Some Things Around Motorcycles Aren't As They First Appear

Back a month or so ago I had to improvise a minor repair to keep the Raider safe and roadworthy... while I waited on the proper parts. This newest needed repair is one that I don't believe improvisation is the way to go!

I've had another piece, or pieces, workin' to climb the priority ladder. Actually, they've been festering for quite a while; though the progression has been pretty slow.

Now... I'm the sort that generally works to squeeze all the good out of something. Tires don't get replaced until they're smoothing out the wear bars. Oil gets pushed to the limit, all the good is scraped out of the brakes. You get the idea. If there's life left in a part, I have trouble not using that life... comes from having a habitually underweight wallet.

Soooo...

The fork seals on both sides are leaking... or at this point some might say gone. It started as a faint wetness on the tube on one side, moved to both, but really just a faint lil' seep. Then the seep became... a leak.

At first I thought, with not quite 30,000 on the odometer that seems a lil' premature for a failure. Then it hit me; though the odometer is now a touch over 30,000, if I stop and think about it, the frame has probably something close to double that.

How's that work?

If you ain't aware, the bike is on the road when I'm riding out of camp or I'm off away from camp riding a wide circle.. Now, she ain't no trailer queen, but we live full time on the road... so ... whenever I'm moving camp, the bike is riding on the truck bed behind the cab, since I can't drive my House and ride the Raider at the same time ;)

Hell, that's how she toured that 4X4 road through Monument Valley! Bobbin' and weavin' on the back of the truck in lumpy, jumpin' 4 by! :)

Don't say it... I know!... I never said it was smart... It's just how it happened! ;)

Bottom line... when Sonja is locked down there in the Wheel Dock Chock behind the cab her suspension is working as hard as if she was rolling down the road. Every bump and pothole gets transmitted right on up... and I can see her ridin' the lumps and bumps in the rearview mirror.

The reality is, her forks have a lot closer to 60,000 miles or better after living outside 24/7 and soakin' up the rough roads that big diesel just passes on to her. I don't suppose I can complain about the mileage!

Writing this post, I also just got slammed with the realization that I've never posted a straight up page on either main site (RV or Motorcycle) just how I carry Sonja on the truck between the cab and the hitch for my fiver!

There's a post or two on the RV blog about how I load the her now, and the main site about the carrier I built on the fifth wheel to carry my old V Star for a while... but not a full, clear page with the Motorcycle Carrier method I use now. (loading, tying down, Unloading etc). DOH! I did write a blog post with a video of the loading process a while back that shows where she rides.

Seems like I'm getting awful forgetful in my old age! Guess I better quit bein' so lazy and gather all that info I've got spread around into one page!

Anyhoo... we're here workin' the NASCAR race at PIR in Avondale this week. With a modest amount of luck and none of the unexpected variety of "failures" of other equipment and bodily parts that's consumed our earnings the last few races... maybe I'll gather up the dinero here to replace those leaky seals and all things considered, the bushings too!

... at the same time I'm playing with a block that would slide in under the frame when I tie her down. When she'd "pulled down" in tying her down it would "Fix" the bike solid in place, rather than allowing the suspension to keep working for no good reason when she's being carried. 

So far that looks good and no Unintended Consequences have occurred to me or been suggested. I believe that would eliminate the "premature" failure of some suspension parts from "unrecorded" mileage! :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Sonja is a lot Farther South... but still...

hasn't gotten down off the truck. :) Kind of embarrassing for a Yamaha Raider... but we've all got our crosses to bear... right?

Sometimes things just don't work out right. We've been pushing a bit 'cause we had to meet a friend in Zion. We'd intended to spend a bit more time on the Grand Canyon's North Rim... and get her down there... but we pulled in with kinda soggy weather...

*Deceptive Photo at the North Rim*

 Looks kinda nice in this pic don't it? Yeah... well a couple miles farther on the windshield wipers were doin' their thing and the rain was comin' down! :) I judged that one right and didn't feel even a lil' bit poorly for wussin' out. :)

Took a tour the afternoon we pulled in, in the truck; and again in the rain and overcast the next day... hopin' for a break. But... when I got up that second morning in camp...

*It may be winter... but this Scooter is Riding herself! in the Snow*

I rode all winter in Colorado, clear down to 10 degrees... But I was younger and prettier there... To tell the truth... Though I might be a 'Rounder' that rides all year, riding in the snow and cold has just lost its romance for me. :-o

So we loaded up and headed for Zion.

