I am awaiting the arrival of my mains charger which as I write this has arrived in Australia (somewhere…) the tracking page says:
Departed Facility 03:14pm, 17 July 2024, Australia
The item has departed from a parcel facility and is undergoing transport.
All going well I will be posting in the next couple of days of being able to continue the journey with full batteries, solar chargers working and the mains charger also mounted on the bike.

The following are things that I have changed so far along the journey (most while I have been holed up in Katherine) which may interest the gear freaks amongst those following my missifs.
Here is a picture of the old version for comparison purposes …

Front window has been cut out to give me a much improved view.
This plastic window provides structural support to the front of the canopy so could not be done away with completely. Being a plastic composite it was getting scratched and visibility through it was poor especially under lights. The solar panel extends well forward of the window and thus provides limited rain protection anyway. The cutout was done with a couple of old knives that I heated up on my cooker and melted/cut out the arc. A side effect of this mod is that the air dam created here has been diminished so I have become a little slippery’er 😉

The lower portion of the canopy frame was removed.
This lower canopy extension provided weather protection of limited value but added weight and complexity for air transport. A hacksaw was a very satisfying tool to remove this. To strengthen the weld joining the upright sections with the cross member in front of the pedals I have added some steel knead putty to bulk out the joint, providing more support if/when the bike is dropped on its side. I shall find some black paint to make this look a bit prettier as time goes on.

Roof solar panel support attachment changed from velcro to zip-tie.
The panel’s horizontal semi-rigidity is achieved through the edges being attached to collapsible lightweight fishing rods. These rods support the panel as it extends forward of the canopy frame while stopping the area in the middle from arcing up due to the weight at the front. Velcro along the edge was a stupid idea as the rod needs to be able to collapse for air travel so could only be attached at the joints otherwise the rod could not telescope. Using zip-ties simplifies the attachments and makes it far more rigid and less likely to come adrift as I get buffeted by road trains!
The rear velcro has also been helped by zip-tie’ing the centre down to the canopy support. I have been concerned about losing the panel when getting shaken around in gusts/traffic buffeting so this gives a little more peace of mind.

Replacement of both the Elejoy MPPT boost solar charge controllers with Genasun
I’ve waxed lyrical about the reasons for this in previous blog posts.

Lifting the rear canopy height to allow me to sit without weight/pressure on my helmet.
This was achieved by adding my new chunky thorn proof tube to the rear of the headrest using zip-ties. This became an issue when I added a (relatively lightweight) tyre I bought in Alice Springs to the rear pocket of the canopy. When I got my first puncture in the outback it was a wake-up call that I need to be better prepared in case of failures. A tyre failure is unlikely as the Schwalbe Marathon Plus were all new when I left NZ but it would only take a broken bottle to slash a sidewall to disable me completely so the extra tyre as insurance seems pretty sensible. Having a couple of the very thick thorn proof tubes also gives a bit more peace of mind.
Being able to move my head freely is welcomed and now I feel I have the optimum situation nailed with the panel as low as I can get it while providing a comfortable riding position.

Reglueing the velcro strips on the trailer panel and adding zip-ties in the centre.
The trailer storage when full places a little upward pressure on the centre of the solar panel which amplifies as I bounce along the road or have to dive off the road edge to avoid traffic. A zip-tie on either side to hold the panel down will hopefully mitigate this. The other problem is the heavenly blue sky that I am chasing which generates considerable heat when I am stationary – melting the self adhesive glue on the velcro 🙁
I added heat resistant glue to these strips to hopefully keep these attached.

One of my rear collapsible trailer stays lost its securing lock.
This happened due to me not checking that they were locked before riding and only noticing at days end when the locking mechanism had rattled free and gone completely. A relatively easy fix by replacing with a nut/bolt – this makes it a fixed length which I can live with.

The battery bag sagged putting stress on the attachment mechanism.
A paint roller zip-tied to the side frame behind the bag gives the bag something to rest against – taking the rotating force out of the attachment mechanism without adding much weight. This also lifts the lid to a more horizontal position making the internals of the bag less likely to invite water in.

Adding a hand brake 🙂
This very simple addition is of huge benefit. The problem is that when the extendable stand/walking pole that I use to support the bike is not put out perpendicular then the bike rolls either forward or backward and falls over when I get off.
I have added a light bungy cord above the right hand grip that slips over the top of the front brake lever, keeping it engaged when I alight, stopping the bike from rolling.

Improved rear solar cabling to charge controller.
I had made the rear cable that connects the solar panel to the boost charge controller only just long enough to allow the trailer to be tipped on its side for loading/unloading gear without putting tension on the cable if routed ideally. Several times it got caught on something and was wrecking the connections. I created a new longer cable, hanging the excess length from the tail light mount with the lightweight bungy cord to allow plenty of free play. (see the photo above re the charge controllers)

Veltop side plastic windows dispensed with.
These provided slightly wider weather protection that did not provide any strength or rigidity to the canopy so have been thrown away. Another few grams saved for air transport. (compare photo’s at the top of this post)

Wiring tidy up
I wrapped, rerouted and generally tidied up the wiring throughout the project. Zip-ties are the bomb 🙂 Having untidy wiring has meant several connections have had unnecessary pressure put on them so is pleasing to have addressed most of these issues.