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Our Friday Rzr trip, amazing, near disaster, happy ending -- well sorta

Taboma

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Left Lake Havasu early Friday morning with 15' Rzr 900S Eps in tow headed for our Ranch property in the mountains 30 miles NE of Kingman.
My wife and I have been exploring this area and surrounding mountains since 07', at first in our 07' Ranger, followed with our current Rzr.

Due to the increased comfort and speed of the Rzr our trips have branched out further and we've found and explored some amazing country.

Despite coming equipped to handle minor repairs, belt and tires etc. and always driving in a manner to protect the equipment, plus a few basic survival aids, this trip proved, that even with only 373 miles, Razors engines can shit the bed and you're screwed.

This trip consisted of exploring in the Cottonwood mountains. They extend from the I-40 approx 30 miles east of Kingman, to old Rt. 66 to Peach springs and beyond to Seligman. It's a huge area, often hunted and there's rural ranches scattered around. We were only going to climb into the mountains and travel through one corner returning on an old cattle road that ends up paralleling I-40. It was about a 70 mile loop.

The trip was amazing, beautiful country, crossed several small running creeks, avoided a near head-on with a quail and an attack by two huge wasps. Keep in mind, this is rural, you'll see deer and occasionally pronghorn antelope, certainly big jacks. But at the end of the day you'd probably conclude that humans had in fact gone extinct. Therein lies the beauty :bowdown:, therein lies the danger. :skull
You fully realize you're very much alone should unforeseen shit happen, you try to prepared and act accordingly, after all, you can die in bed too.

By mid-afternoon we had explored and wound our way down the south end of Willow Creek Ranches, now there's some very nice homes around and we can see the I-40 off in the distance. We had found and were traveling the final rural section of our trip, now we're in cattle country between these ranches and the I-40. A rocky cattle road that goes straight up, straight down and round and round. Meaning a mile as a the crow flies is several miles by road. We had another 3 miles to go and we'd be at the Silver Springs offramp and groomed roads ahead to get back to our ranch where we'd left my truck and Rzr trailer. Damn near beer-30, hell yeah :thumbsup:thumbsup

Rzr engine purring along, trucks blowing by just above us on the I-40, suddenly Rzr engines starts popping, backfiring, dies :yikes I tried to re-start, it fired right up, started to idle and as soon as I gave it any throttle it popped and died. Engine was cool, battery voltage fine, no codes, so started tearing access panels off looking for something obvious. Opened the gas cap in case it wasn't venting, removed the air filter in case it had clogged, checked connectors, everything appeared normal.

OK, so break out the cell phone because usually we get good service anywhere near the I-40 --- nope, not this time because we're down in a hole.

Re-tried to start it after it had sat and cooled, it kicked and by constantly goosing the throttle I got another 100 or so yards out of it, then dead again. Climbed a high hill, still no cell, so we started climbing and hiking to the I-40 and started trying to wave down a car. Finally after a long period of people just waving at us --- WTF ? Two nice young guys stopped and while we were explaining our situation, here comes Mr DPS officer with lights blazing. :thumbsup:thumbsup Damn, now that felt good watching him pull up. YES, we're not going to die :D

I'm 69 and this was NOT my first ride in a Highway Patrol or other cop car, my wife is 61 and this was her FIRST ride, the look on her face was priceless :rolleyes
Let me tell you, those Ford Explorers look really cool, but good God, those plastic backseats and complete lack of rear leg room is ugly. I realize they're not made for passenger comfort, but that vehicle had the worst ride and loudest road noise of anything I've ever driven or ridden in. No shit, but the I-40 felt like we were traveling over a washboard road :thumbsdown
Anyway the officer was really cool, hauled us close to 30 miles to the Petro truck stop at Blake Ranch Rd. Now the trick was, how to get from there another 40 miles away to our ranch, to get the truck and trailer and 4 wheel in on this nasty road to recover the Rzr and we had but a couple of hours before nightfall.

