Motorcycles carrying Bicycles

Yes many an avid motorcyclist and bicyclist has had this same idea. Seems two wheels attracts other two wheels.  Here are a few examples of how this has been done before:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=512119

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=567943

just to name the top few search results. Clearly there is quite a bit of interest and experience in doing this out there…

and even commercialized in this product: http://2x2cycles.com/

So, with all that in mind, I decided it was time to have a go at my own version of the motorcycle bike carrier / rack. I thought about building one for about 2 years….

The decision to act was finally  motivated by my friend Paul who also has a V-Strom and also wanted a bike carrier. Together, we came up with  the following requirements:

• Ability to carry 2 bikes
• maintain the use of our side cases
• maintain use of top box a plus
• use traditional yakima/thule bike carriers since thats what we already owned
• cost effective (not cheap – but not using all titanium either)

CONCEPTS AND INITIAL DESIGN PROOF:

Original rack concept using the Adventure MotoStuff mounting plate.

The basic concept was to build a frame that could support standard Yakima roof rack bars on the back of the motorcycle. This would allow us to use standard roof-top bike carriers and wheel carriers and also allow us to attach ski racks (or any other rack they make for that matter) as needed for future moto-adventures. In my typical fashion I worked up some 3D sketches in Sketchup to get the ball rolling.

The rack on my motorcycle was simplified by the use of the Adventure MotoStuff V-Strom Luggage Rack that came with my bike when I bought it. This provided a great mounting point for a bike-rack frame that was somewhat adjustable.

Original Concept modified for Paul's bike for direct mounting to the stock V-strom back end and a raised section for his higher custom seat.

For Paul’s bike (with the desire for him not to have to buy a $70 aluminum plate (not that its not high quality i’m sure, just that it seems a little expensive) we came up with a way to mount to the factory rear rack.

 MATERIALS:

Frame:

We chose to build the rack frame out of 16 gauge 1″ square steel tubing. Yes aluminum would have been lighter but I only have a mig welding setup and am not well versed in the art of welding aluminum with a mig (though I have heard you can actually do it). Plus aluminum is expensive.

Fasteners:

1/4″ nuts & bolts were used throughout for consistency. Nylon lock nuts were used for more permanent fastening locations. Wing nuts with lock washers were used to attach the rack frame to the bike to allow for fairly easy attachment and removal.

We attached the round bars with custom made you bolts that we built out of all-thread and heat shrink tubing. This proved much more cost effective at $3 for 3-ft of all-thread vs. $4 for a single you bolt. And it turned out looking very nice as well.

Bars:

While Paul opted for actual Yakima bars (he did get them used, but they were still ~$40), I used 3/4″ schedule 40 galvanized piping for my bars, which I then wrapped in black duct tape. The diameter of my bars is slightly smaller than standard Yakima bars, but they worked out fine with the clamp type bike racks.

Bike racks:

After trying out several versions we found that the Yakima Fork Lift proved to be the best, most stable mount. Other racks that we tried including the copper-head and some old-school Thule rack. Both racks allowed the bike to wiggle quite a bit, which gave some fairly exciting feedback to the rider when you hit a bump. The copper-head was by far the worst affender. Its clamping style didn’t work at all on my narrower bars, but even Paul’s completely standard Yakima bars didnt secure the rack (or the bike) very well.

Additional Considerations:

We added a few straps to the mix to make everything a little tighter. Borrowing from the 2×2 cycles method I highly recommend adding a strap from the handlebar stem to the foot peg. This transfers some of the load onto the center of the bike rather than having it cantilevered off the back end. The front wheel of the bike can be held in place using a standard wheel carrier mount or can be strapped to the frame.

Below are some photos from the build process.

Total Project Time: About 20 hours or so.

[Show as slideshow]

Similar to the BMW F650GS Oil change guide, I decided not to reinvent the wheel when it came to the text. I found some good instructions (which I followed the first time I changed the oil on my Wee) on Jenner’s “Deus Ex Machina” site and have essentially just spruced those up and added pictures to help clarify everything. You can see his instructions here: http://jennersplace.blogspot.com/2009/06/suzuki-v-strom-dl650-oil-change.html

Now – let the oil changing begin!

