Kayak Rack

I can't really take credit for this design, I saw it on the web and adapted it to fit my 2 Hobie Kayaks. I had them in a "store bought" rack and they were getting scuffed and filling with rain water. 

    I add wheels to the design and a lower front cross piece. I thought the front lower cross piece added a lot more stability for rolling it. I attached this 2x4 with angle brackets, you can see one in the pic. below.

I padded (glued some outdoor carpet to) the 2x4's that support the kayaks. Below are the details if you'd like to try and build one. I found that a couple guys had measurements that don't work with actual 2x4 sizes. I used measurements for 2x4s that are 1.5"x 3.5". I'll put some links at the end for the wheels and (thick) tarp.

 I got all the lumber and materials at Lowes. 

Avail. at any lumber/hardware store. 

 

 

 

 

I used all pressure treated lumber for rain... outside.

 It's more expensive and the lumber is heavier.

I like the Deck Plus coated screws with the "star head" bit they give

    you with ea. box.

I bolted the horizontal cross boards, just in case I ever plan to disassemble it and move. 

 

I drew this to help...

 

Some other pictures...

I sort of just marked some pieces for the angle pieces and glue/screwed them on.

If the top kayak starts to sag I might add another support. 

 

 

 

 

Bolts with nuts and washers sticking out the back... 

 

 

I add some small 2x4 pieces to the bottom, in four places to bolt the wheels to.

 

 With Kayaks

 

 

When I "finished", I found that covering the kayaks was a little painful with a tarp

so I add a 12' 2x4 across the top of the 4x4's and also a 12' 2x4 across the back to connect the tarp... I'm pretty happy with it now. The tarp ties down in the back in 5 places and once up in the front. It's been windy here a lot these days. 

 

 

 

     Amazon Links:

ZOENHOU 3 Inch Plate Caster Set - 4 PCS, 2 Swivel With Brake, 2 Fixed for Moving Furniture Cart Trolley - 

617lb Total Capacity

Link:   2 Caster 2 lock wheels 

 

 

 

10 x 13Ft Extra Heavy Duty 12 Mil Thick Waterproof Green&Silver Tarp Cover Sheet & 6 Pcs Bungee Balls

 

 

Link:   10' x 13' Tarp 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cholila RV and Trailer Cover

Short version is, this is pretty darn good for the $ after 3 King Birds and Adco covers!. Link on Amazon : Cholila Cover 

If the link dies try searching for the complete description I add below.

 I have the cover on my Lance trailer shown on Blog main page. 

I use the tire covers because this one only hangs to the bottom of the trailer. 

I don't hate it tho, it gets air under the trailer when it's hot. Also I can see if critters are living under there.  

 

 

We've had some crazy winds and oddly, a lot of of rain this year and this cover has been hanging in there.   It is getting a bit thin now but no rips or tears.

It's doing better then others with the UV and repels water pretty good.

 

 

 

 Details:

RV & Trailer Cover - Fit 22'-24' Travel Trailer Toy Hauler & Camper Cover, Heavy Duty 600D Waterproof Motorhome Cover, Windproof Straps, Anti-UV, Adhesive Repair Patches, Twilight Grey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 KING BIRD RV COVERS Part 2

I have to get as cheap as possible RV cover every year in So. CA.

This one only lasted March 2023 to Nov 2023.

The UV cooks ALL OF THEM and they become like tissue paper. (See Video!).

I like the tie down and zipper features of the King Bird but they're no better or worse then any other cover.

I have the passenger side to the afternoon sun, so the top and passenger side don't do well.

Drivers side does a little better. Leaves some residue on my propane cover (see pic).

My wife asked me to get the cover off of there, so I cut it up today (Thanksgiving) and 

threw it out. See Pictures below.

                   King Bird RV Cover

This will most likely be the last thing I write about RV covers unless someone comes up with something so great, I can't resist. Otherwise it's the same ol thing. I currently have a Lance trailer the model 1985. 20' box, 24' with the tongue. I am currently (last few years) using the King Bird cover called out on Amazon like this:
 

KING BIRD Upgraded Travel Trailer RV Cover, Extra-Thick 5 Layers Anti-UV Top Panel,
Durable Camper Cover, Fits 22'- 24' Motorhome -Breathable, Waterproof, Rip-Stop with 2Pcs
Straps & 4 Tire Covers

I guess I'm stuck on these because they're (at this time) about $279 a piece and no matter what you buy, you'll have to replace it every year (at least if you live where the sun is out like CA).

I do like the multiple access zippers on both sides and the tie down locations and method.

I tend to use the 3 straps in front and 3 in the rear and then 2 on the sides. Keeps the cover on
in high winds but lets it move around. It comes with a storage bag which I tend to use for
other stuff or give away. Also tire covers which I tend not to need because the cover is over the
tires. They give you extra straps too but at some point, it's too many straps.

This is what it looks like installed...

                          


                          

Espin e-bikes

I was looking for a decent e-bike for my wife without spending a huge amount of money. She doesn't ride that much so I was looking for something around $1500 or less. I like the look of the higher end bikes with the battery in the frame also 48V battery and Bafang motor. 

 I stumbled across these guys:  https://www.espinbikes.com/    

I watched some reviews and talked to some bike people and it seemed like they had a pretty good bike for around $1500. I tried to convince my wife to get a "step-through" Flow model but for some reason, she liked the Espin Sport. 

This Youtube reviewer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lU8dgo9OZg had a link to $150 off. Hopefully if you read this it's still good. It paid all my sales tax at the time, bringing the bike cost to just about $1400 even. Espin seems to be a pretty small place in the bay area of California. Like a lot of bike places during the pandemic, the bike was back ordered. As I recall it was about a 4 to 6 week wait. They hit their website advertised delivery estimate pretty close. The delivery driver left the box leaning on the house and I dragged it inside.

Obviously some assembly required. My wife and I are fairly particular when it comes to any sort of scratches or flaws. I have to say, this thing was packed well and didn't have a single mark or scuff on it!

 

The assembly is pretty much what you would expect. You have to put on the front wheel, pedals, handlebars. It's all pretty straight forward and they supply the allen wrenches.

 

It doesn't take that long, even if you're taking your time to take pictures!

 

The bike is built really solid like a tank but rides really nice and stable. That rear hub motor kicks in fast and you need to learn when and how to use your "power features". My wife isn't a cyclist but she learns how things work pretty fast and got the hang of riding it really quick.

 Loves the "throttle" maybe a little too much!. You do want to watch the assist and throttle 

when you're in a turn but I think that counts for all of the e-bikes. Overall, I don't 

have any regrets with this bike, it's a lot of fun and built well.

(I weighed it and it came in at 56Lbs!).

 Note on service: I did contact Espin with an issue with an intermittent headlight. 

It took a few e-mails back and forth to work out the sending me a spare. It was a bit frustrating

waiting a day between e-mails for a reply and then to finally get the replacement light. 

The process went on for a few weeks. I'm glad it wasn't something functional with the bike

because that customer service process seems really slow.

 

 

 

 

 

 Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0 SL EQ

 I got my first e-bike at the end of August in 2020. It was a gift from my kids. Overall it's a really great bike for people who still want to pedal and get some cardio exercise. It's pedal assist so you still have to do some work.

There were a couple of things I wanted to have just a little different. The bike is sort of a European, city commuter and that's not really my use case. 

First off, I thought that I might not use the rear bike rack for my rides. I tend to take just a small backpack and travel as light as possible.

I took off the rack and noticed that I could cut about a foot off the rear fender and rotate it forward using the existing holes in the fender that were there for the rack. Kept the mud flap and made it a little more mountain bike style.

 

 Cut about a foot off the fender and re-attached.

Then I had to re-wire the tail light back on...

I bought a sort of inexpensive suspension seat post...

The final thing was a bit tricky and required some electrical technician skills. I read that it's a law in some places in Europe to have your headlight always on. I didn't want mine on all the time during the day. Thought I could save a little power. I'm sort of surprised actually that an expensive German bike light had no off switch and also no connector to change the light if you wanted something different. I was able to open up the light and dremal out a little place for a sealed slide switch that I epoxied into place. I was also able to add an in-line sealed connector to work on the light and/or replace it.

That's about it! I weighed the bike and it came in at 37Lbs. really light for an e-bike.

All the standard info. on the bike can be seen on Specialized website  There are also some pretty good videos on Youtube about it.

e-mail me at killak13@gmail.com if you want details on the parts used or process.

USB to HDMI

I have a 12V TV in my new Lance trailer and I found out the TV's USB input 

doesn't play movies. It's only for pictures and  music. 

I don't have a gaming system or streaming device that I use in there so had to find a way to play movies off a USB jump drive into the TV.

Found this little "Media Player" That you can connect your jump drive to and it outputs HDMI into your TV.    Like everything else. I got it on Amazon.   Media Player,
The device does run sort of warm/hot and although I have tested it out, I haven't run a whole movie on it yet. There are some reviews that say it stops working. I will try to run it longer and report back.

One other thing I realized is that having a 12V TV wouldn't help me if I needed to plug in this device. It has a wall adapter that plugs into 110V. 

I noticed that the adapter output is 5.2VDC and the Lance trailer has USB charging ports near the TV

so I thought I could probably run the player off the Lance USB charging ports. 

I needed to check with Lance to make sure the ports on the trailer could supply 1.5A

remember the thing runs hot...  So I sent a note to Lance and they said their ports supply 2A.

Then I needed to get a plug to fit the Media Player, I found these on Amazon too. Plug

I had to get a 10 pack but I have a lot of "free points" on Amazon  😉

I cut the small end off a USB cable and soldered this small plug on, center pin =  +5V

Which was the red wire on my USB cable. Be careful here if you don't know what you're doing.

 This is what all the stuff looks like. Then just plug the USB cable into the charging port on the trailer, the jump drive into the player and the HDMI cable (you need to have) into the TV.

The onscreen interface is not too bad, pretty simple... Player comes with remote (shown)