I Can See The Light At The End of The Tunnel...

... hopefully it's not a Freightliner goin' the wrong way.

The fiberglassed signal light recesses got bondoed... re-bondoed... and then spot puttied...

... and primered...

... and still... I can't but admit... there are blemishes if you look.

A body man I ain't... but it'll keep the rain and dust out.

The finish paint was put on yesterday... in enough time that I could get the garage door closed before the days storm arrived.

That few additional coats of epoxie paint will have to cure for a couple of days before I go to handling it much doing the reinstall.

... as well as the installing the new turn signals and license plate carrier frame I'm waiting on from J & P cycles...

In the mean time I've been conjuring ways to carry my auxiliary fuel bottles on long rides...

How I carried them to Alaska worked pretty well. But, I've not got that ruck any more... (that's a picture of it that generally comes in the popular posts gizmo on the right sidebar)

I've thought of racks bolted on somewhere... or plates zip tied under the new tail rack that will be going on shortly... but... nothing seemed to fit or "Feel" right...

So... with the painting done and a storm brewing... I took to experimenting with a piece of old canvas I had stuffed in a compartment, my fuel bottles and some barge cement.

One thing I'd decided was I didn't want a "permanent" mount.

No need to carry those bottles on day rides...

Only when I'm gonna be out in unfamiliar country and long rides where I might find a stretch with 150 miles 'tween filling stations.

Like on that return ride I'm planning on making to the Yukon and Alaska...

That brought me back to that ruck mounted carry.

I've drawn up all sorts of complicated racks with clamps and straps and pockets and ... to hell with all that... I decided that simple and easily replaced if it wears out, breaks, is stolen or I simply want to try something new... is best...

So... I've got most of a prototype, auxiliary, fuel bottle bag worked up. The idea being that it will strap/clip to my current ruck sitting on the tail rack, or whatever cargo bag occupies that space...

One piece of canvas cut to fold and glue/stitch/rivet into a bag that will hold the bottles securely but still allow easy access.

 I'm planning on adding a quick release strap running from side to side through the loops in the caps to assure retention...

 

And still need to add a couple straps to close the flap and straps that will secure the fuel bag to whatever part of the camp cargo I tie it too... and probably soak it in some black or OD dye ;) ... and... set some rivets to make sure the barge don't let things go... but not too bad for 45 minutes of fiddling with canvas and cement.

Need to get her done... and on the road again...

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian