Manx Club

Man what a trip. It seemed the buggy gods were against us at times, but then they seemed to help other times. We were only able to join everyone on sat, so we got up early and headed to Buellton. It was the first time taking the burro anywhere as Dad and I finished thrashing it together the night before. The tow up when uneventful, and after getting to Buelllton we unhooked the buggies and headed over to meet everyone. At camp we heard banging coming from one of the buggies. It seems Steve's front inner wheel bearing had disintegrated and the race was fused to the spindle. After heating, banging, and trying everything, we all decided that its better to leave the buggy at camp and head out on the run.  The first part of the run when great. We took Ballard Canyon from Buellton to Los Olivos. The Burro was running good and the weather was nice. Once we got to the Los Olivos Market, the group got together to get some food and drinks for the run. In the parking lot, I got to chatting with someone who was checking the burro out. It turns out he lives in the area and has raced the Norra/Mexico 1000 rally with his daughter and had a buggy. We exchanged contact #s as I have been dreaming about driving in the rally. After that my father comes over and tells me there's a noise coming from the front of the Manxter. After checking it out, well guess what, our outer front wheel bearing was toast. So there in the Los Olivos parking  lot the tools came out and work began on the Manxter. 


Unfortunately, I didn't have one with me (it was sitting on the self at home) and the other one was back at camp but it was for a link pin front end and ours was a balljoint. Well after discussing options and trying to get in contact with the local autopart store, I thought, well,  I'll give a call to my new friend and see if he had an old bearings lying around. Being a racer, I thought he might have some spares. Well he didn't, but his buddy in town is the local vw guru and said he would give him a call. Well, about a 1/2 hour later they show up with a new bearing and grease in hand. We had the Manxter back together in no time, and I invited them to join us on our run, they jumped into there buggies and we were on our way trying to catch up to the rest of the group. We ended up meeting the group at the entrance of Zaca road. The rest of the run was great. We went to the the end of Zaca road and down the Catway Jeep trail, and then back to camp on Happy Canyon. Once back in camp and telling stories about the day, the three of us wished everyone good bye and headed to load up the buggies and head home.   


Well our story wasn't quite done. After exiting the freeway in Carp, I notice that my father was no longer behind us. After waiting for awhile we head back to see what happened. Well here is what we found. We were about 4 blocks from home.


The hitch pin fell out and the manxter decided to go free. I can't believe it didn't happen on the freeway. Well the manxter has a few broken lights and a new scar, but every one was alright. 




The highway patrol was really cool and stuck around to make sure we got eveything back home. He commented that these buggies look like a lot of fun.             
Oh but there's more. Here's what the burro looks like. 



It seems both front bearing decided to go. It serves me right as I should have check them as I had no history about this buggy, but just ran out of time. 
Still more, this morning after saying good bye to my father, I get a call about 20 minutes later that he had a blowout and is sitting on the side of the freeway. I jumped in my truck and found him outside of oxnard. We changed the tire in the rain and he was on his way again. Lucky it didn't happen last night while towing. We both agree that we are not going any where else this weekend 

I hope every one else made it home safe

But, we all agreed we had a great time and can't wait for the next run.
Doran   

Jeese Doran!  And you were the one who said these things happen in threes!  I'm so glad your father and the Manxter are alright. That could have been disasterous. It sounds like you've had enough excitement for one weekend, let alone one day. 

The Burro looked and sounded great.  It was a great run and I'm so glad you thought of the location.  We'll have to do it again real soon!

Scott

Great story. Glad you all made it home. That's all we hope for...

Wow!   This weekend had the best stories to come out of a one day run!  Wheel bearings, accelerator cable, blown engine, and, for good measure, a spare tire slippage that missed Connie's head.  When we made that stop suddenly, we did laugh a bit. Again, no one was hurt.  I will say all our waiting-for-repair places on Saturday's adventure had beautiful views...plus fixable endings.  But Doran, your story is the hands-down winner!  We are so glad you are all home safely: the buggies with a few buggy bruises and scratches, and all your family with none.  The best endings!    Pat Sabins

Maybe you guys should employ a Tech Inspector for your runs.
That was a crazy day.

Doran,
Of all the runs you've done and will do this one will be told and retold for years to come. Glad everything came out safely.
Buggy on.....
Bob

Yes, you would be nominated for the "Best Buggy Story of 2012" award if there was such a thing.

... We are both smiling ... because we've all been there ... & its' all part of the fun.

MnC

Talking with my father, we came to the conclusion that the hitch pin probably fell out sometime on the freeway. He remembers hearing more then the usual clanking. We are guessing that the safety chain was short enough that it didn't allow the the manxter to move far enough away from the truck to allow the hitch to slide out of the receiver. When he made the turn off the freeway is when the receiver finally slipped out.




I had a chance today to look at the burro and actually the bearings seem fine, but the lower link pins were all loose. Once everything was tightened up the tires look normal. I'm still going to repack the wheel bearing though.



We feel very fortunate that everything worked out ok and no there was no major damage.



When I tell the stories to people I have been getting the response of how terrible the weekend sounds, but I have to admit, I had a great time and I really enjoy how the vw/buggy hobbyist come together to help out.



Doran

Doran,

We are like the Marine Corps.  We don't leave anyone behind, even our dead.