I won't bore you with the failed phone calls and other attempts to remedy our situation. But while taking a stress break in the truck stop there was an skinny old guy with a cane wearing a Marine Corp vet hat sitting across from us. My wife went over and asked if he had a car, "Yes Ma'am I do", he replied. So we told him our story and where he needed to go. He shared that he had bought his car for $ 250 out of a field in North Carolina and he and his nephew had traveled across the USA in it, they were sleeping in the car and were down to their last $ 28 cents, but they'd be happy to help us.

We filled his tank, promised to make it worth his while and off we went with salvation in sight, but kinda precariously so, given I wasn't sure if this old Mercury Tracer would even make it out of the truck stop :yikes But, screw it, we were otherwise out of options.

We somehow made it back to our ranch and our truck. Gave our new best friend $ 160, which was all our cash, but he was now the 2nd happiest person on earth, us being the happiest :bowdown:

Set a couple of land speed records towing down 30 miles of dirt roads trying to beat the sundown to reach the stranded Rzr. Ended up in 4X4 low with the rear end locked, a lot of desert pin stripping on the truck, but as the sun dropped, we'd retrieved the Rzr and had made it to the Silver Springs I-40 onramp. I was able to get the Rzr to fire over and a couple of quick throttle jabs, popping and backfiring, it made on leap up onto the trailer before it died again --- Whew !! :thumbsup

By 9 PM we were back in Havasu and I tell you, a beer has never ever tasted so good :D

By Sat AM the POS Rzr was back at AZ West, fingers crossed our extended warranty will cover the repairs, which nobody seems to know what that will be. I'm really disappointed that AJ is no longer at AZ West, I heard he opened his own shop somewhere. In the past I've found his current replacement difficult to deal with, his persona this time was no different, so we'll see how this impacts our ongoing relationship.

I realize there's a hundred morals to this story, we understand the inherit dangers exploring by ourselves, we realize shit can and does happen.
We had however developed perhaps a false sense of security in the vehicle. Our previous Ranger had never missed a beat and after exploring like this for ten years, we're not exactly newcomers. Our # 1 priority has always been, prepare, then protect the vehicle, because being stranded in this country can end very badly.

Of course traveling in numbers is much safer, we get that, but not everybody enjoys following in the wake of a dusty group and riding from bar to bar. If that's our only viable option going forward, we'll sell the machine and enjoy our marvelous memories.

What we ultimately lost during this trip was the ten years of confidence in the two Polaris vehicles we'd accumulated. I'm not sure my wife is going to be up for another trip outside of a couple of miles, given she's shaken with the thoughts of how narrowly we escaped with our asses this time.

Now what ? Perhaps we need to consider a new Jeep Wrangler ? Obviously we can carry more survival gear, be better equipped do deal with the Shit Happens moment, at least not die of exposure. My Rzr took a shit with under 400 miles, my F150 is purring along with 33K miles and in my 69 years I've never had a properly maintained vehicle just quit and leave us dead on the road.

Anyway, awesome day right up until it wasn't :( Here's a few pics --- now pondering the future :headscratch:

From the top of the Cottonwood Mtns looking back towards Kingman and the Haulapai mtns.

Cottonwoods towards Hualapai mtns..jpg

At the top

L&P 3-10-17 Cottonwoods copy.jpg

Over the top and dropping into the Cottonwoods.

Cottonwoods 3-10-17.jpg
 

Runs2rch

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Glad it worked out!

There is nothing like a good adventure!!!! Makes for a great story.
 

Taboma

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For sure, at the end of the day, you're OK, you made it and you're sucking down a cold one, there's plenty to laugh about.
But, had this been just another typical story from my adventure filled youth, like a weekend in the Rosarito Jail in 68' --- yeah big fun, you survive, you laugh, life is a kick in the ass :thumbsup

When you're facing a night stranded in the desert with an extremely unhappy bride, well, we need to re-think our program just a bit. I consider this a warning shot over the bow :eek

I will say this, after meeting these two awesome guys from North Carolina and what they did for us, my faith in humanity has jumped up leaps and bounds.

