Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the tag “Evelo Aurora”

08 May 2015
2 Comments

An Unusual Day

20150508-132041.jpg

Yup, that’s sleet on the truck bed in the photo above. It looks like it’s going to top out at about 50 degrees today, which will make for a pleasant afternoon inside the Mighty Defiant because of the ceramic propane heater in here. I’ll likely have to keep it idling overnight, since the prediction is for a 23-degree low, and once it approaches 30, the “temperate weather only” limitation mentioned in the Gulf Stream manual starts kicking in. But don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of propane because when one of my two 20# heater tanks ran out last night, I filled it up today at the infamous Grand Canyon Village RV Park in town today for $24 and change, which is about twice the cost of anywhere else. Unfortunately, around here, there is no anywhere else for propane refills, and I do not adore the thought of running out of heat when it’s most needed. That’s just me. I asked at the visitor center in the Grand Canyon.

Notice those orange cones? A crew of fit-looking people came by in two pickups and an ATV to drop them off. Seems there’s going to be a 12-mile marathon tomorrow morning, and those mark the path the runners should take. And no, I’m not going to move them. They are taking the same way around that

Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged ,
30 Apr 2015
2 Comments

Tusayan Trail Ride

Well no, actually, this is Wickenburg, the place I left. I just put this here as a point of reference.

Well no, actually, this is Wickenburg, the place I left. I just put this here as a point of reference.

Busy day, yesterday. I figured I’d do a quick tour around a sizable loop of trails approved for car travel and camping. It turned out to be an 11-mile tour over a mix of soft dirt and rocks, and I couldn’t help but check out several branches heading this way and that. Over that distance, I found 3 or 4 super-secluded, pretty little sites. One is quite close, but does not allow the peculiar E-W aiming that the Defiant needs, nor the sun exposure either. The other sites require true high-clearance vehicles to access and, if it rains at all, four-wheel-drive. Off the main loop, some ruts are so deep that even the Mighty Furd would high-center. For a pop-up truck camper or traditional high-clearance van, the few compact sites scattered about would be very nice places to be. Slow trip to town, though!

Biking down the trail and looking off to the side. Much pleasantry.

Biking down the trail and looking off to the side. Much pleasantry.

I ultimately returned to camp, moved the Defiant over a width to get the solar panels into the sun, and then hung them up to start churning electrons. Nearby tall pines do not the best solar situation make, but since the system is configured fairly aggressively now, it works out fine. The Verizon data signal is good enough that kicking the Wilson amp into gear causes intermittent dropped connections.

There are elk tracks aplenty on the trail here, but I  Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista! and tagged , , ,
24 Apr 2015
8 Comments

Wickenburg Trail Ride!

I stopped here when it struck me that I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do this kind of thing or see these kinds of sights. But they're out there, waiting.

I stopped here when it struck me that I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do this kind of thing or see these kinds of sights. But they’re out there, waiting.

I sheared off all the storage stuff on the Aurora e-bike the other day, and went out for a ride on a trail leading north. Rather than blather on about it, I’ll just show off the snaps here.

Ditto on this one. You know, you sure don't see much of this in northern Illinois.

Ditto on this one. You know, you sure don’t see much of this in northern Illinois.

Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista! and tagged ,
16 Apr 2015

The Pack Mule Page!

The System, ready to deploy.

The System, ready to deploy.

After much work to make an excessively long and tedious information page even more so, the Evelo Pack Mule page is finally complete – for now. That page is tabbed above, right beside Contact Me, About, and Mailing Addresses. It’s about the volume of a mid-sized novel, which makes it a slow-reading reference to the why and how of transforming a very competent e-bike into a Beverly Hillbillies version of a unique fixer-upper.

But it does spell it all out as to why I needed an e-bike, what I decided I needed it to do, what I did to make it suit my oddball purposes, why I chose the componentry I did, and how it’s all working out. It’s also one of the more comprehensive reviews of the Evelo Aurora out there, but from a viewpoint slightly bent toward my own eclectic schemes and needs.

Frankly, it’s a page that won’t fly for Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , | Leave a comment
02 Apr 2015
7 Comments

Amazon Apathy

What glam the Aurora lacks when coated with dust, it makes up for in utility.

What glam the Aurora lacks when coated with dust, it makes up for in utility.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time modifying my Aurora e-bike since I got it last summer. Why so long? Other projects, calamities, shipping of parts, bad weather trimming back evaluation rides, and unsuccessful mods trimming back evaluation rides and requiring respite. But I think I’ve finally got it nailed, and I’m doing what I hope will be the final-final-final testing. General interest in the result should be pretty limited, since the stock Aurora, properly optioned, can take care of 95% or more of the people who would buy it. A few people replace the mountain bike handlebars with cruiser bars, and that’s pretty much all they need. The stock seat’s quite decent, for what it is.