First Disclaimer:

The cardinal rule is: safety first. It’s important to NOT do this job on the side-stand as if the bike fell on you it would make for a very, very bad day. But rather a center-stand or bike lift that stabilizes the bike completely.

Secondary Disclaimer:

I am not a motorcycle mechanic by trade. I dont pretend to be one. I found info on the internet about this stuff and followed instructions, just like you. And now that it has been working for me for the a long time I am passing on the info. If it helps, great! If it screws up your bike, i am sorry – but it’s your own fault.

1. Use reasonably priced good oil and good oil filters.

Jenner Recommends the following

• Shell Rohtella T Syntheic 10w-40w (Blue container)
• Mobil 1 5w – 40w Synthetic
• Puralator Filters or Suzuki stock filters

Oil and Filter

I did quite a bit of research on the synthetic vs. regular oil. What I got out of my research was that you either get a motorcycle specific synthetic oil – which is made for the wet clutch – or you get a motorcycle specific regular oil. Since my bike had lower mileage (around 12,000 miles) for this oil change I went with Valvoline 10W-40 motorcycle oil. Looked good to me, and the price was right. I also went with the HiFlo Oil Filter HF138 which got good reviews on some other sites and fit perfect.
2. You’ll need:

• a small funnel,
• an oil drip pan,
• a fiter socket or other such filter removal tool
• and have a scocket set on-hand.
• A center stand or center risers to pick the bike up and keep it level. BE SURE to use a bungie or other such method to keep the front brake engaged and the bike from sliding off the center stand!!

You’re going to need to pour the oil into something. I purchased a inexpensive oil drip pan at Baxter’s. While Jenner has heard horror stories of the strap style filter remover I have always had good luck with mine, so I continue to use it.

Now for the actual work.

1) Unscrew the oil filter one turn, while the engine is cold, to get it started. No oil will be dripping unless there is a crack in the gasket. Note: this "pre-turn" will make removing the filter later a bit easier.	2) Turn over the engine and let it warm the oil. Let the engine heat up to the first bar then turn the engine off.
3) Put the oil pan under the drain bolt and carefully remove both drain bolt and washer. Be careful as the oil will be a bit warm and the washer may stick to the engine.	4) Wait about 10 minutes for warm oil to drain. 5) After 10 minutes I then remove the oil filter letting the majority of the oil drain from the engine. Note: Some people turn the engine over a couple of turns to get ‘all’ the oil out. Not me, I don’t mind a little bit of old oil with the new oil. The risk/reward of turning over the engine without oil in the engine just never made much sense to me so I don’t do it.
6) Put the drain bolt, with washer, back on.	7) Put a few daps of fresh oil around the new oil fliter gasket to help it seal. Screw on the new oil filter and tighten it pretty tightly. Remember you'll need to take it off again (About 12-13 ft/lbs).
8) Put oil back into the engine and check to make sure it goes to the 'TOP' of the window.	9) Cover the oil fill port. 10) Start the engine and look for leaks – fix as necessary run about 3-5 minutes. 11) Let engine cool and oil drain back into reservoir – about 10 minutes 11) Add a bit more oil if the engine oil doesn’t return to the center mark. Note: the new filter will absorb some oil. 11) Confirm oil level is correct before taking off center stand.

Thats it! You’re Done! Pretty easy really – especially compared to the BMW Oil Change.

Thanks again to Jenner and the Deus Ex Machina website for providing such wonderful initial instructions.

Installed Enduro seals - Looking good!

