BajaNomad

Baja Fixes... whachewgot!? <;~D. ...

micah202 - 1-29-2018 at 10:02 PM

Pulled the kite board and kite out today,,, a sport I -didn't- get good at 5 years ago, when I was down here last. In a warmup flight, I managed a 'hard' landing,, the inflatable bladder cover ripped,, bladder stuck out, then popped...like a GUNSHOT!!! <;~O
I have to say I was pretty bummed, no repair materials with me,, not likely to find such until Ventana.

What next? ..had a nap,, then did my best to repair the air bladder in the kite,,, some inspiration comes from the nut who sold a bike ,flat tire fixed with duct tape!!!! .....then there's a plastic milk bottle for reinforcement,inside the fabric tube,, a bit of sailbag cloth to repair the outer fabric,,, stitched with dental floss . the only 'proper' item in the repair is ........a needle!!!
....still holding full pressure ~5hr's later! <,;~}

...whachewgot!?
EDIT.... Extra bragging points for 'fixed with whachewgot brung' repairs, as long as its not a 'stock' replacement...or 'teaching the locals', like I did with doubling up suspension springs. <;~}


[Edited on 1-30-2018 by micah202]

[Edited on 1-31-2018 by micah202]

BigBearRider - 1-29-2018 at 10:51 PM

Awesome! What kind of rig do you have, and recommend for an athletic beginner?

micah202 - 1-29-2018 at 11:03 PM

...here's another...

Driving down I-5, in my old Sienna,,loaded to the gills, and 2 boats on top,,, realized the suspension was bottoming out at times, needed a fix fast, before Baja highways, especially that nasty Catavina cut, where the llaternas are responsible for road maintenance. <;~\
....stopped by the San Diego wrecking yards, found anither set of Sienna springs, asked a junkyard mechanico to...double them up.....
...'you can't do that'
...yes you can!'
..no way!,,won't work'
...did it in my 80's Toyovan...'
...nioooo wayyy,, impossible'
...okay...I'll TEACH you!'
....got them in,rear 4" higher ...EL TORO' styling!!! <;~}

...added a spring stiffener to the fronts as wee,, did it on the beach....~1 1/2" higher now too! <;~D

micah202 - 1-29-2018 at 11:20 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider  
Awesome! What kind of rig do you have, and recommend for an athletic beginner?


...I'm very much the wrong person to ask,, much more a sailor, Laser dinghies, than kiter,, in fact my instructor in Ventana 5 years ago strongly recommend I stay with sailing dinghies,, I was that baaaad! <;~O

What I can suggest is that if you want to pick up kiting,, head directly to Ventana, sign up for lessons, trash -their- equipment,, so some research there, then buy a used quiver there from a pro-rider for ~20% retail for one season use! 2-3 kites and a basic board...$800 to 1G It's ---very--- important not to cheap-out on lessons...your life -depends- on that!!!

[Edited on 1-30-2018 by micah202]

San Felipe break down!

AKgringo - 1-30-2018 at 11:28 AM

I was headed north through S.F. last December when my rear axle became extremely unstable. I pulled over to the curb, and found that the bolt connecting my rear axle to the stabilizer bar (or whatever it is called) was gone! The bump I felt was the tire eating some of my fender well!

I was right across the street from the Oasis market, and the owner asked in perfect English if I needed a mechanic. Of course I said yes, so he came across the street and knocked on the door of the house I broke down in front of.

It turned out that the resident there was a mechanic that had the day off. He said "No problema", went to a parts house for a grade 8 bolt and lock nut, and had me on the road in about an hour!

Meanwhile, I had coffee and pastry at the Oasis Market with Henry (Enrique) and his wife, who also spoke flawless English!

DanO - 1-30-2018 at 04:38 PM

A number of years ago I had a Ford Expedition that lost a rear stabilizer bar bushing on the road out to La Bocana de Santo Tomas. The stabilizer bar was loose and banging the crap out of the muffler. I pulled it up to my landlord's place and poked around in his tool shed. No bushings, so I fashioned a replacement out of a strip of inner tube wrapped around a piece of half inch pvc pipe that fit perfectly into the stabilizer bar bracket. Bolted it up and forgot about it until about 6 months later when I took the truck to my local Ford dealer for brakes and the service writer noticed it.

advrider - 1-30-2018 at 08:41 PM

Four years ago on the way into Mikes on our big KTM 990'S we broke a rear shock bolt, shock was slamming into the swing arm! Was day 1 of an 8 day trip. The bolt goes into a hole in the swing arm and captures the shock in the swing arm. One of the guys at Mikes comes up with two metric bolts that might work, we get the bolt in but don't have room for a socket to fit. We use pliers to get it started until we can have another bolt welded to it sticking out of the swing arm so we could tighten it several times a day. We got that done in El Rosario after taking the back way out. We broke it on the way into Bola and had a socket and extension welded to it again and that lasted the rest of the trip, checking it about every twenty miles of dirt....

