Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the category “Mod Squad”

14 Nov 2014
14 Comments

Standing Pat

An unnecessarily elaborate way to camp, but a wonderfully convenient and enjoyable way to live.

An unnecessarily elaborate way to camp, but a wonderfully convenient and enjoyable way to live.

Having purged tanks at the LTVA dump station Thursday, and stocked up with fresh food on a run to Parker Friday, I’m now ready to get back in the groove and see how long I can leave the Mighty Furd unused in camp. That should be awhile, perhaps longer than it should sit unstarted. I’ll be wiring in a little 10-watt solar panel to keep its battery topped up and desulfated, if only I can track down the special and now spare solar controller reserved for that task. See, I tucked it away someplace safe while it was at the Ford dealer, and now the challenge is to figure out once more where that safe place was. Ever do that? I have to conduct such searches every now and then. It’s here somewhere!

Although the Defiant is decently leveled out nearly a football field away from my nearest neighbor here at the LTVA in Quartzsite, it was necessary to use one of two long boards that I keep specifically for that job. Getting the trailer level is necessary since the fridge/freezer depends on it for efficiency, and the various cabinet doors as well as the bathroom door will want to swing this way or that if it isn’t close to perfect. Using boards under the tires can become a nuisance to set up as well as store however, and one cracked in half Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad, The Defiant and tagged , , ,
14 Oct 2014
6 Comments

Roll-Down Trailer Windows

The window. Fixed.

The window. Fixed.

Just before a major trip to town yesterday, I discovered that the window on the trailer door had somehow slipped down about an inch, opening an impromptu 1/4″x12″ fresh air slot at the top of the window. That explained the draft during the cold, high wind here the day before. Repairs would have to wait though, since a combination laundry and grocery run would prevent taking the time to disassemble the thing and figure out what would be needed to fix it.

So today, I removed the screws squeezing the inner and outer plastic window frames together. Ugh. Small pins molded into both frames that retain the edges of the glass had sheared off at the bottom, letting the glass slowly slide down from its own weight. I’m not sure why, though the door has had an unhappy existence in terms of sag, and takes some shoving now

Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad, The Defiant and tagged , , , , , ,
30 Sep 2014

Taking Cheapskate Seriously

Yowza! A customized old Toyota pickup goes streamliner for mileage, not speed.

Yowza! A customized old Toyota pickup goes streamliner for mileage, not speed.

Riding the Aurora e-bike on the way to Wendover, Utah one day, I came across a streamliner of sorts, parked at the Sinclair truck stop at the fringes of the Bonneville Salt Flats. It differs considerably from other streamliners in two respects. First, it is streetable, if impractical. Second, this streamliner is not built for speed, but for fuel mileage.

Based on an older Toyota T100 pickup truck, its owner has made serious modifications to its body. Functionally speaking, it is no longer a pickup truck, but a car. He was at Bonneville to hopefully wade through the brine and make a run on the salt, but that isn’t as exciting as it seems. Its little four-cylinder engine can, given enough distance, push this newly-slippery shape along at just over 100 MPH, if it has to. That may be fast for a stock T100 four-banger. I don’t know, but I assume it is. Pickup trucks are bluff boxes that force

Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Mod Squad, Tourista! and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
08 Sep 2014
2 Comments

The Aurora Frankenstein

 

The stock Aurora, as originally delivered. From here on, it's just a myriad of bolt-on details.

The stock Aurora, as originally delivered. From here on, it’s just a myriad of bolt-on details.

[Boredom alert: This post is an incredible 8,900 words long, which may induce coma in certain persons. The first half consists of much whining, and relates how the various modifications to the Aurora came about, as a methodical ordeal. The second half gets down to the specific parts used, with links. So feel free to skip on down to the subtitle “Modifications Parts List” if you find your eyes beginning to dance around in your head. Or, just look at the pretty pictures. Gearheads will want to saw all the way through, if time allows.]

Turning a more powerful Evelo Aurora into a rough approximation of their more practical Luna model is not necessarily an easy thing. In my peculiar situation, it’s difficult, even if you restrict the types of modifications to the “bolt-on” category. After all, there’s no place inside my dry trailer living space to work on it, and it certainly can’t be left disemboweled outside in Midwest thunderstorms. Tain’t the kind of project that can sit around unused for weeks or months, either. It needed to have new parts grafted on and be put into service, pronto. With just two months to order, receive, and then modify to completion, I was on the clock. It appeared to be difficult, but do-able.

The principal difficulty is certainly not bolting the parts on. It’s finding parts that will both do the job and fit first time, out of the box, sight unseen. The assortment of frame styling oddities that define the Aurora’s unique appearance also work against accepting many conventional bicycle accessories. (And yes, I’m still receiving unsolicited compliments about the Aurora’s appearance.) Evelo Customer Service can help resolve some compatibility issues, but it’s a big accessory industry out there.

If you haven’t been following this series, you may ask why I’d choose this e-bike in the first place, then. You need to go Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad and tagged , ,
22 Aug 2014
2 Comments

Damage Control! Report!

Solar panel #4 safely on the ground after being found hanging on one hook.

Solar panel #4 safely on the ground after being found hanging on one hook.

RVs are heavy – ask anyone at a fuel stop. But they also have a very large sail area, a trait which rarely works in their favor. They are highly subject to bad weather and, out west, there’s plenty of that to go around in the late summer.

A couple of nights ago, a very high wind came up in camp, one that wasn’t in any forecast. The forecasts said current wind was and would remain at 6 MPH. Night winds haven’t been unusual here in Wendover, blowing in well after sunset and rotating around in all directions for an hour or so. Often, it’s like throwing a switch on a fan.

Well, this one was a doozy. The good news was that it decided to blow in pretty much straight from the nose of the trailer, which poses the least threat to the Kleenex box aerodynamics of the Defiant. Wheel locks between each pair of trailer tires work quite well to resist any movement.

The wind had started in as usual, but didn’t let up this time, and I stayed up just short of midnight just to Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, Mod Squad and tagged , , , ,
29 Jul 2014
11 Comments

Going Hollywood

How do you carry a heavy e-bike and trailer when there ain't no mo' room?

How do you carry a heavy e-bike and trailer when there ain’t no mo’ room? Like this!

After carrying my Raleigh in the traditional way – a bike rack bolted to the rear bumper of the Defiant – I determined not to repeat that setup with my new Evelo Aurora e-bike. First, the filth back there is stunning on a dusty gravel road. And, it sticks to anything that is or ever has been lubricated. A bicycle is nothing if not full of nooks and crannies, and trying to keep up with the problem has proven impractical. Second, the Defiant’s spare tire already lives back there, greatly complicating rack choices and durability. Third, the Defiant’s bumper is a pretty thin square tube of metal with 20 years of rust on its interior. I have this nagging feeling that the combination of a spare tire, rack, the e-bike, and the trailer bumper might part the ways someday, and I’d never know it while I’m driving. I dropped a rack, with bike, many years ago, and Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad and tagged , ,
23 Jul 2014
8 Comments

The Beast of Burden

If the grocery store is many miles away, how are you going to carry one or two weeks of good stuff? Answer: a bike trailer.

If the grocery store is many miles away, how are you going to carry one or two weeks of good stuff? Answer: a bike trailer.

Trying to get an e-bike to do full boondocking duty is no small thing. Small errands to the nearest town are usually not a big deal, especially when the bike has a basket or other carrying capability. Early on though, it became apparent that replacing the truck with a bicycle for major grocery runs was going to be an issue. Such runs typically involved considerable weight and space in either the truck’s interior or cargo area.