I've got another day of working on rig repairs (failed plumbing parts) and then, with great weather threatened by the Weatherman for the next week or more... Sonja will be putting her two wheels back on the Asphalt and she and I will be scootin' around Zion and local environs! HooYa!

We'll be here or round-a-bouts for a week or two... then it's keep on south to get to Avondale in time for our jobs at the NASCAR race.

Livin' Fat
Brian

Just Realized I didn't Post the Motorcycle Ramp Video I Promised

A couple of posts back I mentioned that I'd changed how I load the bike a bit... I have to load it, 'cause I live/travel full time in a fifth wheel. Either I load my Raider or leave it... and Leaving the Raider behind... ain't an Option!!!

Though it's been on my You tube channel for a short while I hadn't linked the loading update video here... OOPS! Bad Biker Cowboy! No Beer!

If you look at the first video and this latest one you can see the changes I've made on the truck bed as well that have things quite a bit snugger and more crowded, which doesn't simplify anything. ;)



Everything I thought of to "fix" the problem seemed expensive and to tell the truth, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that money on more mods to this old truck...

As it turned out... very few dollars for a couple of planks and a bit of cheap hardware and my problem loading the Raider is all fixed!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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An Update on How I use My Black Widow Motorcycle Ramp

We live on the road in a fifth wheel trailer. My Raider rides between camps on the truck, sitting crossways behind the cab.

Almost every time we stop somewhere, while the Bike is riding, I get asked; "How do you get it up there?

Sometimes, if I'm not feeling much like talking, I just point at the ramp folded up on the tail of the truck. Other times I'll explain; "Aw, I just get a good firm grip an' lift that sucker!"

Truth is, it got to where loading the bike was getting to be an unpleasant task. Loading it one time, back in the spring, in a camp on the Escalante in Utah, I damn near rode the bike off the other side.

You might not be going very fast climbing that ramp... but at just a couple of miles an hour, it don't take no time at all to cross that eight foot bed... so an old guy, having a "senior moment", or a young guy, who ain't found out yet... that he AIN'T bullet proof,  can see things get ugly in a rushin' hurry! Yup. A slight bobble along the way, and the old lady inside is gonna hear bone crunching sounds followed by bad words, dirty names and plenty of blue smoke!

Because of the configuration of my truck, (it's a little extra tall) the ramp and my motorcycle, the routine required that I ride the bike up the ramp, onto the truck, without stopping.





Though my Black Widow ramp is 12 feet long to give me an easier break over at the top so the Raider doesn't high center; it still hits the ground at an angle steep enough, that when the front wheel of that raked out Raider starts up the ramp, my feet can't reach the ground any longer. So, I can't just ease it up the ramp, I have to go for it... which is a bit of  a problem 'cause the hole I have to hit at the top, only allows a couple inches of room for error.

I've changed things a bit since this last video was made. Where that aluminum box was, is now Two larger Cargo boxes... It's not as open as in this video. The space I have to hit has a pretty narrow margin for error... Maybe an inch or so on either side.

And since I can't put my feet down, I gotta go for it, fast enough for the bike to stabilize, without stopping... or so I thought.

I don't know why it took me so long to come up with such a simple idea, but now, loading is an easy, pretty much stress free deal.

I took two 2X6 planks and attached two 1 1/2" angle braces to one end of each plank.

Now, I hang the ramp on the truck. Then hook the planks on a couple of feet up from the bottom of the ramp, one on each side. I use the attached angles to hook onto the ramp and keep them from slipping.

That gives me raised "Footboards" to span that transition from the ground, up onto the ramp. As soon as the back wheel gets close to the ramp, I can get my feet back down again.

Now, rather than worryin' what's gonna happen if I miss the target a touch, or do some other dumb thing :) I can just walk the bike up the ramp slow and easy. I can stop half way up if needs be. My feet can always reach... so no need to just push on up without stopping... Just a couple of cheap boards and a couple bucks of hardware and that bit of stress, loading the bike is wiped away.

Now that I've got things figured out, I'll get a fresh video made as soon as I catch up on all my other chores... Busting the Pin Box on the trailer, right in the middle of finishing up, and working to get my second novel published has kinda got me a lil' distracted for a bit... That and having an accelerating case of Early Onset Old Timers Syndrome ain't helping any!