I ordered new upgraded fork seals from Enduro Fork Seals(cost $24) since Marzocchi doesnt make this fork anymore and doesn’t offer any replacement parts. Enduro seals have gotten great reviews online. Without furher ado – what follows is the basic step by step for replacing the seals on the 2004 Marzocchi Monster T fork. Tools you will need: – An assortment of hex wrenches (4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm) – a 28mm socket or large crescent wrench – a 10mm wrench – Something to hold the fork (I used a bike clamp) – 1 liter of 7.5 wt fork oil (430ml for each leg) – Cleaning supplies – Super Slick Grease (or other greasy product,this stuff from Rock n Roll is highly recommended)

One stanchion with the lower triple clamp still attached.

1. Remove the front wheel, handlebars, brakes etc. 2. Remove the fork from the bike by sliding the upper triple clamp off and sliding the fork out of the headset. Remove the lower triple clamp by sliding it off the fork lowers and then remove the fork brace (shaped like an M) 3. select one of the fork tubes and place it in the fork hodler (bike clamp for me) 4. Remove the 1.5mm air bleed bold at the top of the fork tube. 5. Loosen the 28mm fork cap on the top of the fork tube. It will come apart from the fork tube but still be attached to the cartridge. 6. Push spring and the preload tube down so you can reach locknut with the 10mm wrench.

The top cap is removed from the stanchion but still heald in place by the cartridge rod. A 10mm wrench and a 28mm wrench must be used in tandem.

7. Holding locknut with the 10mm wrench, use the 28mm socket to unscrew the fork cap. This is a pretty complicated task with only two hands. I recommend asking for some help to save yourself from a lot of frustration. 8. Remove the preload tube and spring. Drain the oil from the fork tube. move the cartridge rod up and down a few times to drain extra oil out.

8mm allen on the bottom of the fork stanchion to remove the cartridge

9. Turn the fork leg upside down and with an 8mm Allen wrench remove the bottom screw complete with O-ring.The bottom screw didnt come out super easily for me (i had to grab it with plyers and pull it out once I had released the cartridge completely) but your experience may vary. In any case pull the complete cartridge off the fork leg and set it aside to leak oil. 10. Remove the dust seal from its seat using a small flat-tip screwdriver. Also remove the metal stop ring that is wedged into the groove holding the fork seal in place. I used a 1.5mm allen wrench for this but a small screw driver would work too. Just pull that metal ring out being careful not to damage the fork tube or the metal wring (you will be using all this stuff again)

If the old seal doesnt come out...

11. Pull stanchion out of slider, to separate these two elements you will have to pull hard. Typically with this operation the fork seal, the spring cup and the top guide bushwill be removed from the lower fork slider. However, in my case the fork seal didnt come out when I pulled the upper tube out. After a lot of swearing, frustration, and an internet search, I hit the fork seal with WD40 and then heated the assemnly up with a heat gun. Small amounts of heat did not work – I had to wait until the WD40 started smoking. Then, wearing gloves to avoid getting burned and being very careful not to scratch the inside of the lower fork tool, I was able to pry the fork seal out with a screw driver. A plastic tire lever may also work – and be safer for your fork – up to you. 12. You can inspect all the bushings to make sure they are still in good condition, but honestl, with the age of this fork, I am not sure that you would be able to find repalcements even if they were too worn. Mine looked fine so I didnt bother removing the bushings from the upper fork tube. 13. The old fork seal ring and dust seal are not used again – this is the whole reason we are doing this: To replace these seals! So toss those suckers.

All of the pieces: From bottom to top - Lower stanchion, upper tube, cartridge, spring, preload spacer

The order of things. 4:Stanchion 3: upper tube 7: top guide bushing 6: spring cub 5: Fork seal. Also shown: stop ring, dust seal.

14. Clean everything with a good degreaser. My fork stanchions had all kinds of nasty stuff inside. Make sure everything is good and dry before putting it back together. 15. Smear the dust seal and the sealing ring with lots of grease. Also put grease on the mating surface in the fork lower. 16. Insert the following components in the stanchion tube in this order: top guide bushing, spring cup, sealing ring, stop ring, and dust seal. 17. If everything is greased up properly the dust seal should slide in fairly easily. I used a heavy cardboard tube cut down to size to use as a fork seal insert tool. Lots of people use pvc cut to size (I didnt have any lying around – but I did have the cardboard) and I am sure you can find a 40mm seating tool if you look on the internet too.

