Mirage drive can fail this way...

[da22y]

Launched this morning 5:30am with 1 to 2 feet wave, piece of cake....
Paddle a little and change to mirage drive.. one, two , three...CRACK !!!

Right side of drive post is now half hanging..!
This never happened to me in the 5 Hobie kayaks I own before..

No trolling for wsb or yellow today.
Went ahead and use my Hobie paddle to the squid ground and had some fun collecting some squids.. head home 9am.

My 2012 Revo13 sure is not designed for paddle...Lots of corrective paddle, now I really appreciate the mirage drive power.. ( glad too , I don't have Pro Angler 14 to paddle back to shore)..

Heading to Fastlane kayak soon....

[lowprofile]

do you have a warranty with fast lane? I'm sure OEX will help you out and not try to sell you a new revo in the process.

[lterrero]

Shit happens...

[Sdspeed]

Any idea why it failed?

[vincentek9]

Originally Posted by Sdspeed

Any idea why it failed?

his monster power thigh muscles just have too much torque.

[wiredantz]

My werner paddle never had such problems.

0.. wait... i once had a hobie paddle fall apart on me

[dorado50]

Happened to me once before. Fastlane replaced at no charge or very minimal at best. Like to paddle the Revo, just use the rudder as the steering mechanism...

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by wiredantz

My werner paddle never had such problems.

0.. wait... i once had a hobie paddle fall apart on me

I will remind of this when we're fishing Cabrillo and the afternoon winds pick up. Or should I first remind you of the day Eric towed you in

[RedSledTeam]

Originally Posted by Sdspeed

Any idea why it failed?

It appears failure occurred in the typical high stress area with the least cross-sectional area (at the holes). This is the most likely area for a failure but should have been mitigated by a proportionately increased size in material creating a predetermined safety margin for consumer use. My guess is unless you previously compromised the integrity of the metal in that location or were pedaling while fouled with rope, seaweed or some other obstruction, the material located in the affected area was not strong enough and possibly flawed during the manufacturing process. A complete failure analysis could prove this but if you contact Hobie for help, they may just replace it for you.

Just my 3 cents!

[wiredantz]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

I will remind of this when we're fishing Cabrillo and the afternoon winds pick up. Or should I first remind you of the day Eric towed you in

I am not anti Hobie, im just saying.

[alanw]

Where are mirage parts made, China? Looks like a bad design to start with then top it off with being made of cheap cast aluminum?

[TJones]

i just rebuilt my 2010 drive with every part but that one . . yes it probably has to do with his massive thighs and brain . great post and thanks for sharing .

[da22y]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

do you have a warranty with fast lane? I'm sure OEX will help you out and not try to sell you a new revo in the process.

Purchased new and should have warranty

Fastlane kayak forwarded the mirage drive pictures and my kayak # to Hobie Company for their evaluation.

Will see.....

[da22y]

Originally Posted by dorado50

Happened to me once before. Fastlane replaced at no charge or very minimal at best. Like to paddle the Revo, just use the rudder as the steering mechanism...

I found it rather difficult to paddle and steer a Hobie at the same time.
In fact , I rather paddle without the rudder deployed.

Maybe with lots of practice it can be done....not me.

[da22y]

Originally Posted by vincentek9

his monster power thigh muscles just have too much torque.

Not really, I had turbo drive for all my prior Hobie kayaks.

This time I chose the regular drive, because my legs do not have as much juice as before.....

[OEX Sunset Beach]

have never seen one break like that before. I am sure you can get it replaced no charge.

[Old Man in the Sea]

It appears failure occurred in the typical high stress area with the least cross-sectional area (at the holes). This is the most likely area for a failure but should have been mitigated by waiting to pedal after you reach 18" of water....the parking lot and sand can really put alot of pressure in this area...

[da22y]

Originally Posted by Old Man in the Sea

It appears failure occurred in the typical high stress area with the least cross-sectional area (at the holes). This is the most likely area for a failure but should have been mitigated by waiting to pedal after you reach 18" of water....the parking lot and sand can really put alot of pressure in this area...

18" ? No , I always use my paddle while launching and gave it aleast 5 feet of water before I step on the mirage drive.
and mine is not the turbo drive, it has those shorter fins with less power .

And as I said I owned 5 hobies before, this is my 6th Hobie. So I pretty much know what not to do .

I don't believe this will happen to any of you, it is just a bad apple in the whole bin, I just got "lucky" this time.

[Hobie-Pedaller]

Originally Posted by alanw

Where are mirage parts made, China? Looks like a bad design to start with then top it off with being made of cheap cast aluminum?

well, i have had a Hobie 10 yrs now, used the same ONE Mirage drive for around 150 outings, each lasting around 10-12 hours, and PEDALLING 100% of time (my PADDLE rarely leaves the bungies tieing it down)......

i can definitely say the Mirage Drives are a fairly well built device !!

and there are MANY others out there using them for years now as well, and this is the FIRST time i have ever seen or heard anything like this.

so i certainly don't think it can be labelled as a bad design, or being made with cheap materials.
.

[captnblood34]

First mistake was buying the Hobie. The second was the willingness to forfeit the ability to workout your upper body while fishing/kayaking. For the money I'd buy a 9.9 on a zodiac.