In the mean time I'm also getting ready to continue heading South for the Desert, before winter gets any closer!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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The Cowboy II Motorcycle Carrier is Now A Video Star!

I built my Motorcycle Carrier on my Jayco Fifth Wheel a couple of years ago. I've hauled the V Star on it something better than 10,000 miles... so, I guess, that should make it a fairly proven design.

It's still got a couple of things I'd like to improve on it, when I get the time... but hey... The truth is...

Now that I've got the modifications done to the hitch on the truck, added the Black Widow Motorcycle ramp and bolted on the New Wheel Dock Chock... I can Haul Two Big Bikes, the Raider and the V Star, along with a Standard Fifth Wheel RV!

Take a look at what you can build for yourself... with a lil' ambition...


... and the help of a good welder!

Both Bikes are loaded... just waiting on UPS and our accountant to finish up some things... and then we're hauling both bikes on out of here... for several months... or longer... RV Boondocking... and Motorcycle Touring... Freakin' Awesome! HooYa!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Second Loading using the Black Widow Ramp

The misty rain finally cleared out this morning and I went back to work getting things put together so we can leave and start south...

Here's how easy it was to Load that big Cruiser on a Tall Flatbed (42" tall) using a 12', extra long Black Widow Motorcycle Ramp from Discount Ramps...



You may have noticed a lil' BANG! as the bike goes into the chock?... Uh... I missed the guide a lil' a bit wide to the right... and she rode up over it a touch... but... BANG! she went where she was supposed to be! :o)

It's darn near as easy coming off. Like I said, down at the bottom, 'cause the truck bed sits so tall, the angle that the ramp meets the ground is still a little too great for me to reach the ground... so I just walk down beside the bike, with it in first gear. Between the front brake and the clutch, I have complete control... No Worries!

I'll do up a video showing where I'll lash down the ramps, and... loading the V Star on the Tail Rack! Never done that one!

After I got the bike loaded this time, I hooked up the fiver on the New Hitch... I've got enough turning radius to work... though I can't go completely jack knife... unless I pull the left hand saddlebag off first! :o)

I Plan to place a lil' verticle slice of tape on the mirrors... to give me a reference point... just before the front end of the trailer would start to make contact... I can use the vertical line of the main body of the trailer as the Guide point...

That way... as I make turns, I can just look in the mirrors and know exactly how much room I've got to turn... without running into things...

I was pretty impressed with the Black Widow Ramps... very little flex... most of the movement I saw was in the truck suspension... the ramp just did what it was supposed to do... at least one thing worked correctly this week!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Most of my Parts are in to Build the Newest Motorcycle Carrier for my Fifth Wheel Trailer setup

Most of you already know, this part of my Motorcycle Carrier setup is going on the truck.

The V Star will ride in its Cowboy II Motorcycle Carrier, where it has for 10,000+ miles out on the tail end of the Fiver...

The Raider is slated to ride, cross bed, just behind the cab of the truck.

I'm using another Wheel Dock Motorcycle Chock for that job... special built to fit that 21" Wheel on my Raider....

But, Sitting there behind the cab, there wasn't enough room with the hitch in the standard position... so we're moving it back approximately 18".

You can see it here... the trap door for the original hitch location is just in front of where the gooseneck is sitting on the bed... and in this pic, the full pin weight is on the truck, with it NOT quite coming level...

I figure quite a bit of weight gets taken off the pin when the V Star gets up on the back... so... when I load the Raider... I've got my fingers crossed that I won't need to be adding anything like the Firestone air suspension boosters... We shall See!

Also, you can see the weld in turn over ball gooseneck hitch setup I found... Now all we gotta do is burn some steel, do some wrenchin' and go to haulin'! ... Uh ... as soon as the 12' ramp that's long enough to get that low clearance cruiser motorcycle up on a Tall flabed... gets here!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Parts are On the Way... and Rethinking is What's Happening

Another Wheel Dock Chock is ordered and on the way to hold the Raider on the truck bed, along with a weld in turnover ball setup to modify the gooseneck hitch location to allow sufficient turning space with the bike loaded.

If you hadn't already known, I use a gooseneck style hitch rather than a fifth wheel hitch. Every mile our 30' Jayco has moved, it was pulled with a gooseneck. Far superior in my opinion... especially when you pull off the pavement in an RV Boondocking situation. I've pulled this trailer 50,000+ miles with the gooseneck... and 10,000 of those with the 525+lb. V Star sitting in it's carrier on the tail.

