So the KTM has died somewhat. The auto decompression doesn't work anymore so I can't get it started. Bugger. I lifted the camshaft cover and found that the auto decomp ring on the camshaft is hanging loose. Not good.
I contacted KTM Sommer Germany if they can send a new camshaft. See what happens.
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Hi all,
The starter problem is solved, it njust needs a new battery.
And because I'm used to kickstarting my GS-400 LC/4 I tought that the 640 was msbehaving. But I'm just the amateur in kickstarting big tumpers. Tank for all th advise!
I never tougt that a 10000 miles/2 year old battery could be bad, but it is. I try to find a new battery here. And kickstart the thing meanwhile. It is 35 degrees celsius out here so not easy........
Thanks to KTM Sommer Germany for their excellent help.
Tomorro I go to the east of Mauretania......
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I would love not to start the engine with the decomp lever pulled in but there is no otherway at the moment. I'm not going to kick start it in the 35 degree celsuis/95 degree fahrenheit while I can still electric start it. sorry about the camlever.
I'm now in St.Louis, Senegal and having a much better time then I did in Mauretania. What a much better and friendlier country/people is this. People smiling again, something theydon't do in Mauretania. Much cleaner streets.
All good. And they have beer here............
Tomorrow I go to Dakar to find a battery for the Adventure.
Yesterday I rode in scoring heat the 200 km from Noakchott to Rosso, the brodertown to Senegal, to be hassled in Rosso by lying, cheating morrons. I quickly made my escape to Diama for a beautiful 100km off-road piste. Blasted that in 1.5 hours.
In Diama I teamed up with four Portugese guys on 3 BMW's GS and "sadly" one Honda Varadero. This was good, as a team you can get over a border cheaper that as a indivuel. It still cost, including insurrance, 54 euro to get across to border.
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What a stupid keyboard, this is the third time I started this story. There is a off switch on the keyboard mounted just below the delete button. So, if you slip of the delete button then you switch off the computer. Happened now twice; bugger.
Again no photo's because this internet cafe has his computers shut thight.
I'm in Dakar now, capital of Senegal. Don't come here useless urgently needed. It's dirty, crowded and there is nothing to see or visit. Only "Ile de Goreee", the island from where the Dutch, French and Britisch have trnasported slaves to the Americas. So to you Afro-Americans, today I saw, from a distance, the island from where your great, great parents where shipped to the States. Maybe I will visit but that means I have to stay another two nights in Dakar. And I don't want to do that.
I'm in the search for a battery for the Adventure. Being that there are hardly any telfone books in West-Africa, I thought that it was going to be a struggle to find something, however. Coming back from a walk from my hotel, there are no campinggrounds in Dakar, I saw a Nissan Patrol in front of the hotel with a KTM sticker on the back. I ask the driver/owner of the vehicle if the knew any good motorbike shops. Turns out he is the owner of a KTM service point in Dakar, this can't be true. Bumping into the sole KTM man in west africa in font of my hotel.
Tomorrow a new battery and a oil change and then of to Mali.
Today I rode from St. Louis to Dakar, 290 km of tarmac. Very hot. There where a lot of animal corpses, cow, horse, goat, camel, along the road due to the drought. Even a monkey near the Zebrabar camping I was on, but that was a roadkill.
See you.
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In Dakar I got a new battery, that said it was only a 7 amps not the required 10 amps. The guy had travelled half the city to get the battery from somewhere. So I thought, I give it a go and tossed the acid in. Wrong, 7 amps is not enough to turn the engine. Cost me a fortune. I'm now getting good at kickstarting the thing.
I stayed in Dakar one night. I tried the Radison but that was about 120 euro's a night.
The next morging a put a new battery in and removed the camshaftcover again to put some liauid gasket in because ity was leaking. I had been busy all morging. In the afternoon I rode to Lac Rose, the finishing place of Paris-Dakar, and stayed there a night. I had a swim in the Lake, the lake is just a sealty as the dead sea, so you float on top of the water, very strange.
The next day I rode to Tambaconda, the inlands of Senegal, it was very very hot. Near Koussanar, 20 km before Tambaconda, I shaw I French girl on a small motorbike (125 cc twostroke) coming out of the bush with a local lady on the back. I asked her if a could set up a tent where she was going. I ended sleeping in some sort of Socio dormetory/sleeping hall. I got a nice spagetti meal from a shared bowl. All very nice. On the way to the camp the small bike couldn't handling the heat a weight, so I took the lady on te back, here dress flapping around like crazy, but see had a laugh.
The sleeping hall had an inside thermometer, 37 degrees celsius it said.
The next day I rode from Koussanar to Kedougou, way in the South of Senegal near the Guinee border. I rode through the National Parc Du Niokolo Koba, I see a lot of monkeys in the parc. The parc border guards offered my lunch so I sat down and eat some of their rice with fish dish, lovelly.
Oh, did I tell you it was hot, my god it is hot. I switch off the bike for 1 hour and still it showed two bars of the watertemp.
I couldn't ride anymore with my jacket one, so I continued in my T-shirt. Burned my arms.
I stopped in the Relais de Kedougou hunting lodge. Very nice with a good pool. Why am I not in it now? Oke I hurry back to the lodge now......
Tomorrow I ride from Keduogou to Saray then Keniaba and then Manantalli or Bafoulabe in Mali. That is nearly all off-road piste.
The Adventure started leaking oil of the gear linkqge.