Tag Archives: Baja

UPDATE to Board Support Up Front

1 Jun

Duct tape repair. (Have to look closely.) Temporary, and unnecessary, as it turns out.

It didn’t take long for the PVC contraption (see Board Support Up Front post) to fail, cracking after just 8 hours or so in the saddle. Here we are at the Old Mill in San Quintin applying a duct tape repair. As it turned out, it was never needed. In just another couple of hours the support broke off completely, slipping away from the duct tape. The event went unnoticed, though, as the problem solved itself.

The support was never meant to work on its own. It was there as much as an anchor for the bungie cord as anything else. When the contraption broke off, the hose-clamped piece stayed in place, which was all that was needed anyhow, as the Carver racks in the back fully supported the surfboard. All that was needed up front was the bungie cord to keep the nose in and out of the wind. This photo shows the remaining mess that worked great for the rest of that trip, another 2,000 miles, including hundreds of off-road riding, at speed.

All that was needed in the first place was an anchor for the lower bungie cord hook.

So what started as the biggest concern – keeping the front of the surfboard supported and out of the wind – turned out to be a non-issue. Very good news.

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Carver Surf Racks

6 Mar

OK, down to the good stuff: Surf racks on a motorcycle. I checked Deus Ex Machina rack, but you can’t buy it without buying the motorcycle attached to it, and at this point they’re only doing street bikes. I also checked out the Surfer Peg rack, but again, it’s street oriented, and needs to attach to the frame. That’s not inherently bad, but it would require fabrication that I’m not quite interested in. Primarily, though, it’s the street focus that steered me away. I settled on the Carver Racks, even though they’re not for motorcycles – bicycles and scooters, but not motorcycles. What I liked, though, is that it could be bolted to the rear rack.

When putting the racks together I encountered a small problem: The rubber tubes were too long, so the pieces wouldn’t fit together without a bit of cutting. I called the guys at Carver in Hawaii. They were a bit surprised, but were good with the mod.

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Case Savers

5 Mar

A slow-speed fall could spell disaster if the brake pedal or shifter gets driven into the engine case. And it happens all the time. So adding case savers is a must. I checked out the case guards at Procycle. They’re $80 and made of stainless steel. Then I found the aluminum (translation: lighter) guards at Motorcycleproducts for $60. Lighter on the bike and wallet too.

Easiest things in the world to install, once you find the right adhesive. The instructions ask for “RTF” adhesive. Went to the local hardware store, OSH, but they never heard of it. Went to Home Depot, same deal. But after scouring the aisle I found this (below). As it turns out, it’s basic silicon seal.

After finding the right stuff it’s easy. Clean the guards with 409 to remove all dirt or finger oils, and spread the silicon seal.

Press the guards to the cases and tape to hold in place.

After letting the silicon seal set for a day I added a bead around the edges to keep dirt from getting inside.

UPDATE: The installation went well, and after riding over 2,500 miles in Baja, most of that in desert temperatures well over 100, I’ve seen no problems. The news is that ProCycle now has installation instructions on their site. Not much different than these, but they like the red silicon. Check it out here.

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The Surfer’s Guide to Baja – New Edition

2 Mar

The new, 4th edition of The Surfer’s Guide to Baja is finally back in print. It’s been out of print for nearly a year while the update for the 4th edition has been under way. Available at core surf shops everywhere, or it can be ordered direct from Amazon, Createspace and other online vendors.

UPDATE: The Kindle version now available too…here.

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A Good Welder is Hard to Find

25 Feb

I mentioned Bob at Elco Welding. You would never guess that right there on Abbot Kinney and Venice Blvd is a welding shop two full generations old. A gear head/fabricator’s delight. I asked around at the bike shops for a good welder and no one could help me. One shop even said they were about to add that to their services. Then I saw Eldo while riding home. Heaven.

 

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Baja’s Seven Sisters have an LA Cousin

17 Feb

http://youtu.be/FW0DVP5QjHY?hd=1

Travel the world looking for surf, but every so often, the good stuff is local. Here Venice does its best imitation of Baja’s legendary Seven Sisters, with a good NW swell combined with strong off shores.