Well, I've scrapped the idea of building the ramp I need. Once you calculate out the steel cost... opposed to factory built price... all the work involved... and the final weight of a long, steel ramp... I've decided to just suck it up and find a way to squeeze a 10' factory aluminum ramp into our shrinking budget...

I decided that my ambition just didn't fit the requirements of the job... I want to Ride my Raider... not burn steel! :o) same reason my chrome don't shine as bright as that on some other bikes... I'd rather be riding than polishing!

So... we're finishing up the rest of what few preps we need to make while I wait on the arrival of the ordered parts. As soon as those get here, we'll get 'em bolted on... get loaded... and get gone! RV Boondocking and Motorcycle Touring! HooYa!

and, while we wait, I'm working up several pages about different parts of my 25 day Alaskan Highway ride... Just so much to talk 'bout, they keep rambling... hard to get 'em cut down to something readable! :o)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Simplification is Guiding my Motorcycle Carrier Redesign

OK... Carrying Two Cruisers on a Truck and Fifth Wheel setup might not be what others think of when the word simplification is mentioned... but then... I've always had a mite peculiar perspective when it comes to a lot of things...

So... on my Motorcycle Carrier redesign... I think this makes it number three? :o)

... I'm scrapping the "Dovetail" idea... and going with just a ramp... that will run up onto the right side of the truck bed... with a Wheel Dock motorcycle chock set in place on the road side... just behind the cab; and I'll stay with my gooseneck type hitch...

... with the hitch moved to a position just behind the axle... rather than the standard position... just in front. This is necessary to give enough swing room, for clearance for turning. It would be a really bad day... should the trailer run into the bike... as many folks run the trailer into the cab itself, when they hook up fifth wheel trailers on short bed trucks... OOPS!

The possibility is big, that I'll also need to add a Firestone airbag suspension system to the truck, to level things back out proper... but that's been kind of expected... and I'll wait to see how things shake out, to see if it's needed. Airbag suspension can be added any time.

Now... about that ramp...

A ramp length calculator I found figures that I need a 10.2 foot motorcycle ramp, to yield the attack angle necessary to clear my low ground clearance Yamaha Cruiser, over the edge of the bed... and NOT high center.

OK...

My problem with that is dollars! or rather... the lack of dollars in my wallet... The price of those extra long motorcycle ramps... with sufficient quality... and the shippin' to get one here... is shoving hard on $600 and more...

So... being the genuine, unadulterated, Redneck, do-it-yourself sort... and my son-in-law having a welder... next week... we're gonna burn together the steel tubing to create a cowboy engineered and built, 12' ramp, in four bolt together sections... to run that Raider up onto my tall flatbed Dodge!

Yeah... 12 foot... if a straight 10 foot motorcycle ramp would do... a longer ramp, with a bit of a curve built in may even allow me to ride the bike up... and allow me to NOT have to install a winch... saving a few more dollars...

... and dollar wise... unless my cipherin' is way off... the cost for building my own bike ramp... is gonna be about 1/3 of a factory built... maybe a little more... but still... if it keeps a few hundred in my pocket... that's a big deal just now! :o)

So... check back... and see how many trips to the emergency room it takes Josh an' me to get the ramp built! :o) ... and... there are a couple pages on my Alaska ride in the works for the main site... just not enough of me to go 'round and get all the my list of chores done as quick as I'd like.

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Makin' Some Progress on a Re-design of the Motorcycle Carrier

The idea I've come up with is... in this case... Bigger is Better! :o)

Took a long two up ride, well for her it was! Up through Rocky Mountain National Park... Splitting the wind on a beautiful day, herself decided she wants to give "Riding Her Own" some more time to develop.

Bottom line? I'll carry both bikes... on a One Ton dragging a fiver. :o)

What I've come up with... that remains in Early Draft is that the V Star will continue to ride on it's carrier on the fiver... and the Raider will ride cross bed, behind the cab. I've thought of this way before... and just didn't do it.

Well... this decision is made... the Raider goes behind the cab... To get her up there and deal with the clearance issue at the break over point, I'll fabricate a "Dove Tail" section that will attach and extend 2' from the side of the truck. This will be built to split the difference between the flat bed and the angle of the 8' motorcycle ramp that will attach to it... and should allow the bike's low clearance to clear the edge of the bed as she's pulled up.