Should we continue with our back county adventures, I'm staring to see a nice Jeep in our future, at least we could pack a tent and sleeping bags :D
 

Deja_Vu

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Scary, glad you made it back to civilization!
 

JD D05

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Great read. There are a lot of money but if you can afford a sat phone do it. Glad it worked out.


Here was my RZR good time. Believe it or not we were on top of rocks when we sunk we moved them all through the night in bear country...And that bobcat was not cheap!

135.jpg 140.jpg 132.jpg
 

Dirtbag

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we rely so much on our cell phones these days as the emergency get out of jail free card. I wonder if the good old fashioned radio walkie talkies are the best bet to keep with at all times and then use the emergency band? When we get our razor after summer our whole goal is to explore as much of havasu as possible just like you guys are doing.

There sgotta be a better way for communication...aside from the sat radio? or is that the only option?
 

Taboma

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Great read. There are a lot of money but if you can afford a sat phone do it. Glad it worked out.


Here was my RZR good time. Believe it or not we were on top of rocks when we sunk we moved them all through the night in bear country...And that bobcat was not cheap!

View attachment 545686 View attachment 545687 View attachment 545688

Holy shit, that's bad for sure :eek Yup, was thinking about a sat phone since unlike on TV, cell phones don't actually work everywhere :rolleyes

At least once I got my truck with the trailer, I was able to retrieve the Rzr, just hope the desert pinstriping can be rubbed out :grumble:
 

JD D05

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Holy shit, that's bad for sure :eek Yup, was thinking about a sat phone since unlike on TV, cell phones don't actually work everywhere :rolleyes

At least once I got my truck with the trailer, I was able to retrieve the Rzr, just hope the desert pinstriping can be rubbed out :grumble:

A good cut will hopefully do it.
 

Taboma

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we rely so much on our cell phones these days as the emergency get out of jail free card. I wonder if the good old fashioned radio walkie talkies are the best bet to keep with at all times and then use the emergency band? When we get our razor after summer our whole goal is to explore as much of havasu as possible just like you guys are doing.

There sgotta be a better way for communication...aside from the sat radio? or is that the only option?

I doubt a handheld is going to help you very much unless somebody is close and within line of sight. In our situation, since we made it so close to the I-40 I'm sure I could have raised a trucker with a CB, but still has similar limitations, at least if it's a legal radio. :rolleyes
I'd think a legal licensed ham radio would be the best option, at least there's repeaters on various mountains and those boys are usually all over lending a helping hand.

Back in the 80's I had a shall we say non-legal CB with lots of additional channels, amped up big time in my El Camino. Hell I used to chat with a barge pilot on the Mississippi river while driving to work in San Diego. Hawaii, Oregon coast, that sucker would really reach out there when skip was running. So in 1982 during the Falklands War I'm perched on hill here in SD and I hear somebody calling identifying his location as the South Sandwich Islands he was reporting they were under attack by Argentina. I thought, Oh shit this is serious, but who the hell am I going to call, I haven't a clue how to render any aid, so I stayed silent, hoping somebody heard that could do something. :eek
That radio burned along with our house, otherwise I'd be running that puppy for sho !!
 

phuggit

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That is some beautiful country. We like to explore in our RZR also and often we go out alone too. Except for catastrophic engine or transmission failure Im pretty confident we could make a trail repair, but your thread reminded me how riding alone can turn into a miserable experience.

I had the same issue with our old Ranger one time. It turned out that a wire from the TPS broke from vibration and the engine did exactly as yours did. It was a fairly cheap fix. Hope yours is something similar.
 

Taboma

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That is some beautiful country. We like to explore in our RZR also and often we go out alone too. Except for catastrophic engine or transmission failure Im pretty confident we could make a trail repair, but your thread reminded me how riding alone can turn into a miserable experience.