Highly specialized fork seal seating tool

New seal in place with metal lock ring in the groove.

18. Once the seal is in place replace the metal wring. It should fit into the groove on the inside of the fork lower stanchion perfectly. If it doesnt, then the fork seal is not seated all the way and you will need to press it further in. 19. Insert the dust seal in its seat using the same special tool you made for the seal. This was particularly difficult for me, but with some broot force and the aid of some careful manipulation with channel lock plyers – I got the dust seal on. It should fit nice and tight against the fork lower stanchion. 20. Insert the cartridge into the stanchion. 21. With an 8mm Allen wrench, tighten the bottom screw complete with O-ring (the recommended tightening torque is 25 Nm) into the cartridge. Before you put the screw in lube the O-ring with a bit of fork oil so you dont damage the O-ring with friction when screwing it in.

8mm allen bolt holding the cartridgre into the stanchion.

22. Once the bottom of the stanchion is sealed up we can add oil. The book recommends 430ml of 7.5wt. Thats what I used. Your preference of oil, volume, and weight may vary depending on experience. I dont know enough to change those paramters.

Carefully measured oil coming nearly to the top of the upper tube. The cartridge rod is in the center.

23. Measure out the oil first into a measuring cup and then pour the oil into the stanchion using a funnel. Move the cartridge rod up and down a few times about half way through the pour to be sure air bubbles arent getting stuck in the cartrdige. 24. Insert spring and the preload tube. 25. Screw lock cap down on the cartridge rod. 26. Screw down lock cap onto the stanchion.

27. Do the same for the other side. Keep in mind some of the parts are different for each side, so keep each sides pieces separate if doing them simultaneously. 28. Put everything back together! Thats it!

Spring and preload tube in place

Everything back together!

And back on the bike!

I did a ton of research before committing to the kite build.  This included scouring the web for information on materials, designs, and construction techniques. Rather than rehash every specific detail of the construction process, I will share some of my personal experience, caveats, and recommendations as well as point you toward the two main sites I used to guide my way.

Head to the following website and download the visual basic program that gives you all the rest of the instructions as well as performs the calculations neccessary for construction of a Nasa Para wing to fit your needs.

http://members.shaw.ca/kiteman/Downloads.htm

Yes there are lots of websites and various plan sets, but I think the NPW9b program you can get from the above site is the best. It gives the most detailed instructions and makes the most sense to operate.

I followed the instructions pretty closely except where I could augment them using Andrew Maclean’s special kite building instructions. Andrew Maclean is kind of a pioneer of expedition kite skiing using the Nasa Para Wing kites as he used them on a Baffin Island expedition in 2002. As such I trust his judgement when it comes to the recommended improvements on this kite. However, it is important to note that Andrew’s instructions utilize the NPW5 kite design, which is quite a bit different body than the 9b. His instructions also uses the classic bridle which uses about 30% more bridle line than the cascade bridle. Those differences aside, I really liked his methods for attaching body panels together and incorporating specific webbing tie in points for the bridle attachment. Not only do you get a stronger construction that way, but you don’t have to mess with a needle and fids to thread hollow Dacron around the kite. (yes it sounds complicated because it probably is, that is why I didn’t do it)

Finally before we get going let me offer one preliminary caveat. I am not at all an expert on kite building, but I did have a pretty good experience building my first kite. Take everything here with a grain of salt.

Now, onto the actual construction details.

Kite Building Materials

In order to build the NPW9b I used the following materials and equipment:

-> 3/4oz ripstop nylon from kitebuilder.com – Kite Body

-> 150lb Braided Dacron – Bridle Line

-> 1″ x 0.75 oz. Slit Ripstop nylon – for the seams

-> 3/8″ webbing- for the tie in points

-> Heavy polyester thread

-> Regular Sewing Machine

-> Hot Knife (for cutting, not really required, but makes it easier)

Total for materials ran be about $100. This included way more kite line than I needed for one project, so I will realize that discount when I build my next kite.