... and that is Pulled Up. The idea of riding up... and across the bed... into the new Wheel Dock chock... and NOT missing it :o) is not really working for me... so I'll put in a light winch to pull the bike up slow and easy!

All this requires moving the gooseneck hitch on the truck back to give sufficient turning radius... and likely a lil' suspension boost... though the total weight is under cargo capacity... uh... really! :o)

Gotta get this done pretty quick too... we need to leave! Wanted to pull out the 6th of Sept. Looks like a week later at least... But...

If I've got both Bikes along... It's worth the wait!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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I've Run into a Lil' Roadblock With My Fifth Wheel Mounted Motorcycle Carrier...

We're getting ready to pull out for a long circle with the Fifth Wheel... and though I don't consider, that loading the Bike to take her with us makes her a *Trailer Queen*... That's where she has to ride to come with us.

*Since we Live, Full-Time... in our Fifth Wheel... hauling her on a carrier is more like parking her in a Garage... not the insult of making her a Trailer Queen... Right? :o) *

So... I was just about to do some Trailer Frame bracing, to insure that I didn't pick up any Trailer Frame issues with the fifth wheel... carrying the 700+ lb Roadstar Raider, that I've not had in 10,000+ miles of carrying the 500+ lb. V Star.

SCREEECH!... That's the sound of that lil' project coming to a sudden halt!... The thought that the Raider, wouldn't fit on the existing Fifth Wheel Motorcycle Carrier  never even crossed my lil' pea brain.

The thought that, maybe, I should put a tape measure to things... before I got any further along... Did... finally occur to me... OOPS! Turns out that the front tire is 'bout a half inch too wide for the Wheel Dock Chock... and the Back tire is almost a whole dang inch!...

I knew her hips were wide... but Whew! She's a big girl!

Bottom line is... I'm either gonna have to do, another, major re-work of the carrier, to fit the bigger bike; along with the Frame Bracing to protect the Fifth Wheel RV... or ... I'm gonna have to come up with another, totally different, solution for Taking that big Red Sweetheart of a Two Wheeler with us...

One of the two Has to happen... 'cause... Leaving her behind, for any significant period of time... Is Not... something I'm gonna Tolerate! :o)

so... put on another pot of coffee... pull out some blank paper... a pencil... eraser... and start schemin'!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Touring Motorcycles or Trailer Queens?

I'm kind of in the middle on this... and stuck between a rock and a hard place... and... it is, in a way, about Motorcycle Philosophy, ain't it?

My Bikes are not Trailer Queens... but... they, of necessity, get hauled a lot... We live now, in a Fifth Wheel Trailer... I just can't master the skill of driving the truck and riding the Motorcycle... at the same time! :o)

When we move camp... I've got to load the Bike... and in the past it has always been "The Motorcycle"... now... with the addition of my Raider... It's become "The Bikes!"

Now... most times... nobody would accuse my rides of bein' trailer Queens... they ain't that clean! :o) ... and that's my only problem with chrome... If you see a bike with shiny chrome... you're likely lookin' at a bike that gets polished more than it gets rode. It looks fine... but Lordy... it's waaaaaay to much work for a lazy Ol' geezer like me. :o)

Right now, I'm stewin' on a problem... That bein' loading two motorcycles on a truck and fifth wheel RV rig.

The motorcycle carrier on my fifth wheel I designed and had built, works fine, and will continue to carry the V Star... but the Raider can't be carried back there... and stock hitch position is too tight to just roll it up, cross ways, behind the cab.

Plus, the truck sits so tall, an extended length ramp is required so that low ride Raider can clear the breakover, when it is loaded.

What I'm working on is:
1. Moving my Gooseneck Trailer hitch to a position behind the truck axle, rather than the stock position in front. This will give me sufficient room for the Raider to mount with a Wheel Dock Chock, behind the cab. I'll have to take a lil' care in tight, jack-knife situations (which are actually rare) but it should work ok.

The Dodge Diesel is heavy enough in the front end that weight distribution isn't a problem.

2. A ramp... that is long enough, yet folds up for storage, and light enough for a lazy Ol' geezer to move around...

3. Another small winch, like I've got on the carrier built on the trailer, for loading the bike easy.

... or maybe... I should just can the whole dang outfit... and live with just the Bikes and a tent! :o)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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