KurtG - 1-30-2018 at 10:17 PM

Two fixes using Vice Grips. First back in mid-70's riding my CB750 north from Mulege. The shift lever broke so I removed it and clamped a pair of Vice Grips on the shifter shaft in its place and rode to San Diego where I could get a new lever. Second incident was riding my Honda V65 Sabre, just north of La Paz my throttle cable broke. Fortunately the break was at the top end of the cable where it came out of the throttle housing. I clamped a needle nose vice grip onto the cable end and used the vice grip as a rocker throttle with the handlebar as the fulcrum. Worked so well that I rode the entire 1000 miles back to San Luis Obispo with that set up. These days a spare clutch and throttle cable are always in the saddle bag along with the essential zip ties, gorilla tape, and JB Weld. Patched an Maico 360 engine case with JB Weld, saw the bike years later and the patch was still holding. That was a truly evil motorcycle, it tried to kill me several times.

micah202 - 1-31-2018 at 04:54 AM

Quote: Originally posted by KurtG  
Two fixes using Vice Grips. First back in mid-70's riding my CB750 north from Mulege. The shift lever broke so I removed it and clamped a pair of Vice Grips on the shifter shaft in its place and rode to San Diego where I could get a new lever. Second incident was riding my Honda V65 Sabre, just north of La Paz my throttle cable broke. Fortunately the break was at the top end of the cable where it came out of the throttle housing. I clamped a needle nose vice grip onto the cable end and used the vice grip as a rocker throttle with the handlebar as the fulcrum. Worked so well that I rode the entire 1000 miles back to San Luis Obispo with that set up. These days a spare clutch and throttle cable are always in the saddle bag along with the essential zip ties, gorilla tape, and JB Weld. Patched an Maico 360 engine case with JB Weld, saw the bike years later and the patch was still holding. That was a truly evil motorcycle, it tried to kill me several times.


...ah ha!... very good,,,the vice grip repairs look like the first ...'fixed with what you got', other than my kite bladder repair with duct tape, milk bottle, sail bag cloth,,and dental floss. Still holding pressure after another day of punishment! <;~}

...the engine case repair,, how the heck did you degrease it enough for the JB to bond!?




[Edited on 1-31-2018 by micah202]

KurtG - 1-31-2018 at 10:34 AM

Quote: Originally posted by micah202  


...the engine case repair,, how the heck did you degrease it enough for the JB to bond!?

[Edited on 1-31-2018 by micah202]


Another rider had a small spray can of ether based starting fluid.

'fixed with what you got'

AKgringo - 1-31-2018 at 10:45 AM

I had good karma, and a few pesos, that should count!

MMc - 1-31-2018 at 12:39 PM

I was south of Erendira and punched a hole in the oil pan. Picked up a piece of drift wood and carved it to size, beat it into the hole, cleaned the pan with gas and siliconed around the hole. Refilled with oil and went that way for about a month after I got home.

BajaBlanca - 1-31-2018 at 02:05 PM

:o


these are some amazing stories!

BajaTed - 1-31-2018 at 02:44 PM

I saw and couldn't believe it when a huge 6 VDC battery and some american quarters were used to weld a crack in a Toyota 22 R engine block water jacket. He was controlling that noisy plasma arc like a nuclear physicist, ended up like artwork.
If they go to Mars, they should first train in Baja:bounce:

David K - 1-31-2018 at 04:36 PM

Most Nomads probably read of my vise-grip repair (BIG THANK YOU TO LARRY, bajatrailrider) for his vise grip plyers!

My left-rear brake cylinder blew a seal when the brake shoes broke a post on the wheel drum between El Coyote and Mike's Sky Rancho, last October. With some inner-tube rubber (THANK YOU Michael of El Coyote) and Larry's vise-grips, I could stop the loss of brake fluid on that drum and limp home.

BigBearRider - 1-31-2018 at 05:37 PM

There's a great fixit story in the Baja Adventure book. The gist of it is that two Mexican mechanics overcome some pretty big issues with some great ingenuity. I enjoy reading the story every time.

micah202 - 1-31-2018 at 07:33 PM

Quote: Originally posted by KurtG  
Quote: Originally posted by micah202  


...the engine case repair,, how the heck did you degrease it enough for the JB to bond!?

[Edited on 1-31-2018 by micah202]


Another rider had a small spray can of ether based starting fluid.


Nice, very nice!!!

pacificobob - 2-2-2018 at 03:56 PM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
I had good karma, and a few pesos, that should count!

i used tequila to clean a cracked motorcycle case to get the jb weld to stick. still holding after 4 years and a bunch of hard miles.

MulegeAL - 2-2-2018 at 05:55 PM

KTM single cyl dirt bike. Problema: front wheel bearing is shot.
Fix: Knock out balls and cage. Wrap nylon tow strap into a bushing bearing, lube, stuff into outer race and around axle. Got to Mulege!

Mex biker on side of road in Palo Verde. Problema: chain is broken. I stop, go through all my spares, have nothing to fix it, my chain is bigger. But we tried.

A few hours later, in San Bruno, there is the bike, chain is fixed. He did it with worn out Japanese kit pliers and a rock. I am not worthy!

Paulina - 2-2-2018 at 10:01 PM

I spent the summers in Bahia de Los Angeles with my children every year. My husband would drive separately, see us set up, then go back stateside. One trip down I lost the hub dust cap to one of my wheels. He had a fit saying that I couldn't drive the truck all summer on the dirt roads. He insisted we turn around and go home. I cut a Tecate can down to replace the lost cap, securing it with a zip tie.

Bonus points: I also eventually replaced him with a better Baja model, found in Bahia de Los Angeles too.

P>*)))>{

micah202 - 2-3-2018 at 08:30 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Paulina  
Bonus points: I also eventually replaced him with a better Baja model, found in Bahia de Los Angeles too.
P>*)))>{


...sounds like the right fix....on a number of counts!! <;~D

philodog - 2-5-2018 at 03:07 PM

Coming out of Punta San Carlos a travel trailer leaf spring broke dropping the trailer onto the tire. The broken end of the leaf was resting on the trailer frame. Jacked the trailer up, put a piece of 2x4 between the frame and broken leaf raising the trailer off the wheel. The weight of the trailer kept the 2x4 in place until I got home to Northern California.

JZ - 2-5-2018 at 05:23 PM

Broke the clutch lever on my bike. Used vice gripes for the rest of the trip.

Jinete Viejo - 2-5-2018 at 11:36 PM

Re: Cleaning an engine case before applying Quik Steel or JB Weld;
The next time you have blood drawn, ask the phlebotomist for some alcohol wipes. You need to replace your supply once a year as they dry out inside the packet.
Re: Broken throttle cable at the top end;
Wire the inner cable to the twist grip and wire the outer housing to the handle bar.
Re: Fried clutch;
Put washers or pennies (at least 3 or 4) between one of the clutch plates to make up for the worn fiber. Did this on a friends 450 KTM and he rode it from El Rosario to San Francisquito and back.

JZ - 2-5-2018 at 11:58 PM

Btw, these are all called TMOs. Typical Mexican Operation.

micah202 - 2-7-2018 at 10:11 AM

...not exactly Baja simplicity to have a set of cordless power tools, a power saw for firewood, drill, cutoff disc for steel, an impact wrench... all recharged with solar!

... came up with a nice 'fix' y'day for jacking and levelling the car.... adapted my crappy little car jack so I can use it with the impact wrench!!
....my ingenuity amazes me! <;~}

[Edited on 2-7-2018 by micah202]

yumawill - 2-7-2018 at 12:19 PM

I don't even know why I have an M.D. If I could get you to repair my front end I'm sure my ball bearing's would fall into the race position.

bent-rim - 2-9-2018 at 09:43 AM

I am consistently impressed with the ingenuity used to repair stuff in Baja. There was a picture of a welder using a brown Paciifico bottle for welding goggles on another thread here. I also like guy guy re beading a tire by orally spraying gasoline in the tire and throwing a match on it. i'm sure that wall will work out great.