Step 1: Wing panel cut and laid out for sewing with panel on bottom, then webbing tie in tabs, with slit nylon reinforcement on top.

Step 2": Sewing the kite seams including the 1" slit ripstop nylon reinforcement.

Step 3: the finished wing panels showing the tie in tabs at both the seam and outer edge.

Step 1: Cut the material as per the instructions in the program.
Step 2: Sew the tie in tabs and edge reinforcement for the outside wing panels using the 3/8″ webbingas per the instructions from Andrew Macleans site. Use the 1″ slit nylon folded over twice to reinforce the seams. I taped my webbing tabs onto the kite and pinned the nylon for ease while sewing all the pieces together.
Step 3: Sew the wing panels together using a similar methodology. This time slit nylon on the bottom, then the outer  wing, then the ties (stuck to the wing), then the inner wing.
Do steps 2 and 3 for both sides .
Step 4: Build the nose panel. I actually did not use a separate nose panel, so instead I just attached the nose ties directly to a piece of slit ripstop nylon and sewed this directly to the center body panel. I used short pieces of cord for the nose ties. These were pretty effective for me, but using shoe lace or flat webbing may be better for some. But keep in mind you want to keep wind resistance in the nose to a minimum.
Step 5: Sew the wings to the body. Just like what was done in step 3. slit nylon, then wing, then ties, then body.

A webbing tie in tab with double backed stitching for strength. Note: the slit nylon reinforcement is on the back side. (not shown)

Step: 4: build nose panel including special nose panel ties.

Step 5: Sew the wings to the body. This is done in similar fashion to step 3. This photo shows the backside of the kite with the slit nylon reinforcements.

Step 6: Sew in the darts at the nose.
Step 7: Reinforce the outside edges of the body with slit nylon using the double roll technique.

And thats the kite itself… done!

The full kite body, now onto bridling!

I found bridling to be much more complicated than building the kite body. However, once you have properly built your bridle board. It does go together pretty fast. That being said, BUILD A BRIDLE BOARD. I tried to avoid this step and it just screwed my up.

The tools for bridling including my bridle board, bidle line, scissors and the computer.

The top of the bridle board showing the measurement the "centerline" mark and the nail turn around.

The bottom of the bridle board showing the cut line, extra length for tying, and the start of the measurement.

I pretty much followed the instructions exactly for building the bridle board. I did make some allowances here and there. Because I was using a slip knot for my tie in points I did not need all that extra line for weaving it in and out of itself. Instead I only left a centimeter for my knots. In retrospect I probably could have left a little more (2cm would have been more than enough) for tying the slip knots. But it still worked out okay.

The completed bridle lines and the bridle board

Next its time for some real knot tying. Lots of it.

Step 1: Wing panel cut and laid out for sewing with panel on bottom, then webbing tie in tabs, with slit nylon reinforcement on top.

Step 2": Sewing the kite seams including the 1" slit ripstop nylon reinforcement.

Step 3: the finished wing panels showing the tie in tabs at both the seam and outer edge.

Step 1: Cut the material as per the instructions in the program.
Step 2: Sew the tie in tabs and edge reinforcement for the outside wing panels using the 3/8″ webbingas per the instructions from Andrew Macleans site. Use the 1″ slit nylon folded over twice to reinforce the seams. I taped my webbing tabs onto the kite and pinned the nylon for ease while sewing all the pieces together.
Step 3: Sew the wing panels together using a similar methodology. This time slit nylon on the bottom, then the outer  wing, then the ties (stuck to the wing), then the inner wing.
Do steps 2 and 3 for both sides .
Step 4: Build the nose panel. I actually did not use a separate nose panel, so instead I just attached the nose ties directly to a piece of slit ripstop nylon and sewed this directly to the center body panel. I used short pieces of cord for the nose ties. These were pretty effective for me, but using shoe lace or flat webbing may be better for some. But keep in mind you want to keep wind resistance in the nose to a minimum.
Step 5: Sew the wings to the body. Just like what was done in step 3. slit nylon, then wing, then ties, then body.

