How I made a Good Black Widow Ramp almost a Widowmaker? :)

Or... How NOT to load a Motorcycle with a Motorcycle Ramp! :)

Had a little bit of excitement loading the Raider in Utah. We'd been camped in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument for more than a week and we're getting ready to roll on up by Moab to meet some friends.

The wind was blowing, and to tell the truth, I wasn't really feeling on top of the world...

If you've looked around the site at all, you likely already know I live full time in a fifth wheel and that I use a Black Widow Ramp, to load and carry my Raider behind the cab when we move camp. I moved the hitch back toward the rear of the truck to make room for that...

Now... loading with a ramp, by itself is no big deal... you run up the ramp and badda bing! You're loaded... right?

Well... sometimes, not so much! :)

The thing is... if you load in-line... and you misjudge or goof a bit... the worst that happens is you thump the back of the cab... UH... if you're loading cross ways... and you make an UH OH... there ain't a whole lot of room... or time... for absorbing the error!

An uh oh... can get to be an Aw Crap! ... reeeeeal damn quick! :)

So... I climb on the Raider, twist the throttle and roll up the ramp, just like I have a Whole Bunch of times... with nary a bobble... until... Escalante...

Goin' up that 12' Black Widow Ramp, something caught my attention and pulled it left... and we all know what happens when you look somewhere...

Yup... the bike goes where you're lookin'...

When you have about a 4" hole to hit on the chock... and a foot or two later... nothing but air if you miss... you Don't want to miss! :)

Well... uh ... I missed! ... so... no problem, just grab the brake right?

again... not quite... my feet were down in preparation to land the bike in the chock... which left ONLY my right hand... Now... a thinking person would have had the brake lever Covered... right? :)

Normally, I'm a thinking person... but NOT this morning... nope... my hand was around the throttle... and when I flipped it up to grab the break... THIS TIME... and never before! It just hit under the bottom of the Brake Lever...

So... here's the bike moving across an 8' bed... NOT aimed at the Chock... with me sittin' on top of it... tap tap tappin' my fingers, UNDER the brake lever... Not Good!

Now, have your fingers stutter on the brake lever two or three times and in the whole scmeme of things, that's enough time to use up a whole lot of an 8' bed!

Luckily for my silly kiester... that chock is built with something like 1 1/2" support legs that run out to the sides. About the time the tire hit the end of the left side leg, my hand finally found the brake and stopped the bike, with the front tire on the precipice!

OK... so the 40" or so deck of my truck isn't really much of a precipice... but... it would sure ruin my day! :)

In the end...  all I had to do was call for the old lady to come out and pull that custom seat on my Raider... out of where it had got sucked up in to ... so I could climb off the bike! :)

The moral of the story is... 1. Keep your eyes on the chock! no matter what! and 2. go back to the drawing board and create some sort of a safety bar that can be set in place if you're gonna load cross ways (which I am in the process of doing!)... for those times that you fail to keep #1 in mind! :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Just Found Out... I Got a Custom Motorcycle Painter in the Family

My son-in-law... when he's not running cranes for his day job... works on his dream of a Custom Car and/or Motorcycle Shop...

He texted me a couple of pics the past couple of days of a bike he's working on now.  A guy he knows traded him a Genuine "Basket Case" Sportster... for some restoration work on another bike...

So...he's taken that Sporty, and has been doin' a Bobber Customizing job on it... that and just putting it back together... It was litterally a bare frame and there weren't two other pieces that were bolted together, all in several boxes... Took him a bit, just to figure out what was missing, and find the parts!

*Sportster 'Bobber' in Progress*

*Josh's Work on the Sportster Fuel Tank*

These pics are just little captures by his phone... and I'll get some better pics in a couple days when I get to Denver... but... They've got me to thinking... He's got another project coming up... some custom paint on the Raider! :)

I've got a couple sizeable Hail dings in the tank... and a scrape on the rear fender from where the Backrest came loose last summer... So... in doing those cosmetic repairs... I might as well go ahead and get something fine and Custom done!

