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 Post subject: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:18 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:04 pm
Posts: 2
Brought my TI onto shore in pretty rough surf with drives down. Both drives are operable but at least one drive has a bent shaft. I do not know what the shafts should look like in their correct orientation because it is possible that they were both bent -- I believe they can be straightened and realigned but I need some technical guidance. Has anyone seen anything on line that might assist me -- I am on vacation and do not have access to a Hobie dealer here. Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 10:28 am 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:21 pm
Posts: 2498
Location: Central Florida
If you get it to look OK, it should run OK. If you Really want it strait, unscrew one of them. They are meant to be perfectly strait. Once removed you can roll them on a flat surface to check.

If it were me on vacation, I'd just straiten them till they look good enough and fix further when back home. Enjoy your sailing time and maybe next time, remove the drives before landing :)

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006


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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:45 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:04 pm
Posts: 2
Thanks Bob, appreciate your advice. Don't know about removing the drives before landing though -- what is boating without a little chaos. No stories to tell if everything goes smoothly.


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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:56 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
Down here in Florida most of the beaches are nice soft sand, we seldom remove the mirage drives, I just make sure they are parked up against the hull and make sure my passenger puts the bungy on their drive before getting close to shore. They are surprisingly durable and I don't worry so much about them anymore. Actually we have had 8 Hobie mirage boats now and I have still to damage a mirage drive more than a slightly bent shaft that is easily straightened. Incredibly good design Hobie.
Bob


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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 8:15 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:33 pm
Posts: 338
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
I recently bent both shafts on the forward drive on my TI, hitting a sunken log in a creek.
Yes, I know I should have been paddling but I was towing a couple of those funny
ordinary kayaks without mirage drives and looking for the power.
Anyway, I took off the round clip, like a key ring, removed the adjuster then the
rubber fin slides off. There is a slot machined in the end of the shaft which takes
a spanner to unscrew the shaft.

My shafts were so bent that I needed heat on them to straigten them. No doubt
lost some of the temper in the shafts by heating so will purchase new and keep
these as spares. Seem to work fine even though they are not perfectly straight.

When I replaced the shafts I added loctite to make sure they don't unscrew and
to help prevent any action between the stainless steel shaft and the brass
receiver.

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Cheers, Brian in South Australia
Tandem Island -
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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 9:21 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
Brian, sounds like a good excuse to get the 2015 upgrade kit for $165. I have read on another forum that an Ouback kayak went 1.5kmh faster for the same effort. That is definitely on my shopping list!

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2014 10:58 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:25 pm
Posts: 2863
Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
What Tony said.
Once you have bent and then straightened the miragedrive masts they will eventually fail. I did get about 2 years of use after straightening mine but one snapped, followed by the other one a week later.
Keep using them by all means but make sure you have spares on hand. Good time to go for the latest improvements if possible.


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 Post subject: Re: bent mirage drives
PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 7:45 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:33 pm
Posts: 338
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
I'm on my way to Binks Marine to pick up two ST Turbo shafts at $26.50 each.
We are doing an excursion with 5 other Kayaks this weekend so I really want the spares.
7.5 Nm from Clayton to the end of the Finnis River where we will be picked up
by the local winery for a long lazy lunch.
The others in their non Hobie kayaks think they will get a tow from me back to Clayton.
I may have to jump in the TI, start the motor and head off quick.
After the long lunch I probably wont be doing anything quick.

Perhaps I'll take a photo for Slaughter and see if I can get the record for how many
kayaks towed behind a TI. :D

The dealer is chasing availability and price on the upgrade to the mirage drives in Aus.
I'm a little dubious about the speed increase Tony but maybe I can get one and test it out.

I have a couple of jetties spaced about 200m apart to give good timings.
We used to use it to test manifolds and props etc for lane racing.
It was fun when the pitch on the prop was so great that the speed boat
started turning on the prop shaft. Funning feeling running on the gunwales
and looking down on the driver from the observer seat.

Whilst off subject, I spoke to Rob over Christmas. He has caught up since
coming back from Afghanistan and is getting out on the TI again.

_________________
Cheers, Brian in South Australia
Tandem Island -
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