Looking at oversized baskets, bags and panniers gave me a little concern, both from a weight standpoint and a volume one. And simply the need to carefully organize and repack relatively delicate produce in vertical side bags to avoid damage over a long and often jarring ride would become a frequent nuisance. A normal e-bike might be able to have a fairly decent amount of food strapped on, but even at that, I didn’t like having to add weight onto the front wheel because it affects steering. Things can get dicey when you’re in traffic and trying to swerve the tires precisely between potholes. The Evelo Aurora’s wonky frame design cut the cargo loading options right up front. As noted in my previous articles, it posed big compatibility problems for most cargo accessories. The good news is that this lack also simplified having to sort through scores of different bag and basket models in the hunt for sheer volume. They weren’t cutting it, anyway.

It was plain that in order to preserve the Mighty Furd for future generations, I was going to have to build a system of sorts, one that would allow for both unburdened exploration and errands, small and large. All-out, it would have to be able to Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad and tagged
30 Jun 2014
11 Comments

The E-bike Dilemma

Nope, I didn't choose this one. It's a home-brewed, bike-based electric motorcycle with pedals that's been clocked at 66 MPH. What - do you want to live forever?

Nope, I didn’t choose this one. It’s a home-brewed, bike-based electric motorcycle with pedals that’s been clocked at 66 MPH. What – do you want to live forever?

Choosing an e-bike is normally easy. You know how you want to use it, then pick something that will do the job for you, hop on, and go. But when you need to chop, blend, baste, puree, knead, bake, and broil, you’re forced to prioritize for the base features that can’t be changed, and then alter what you can change to come as close as possible to what you need.

I’ve already outlined a rather tedious and overly-long list of tasks, must-haves and wants in my previous article. I won’t dupe that here, thank your lucky stars. I’ll only mention Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad, Navel Gazing, The Defiant and tagged , , ,
27 Jun 2014
11 Comments

Adieu, Old Friend

The ol' Raleigh MT200, with mods that help me stay on it longer.

The ol’ Raleigh MT200, with mods that help me stay on it longer.

Well, I’ve been trying to use my 1993 Raleigh MT200 as my pack mule over the last two years, as you may know. The goal is to avoid using the $45,000 Ford diesel pickup for errands and grocery shopping trips, campsite scouting and area exploration. I simply won’t be able to afford to replace it unless I’m willing to give up some other costly activity like, oh, say, eating.

The trouble with using the Raleigh has been that my bad ticker limits my range even on level pavement, and I’ve found precious little of that in my travels. As a result, I’ve had to use the Ford for too many short trips that a bicycle could normally handle, and that kind of driving adds up mileage in short order. This violates the Defiant’s Prime Directive, which is purposed to preserve the vehicle over the long haul, as well as decrease fuel and repair costs to a minimum. It also violates my doctor’s directive to get sustained exercise at controlled levels. For me, daily walking is okay a few times, but then gets monotonous. Something in my DNA wants to cover ground.

My realization that the Raleigh wasn’t going to cut the mustard came in Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad, Navel Gazing, The Defiant and tagged ,
15 May 2014
15 Comments

Refitting for Battle

Am I not merciful?

Am I not merciful?

Sometimes, life is simplified down to its basic components. In order for one thing to live, something else must die. Sometimes, in order for one thing to be able to sleep, something else must die. I’m the one thing. Mice are the something else. That’s the way I prefer it, anyway.

Rodent infestations aren’t talked about much on RVing blogs, because it’s mundane and reduces the glamour of the lifestyle. Seldom do you read, “We saw the magnificent Grand Canyon today! But we were all so tired from a couple of sleepless nights from all the mice in the trailer that we were too tired to really enjoy it. Merla’s concerned we’re going to catch that Hantavirus if we can’t get rid of them.”

Once inside, mice are quite noisy at night, and basically treat the Defiant as their playground as they search for stray food remnants. Plus, they poop and pee all over creation. Chewing on everything, running along or inside metal enclosures or ductwork, or just doing sprints up and down the kitchen linoleum, they easily wake me even from a sound sleep. Then I wonder, “What are they destroying now?” In the ancient days, when I was Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Mod Squad and tagged , , , ,

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