EDC in Morocco on a Yamaha XTZ660Z Ténéré....amongst others...

As before 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention'

I took a few pictures the next morning...

Here we see the generator hut and the basic pole and cable set up that gives lighting to the Marabout....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

How to join cable....

[/IMG]

The 50 or 60 year old generator 'Taurus' lives in the hut.....??

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

....and still works with no air filter sucking in fine air borne dust...

[/IMG]

Is fueled by diesel from this wee tank....

[/IMG]

...and turns this belt .....

[/IMG]


..which is kept from coming off the flywheel by a wooden lathe....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


...and turns a dynamo to generate electricity...

[/IMG]

It is cooled by water input and output which goes no to a radiator but to a large barrel of water....

[/IMG]





..I hope the water that comes from here is just used for showering....maybe...:huh

[/IMG]


[/IMG]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yZO9O3PEraE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Just beat me to it young fella....






.

That's a nice vid.

At 2.26 stand looks like it's hanging dangerously low:eek1

Yes!!!.. I noticed that too....you'll see that the camera actually got hit and knocked over breaking one of the screw in mountings...that's what you see Phil holding up towards the end ....

He got the Presidents award of the 'Team of Goats' for that one of course.....

I get up the next morning and take a dander into the dunes to see the sun rise blah blah blah.....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

..an ominous sign?

[/IMG]

I return to see Ken loitering at the toilets...his old habits die hard...

[/IMG]

You can see he is still wearing the Presidents 'chain' to remind us all of how much a goat he'd been the previous day.....in case anyone forgot I reminded the rest of the EDC...just in case.

[/IMG]

The rest of the EDC,well some of them,not me included,start to take the 990 to bits so as it will fit into the LR....in fact Ken pretends his ankle is still really sore so he pulls a chair up,watches and barks out orders so it's all done properly...some people have a cheek eh?

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Craig even arrives with his hands in his pockets to supervise also.......

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Just when the moto is ready to lift up into the LR I try to sneak off,I'm spotted and press ganged into helping to lift it ....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Then,the Triumph......more or less at the same time.....as Craigs moto had been acting up and spluttering , it was connected up to Noahs PC to see if he can make any adjustments....

[/IMG]


[/IMG]



The LR is organized and ready for the off whilst we start to eat breakfast...although Ricky looks the spare wheel up and down to see if he can sell it to the locals in the next village....

[/IMG]

Ken hobbles in first for breakfast and plants himself down in a prime spot before a feeding frenzy commences...

[/IMG]

The owner looking happy before we leave.....He stated he's getting married soon and I try to talk him out of it.....

[/IMG]

So....Ken is shoe horned into the LR and off we go bound for Merzouga. Just after the Marabout there's a hard pack dried up lake bed trail (marked with boulders) which takes you to the outskirts of a town (the same one that isn't really there according to GPS)which in turn points you in the direction of Merzouga...no need to go left into the town at this point(as per GPS)...just bear right and head away from the town,past another auberge...There's only two trails out of here about 50m apart and running parallel. As the LR leaves the town they pick up a dude who works as a guide to give him a lift to his home in Taouz(about 30kms south of Merzouga)....that's the way things work out here......every one helps each other...


The going here will be softer sand on top of hard pack.

[/IMG]


Keep the dunes to your RHS before you arrive at the town...(marked on the Michelin map as a watering hole)

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


Continue and the going,for the time being is normal hard pack. Ken needed to stretch out so he makes Caro get on the back of Christophe...and charges her 50 Dhms to use his jacket and helmet.......cheap skate...


[/IMG]



[/IMG]

[/IMG]


The going then turns to a stretch of sand/silt

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

I stop to take a couple of pics...

[/IMG]

.....and we all head for the dunes to regroup just before the feche-feche which is just before a village I call the Twilight Zone,ie Ramlia......(feche-feche is cement dust type going and consists of a stretch of same of approx 2-3kms)

I state that there's a string vest of trails through same and that it's dotted with small tree and shrubs...it's easy to get lost if you drop the moto....but...if you look to your RHS there'll be a mountain that looks like a tagine....or as I like to see it as a small breast shape with a big pointy nipple poking out...funny what a few days in the desert does to one lol..... you ride until you leave the feche-feche and as soon as it comes to a sudden end,and I mean suddenly, it then turns to rock/hard pack....simply hang left..follow the line of the feche-feche and you'll arrive into a village,i.e.,the Twilight Zone....from here you'll see the trail to take you in the direction of Merzouga...

You can see the tagine mountain on the LHS(just above the LH mirror of my moto)...we're heading for that...

[/IMG]


.

So what is the program I saw on the laptop while you were trying to sort the Tiger? What did you fix?

Hi...

Noah travels with his PC not only for comms on the road,but also in case the KTM needs to be adjusted or to problem solve.

He plugged it into the Triumph with a universal cable/connector and the Triumph logo came up automatically. After that he was trying to see if there were any error codes etc. Craig did very well at keeping the Triumph running,although frustrated,and where at the end of the trip,it turned out to be a 'stepomotor' or something sounding like that. Initially we thought it to be a breathing problem....but that picture comes later.

His symptoms were that when he backed off the throttle completely it acted the same as an on/off ignition switch. He can correct me if I'm wrong but even if he clutched it,freewheeled and let the clutch out...it still wouldn't fire up...so a restart with the key was required....made it difficult to ride,but bearing in mind the terrain and the duration he did exceptionally well.