I had the same issue with our old Ranger one time. It turned out that a wire from the TPS broke from vibration and the engine did exactly as yours did. It was a fairly cheap fix. Hope yours is something similar.

One thing for sure, long gone are the days of performing a field fix using a matchbook cover :( You can pull the covers, check connections and perform a few rudimentary checks, but for the most part, when a modern engine quits, it's game over.

That's why since this recent adventure incident I keep reviewing this life lesson. We got off real lucky, partially because in hindsight I made some good decisions regarding our return route. The remaining luck involved a most interesting string of unlikely events that somehow brought an unlikely cast of characters together, truly awesome people :thumbsup --- just writing that makes me smile :D

But I can't escape this flood of realities that keeps gnawing at me, ones I was certainly aware of, but easily pushed aside by shall we say, acquired overconfidence. Now I'm being forced to re-evaluate our entire program should we desire to continue pursuing these adventures in exploring that's brought us so much excitement and enjoyment. At this writing I've got a whole lot more questions begging for answers than I do comforting solutions.

The primary one is, given what we've come to really enjoy, are we doing it in the proper vehicle ? We love our Rzr (Well, OK, not as much as I did a week ago :grumble: ), but it presents serious limitations if you're faced with wilderness survival.
 

DC-88

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One thing for sure, long gone are the days of performing a field fix using a matchbook cover :( You can pull the covers, check connections and perform a few rudimentary checks, but for the most part, when a modern engine quits, it's game over.

The primary one is, given what we've come to really enjoy, are we doing it in the proper vehicle ? We love our Rzr (Well, OK, not as much as I did a week ago :grumble: ), but it presents serious limitations if you're faced with wilderness survival.

As a little kid in the Phoenix and Casa Grande Az. areas I remember my parents did a lot of solo trips to some remote areas in our Jeep (early 70's) . Basically the vehicle carried whatever it would take to hike out and camp X number of miles per day from the farthest point. We usually camped at least 1 night anyway, so that stuff was on board along with big water can, gas can, spare, jack , firearm, etc. A roof rack for more storage on the 900 could work? Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I'd put a bunch of miles on that thing close to town when you get it fixed just to make sure it's good to go.
Shit happens to anyone who's out doing stuff though......This past weekend my buddy, oldest son and I were an hour or so into a big loop we do out in the middle of nowhere on our dirt bikes from Needles, but way out between Goffs and the 40 having a blast getting competitive , cris- crossing some steep washes . It was hot, and my son wearing all black+camelback/tools got stuck in a huge rut near the top of one , started his bike, and muscled it up on foot. Then he blacked out and pretty much collapsed. We put him under a little bush and poured the remaining half (what was left) of one camelback around his neck and shirt. Got him to drink some warmer water, and split his stuff up between me and my buddy. He powered through it but it was the same reality check of how quick stuff goes foul when you're having fun!
 

Taboma

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As a little kid in the Phoenix and Casa Grande Az. areas I remember my parents did a lot of solo trips to some remote areas in our Jeep (early 70's) . Basically the vehicle carried whatever it would take to hike out and camp X number of miles per day from the farthest point. We usually camped at least 1 night anyway, so that stuff was on board along with big water can, gas can, spare, jack , firearm, etc. A roof rack for more storage on the 900 could work? Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I'd put a bunch of miles on that thing close to town when you get it fixed just to make sure it's good to go.
Shit happens to anyone who's out doing stuff though......This past weekend my buddy, oldest son and I were an hour or so into a big loop we do out in the middle of nowhere on our dirt bikes from Needles, but way out between Goffs and the 40 having a blast getting competitive , cris- crossing some steep washes . It was hot, and my son wearing all black+camelback/tools got stuck in a huge rut near the top of one , started his bike, and muscled it up on foot. Then he blacked out and pretty much collapsed. We put him under a little bush and poured the remaining half (what was left) of one camelback around his neck and shirt. Got him to drink some warmer water, and split his stuff up between me and my buddy. He powered through it but it was the same reality check of how quick stuff goes foul when you're having fun!