A webbing tie in tab with double backed stitching for strength. Note: the slit nylon reinforcement is on the back side. (not shown)

Step: 4: build nose panel including special nose panel ties.

Step 5: Sew the wings to the body. This is done in similar fashion to step 3. This photo shows the backside of the kite with the slit nylon reinforcements.

Step 6: Sew in the darts at the nose.
Step 7: Reinforce the outside edges of the body with slit nylon using the double roll technique.

And thats the kite itself… done!

The full kite body, now onto bridling!

I found bridling to be much more complicated than building the kite body. However, once you have properly built your bridle board. It does go together pretty fast. That being said, BUILD A BRIDLE BOARD. I tried to avoid this step and it just screwed my up.

Lots of knot tying, but it goes pretty quickly.

The reef knot. Kind of complicated to tie, but very effective.

All bridled up and ready for action

Once the bridle is attached its time to attach the flying lines and wait for the wind. Flying lines should be high quality dyneema or spectra line. These can be pretty expensive. (about $70) Though I set up the kite for initial flying in 2-line mode I am told that these NPW kites fly a lot better in 4-line mode. And its true I did have to do quite a bit of fiddling with the brake lines to make the kite fly. This fiddling included added about a 10-cm extension to just the brake lines so that I could make adjustments to their length fairly easily. This was effective in making a successful test flight but in the future I think I will definitely be making some flying handles so it is much easier to fly in four line mode.

The finished product.

Beth picked up a little Kawasaki Ninja 250. Since we wanted to do some touring this summer a luggage rack was necessary.  The Ninja has some excellent little luggage hooks, and while these are good for hanging bungee netting from, there is only so much stuff you want to pack on the back seat. So a luggage rack needed to be fabricated.

The cost of commercial luggage racks can be quite expensive and honestly I am not even sure if anybody makes a specific setup for the Ninja 250. As usual I headed over to the Ninja 250 riders club website to get some ideas. There were several good ones that used the existing luggage hook bolt holes. I especially like the one that used copper pipe.

The goal in my design was to be able to utilize Beth’s Ortleib panniers that she already had for bicycle riding. I figured these would be great for motorcycle touring as they are waterproof, pretty tough (for soft bags) and easily removable from the bike.

Longer bolts that fit in the existing bolt holes and allowed keeping the original luggage hooks were purchased from a local hardware store. Plastic spacers were used to push the rack away from the body. The spacers were cut down so that the rack wasn’t cantilevered too far away from the bolt hole and thus decreasing the moment arm on the rack.

Steel tabs attached with the new bolts through the existing luggage hooks

Spray Painting the Finished Product

I went to the local steel yard and picked up the 1/2″ square tubing and the 1/4″x1″ bar steel for about $5. (50 cents a pound) once I got that back home I cut, drilled and bent the attachment tabs to the new longer body bolts through the existing luggage hooks. The entire way through the project I “field fit” all the pieces on the bike as I went. Actually I don’t think I measured anything – just did it all by sight and relative length.

The basic design attaches the luggage attachment bars to the existing body bolts at the two locations on each side. (4 bolts total) Each side is attached to each other via a bar that runs up and over the tailight. This gives the rack some stiffness. Two triangles drop from each side to push the bags out and away from the turn signals and exhaust pipes.

Unfortunately I did not take many intermediate pictures. The whole fabrication operation didn’t even take very long.  After piecing it all together and welding it all together the nearly finished product was ground down to bare, clean metal and then painted with spray paint. I briefly considered some wild colors but in the end chose matte black.

You can see the results. I think it worked out pretty well. The bags stick out a little farther than I would have hoped. I had to make sure to clear the blinkers and the exhaust system and that spacing gives it a bit a wing like look. But when there is a person on the bike it doesnt stick out very far at all.