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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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Baja Fixes... whachewgot!? <;~D. ...
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]
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 4-30-2015
Location: Big Bear, Punta Chivato, and Cabo
Member Is Offline
Mood: 
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Awesome! What kind of rig do you have, and recommend for an athletic beginner?
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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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...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
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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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...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]
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5805
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
Member Is Offline
Mood: Retireded
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San Felipe break down!
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!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
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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.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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advrider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1847
Registered: 10-2-2015
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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....
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KurtG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1201
Registered: 1-27-2004
Location: California Central Coast
Member Is Offline
Mood: Press On Regardless!!
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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.
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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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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]
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KurtG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1201
Registered: 1-27-2004
Location: California Central Coast
Member Is Offline
Mood: Press On Regardless!!
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| 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.
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5805
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
Member Is Offline
Mood: Retireded
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'fixed with what you got'
I had good karma, and a few pesos, that should count!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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MMc
Super Nomad
Posts: 1679
Registered: 6-29-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: Current
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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.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13165
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
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these are some amazing stories!
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BajaTed
Senior Nomad
Posts: 859
Registered: 5-2-2010
Location: Bajamar
Member Is Offline
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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
Es Todo Bueno
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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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.
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1299
Registered: 4-30-2015
Location: Big Bear, Punta Chivato, and Cabo
Member Is Offline
Mood:
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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.
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micah202
Super Nomad
Posts: 1615
Registered: 1-19-2011
Location: vancouver,BC
Member Is Offline
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Nice, very nice!!!
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pacificobob
Super Nomad
Posts: 2237
Registered: 4-23-2006
Member Is Offline
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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.
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MulegeAL
Nomad
Posts: 298
Registered: 8-25-2009
Location: PDX/Mulege
Member Is Offline
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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!
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Paulina
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3810
Registered: 8-31-2002
Location: BCN
Member Is Offline
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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>*)))>{
\"Well behaved women rarely make history.\" Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
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