The Dresingham event

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heinkeljb
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Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:49 pm
Location: Lewes, East Sussex - UK

The Dresingham event

Post by heinkeljb »

Obviously, October is not a good month to put on any sort of Haflinger gathering if this years turn out is anything to go by. There were 4 Haflingers and 2 Pinz's. (a couple of other vehicles, but as they were neither Haflingers or Pinzgauers, they don't count.

So I had booked the Friday off work so I could drive my Haflinger to the camp site in Norfolk. Set off at roughly 9:30am and arrived just after 4pm including a couple of stops along the way (comfort & food). Having arrived the first thing I was asked was - "How far have you come in that?" So, a quick look at the speedometer mileage = 190 miles. Only to be met with "How far?" To be fair, I could have made the route shorter, but I started out not using Highways or toll routes so that immediately meant mostly B roads. That was until I had been through the Blackwall tunnel in London, then the Sat Nav when nuts and put me on to the A13 going out of London.
Now my sense of direction told me that if I went up the M25 and the M11 I would be heading in the right direction and obviously stopping on the A13, the M25 and the M11 is difficult so I didn't bother which meant I couldn't really reset the Sat Nav as that would require concentration which was being put to better use keeping the Haflinger from being squashed by all the 38 ton juggernauts! To be fair, they were all very well behaved and gave me plenty of room once they had gotten to within spitting distance of the flat bead of the Haflinger...
With the snow and mud tyres (155/80/13) on, the Haflinger actually had very good road manners and behaved impeccably all the way to the camp site. Even with the rain and the head wind to contend with!

Those people who happened to be at the site when I arrived soon ran off to their B&B's, so I was left to put up my tent on my lonesome until 8'ish when the Pinz and trailer team turned up and setup camp. So we braved the wind and the rain over night and waited for people to arrive the next morning.

Paul had brought some serious off road tyres to try out on his Haf - they turned out to be very good! Couple of pictures relating to them below. So what more do you want to know? The 4 Haflingers got muddy and stuck a few times. The rain Saturday night before / during / after the pub meal meant the bomb holes were now deeper with water and Paul managed to get get stuck a few more times. Me? I still had what were basically road tyres on so didn't have near enough grip to attempt most of the bomb hole that Paul went through. So I am still not sure if a long wheel base Haflinger is better or worse in those conditions. It did mean that my Haflinger was on hand to pull those that did get stuck free.
Paul and his offroad tyres.jpg
Paul and his offroad tyres.jpg (155.52 KiB) Viewed 2049 times
Paul getting stuck in the dry!.jpg
Paul getting stuck in the dry!.jpg (136.37 KiB) Viewed 2049 times
The hole Paul dug..jpg
The hole Paul dug..jpg (115.98 KiB) Viewed 2049 times
Come Sunday lunch time and I had to think of setting off home again, this time I went down the A10 al the way to London, round on the north circular, through the Blackwall tunnel, only because I missed the turning for the Woolwich ferry... Then the south circular and down the A23. What with a couple of stops and the London traffic. I ended up travelling from about Gatwich down to Lewes with it being dark enough outside to need my lights. When there are no street lights, there is enough light to be able to see the road far enough ahead to be able to stop if you had to, but with street lights, you would be had pushed to know you had head lights!

I can't wait for the next one which is likely to be in Holland in April - Who else is going to come?

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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Julian B
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Re: The Dresingham event

Post by Julian B »

I'll try to make the Dutch Treffen in the Spring; we went a few years ago and it was great fun.
Julian B
W Sussex, UK

| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
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Rick K
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: The Dresingham event

Post by Rick K »

John, thanks for sharing the outing with us. You are a brave man to drive such a distance without a support crew. Perhaps your haffy has now earned the honour of being re-named!

Rick
1963 Haflinger 700APTL (ex- Hydro Tasmania)
several Puch scooters[/size]
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AustHaflinger
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Re: The Dresingham event

Post by AustHaflinger »

Thanks John - a man to my own heart - great to see the Haflingers being used fro extended trips. Do you know what sort of tyres Paul had on when going offroad?

I am thinking about doing a trip with my local 4wd club mid next year - from home and back about 3000km over 10 days and if I trailer to the start about 2000km. If I can find the bearing issues in the front of my haffie and my really old blind mad dog (now 16 and a half) passes on by then I will seriously consider it.

Going on longer trips in a haffie is great fun - my longest so far has been 150km - and is somewhat relaxing - I am thinking about putting an orange flashing light on the back though, as most of my longer trips would be main roads with a lot of idiots.

Cheers

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
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heinkeljb
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Re: The Dresingham event

Post by heinkeljb »

Various people have mentioned putting an orange flashing light on the back. I would much rather put a sign on the back which has "limited to 40mph" - most of the big lorries have signs on the back with "limited to ..."
At the moment I feel putting an orange flashing light on use whilst driving is another nail in the coffin for common sense. We have so many rules now that people have stopped using common sense and then complain when they do something stupid like fall off a ladder because it was the "wrong sort" or they didn't put it up against the wall correctly.

Currently, my one concession is have a pair of LED lights on the front of Lurch which I can switch on if I feel like it when i am driving. They are not wired to come on when the ignition is turned on.

On my list of things to do are either 4 way hazard lights, an orange LED light bar on the Cab or 8 separate orange LED units on the corners which can be switched on or off from inside the cab. Finally, upgrading the headlight to HID's. I have found some which apparently have the BA21a fitting but I am not sure about the light spread so I might buy 1 just to try. The reason for going for HID's is that you can get ones that run at 35 Watts. So no more than the original bulbs ans so not overloading the electrics.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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heinkeljb
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Re: The Dresingham event

Post by heinkeljb »

Oh, and I forgot: Paul was using wide ATV tyres on original Hafi 12 inch rims. Apparently they came from ex-military Quads which were then fitted with road tread tyres. So he got the tyres cheap. Fitted with tubes in case they tried folding off hte rims in use - but that did not happen.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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heinkeljb
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Re: The Dresingham event

Post by heinkeljb »

Rick,

I have break down cover with recovery, so if the worst happens, I don't go where I am going to - I come home!

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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maxhafli
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Re: The Dresingham event

Post by maxhafli »

I too have similar tires in the garage! :P
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