I'm a new Solena owner, my first TT although we've done a bit of camping. I have a couple of questions that other owners might be able to help with. (I hope!)
1) What tyre pressures should I run on the trailer?
2) Where can I get an owner's manual? - I joined the owner's club but it seems to be defunct. Awning instructions would be particlarly useful.
at Raclet Solena - an odd subject title I know.
On a cycling forum I use they use this type of title for specific models of bike, it enables owners of that model to post questions, tips, updates etc. This puts loads of information in one place which makes it really easy to find but doesn't exclude anyone else from joining in. You may (or may not) think it a good idea to continue.
We bought out Solena last September and have used it twice so far. Hoping to use it many times this year if the weather ever improves!
To answer your questions:
1) Ours has a sticker over the nearside wheel stating the pressures for various wheel sizes. The 8" Solena wheels should be 4.5 bar (69.6 PSI). I don't know the age of yours (ours is 2011), so maybe it has no sticker. I would check the info on the tyre wall for the maximum pressure, just in case it's different.
2) There don't appear to be any specific instructions for the Solena but there is a generic instruction book that covers awning erection in very general terms. I can let you have a pdf copy if you like but there are also some excellent instructions on here from member fionag in this thread (7th post in the thread). The only things I would add to those are: i) the zip to put on first is the LEFT one and ii) I have found that tying a short piece of guy line around the two hooks of each pole after hooking them together stops them falling apart as you put the canvas over the frame.
There is a diagram of the awning poles for the 2011 model which is available here. I imagine earlier ones would be very similar.
I too joined the owners club. It's not very active, is it? I've answered a couple of questions on there but never had a reply, so only 'look in' about every month now. It's a shame, as it could be a very useful resource.
Clear titles on posts are great,much better than "HELP" or "NEWBIE", but putting the" at " in seems a bit pointless and maybe a bit to geeky to us old farts.
Many thanks Ian, you're quite right about the pressure, I've now found a faded sticker on the offside! Sorry about the at Miserly, I followed the lead given on the other forum and thought there might be a reason for it.
Mine's a 2010 and we'll try it next week at the cycling rally in York - for a long weekend. We hope the weather's OK so we can try the awning but if it's too wet we might not bother for the 2 of us. Can't wait to try it out.
I'm surprised there's so little info on the Raclet website, as you can usually download things like instruction manuals for just about any product these days. I'll follow the links on the awning now and see what I can glean.
Does anyone use a bike carrier on the trailer?, I'm a bit concerned about the small space between the rack and the lid - only about 30mm I think. I've seen a post regarding this and I think it may be that some 'roof mount' carriers won't have enough clearance. It's important that the carrier is easy to fit and remove because it will have to come off (as well as the bikes!) prior to setting the TT up.
I searched high and low for instructions to put the awning up to no avail, but with a bit of time and persistence I managed it quite well - possibly because I can only disagree with myself and that is sometimes just not worth the effort
Sorry if I got the left hand / right hand zip wrong, not so easy unless you are physically doing it while you write it up. I have found though that every time I put it up I improve the procedure, or at least adapt it to suit the weather conditions. Last time I zipped the awning on to the cabin and then flung the lot onto the cabin roof while I got all the poles into place, then pulled the canvas over the assembled frame. Not likely to be practical if wet or windy though.
I wonder if it is because mine is an older (2004) version, but I don't seem to have the same problems with the hooked poles that attach the awning to the cabin, is it a slightly different design perhaps?
Good luck for your weekend in York, hope the weather is dry enough to try putting the whole unit up.
30mm is plenty,there is only about 4mm on mine,so i glued stainless washers to the lid so that the u bolts didn't damage the glass fibre lid. I had to squeeze them in though,so it wasn't perfect. If you are keeping the tent for a long time,then you can drill the rack and insert clench nuts,(like big rivets with a screw thread) and bolt the bike rack to these.
.... Sorry if I got the left hand / right hand zip wrong, not so easy unless you are physically doing it while you write it up....
Hi Fiona. No, you didn't get it wrong in that post. You just couldn't remember which was first.
We found your instructions so helpful when we put our awning up for the second time (a lot quicker than our first attempt!) that I printed them out and laminated them. Glad I could point them out to someone else.
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Topic: @Raclet Solena