We stop to regroup at the sand dunes just before the feche-feche and to wait on the LR. We find a shaded area under a tree.


[/IMG]

A couple of 4x4's drive past and stop to have a chat....one of them (the white one)was a Santana Land Rover...

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

The LR arrived and Frank tells us that the Naked KTM Dude had had a puncture.Noah rides off to assist as does Phil.

[/IMG]

After the puncture was repaired and we again regrouped at the tree we noticed Phil was missing.....he'd ridden off in the wrong direction....Ken stated immediately that he wasn't the President anymore and that it had to be Phil even if he turned up 5 mins later. We all of course agreed....


So...as briefed before the trick to getting lost was not to ride any further but to sit still as we'd only ever be a few kms ahead due to waiting on the LR....and we could always retrace the route until found.....
but......Phil carried on riding,almost into Algeria for ages before arriving through the feche-feche at Ramlia where he waits for us drinking tea.......so no pics of him falling off there then...he probably faked the disappearance so as no one take any damning pictures.

So...we head off for the auberge(through the feche-feche) just outside Ramlia some what late on in the day.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

These dudes state they get 50L/100kms in soft going and 25L/100kms on normal roads

[/IMG]

[/IMG]



Again the Land Rover in it's natural habitat.....

[/IMG]








.

So, you are implying just plugging the PC into the bike brought all this info & programming up? My old '95 Steamer must be less sofisticated by a whole lot more than I thought! Still runs well though after 115,000km ~ 50% of that on gravel.

It's good to know you guys were that well prepared.

I am using TunECU.

The KTM and Triumph use a similar (KEIHIN) FI systems. I thought I would see if it would connect and it did. Its not a matter of programming on the fly, the info was already in my computer from TunECU. The OBD11 language is universal so TunECU just needs to connect and see what kind of bike it is. I think. I could be wrong.

Excellent TuneECU link Noah .......thanks for clearing that up....

Keith (aka WIBO) described the problem pretty well...and is doing a great job of retelling the tale

the problem started when we hit the dusty sections and gradually got worse and worse as the trip went on. it started off just being a problem with the ignition / idle and I had to give it gas to start it which is just downright annoying, but then got worse and worse to the point that it would cut out as soon as I backed off (thats my first mistake!), no matter what gear i was in.

trawling the forums it seems to be a common problem to the 800xc because apparently they use a speed triple design stepper motor meant for the road, so when dust and debris gets in it stops the swing arm setting in the right place and so it doesn't idle properly. some lube and some compressed air sorted the problem out...not an easy fix on the trail because you have to take the tank and plastics off which is at least an hour job

Cough, shoulda bought a tenere. cough.

D'oh!!!

(How's Fermanagh these days?..started to get wet yet?.....asks a posh one, from Newtownards....east of the Bann you know...)

So after we find Phil in the Twilight Zone sitting drinking tea...we head to the outskirts to an auberge I know on the LHS. In fact it's the only one there......

We have a drink of coke outside in the warmth of the evening before dinner (no beer available here)....then bed down...the guide knows the owner and stays up to talk to him.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Christophe takes a couple of snaps of the moon rising.......
[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Next morning I take a few snaps as the sun comes up.....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Here's a better pic of the land mark Tagine shaped mountain...as before,always keep this to your RHS to find Ramlia and a place to stay...you can't go wrong....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]










In the morning and as I am the only responsible adult within a 100km range I ask the dudes to crew up early as about 500-600metres from the auberge there's a dried up lake bed that I know of that we can play on and get a few good snaps before heading on to Merzouga.....one of the group is still dozy and says he wants to watch Swop Shop because it's too early to go out and play......I tell him if he's good he can watch the Banana Splits later instead...but not both.....


[/IMG]


[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]




We bid farewell to the owners and some of the group are made to give back ornaments that they'd stolen......one even had a carpet stuffed down the front of his jacket stating that it was a new product he was testing for the factory and it was all about a 'special new product that keeps UV rays off your chest'......

[/IMG]

We ride down to the lake bed and everyone is in awe as to how big and flat it is......we park up to get a few pics....they're all excited and jumping up and down......surely it would only be a matter of time before the Presidents title would be passed on to someone else.......

Edge of the lake....

[/IMG]

I tell them all that as they were allowed to play all by themselves to keep an eye out in case a stranger comes along and kidnaps them...remember 'Stranger Danger'....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


Christophe sets the camera up.....

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


..and then they start to play....they're all told that no matter what they do "It's not big and it's not clever" to no avail...

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


One of these passes by......

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oT8QeGFodsc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Then these pass......

[/IMG]

The KTM 690 and Africa Twin have a drag race and the 25yr old,old school AT wins......

As can be seen in the video a few pages back....Phil rides over the camera which is set up to film(luckily not the Canon)but the helmet cam JVC. It only broke a screw in mounting off....Phil gets a clip around the ear and is told to sit in the corner by himself......oh and he gets to hang onto the President of the EDC title...

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

Thanks Jim....it's not a bad old girl...does the job that's required of it....very happy with it to date....

So we leave the lake and the going is a hard pack trail covered n a layer of feche-feche...the moto's put up fine dust so spacing out is required here.

[/IMG]


I stop here to take a few pics because there's usually a few camels that hang out.......here they are....one of the EDC wants to go over and poke them with a stick....a big sharp one at that.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]






.

A wee question.......
I see a Sony NEX-5(!) camera there.....any good?
Was thinking about buying one! :)