the various buggys encountered trying to get through the torrential rain - many had to be recovered after trying valiantly to cope with the unusual 'summer rain'.

 
Managed to find the thread and it is quite a read. I have made it to the end of page 1 and you lot have made it to Holland.
So far so good. Apart from quite a lot of u-turns that is!

Well I have made it to the end and I'm still dry unlike most of you at the time. Sounds like an epic trip.

I lived in Germany myself for 3 years and we lived right on the Dutch border so I am very familiar with the wonderful 'pannenkoeken' that you all enjoyed.  All the photos and the well written account of the trip certainly takes me back to my time over there.

You need a return trip there Dave although IBW 2022 is looking doubtful we live in hope it may happen possibly in Belgium as theirs has been cancelled twice.

I would love to go back and actually hope to next year. I left there in 1999 when the German currency was the Deutschmark and in Holland it was Guilders.

I have to admit however that I cannot imagine driving my buggy that far and I don't know how you guys do it.
Even if the buggy could make it I'm not sure I could.


I thought I had gone quite a long way in mine when I drove a loop up to Newquay, across to St. Austell then back home via Truro. Probably a round trip of about 70 miles! Maybe I will have to build it up gradually!

I don't mind the distance just not in the buggy. When I lived there I once drove back to Cornwall for a weekend. I was probably driving for longer than I was actually home for!

As I wait to get my buggy back I may as well add a bit more to this.

One of the first things I did with the buggy was to remove the chain link steering wheel that the previous owner had made. It was not to my taste and was rather uncomfortable to use.





The next thing was to get the electrics sorted out and to arrange for someone who knows what they are doing to go over the buggy and make sure everything was working correctly.
This is what lurked beneath the dashboard.







The 2 bulbs you see hanging down seemed to have a life of their own and just came on if they felt like it! You might also just about be able to make it the toggle switches hidden under the dash for the indicators and wipers. It was generally a case of hoping that you had indicated rather than put the wipers on! Not that it made much difference anyway because nothing really worked properly!

Homer was away for some time having the necessary work completed and I got him back on Christmas Eve. Everything was now working properly and I had 12 months MOT to boot.

The box of assorted parts that I was given when I bought the buggy included a photo album with some old pictures. I have posted some of these before but here are a few different ones.

Whilst I am firmly ensconced in the Team Yellow camp it seems that Homer hasn't always been. The colour has previously been blue and then purple. Or as it says on some of the documentation 'blue and silver' then 'mauve'. It looks like it changed to yellow in 2011.

Yellow is so right for this buggy.

That wiring looks pretty decent by my standards....oh yes I'm the one who has had regular wiring issues...well at least until Snoopy very very kindly volunteered to pull it all out and replace it with something fit for purpose.

You probably don't need it but Chad on here is the acknowledged professional buggy wiring go to man - if he isn't too booked up. If you want another good buggy read then his around the coastal Piers charity safari with George - 'Pier Pressure' - is a must.

Couldn't agree more Hugh - love the yellow.
I will have a look for the charity safari thread and have a read.
If you can stand the excitement my next instalment will actually include me doing some building (Yeah I know!) so stand by for that!

Nice to see a bit of history

Quote from: Hugh on December 21, 2021, 05:40:51 PM


If you want another good buggy read then his around the coastal Piers charity safari with George - 'Pier Pressure' - is a must.

Wow what an epic challenge. And what a superb result with all the money raised.
Fabulous effort and a huge well done to everyone involved.

Well Dave you are catching up on some epic fairly recent back stories. You will be becoming familiar with the pretty buggys, the not so shiny buggys, the reliable buggys, the breakdown buggys...and some of their drivers.

I am indeed Hugh and I am also getting inspired to attempt to venture a bit further afield in mine when I get it back (hopefully very soon 🤞).
Mind you 2500 miles in 11 days is probably a bit of a stretch 
I think my record for a single outing sits at about 70 miles so far which may not sound a lot but is creeping up from the very short drives I was doing when I first got it.

Thanks a good distance to start Dave it was months before mine could get off the drive, I used to start it pull out of the garage and then it would not restart.  Now the last couple of years have been fun with still the odd little problem, but worth all the hassle. 😂😂 Deb

Having got Homer back on Christmas Eve 2020 and with a full 12 months ticket I promptly went straight out for a cruise along the coast road with my mate in our newly formed '2 seats no roof club (Camborne Division)'. A small but keen club with both members in attendance for the inaugural Christmas Cruise! Sadly we were unable to repeat the event this year but I will just gloss over that for now.





I was absolutely freezing but he has a heater in his car and was nice and toasty. I still prefer the buggy though even without a heater! I have also upgraded my heating system this year with my new heated gloves although I have not yet had the chance to try them out.

In April 2021 I became slightly fed up at having to choose between having a passenger or taking the roof with me.
At that time I had no storage at all other than a tiny space behind the seats. If I wanted to take the roof along without fitting it the only place it could go was in the passenger foot well meaning that there was no room for a passenger.

In the back of the buggy there was just a wooden board covered in black felt and I thought that there was room to install a small luggage compartment. (Stand by for a bit of actual building!)

I bought some materials and built a storage box which will not win any design or build awards but it does the job. It looks OK from the outside and is big enough to hold the roof and a few other bits such as my furry hat and gloves! I also fitted a fire extinguisher. This is the closest I have come to actually carrying out some work on the buggy myself.



















A section of it unclips and removes allowing access to the battery. There is also a little access flap for the other electrics.

The lid holds itself up with pistons and it locks shut with 2 locking T-handles.

I am quite pleased with this really. It fits well, looks alright and does what I wanted.

Crucially I can now take both a passenger and my roof with me at the same time!