Big problems with BMW G650XChallenge

Posted by gozamite on 5.6.2024
Posted in: adventure bike, BMW G650XChallenge, dirt bike, gravel road, Moottoripyöräily, TET Finland, TransEuroTrail. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

It was the same ride on 1st of May when these problems started! It felt like the power was cutting/ stalling very shortly. And sometimes bike even did stall and it was difficult to get running again!
My bike went to Biketeam Raisio and first they found that idle actuator was not working as it should. They changed the new one and checked the error codes and it looked better.
But after I got bike back home I couldn’t ride it more than 30km! All the problems were back or they were even worse!

Bike went back to Biketeam and now with some serious investigations!
“The engine running problems continues. Error codes comes from:
000230 electric fuel pump
000335 Crankshaft sensor
000561 DME voltage supply, terminal 30
Cleaned a badly oxidized ground wire under the voltage regulator, after this the idle running improved considerably. Was running for 30 min. with some throttle every now and then without stalling. The error codes did return.
Measured petrol pressure at about 3bar, so OK! Ignition coils measured, are OK! Gas valve housing cleaned, Wire harness inspected and found no significant abrasions/wear but when the harness is moved with hand the injector nozzle activates and sprays gas into the intake manifold (!). The harness was peeled over a distance of about 30cm and found a point where the wires were badly worn and the plus wire was connecting with other wires, fixed! After this, the bike was test ridden a couple of times with no problems and no error codes came back. The repair was deemed successful.”

I feel a strong sense of gratitude and I deeply respect Biketeam for what they have done! They spent incredible amount of time/ hours to find the problem and they finally did! I really hope that my bike will work now… At least this summer!
On 4th of June I was riding by bike back home! Everything was working and bike felt smooth!

TET Finland Section 4 -must see

Posted by gozamite on 24.5.2024
Posted in: adventure, Finnish Nature, Moottoripyöräily, Motoadventure, TET Finland, TransEuroTrail. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Empty shopping mall Zsar
This shopping mall was opened in November 2018. Already in december 2020 it was in debt restructuring and in october 2022 the company went bankrupt. Now this amazing building is standing empty just beside the TET Track in the beginning of the section 4. The POI is called “Zsar shopping Mall (empty)”

Kruununpuisto landscape
Finland’s first nature reserve Kruununpuisto-park in Imatra is established in 1842. In the same island are the best views of the dam and the old banks of the river/ rapids. The POI in the TET gpx is called “Oldest nature preserve in Finland” or “Imatra Dam”. This park is just beside the TET track.

Parikkala Sculpture park
Freak statues! Some even think they are scary… Entrance fee is 7€. The POI in TET gpx is called “Parikkala sculpture park” and it’s just beside the TET track.

Öykköistenvaara Battle Zone
This is a perfect place to learn a little about the battles of the Second World War on the Finnish front line. You are free to walk around the area that was built by local volunteers. The POI in TET gpx is called “Öykköistenvaara Battle Zone”.

Most Eastern point of continental EU
This would be the most eastern point of the Continental EU. You are now 60km east from St. Petersburg. If you want to go further east in EU you need to visit Cyprus. The POI in TET gpx is called “Most Eastern point of EU”. The TET track takes you as far as you can ride. Then there is still a short hiking trail to the shore of the lake from where you can see the actual point.

Neitikoski/ Ruunaa rapids
Ruunaa is a huge area for hiking, fishing or rafting. In the TET gpx file there is one suspension bridge POI but the main place to visit would be the Ruunaa outdoor center and the Neitikoski rapids close to this place. You need to ride 4,5km east from the track and the POI is called “Ruunaa rapids”. You can leave your bike to the parking area beside the outdoor center or somewhere close. The trail to the Neitikoski is very near and easy to find.

TET Finland Section 3 -must see

Posted by gozamite on 23.5.2024
Posted in: dirt bike, Finnish Nature, gravel road, Moottoripyöräily, TET Finland, TransEuroTrail. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Saab museum
The Uusikaupunki car factory produced Saabs for many years. So it is only natural that Saab has its own museum there. But nowadays there’s many other Car brands too! The POI in the TET is called “Saab museum”

Old Rauma
The Old town of rauma is a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1991. The old part of the city consists of around 600 wooden houses which are used both for residential and commercial purposes. You will find some interesting shops, restaurants and cafeterias here.
TET route makes a loop through the market square but it’s recommended to ride around the narrow streets of the Old town and maybe check the old stone church too. The old town hall was built in 1776 (unfortunately this building/ museum is closed until 2026).

Kallo lighthouse
8m tall lighthouse of Kallo was built in 1903. There’s something special about this small lighthouse and the place where it’s located! The POI in the TET gpx has the same name.

Reposaari fortress park
This island and its coastline you can see from Kallo lighthouse. But you need to ride 15km to reach the Reposaari island! The POI in TET gpx is called “Fortress park”. There you will find a wide range of fortifications from the Second World War. And there is also an observation tower about 10m high with very nice views to the sea!

Vattaja sand dunes
The Vattaja dune area is a valuable landscape also by European standards. Vattaja is Europe’s largest coastal dune area in the boreal region, and with 15 kilometres of shoreline, it is also one of the longest sandy beaches in the Nordic countries.
TET route would probably go through here but there are some military areas too so it’s not possible to make a nice route through the area. Now you need to ride about 35km north from TET track to reach Vattaja area. The POI in the TET gpx is called “Vattaja Beach & Dunes”
If you don’t visit Vattaja dunes you can still check Yyteri or Kalajoki beaches near TET Section 3!

Hailuoto/ Marjaniemi
Hailuoto is The third biggest island in Finland. You can visit the island by ferry and in the future throught the bridge. The most western point of Hailuoto is called Marjaniemi and it offers nice sand beaches, a lighthouse and a small fishing village. The POI in the TET gpx is called “Hailuoto Marjaniemi”. You need to ride more than 60km west from the TET track (but 7km of this is in the ferry!)

Aavasaksa hilltop
One of the first tourist attractions of Finland was the top of the hill of Aavasaksa. There is many things to see: Struve Geodetic Arc and The Imperial lodge that was built in 1883. But the best idea about the place you will have by hiking around the trail called The Scenic path of Aavasaksa.
There is 2 POI’s in the TET gpx: “The Imperial Lodge” and “Aavasaksa Viewpoint terrace”. The Aavasaksa hilltop is about 3,5km noth from the TET track.

Arctic Circle in Pello
The cafeteria & Restaurant Tuomaan tupa is a crossing point of the Arctic Circle. North from here you can experience the midnight sun and the further north you go the longer the period of the midnight sun is!
The POI in the TET gpx is called “Arctic Circle Pello”. You need to ride 2,8km north from the TET track.

TET Finland Section 2 -must see

Posted by gozamite on 21.5.2024
Posted in: adventure, Finnish Nature, gravel road, Moottoripyöräily, Motoadventure, TET Finland, TransEuroTrail. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Tyrvää medieval church
About 100km’s after the section 2 start you will ride through Sastamala city. This church is 3km after the city. POI in TET gpx-file has the same name. You need to ride about 1km away from the track to enter the place. The church is located on an island and it’s very beautiful place! Maybe churches is not your thing? But I recommend this place anyway -especially in the evening/ sunset it can be extremely beautiful.

Haapamäki Steam Locomotive Park
About 335km from the start of Section 2 You will enter Haapamäki city where this place is located. The POI is called “Steamtrain park”. It claims to be the biggest Steam locomotive park in the world!

Ähtäri Zoo
They don’t have Pandas anymore!! POI has the same name. If you want to visit I think it will be at least 3 hours. Ticket to the Zoo is for 1 day (21-23€).

