mirage drive

Well....after seven years there was a tad bit of wear in the idler pulley. The cable kept jumping out of the groove and now I see why. It is so worn that it tipped and flipped the cable off. Wind Toys, now on Sebastopol Road, not Santa Rosa Ave had a replacement which is the G 2 with bearings. Fitted perfectly. Ready for a water test. I mention this in case your drives are making undue kind of clunking noise. Could easily be the idler pulley.

Thanks for the info. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Great reminder to inspect and maintain your drive after every use

Great reminder to inspect and maintain your drive after every use

Amen!

I agreed that regular inspection and maintenance can save you a lot of headaches.

I just bought a used Outback (my first Hobie) with a GT drive and the first thing I did was take the drive apart, clean it, grease it and put it back together. It was pretty easy, even though it was my first time. So its really not difficult to do regular maintenance and inspection, especially when it reduces your risk if failure on the water.

As another reminder, carry a few tools on the water for emergency repairs. I have a 7/16 wrench, a 1/8" allen wrench and some spare 1/4" SS nylock nuts. Yesterday I loaned a boater my allen wrench so he could fix his drive. He launced, realized his fins were loose and came back. That allen wrench was the difference between an aborted trip and a successful trip. Of course, if he had inspected and maintained his drive (it was pretty beat up) he would have noticed it was loose before he launched.