Good idea about a roof rack :thumbsup Although if I gave my wife a vote between overnighting in the Rzr or Jeep, I know which one she'd vote for :rolleyes

Also true about putting some short distance trips behind us prior to venturing out, both verifying repairs and restoring confidence in the machine. :thumbsup

Sure anxious to learn just what failed.

Damn, sorry to hear about your son !!! Kids bounce back, us old timers, not so well. :grumble:
 

STV_Keith

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I'd think a legal licensed ham radio would be the best option, at least there's repeaters on various mountains and those boys are usually all over lending a helping hand.

You hit the nail on the head here. Your best bet IMO is to get your tech/general/extra FCC license and get an amateur radio. It doesn't take much to pass, and costs $15 to test, and the license is good for 10 years. Something like a $50 Baofeng UV-8HP or $150 Yaesu FT-60 would work great. If you know the areas you are playing in, look up the nearby repeaters on repeaterbook.com and program their freqs. As you said, there's usually someone listening somewhere that will relay a call for you. You might even find a linked repeater nearby, which would share your signal a long ways, increasing the likelihood of someone listening. We have the WINS system out here which relays from Mexico to Canada up and down the I-15. Surely you'd find someone listening.

Even better, put a 50w mobile unit in your RZR, so you can transmit with that much more capability. Got headsets? Now you can communicate with other off roaders with ham capability. :)
 

Taboma

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You hit the nail on the head here. Your best bet IMO is to get your tech/general/extra FCC license and get an amateur radio. It doesn't take much to pass, and costs $15 to test, and the license is good for 10 years. Something like a $50 Baofeng UV-8HP or $150 Yaesu FT-60 would work great. If you know the areas you are playing in, look up the nearby repeaters on repeaterbook.com and program their freqs. As you said, there's usually someone listening somewhere that will relay a call for you. You might even find a linked repeater nearby, which would share your signal a long ways, increasing the likelihood of someone listening. We have the WINS system out here which relays from Mexico to Canada up and down the I-15. Surely you'd find someone listening.

Even better, put a 50w mobile unit in your RZR, so you can transmit with that much more capability. Got headsets? Now you can communicate with other off roaders with ham capability. :)

When I was a kid I had a bedroom filled with HAM receivers and I'd sit up all night listening to these guys CQ. Why I never followed through and got my license was really dumb --- oh yeah, girls, damn girls :grumble:
OK, that and that stupid morse code requirement, I simply didn't have the patience to learn that shit I was never going to use. I get that now you can get the Tech without it, haven't really researched it in awhile --- but now it's looking really interesting !! :thumbsup
 

STV_Keith

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When I was a kid I had a bedroom filled with HAM receivers and I'd sit up all night listening to these guys CQ. Why I never followed through and got my license was really dumb --- oh yeah, girls, damn girls :grumble:
OK, that and that stupid morse code requirement, I simply didn't have the patience to learn that shit I was never going to use. I get that now you can get the Tech without it, haven't really researched it in awhile --- but now it's looking really interesting !! :thumbsup

No more Morse code requirement. I don't think I could have done that either. LOL Without "studying", you could memorize the answers to the questions from one of the several online study websites (like hamexam.org or similar) and pass it. I studied for the tech license, then just memorized the question/answer for the general test and passed both.
 

Taboma

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What was wrong with the SXS?

According to AZ West, it's the fuel pump.
I could hear the fuel pump come on when I turned the ignition on before engaging the start position. It would start and idle pretty much normally, but as soon as you'd try to apply any throttle it wouldn't rev, just start farting, sputtering and backfiring.