Tuuri Shopping Mall
28km west from Ähtäri Zoo there is the biggest shopping mall of Finland. The story begins in 1976 when the small grocery store started in Tuuri village.

Hepoköngös Waterfall
This waterfall is in Puolanka about 15km west from the TET track. It’s one of the most famous waterfalls in Finland!

TET Finland Section 1 -must see

Posted by gozamite on 19.5.2024
Posted in: dirt bike, Finnish Nature, gravel road, National Park, TET Finland, TransEuroTrail. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Iso Valkee
You started from Helsinki 159km ago and you have been enjoying “Kiikala” area already 30km’s and now you have POI in your TET gpx called “Iso Valkee very nice place”. This is a small beach, camping area and Lean-To shelter by a very beautiful lake! The lake has very clear water and sand bottom so it’s a nice place for a swim. Or grilling some sousages and have a break.
It’s ok to put your tent here and do wild camping. Remember: Don’t make fire if there is forest fire warning!

Aulanko in Hämeenlinna
You need to leave TET route just when you enter the main road 57 in Hattula/ Hämeenlinna. You need to ride 8km to south-east to reach the Aulanko area and there turn to left to Aulanko lookout tower.
(Route here). Even if the tower itself is not open the place has amazing views to the lake and the tower itself looks quite unique. It’s 117 years old tower and the place is one of the national landscapes of Finland. The POI in TET gpx is called “Aulanko National view”.

Niemisjärvi lake in Evo area
You have been riding in Evo area already few km’s and the TET route makes a turn to the right to go around this lake. I recommend to ride straight to the place and have a short break there. With lean-to shelters, grilling places and a beautiful small beach it’s quite special place. You’re not allowed to ride over the bridge but you can park your bike before the bridge.
POI is called “Niemisjärvi camping area”.

Old church of Petäjävesi
You can see this wooden church from The TET route but we really recommend you to go and check this 250 years old wooden church. You can see the POI in TET gpx, it’s called “Old Church of Petäjävesi”.

Finnish Air Force Museum
You can see the planes and the museum from the route but if you are interested about this kind of stuff it is ofcourse recommended to go in!
Google maps location

Koli National landscape
If you want to visit Koli National park and the “famous view from the top of Koli” You need to ride about 20km away from the route near Juuka. And in Koli you need to leave your bike to the parking area and take the railcar to the top. From there it is about 1km hike to the lookout spot.
POI is called “Koli hill top”.

Raate road
The route goes across Raate road in Suomussalmi. You will probably see some tanks or something about the war while riding but it’s very much recommended to ride to the beginning of Raate Road. That is about 15km’s from the actual TET route to the museum area. Maybe visit the Raatteen portti museum or at least read about the Battle of Raate Road and check the Winter War Monument.
POI’s are called “Raatteen portti” and “Winter War Monument”.

Kiutaköngäs rapids
The POI in TET gpx is called “Kiutaköngäs Rapids/ Waterfall”. If you ride 3 km north from the track you will find Oulanka National park (One of the gates to the park) and if you leave your bike to the parking area you will have about 1km hike to the famous rapids in the National park.

Samperi’s locomotive
About 4km east from the track you can find POI called “Tulppion majat” and just on the north side of that area there is a strange machine standing in the shelter. It’s a steam locomotive to be used in transporting logs from the forest closer to the road.

Rear shock absorber show

Posted by gozamite on 15.5.2024
Posted in: adventure bike, BMW G650XChallenge, dirt bike, Estonia, Moottoripyöräily. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

This show kind of started when I bought this BMW G650 XChallenge bike. It has so crazy system as the rear suspension/ absorber. The full shock absorption and suspension is made by Continental manufactured Air Dampener that looks like this:

My Air Damping system didn’t keep the pressure anymore so it was time to change it to something better! So I made the change in the winter 2021-2022:

After this change I was riding and enjoying my ride until this years early spring when I suddenly noticed that the Touratech was going to the bottom all the time. I did only about 12000 kilometers with it during these 2 seasons. That Touratech Shock absorber was not working anymore.
I sent email to Touratech and they answered right away. They wanted me to send my shock back to the factory. So luckily warranty was still valid!
After one week I sent another email and I was asking “What’s happening with my rear shock?” and they answered that maybe next week someone is coming to check it. This was little bit disappointing! But ok, they promised to contact me right away when there was something new happening.
But then I started to think “Can I trust this Touratech anymore? Will it break again right away? Could I afford to buy Öhlins??” And quite soon I made the order about Öhlins rear shock (Best in the market?)
I got that one very fast and installed it to my bike. I made this ride with the new Öhlins rear shock. But that ride ended in to the pool of oil!!

My bike throwed the oil out! At this point I didn’t know where it was coming from. And when I showed the pictures to few other guys they said it’s so clear oil it must be coming from the brand new Öhlins!!
But 2 days later I found the leak from that small oil hose:

After I changed that hose I thought again that everything is ok and I made this amazing 300km ride!
But I noticed during that ride that the brand new Öhlins is actually leaking! It was getting softer and softer and all the time there was oil especially under the absorber reservoir and that happened to be the spring of my sidestand. It was soon totally black and wet from the oil that was coming out from the Öhlins!
At the moment my bike is in Biketeam Raisio and they are trying to solve some other problems with my bike. I should be removing the Öhlins from my bike and send it maybe to Estonia (I bought it from there) or to TTM Factory.
It’s not clear yet if they accept in that company in Estonia from where I bought it that the Öhlins would be serviced here in Finland?? But I’m quite positive that it will be ok!!
I also got the message finally from the Touratech thet they sent my shock back to me (fixed!) so I should have it next week! Edit: I got it already today (16th of May)!
Quite a show!

What do you need to ride TET Finland?

Posted by gozamite on 11.4.2024
Posted in: adventure, adventure bike, dirt bike, GPS system, moottoripyöräilyvarusteet, motorcycling, TET Finland, TransEuroTrail. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

The Motorcycle
In this case I will talk about the most common (or the best?) possible bikes with couple of examples. There is always many many other possibilities to choose. You should choose the bike that is best for you!
A good one would be Yamaha Tenere 700 or Honda CRF300 Rally. The bike should be able to do gravelroads, forestroads and some offroad parts easily. It should be able to do 300km (or more?) of riding without filling the tank. It should carry the rider and all his stuff easily in the motorcycle bags.
It should have at least 50/ 50 tyres (Mitas E07, Heidenau K60) but even more offroad oriented are a very good choice!

I’m riding with a little bit older bike BMW G650XChallenge.

Motorcycle riding gear
Helmet is a must! Enduro or adventure helmet has more airspace in front of the mouth so you will not feel like totally out of breath when you have to do some lifting of the bike.

Other than a helmet I really recommend to have adventure boots (or enduro boots), motorcycle pants with knee and hip protection -the more protection pads the better the pants! Same goes with the jacket! Quite many riders nowadays are rather using a whole protection west/ shirt that you keep closer to your body and the outer jacket/ shirt itself can be very light.
I have LS2 MX436 helmet, Forma Terra Evo Low boots, Adventure Spec Supershirt, Rukka motorcycle pants (and few other pants) and Adventure Spec Linesman Jacket.

The GPS device
A GPS device to ride TransEuroTrail has to have one certain function. You have to be able to see gpx-track on your map view and your own location. The ordinary car gps or Tomtom doesn’t do this.
Here it is explained in TransEuroTrail web page what it could be or should be. You have these options:
1. Cheap android phone with OsmAnd or Locus app (or some other). This phone you will connect to your bike somehow so you can see the screen while you are riding. Problem might be that the brightness of the screen is not enough. This way you can keep your own phone in your pocket and take pictures with it whenever you need.
2. Your own mobile phone attached to the bike with some app to follow the TET track. Nowadays the phones are very expensive and very easily breakable. I’m not recommending this.
3. A tablet with some app to follow GPX track. For example Samsung Tab Active3.
4. Garmin gps device you can buy a cheap used gps for example here in Finland this morning there was one Garmin gpsmap device with 120€ in tori webpage. The screen is very small in all gpsmap devices so I would recommend Garmin Montana. I was using Garmin Montana 700 for one year.
Now I’m using Garmin Zumo XT2.