... and since it looks like I've got a Custom Paint/Custom Fabrication Artist in the Family... might as well point my work his way, don't you think?

He's also got me to cogitating about another "project" I've wanted to do for a while... Different then a Custom Paint and Chrome Bike... Something more along the lines of a "Rat Bike"... but more of the "Survival Bike" variety... I've seen some Suzuki's, Yamaha's... and Kawi's blacked out... knobbies... stripped down and looking kind of sinister... I've wanted to do something like that for myself, for a while... just never pushed it into reality... maybe, it's time!

I've got a few "twists" of my own I think would be cool... Sort of a Survival Touring Bike! :) ... so much to do... so little time!

I know, I know... "So Quit Talkin' and start doin!" :) ... well, tell you what... I hawk a few more books... and I'll do just that! :)

If you're in the Denver area (or Colorado for that matter)... and thinkin' of looking around for a guy to do some nice work for you... at a less than the national debt price, drop me a line...  I'll put you in touch with this guy... maybe we can poke him into doin' more Motorcycle art for us!

I think we'll all be hearing more out of him, along the lines of Custom Motorcycle Painting in the future...

You could get some really fine quality work done... for a working mans price... Josh could get a couple more good pieces of work under his belt... and I can claim some responsibility for poking and prodding to "make it happen!" (which will win me some points with my Daughter!) a win-win-win situtation! :)

Now... I need to go scrape together some more of that folding green paper... so I can get my fiberglass saddlebags... If he's going to be repainting my bike... might as well do the whole deal! Right? :) ... and he might be my son-in-law... but... there ain't no free rides! :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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I've Seen Blog Posts Asking Before... Can You Live on Just a Motorcycle?

They always wonder... how would you haul groceries... What about "Big" things... how would you haul this and that?

Have you ever wondered; "What would it be like... if ALL I had was my Motorcycle... and Only the things I needed to live. Clothing, Shelter, Cooking gear..."

It's an idea that's always appealed to me. Last year, riding the Alcan... with the limited gear I carried... I've never been more content...

Don't mistake me now... I may have cowboyed for a goodly while... lived rough and such... but that don't mean, in any sort of a way, that I LIKE being uncomfortable... A masochist I ain't! Truth is... the only thing that keeps a cowboys bedroll from being 6' in diameter... is the ability of a mule to carry it! :)

... Same thing on a motorcycle...

Bottom line is.. could you live and be, Comfortable, on Just a Motorcycle? ... and ... the answer is... a tee total, double chromed, unhesitating... YES! :)

You'd have to make sacrifices... Getting ready to go somewhere, when the weather is bad, takes more time then just sprinting out to your "Cage" through the rain... to safety inside it... You have to get geared up.

... and you have to think about some things a bit. How are you going to haul some needful things?... Like yesterday... in our fifth wheel camp in Southern Utah.

The truck is broke... been hauled a hundred miles away... for what is very likely gonna be a repair that will cost what I could buy a solid, clean V  Star for!!!!!!

... and ... I needed propane for the "House"... whud-a-ya gonna Do?

Why... strap that 40# Propane Bottle on... and Make a Raider Ride for fuel to Escalante... Riding a Yamaha Raider Propane Hauler!

*Raider Loaded and Ready*

... and you know what? Not one, single, issue... other than the looks I got from a few folks... wonderin' about the guy hauling his BBQ around on a Cruiser V Twin! :)

Truth be known... the bike didn't know it was there... More stable then a "rider" back there. :)

*Riding to town for Propane*

So... One more time... my Bike... came through... and put a smile on my face... and said... "What the hell you need that 4 doored cage for?"

Which leaves me wonderin'... will JB weld hold the fifth wheel hitch on my helmet? :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

Return to the Home page of Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road
Visit our sister site goin' RV Boondocking

Share your stories and opinions;
*Tell us Which you think is the... The Best Touring Motorcycle
*Share...  Your Personal Motorcycle Philosophy with us!
*Tell us about your...  Great Motorcycle Roads