I was lucky enough to get it to fire and idle, then by gave it a few hard throttle stabs and it lurched most of the way onto the trailer, then died, one more repeat and it was on the trailer. I've got an extended warranty, so I guess they're waiting for approval to proceed with the repairs.
 

stephenkatsea

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There are satellite hand held telephones. They are not line of sight such as VHF and do not rely on "skip" such as CBs. All they need is a clear shot to the satellites. But, they are a bit pricey.
 

RiverDave

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My ranger build was pretty much designed around doing these long range exploration trips. I still haven't done one, but will at some point. I plan on taking tools / belt / axle / most the basics that I think could have a failure. I think the best thing to have though is a second vehicle to go with you.

RD
 

Taboma

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My ranger build was pretty much designed around doing these long range exploration trips. I still haven't done one, but will at some point. I plan on taking tools / belt / axle / most the basics that I think could have a failure. I think the best thing to have though is a second vehicle to go with you.

RD

Can't disagree one bit --- However, when it comes to satisfying the deep craving or itch for exploration, it's extremely individual.

My wife and I have been exploring for well over 30 years, by sea and by land, in a variety of vessels and vehicles, almost all of it as a solo team. We've enjoyed exploring many amazing locals, both in the US and abroad. We enjoy the independence, the thrill of discovery as well I suppose, of us against the odds of calamity, it's hard to describe really. Some think we're risk takers and stupid, yet to others our trips would be boring and mundane --- different strokes and all that ;)

It's nice being able to change plans on a whim, not having to debate with others over when to keep going or head back or right or left at the next crossroads. It's just different and how we've normally rolled. Besides, we don't like following somebody's wake or eating their dust :D

Certainly this last trip was a bit of a scary wake up, but not bad odds considering it's our first stranding due to a mechanical malfunction I couldn't field remedy with over 30 years under our belts. Although to be completely honest, back in the 70's I did require a tow after an outdrive failure while jumping swells off of Newport Beach in my 17' Formula Jr (Pre-Donzi clone).

Most interesting, of course now being recalled from the safety of my keyboard :rolleyes As much as exploring and discovering new to us territory was exciting and beautiful, it's the rather amazing chain of events resulting in our rescue and the recovery that oddly feels most rewarding. The trip was about adventure and discovering nature, the result was discovering some wonderful kindness and amazing humanity, I was truly humbled. The other reality was ---- we're not kids anymore :grumble: who knew ?

This particular trip was one that had been tugging on me for the past ten years we've owned our ranch. It's a mountain range the lies beyond a wide valley and for years I've been pouring over Google Sat images trying to find a short cut up into the range. I finally had found one that appeared viable, so when we set out from the ranch, it was to find that short cut, not explore the range itself. Yet once we found what appeared to be the short cut, I couldn't resist verifying it went where it hoped it would. Once we got to the top of the range, there was no turning back, oh well, "Full speed ahead and damn the submarines" :thumbup: So I admit, we were not as prepared for this as we could or should have been :smackhead Yet, regardless of any and all 'Woulda, shoulda, coulda' the eventual outcome couldn't have been better had we pre-planned it :thumbsup Blind luck, Karma, God, a three hit combo :headscratch: :bowdown:

Anyway, the Rzr fuel pump has been replaced, awaiting our return. I've given a shit load of thought regarding what now ? Won't know until we jump in and fire dat bitch up, but baby steps for sure just to make sure the turd repair was sound and will maybe keep running. One thing I've discovered is that I've never felt as vulnerable as I felt when I started my new Rzr "What to bring" list :eek Long before I was finished I just wanted to sell the bitch and watch the travel channel :D

I considered the Sat phone, but first I need to find somebody to call who would give two shits :lmao Perhaps my grown kids, but they'd quickly start considering their cut of the inheritance :rolleyes

So good luck with your check list Dave and if you start feeling paranoid, it's OK, it's normal :p

PS: I feel sorry for "Preppers" because ignorance can = Bliss :hmm
 
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