The Latest TET Finland GPX file
This file you can download ONLY from TransEuroTrail webpage!
File has 21 sections at the moment. (Check my post about different sections here!) But the tracks and the file is updating all the time so you must check that you have the latest update.

Now you have everything that you actually need to start riding. But ofcourse then we will start to talk about how long you are going to ride the TET route? What kind of weather it will be? Will you be sleeping in a tent? In the Lean-To? Or in some accommodation? Lets talk about these little bit:
Accommodation: I prefer booking.com but airbnb.com or hotels.com are also ok.
Lean-To: from the webpage laavu.org you can download the gpx file where you will see pretty much all lean-to shelters and free cabins to stay for the night! (Choose from the menu “Lataa (gpx) – kaikki”) and you will have all these in your gps device.
Wild Camping: You can put your tent up pretty much everywhere! Except to someone’s private yard or nearby, to nature preserve or National Park area. National parks usually have only few places where it is ok to do wild camping. Also planted fields or parks are out of question.
If you do wild camping it means you will do no harm to the nature, you will leave no trace or marks in the place where you were camping and you will make fire only if you have the permit from the landowner (if there is an actual fireplace then you can do it). And you will not make fire at all if there is a warning about grass or forest fires.
Here you can read more about “Everyman’s rights” in Finland: Visit Finland

Gravel roads are OK to ride

Posted by gozamite on 31.3.2024
Posted in: actioncamera, adventure bike, BMW G650XChallenge, gravel road, helmetcamera, insta360 Ace Pro, Moottoripyöräily, Off-Road, TransEuroTrail, videocamera, Youtube. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

It feels like spring is very late late! But actually i’ts quite normal that only at the end of March the weather is warm enough and the roads are free from ice and snow. I was able to ride gravel roads yesterday (at least here in the most southern parts of Finland) and it felt so good!! The 90km’s route I made was like this:

And ofcourse I had Insta360 Ace Pro attached to my helmet and I made a video!

Garmin Montana 700 Vs Zumo XT2

Posted by gozamite on 23.3.2024
Posted in: actioncamera, adventure, adventure bike, BMW G650XChallenge, GPS system, helmetcamera, insta360 Ace Pro, Moottoripyöräily, Spring Is Coming, TransEuroTrail, Video, Youtube. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I bought myself a new GPS device. The main reason was that my Montana couldn’t get the power anymore from the original motorcycle holder. I already removed the wires and I was thinking that I will charge it only with USB wire but that ofcourse brings more problems.
And when I realised that I had the opportunity to buy Garmin Zumo XT2 I decided to take it.
I hear the XT2 has same kind of problems with the power connection so now I’m waiting to have the same peoblems soon. Hopefully not in this summer yet!

Here I’m comparing Montana 700 and Zumo XT2

Is it really spring?

Posted by gozamite on 6.3.2024
Posted in: adventure, adventure bike, BMW G650XChallenge, dirt bike, helmetcamera, insta360 Ace Pro, Moottoripyöräily, motorcycling in winter, Youtube. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

The winter started very early (last november!) And quite many years lately the spring didn’t come early or not even in the ordinary time (around mid march). But this year maby it’s early?
At least I was actually doing a proper motorcycle ride already in 24th of February!

My ride was mostly about testing the Sena Spider ST1 helmet phone as the microphone. But I was also testing the remote controller (GPS Preview Remote) which is very easy to use and it gives also the GPS data to your video if you want to use it.
A week later I was riding again!

This morning (06th of March 2024) it was -8° so maybe we still need to wait?!