As an explorer, the 500-watt Evelo Aurora is agile and powerful enough to work well.

As an explorer, the 500-watt Evelo Aurora is agile and powerful enough to work well.

What I’ve been doing in concert is to build a dedicated Evelo Aurora Pack Mule page, which outlines what the features were that made me choose this brand and model for the starting point, and why. And what type of service the e-bike has been pressed into service to do (and why). And a complete list of parts and mods, complete with explanations and links. Oh, the things I do for the two readers who will at least make a token effort to start sawing their way down that page! And oh, my pity for them!

Can an affordable urban commuter fun e-bike handle this? Barring falling into a rut or launching the front tire, yes, if it has mid-drive.

Can an affordable urban commuter fun e-bike handle this? Barring falling into a rut or launching the front tire bucking bronc-style, yes, if it has mid-drive.

Thing is, that page has been squirming all around, successfully slithering away from the “Publish” button, because of trying to keep up with the ever-changing bike. The page just never really settled down enough to Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Navel Gazing and tagged ,
20 Mar 2015
3 Comments

Oh, Snap!

Bugger! I told you these trails are rocky and washboarded! The original fender support bracket snapped.

Bugger! I told you these trails are rocky and washboarded! The original fender support bracket snapped, taking the headlamp with it.

While down in Yuma, Arizona, I was barreling down a rocky trail at speed when the Aurora’s headlamp tried to bail out. Fortunately, it was held by its power cord and I stopped before it could get sucked into anything. With its own bracket bolted to the original front fender bracket, the poor thing spent its life wobbling up and down on each little bump. The fender bracket coating makes it feel like plastic, but it looks and hefts like aluminum at the break. All that constant flexing induced fatigue, and she let go when she’d finally had enough.

Keeping the fender support bracket was simply the easiest thing to do after the front fender itself abandoned ship while the Mighty Furd was carting the Aurora sideways at Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Mod Squad and tagged
03 Feb 2015
10 Comments

The Last Ten Percent

A milestone, literally. 1001 miles on the Aurora's odo.

A milestone, literally. 1001 miles on the Aurora’s odo!

After nearly finishing up a local solar project, it’s time to try to get back in development mode with the Evelo Aurora e-bike. The title of this post relates to the design maxim, “the last 10% of a product’s development takes 90% of the total project time”. In other words, there’s a big difference in the time it takes to make something work, and the time to make it work really well. I decided to take an impromptu bike ride, motivated by a local fifth wheel packed with yapping mutts having an anxiety disorder. I wanted to keep an eye out for an alternative campsite just in case the noise became intolerable. Well, while I was wandering about, I decided to tour the north shore of Senator Wash Reservoir beside the Laguna Dam LTVA.

This is merely an approach to the north shore area, well outside it. Easy going down, but not so much coming back up!

This is merely an approach to the north shore area, well outside it. Easy going down, but not so much coming back up!

The goal of this trip was two-fold. One, evaluate the Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista! and tagged , ,
17 Nov 2014
10 Comments

Evelo Exploration

After an initial dip into a narrow wash, the start of the path looks fine, if a bit soft. The bike tire trail ahead is mine, from an earlier look-see.

After an initial dip into a small wash, the start of the path looks fine, if a bit soft. The bike tire track ahead is mine, from an earlier look-see.

Saturday, I decided at mid-afternoon to explore an ATV trail I’d seen earlier. It begins about a mile south of the LaPosa West entrance, along the main trail, Old Yuma Road. It simply heads down into the main wash at a marked point just north of a set of dumpsters the BLM always has in place. ATV trails are usually too violent for anything but ATVs and Jeeps, but since this crossed a wash, I figured, how bad could it be? I still had some walk points though, both from steep dips and patches of sand, dust or gravel several inches deep.

This whole area is a wash, actually, and this is the overflow part of it. The sand and dust frequently gets thick enough to cause steering loss and a "dig in".

This whole area is a wash, actually, and this is the overflow part of it. The sand and dust frequently gets thick enough to cause steering loss and a “dig in”.

Not to complain, though. The mini-adventure of it was the whole point. How far could I get along this thing? What would the nature of the problems be? As it turned out, the most common issue was that Read more…

Posted in Campsites, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , ,
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 , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →