Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

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shane
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Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by shane »

I've had a bit of a history of breaking drive parts so was looking at a way to improve it's performance. I'd been trying to source new upgrade Glide Technology parts but eventually got sick of waiting for them to be available. So I've looked around for alternatives to try and improve their longevity and performance. The main issue is lubricating the drives as you need to virtually pull the drive part to properly grease the main shafts, drums and sprockets. Then when you put it back together again most of the grease gets pushed out in the process.

One solution I've seen implemented is to install grease nipples into the drive to allow grease to be injected directly into the moving parts. Grant Ashwell from SWR and others have done this with good reports. I was going to do similar until I came across an evolution of the concept that basically involves drilling very small holes and using a grease needle to inject the grease. I didn't have a grease gun or needle so I bought a small grease injector off ebay, (the type that's mainly used for lubing bicycles). Something as simple as a syringe could probably also do the job. After drilling holes in the appropriate locations and filling the injector with grease I simply needed to pump grease (Inox MX8) until it pushed the old grease out the ends.

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I took it for its first run a couple of trips ago. The first few pumps of the pedals were extraordinary :o. It was almost effortless compared to the drive greased the old way. 8-) After an hour or so of pedaling the grease had worked out a bit but it was still a lot smoother than previous. The best thing about this mod is that I can inject more grease into the drive for buttery smooth pedaling at any time without pulling it apart (even mid-trip). :D

So I'd highly recommend anyone pedaling a Hobie to look into doing this sort of mod. It may not work well with newer drive warranties but I can't see it being a structural issue and it should extend the service life of the drive and associated parts. :up:
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by choppers »

Great thinkin outside the square shane :thumbsup:
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by Jacko »

Thanks for posting Shane.
My drums are wearing and probably should be replaced.
I had been thinking about adding grease nipples to extend their life & extra grease take up some of the slack.
The grease needle through a small hole sounds like an alternative solution.
Do you think sand & grit may get in the hole and potentially wear the shaft & drum ?
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shane
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by shane »

Very little chance of sand and grit getting in Jacko. I've found that a bit of grease backs out of the hole stopping and sand or grit getting down. When you squeeze new grease in it tends to push out the old grease taking any muck with it.
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by Pog »

Once again, a very informative post Shane, and thanks for taking the time for putting it up. By the way, do you think the "new" BB component of the Mirage Drive would be almost 'friction free', or the same result as you have apparently achieved?

Also, what size drill bit did you use, and how? many holes did you drill?

Cheers,

"THE POG" :up:
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shane
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by shane »

Pog wrote:Once again, a very informative post Shane, and thanks for taking the time for putting it up. By the way, do you think the "new" BB component of the Mirage Drive would be almost 'friction free', or the same result as you have apparently achieved?

Also, what size drill bit did you use, and how? many holes did you drill?

Cheers,

"THE POG" :up:
I expect the glide technology drives would be very similar to a freshly greased drive. Some of the grease oozes out after a bit of pedaling so after that I suspect the glide technology would have and advantage.

Hole size depends on the diameter of the grease needle/syringe/injector you are using. I drilled about a 2mm hole has it gave a sealed fit for the end of the injector. You need to drill holes in the top of each drum and in the centre of each sprocket. The idler pulley is another spot that would be worthwhile. Get the holes centred as much as possible, where they can be accessed and away from potential weak points.
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by Tim399 »

How is this mod going Shane? Just came across it and am wondering how it’s working out 2 years on. It looks like you did it to the V2 drive. Did you do this for the GT once you upgraded?
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by peatop »

A good injection device might worth a look would be a chainsaw roller bar greese gun, you push the cone end into you hole and it pumps the greese in very clean and quite small for stowing.
Very good post shane, preventative maintenance always wins ;)
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shane
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by shane »

Tim399 wrote:How is this mod going Shane? Just came across it and am wondering how it’s working out 2 years on. It looks like you did it to the V2 drive. Did you do this for the GT once you upgraded?
I've got it running still on two standard drives and after a fresh lube it comes close to a GT in terms of performance. I haven't done the mod to my third GT drive as it generally performs OK with regular service lubes. I expect the mod would work on a GT drive but you would need to inject gradually to work the grease through the bearings.
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shane
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Re: Hobie Mirage Dive Lube Mod

Post by shane »

This is the type of mini grease gun I'm currently using:

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