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Got her. It’s on.

28 Jan

I found a 2009 DR650se with only 744 miles on the odometer, but dings – dented tank (left side), bent levers, cracked rear signals, scratched cases, bent shifter, broken hand guards, etc. –  from the two falls that convinced the owner to sell the bike. There are thousands of nearly new bikes for sale, most without the dings, but all with nearly the same story. The owner kept telling me how fast the bike was, which sold me even more, not for the speed – although that’s a good reason – but the clear sign that he never really got into it, wasn’t a Ricky Racer, and probably babied the thing. Another dalliance with motorcycling that ends with a castaway.

So she has a few scars and not the prettiest teeth. I’m OK with that. I’m gonna get her all dolled up for Baja surf travel. No cosmetic surgery. Just all the right bits for a good time. While this isn’t a great photo of her – just a quick iPhone shot taken outside the welder’s shop – I wanted to get a “before” shot taken prior getting ready to go out.

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Feeling the Shift

14 Jan

I’m feeling the shift from what seems like an interesting idea to taking action.

Today I stopped by LA Cyclesports to price a Suzuki DR650SE. Nine years ago I bought a GSXR750 there, which got me back into motorcycles after a bit of a layoff. It’s fitting that I went there to look at my first off-road bike since I was a kid. After much research I’m pretty sure this is the one, the DR650, the one to take me to the hardest-to-reach surf spots in Baja, and get me down the highway. But first I need to catch you up.

I’ve gone beyond fantasizing to planning and declaring to all my moto-surf trip to Baja and maybe beyond. The idea is simple. Strap a surfboard to a dirt bike and head off. Right.

Which bike? I eliminated the BMW, KTM and other adventure-tourers as too heavy for the really rough stuff and deep sand, and too complicated (having too many parts). My buddies Will and Q have been riding the BMW 1200 Adventure bikes. They ride for fun and train in the woods of New Jersey. I went with them on a Rawhyde weekend training camp for BMW 1200’s, but I rented the 650, which is more of a traditional motocross-style endure bike. A bike that weighs nearly 600 pounds just isn’t my thing. Besides, they’re 6′-plus guys and I’m a scrawny 5’9″. They went on to do another Rawhyde ride, this time in South America where they followed the Dakar race – a grueling ride. I was one part jealous and one part happy not to be dealing with those monstrous bikes. As it turns out, it was a memorable adventure, but the Rawhyde crew mismanaged the thing badly, so they won’t be back. But I’m still jealous and really wish I had gone.

Anyhow, I want a light, simple bike as I’ll be on my own and will need to do everything myself, from picking it up out of a ditch to repairing it after. No water-cooled, multi-cylinder, feature-laden, see-the-world touring rig. No special electronics for everything from heating my butt to adjusting the ride height. Just a plain, simple, big thumper (that’s a single-cylinder bike, typically over 500cc’s), with lots of clearance for the rough stuff.

BA Belton’s “The Alexander Project” trip (http://the-alexander-project.blogspot.com) from Canada to Panama showed how to do it on the Kawasaki KLR 650, a well-respected bike for it’s workhorse-like reliability. A good story and background for my trip. Less surf and more highway than I would like, but it narrowed the search to the so-called “dual sports” – or what we used to call enduro bikes. That narrowed it to the KLR (out), the Honda XR650L (well respected in Baja) and the Suzuki DR650SE. The XR has a 37″ seat height and is great for off-road. But it’s not as good on the highway, and the tall seat makes for difficult slow-going, i.e., can’t put my feet down easily – it’s unstable at slow speeds. The DR has a 34.8″ seat height, is faster on the highway, but the suspension is a bit soft, so it’s not as good for fast off-road travel. And the DR runs about a grand or more less. (That thousand dollars will go a long way toward stiffening the suspension.)

I decided on the DR, with a list of modifications I’ll need to get to. But for today, I found the dealer I will buy from if I buy new. And I can get it out the door for the MSRP, meaning no tax, freight or dealer prep. Awesome. That’s the bike pictured. But I think I’ll look for a slightly used one.

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