Tickled pink and back in the saddle again!

polo_pro · 06-09-2007, 12:30 AM

Well, I'm back on Eeyore (my i170) after two weeks and an "ear transplant" (broke the left grip off). Many thanks to Dr Marty and his crew for showing me how to do the operation! These guys swear by this procedure, so I'm going to give it a real stress test to prove these things can be fixed.

To celebrate the occasion and try things out, I put a new halter (aka handlebar guards) on Eeyore. This way if anything went wrong as I steered Eeyore using his left ear (possibly suddenly finding myself holding it detached?!), he'd be protected as he went careening out of control!

The real test will be on Sunday when we play polo. But so far everything looks good. Oh...by the way, Eeyore says epoxy poured in the ear isn't as bad as a thumb tack pushed in his....well, you know. 8^) 8^) 8^)

ps - Silver (my e167) wasn't too happy about this switcheroo of the halter, since it saved his neck during polo this week when I took quite a spill. I think Silver really is just pissed off because he knows my primary polo pony is back in business.

drmarty · 06-09-2007, 08:42 PM

Congrats!

Did I say it would hold up to polo? Hmmm. Help me lord.

Let's all cross our fingers.

And thanks to Ari the real Segway guru. All together now --- OM. Think good thoughts while you hum or chant this. Plo will not fall. Plo will not fall. OM.

Everybody come on the Long Beach glide July 1. Lot's of folks committed and some special things might happen. (I might bring a couple purple keys to sell. Keep it quiet! It's a secret.)

Marty

polo_pro · 06-10-2007, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmarty

Congrats!

Did I say it would hold up to polo? Hmmm. Help me lord.

Let's all cross our fingers.

And thanks to Ari the real Segway guru. All together now --- OM. Think good thoughts while you hum or chant this. Plo will not fall. Plo will not fall. OM.

It held!!!!

drmarty · 06-11-2007, 03:41 AM

Ari, you da man.

Marty

Tim, are you getting this?

polo_pro · 06-18-2007, 12:14 AM

Well, my previously broken grip (and repaired) came off again during a demo last week. The older gentleman put all his weight on it as he pulled up. Thankfully nothing went wrong as the grip came off. The segway didn't safety shutdown, might I add.

Looking at my previous epoxy work, I'd say that my channel following the break wasn't cut deep enough. So this time I skipped the "pre-glue" phase and just went straight to cutting a deep channel along the channel and then applying the epoxy everywhere. Also, this time I used a sander (as specified) instead of a cut off wheel to trim off excess epoxy in a more gentle manner.

I played a tough polo match today. Plenty of times where the only thing keeping me on the segway was my repaired grip as I torqued it hard into a turn. It held!

ps - I have one more epoxying approach to repairing grips where I embeded small stainless steel wire bent in a L shape. One leg of the L gets embedded in the handlebar so that it radiates out from the sensor. The other leg of the L points perpendicularly out so that carefully drilled holes in going up into the grip are ready to receive the wire. Epoxy everywhere would hold the wires in place...and the wires are non-magnetic hopefully not screwing up the sensor nor becoming magnetized by the magnets in the rotating grip.

jgbackes · 06-27-2007, 02:51 PM

Are you guys using any fiberglass cloth to your patches?

polo_pro · 06-27-2007, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgbackes

Are you guys using any fiberglass cloth to your patches?

Fiberglass is beyond my capabilities. But there are folks who've repaired handlebars who could have considered this alternative. Make sure to bring this up at the July 1st glide.

ps - My gut reaction is that it wouldn't provide enough strength given the thicknesses involved and the perpendicular forces. Sure it's strong but, you'll be lucky to be able to anchor the cloth/resin to a few square centimeters of the handlebar and grip. And the cloth/resin will have to be at most a mm thick. Again, I don't have experience at this...I'm only speculating.

jgbackes · 06-27-2007, 04:33 PM

Normally any place I put epoxy, I can put some fiberglass mat in as well... I used to patch surfboards with the stuff when I was a kid.

You basically wet the cloth with the epoxy, maybe I'm just remember wrong.

06-09-2007, 12:30 AM	#1
polo_pro Advanced Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sacramento, CA, USA. Posts: 2,608	Tickled pink and back in the saddle again! Well, I'm back on Eeyore (my i170) after two weeks and an "ear transplant" (broke the left grip off). Many thanks to Dr Marty and his crew for showing me how to do the operation! These guys swear by this procedure, so I'm going to give it a real stress test to prove these things can be fixed. To celebrate the occasion and try things out, I put a new halter (aka handlebar guards) on Eeyore. This way if anything went wrong as I steered Eeyore using his left ear (possibly suddenly finding myself holding it detached?!), he'd be protected as he went careening out of control! The real test will be on Sunday when we play polo. But so far everything looks good. Oh...by the way, Eeyore says epoxy poured in the ear isn't as bad as a thumb tack pushed in his....well, you know. 8^) 8^) 8^) ps - Silver (my e167) wasn't too happy about this switcheroo of the halter, since it saved his neck during polo this week when I took quite a spill. I think Silver really is just pissed off because he knows my primary polo pony is back in business.

06-09-2007, 08:42 PM	#2
drmarty Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Anaheim California Posts: 530	OM Congrats! Did I say it would hold up to polo? Hmmm. Help me lord. Let's all cross our fingers. And thanks to Ari the real Segway guru. All together now --- OM. Think good thoughts while you hum or chant this. Plo will not fall. Plo will not fall. OM. Everybody come on the Long Beach glide July 1. Lot's of folks committed and some special things might happen. (I might bring a couple purple keys to sell. Keep it quiet! It's a secret.) Marty

06-18-2007, 12:14 AM	#5
polo_pro Advanced Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sacramento, CA, USA. Posts: 2,608	more improvements Well, my previously broken grip (and repaired) came off again during a demo last week. The older gentleman put all his weight on it as he pulled up. Thankfully nothing went wrong as the grip came off. The segway didn't safety shutdown, might I add. Looking at my previous epoxy work, I'd say that my channel following the break wasn't cut deep enough. So this time I skipped the "pre-glue" phase and just went straight to cutting a deep channel along the channel and then applying the epoxy everywhere. Also, this time I used a sander (as specified) instead of a cut off wheel to trim off excess epoxy in a more gentle manner. I played a tough polo match today. Plenty of times where the only thing keeping me on the segway was my repaired grip as I torqued it hard into a turn. It held! ps - I have one more epoxying approach to repairing grips where I embeded small stainless steel wire bent in a L shape. One leg of the L gets embedded in the handlebar so that it radiates out from the sensor. The other leg of the L points perpendicularly out so that carefully drilled holes in going up into the grip are ready to receive the wire. Epoxy everywhere would hold the wires in place...and the wires are non-magnetic hopefully not screwing up the sensor nor becoming magnetized by the magnets in the rotating grip.

06-27-2007, 02:51 PM	#6
jgbackes Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Jose, CA - USA Posts: 1,314	Are you guys using any fiberglass cloth to your patches? __________________ sǝʞɔɐq ɟɟǝɾ If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-27-2007, 04:33 PM	#8
jgbackes Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Jose, CA - USA Posts: 1,314	Normally any place I put epoxy, I can put some fiberglass mat in as well... I used to patch surfboards with the stuff when I was a kid. You basically wet the cloth with the epoxy, maybe I'm just remember wrong. __________________ sǝʞɔɐq ɟɟǝɾ If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-11-2007, 03:41 AM	#4
drmarty Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Anaheim California Posts: 530	Ari, you da man. Marty Tim, are you getting this?

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