I found this antique photo on the internet this weekend of a motorcycle in front of the Alamo back in 1947. Can't tell if its a H.D. or an Indian Chief?
It's been on & off Craig's and a friend has it listed on fakebooger for me. Original listed price was fair and has been lowered. I just need the right person to see it. Most of the 'ninja bike' crowd doesn't know what it is and most riders are not familliar when I am asked what kind of bike I ride. The second that 'Triumph' is mentioned, most go directly to 'Bonneville'. lol This one is a little quicker. 60 comes in 3.1 seconds and a quarter is gone in just over 11. Telepathic handling and is happy to put around at 5-6k rpms if you want.
I finally finished the trailer. Once I put the tongue jack wheel on a bathroom scale, I realized it had 75 pounds of tongue weight, way too much for a Silverwing hitch. So I had to undo part of the frame and slide the roof top tent towards the rear of the frame. Now there’s only 20 pounds of tongue weight. (I also remembered I had a plastic donut for under the tongue jack wheel designed to keep it from rolling.) That problem solved, I had to extend the rear of the subframe, and that meant the tail lights and license plate needed relocated to the rear too. I put all those on a 2x6 “bumper” that sits on top of the new rear subframe extension and also supports the rear of the roof top tent, and added the small trailer stabilizers and new LED taillights. I just greased the bearings, again, just in case. So the trailer is ready to roll.
BrianK Where are you going/doing that requires a trailer? What are you hauling that can't be onboard? Curious.
This is a roof top tent I mounted on a small motorcycle cargo trailer frame as a cheap light diy pop up motorcycle camper. In 2016 at age 50, I had five strokes and my left arm and leg were paralyzed and I lost coordination and balance among other problems. Fortunately they put two heart stents in my brain and following a couple months of intense physical therapy I was able to start moving them again. My recovery has been miraculous. To see me today you can’t tell I’ve ever had strokes. But I have residual left foot drop and leg weakness. I can’t get up off the ground without something solid to grab on to, so tent camping is out. Stroke patients almost always have transient post stroke fatigue for up to a year. If it doesn’t resolve by a years end, it’s usually permanent. Mine is severe and permanent. I can’t stay awake to work 8 hours straight so I’m on permanent disability. I have to sleep about 11-12 hours a day, usually ten hours at night then some during the day. But at least it’s predictable when it is going to hit me, usually 6 to 7 hours after I wake up in the morning, so when I’m in a car I just stop and recline the drivers seat and zonk out. I drove from Maine to California and back by myself over a ten week camping trip in 2019 that way. I “camped” and napped on a cot in the back of a GMC Safari awd cargo van. It was a great trip, the type of trip I would like to do again but on a bike, so I’ve wanted to take an extended bike trip for a long time. But I needed to figure out a way to stop and take a nap as necessary that’s comfortable and secure. This hard shell roof top tent checks all the boxes. I can take it with me, pull off at a rest stop, on a side road or big box store parking lot, open it up in ten seconds and rest whenever needed. So with this combination of Silverwing (no clutch, as I have residual left drop foot which makes upshifting difficult) I can travel indefinitely, even given my type of permanent disability.
I've been along watching you post through your health challenges. Kinda had figured the trailer was a tent. Just wondered. Sounds like it should work nicely. Enjoy your riding. Be safe.
Thanks. I just added a 1” thick exercise mat under the roof top tent mattress for extra cushioning but also to insulate the floor. It’s a pretty comfortable combination and the hard shell roof is insulated, the fabric breathes exceptionally well with no moisture condensation inside, and it holds the heat well too. I just laid out a mild weather sleeping bag over the mattress, and a zero degree sleeping bag over top that, so even if I run into bitter cold on the way back north I should be well prepared.
That would be sweet on top of my RZR Guessing my wife wouldn't favor crawling up into it however. Hmm
I hit my first deer in my life on the Blue Ridge Parkway tonight. I’m on my second day of riding from Virginia to Orlando FL and back. There were deer everywhere so I was being exceptionally careful and diligent. I came around a curve and a juvenile deer shot out across the road at full speed, it’s head down low. It’s head hit my left ankle and my left plastic afo leg brace. Then it hit my waterproof left soft Sedici saddlebag and tore it off the bike completely. I slowed down, turned around, and found the saddlebag in the middle of the road. It broke off the plastic buckle that holds it to the nylon strap that connects it to the right saddlebag. The straps were tight under the seat so the right saddlebag didn’t move. I had my alcohol sailboat stove / heater in the left saddlebag and a gallon of denatured alcohol. It blew the screw on cap off the alcohol bottle and filled the waterproof saddlebag with alcohol. And it bent the alcohol stove from round into an oval. I’ll try to straighten it out tomorrow. Here’s a photo of the “damage”: One tuft of deer hair in the left passenger foot rest!
Here's your sign! Glad to hear you are OK, and able to continue! I fixed lots of deer crash damage during my years at the bike shop...had one customer that clobbered a deer on an F650 BMW, and did not go down...still did a fair amount of damage $$ wise though.
Amen brother! I honestly consider this a bonafide miracle! I was just praying fervently for protection from collisions with wildlife minutes before it happened and had been doing so for most of an hour.
I’m 57. I’ve faired pretty well going that long without hitting a deer. But if 1) I had to hit one eventually and 2) it would happen during a big motorcycle trip like this, I certainly can’t complain about the overall outcome. I need to save that tuft of deer hair and make a keychain out of it!
Glad you're ok! I gave up riding at night and during transitional hrs of light to dark etc. long ago. 100% because of deer. Now keep your eyes peeled for the electronic gizmo addicts. Texting
