Reinforcing broken frame bracket, a new rear tire and storage option for Yagi

Follow up to my last post:

The replacement rear tire for Yagi, the 2006 Yamaha TW200 (T-Dub) arrived earlier in the day than I expected to day.

Got the old wheel off with no issues after reviewing the applicable YouTube video by tdubskid.

Note how worn down the T-Dub's rear tire had become.

Bundled the old and new tires into the trunk of the car and off I went to Performance Cycle to get the tires swapped out.  Cost?  $32.

Got the wheel with  the new tire installed with minimal hassles.  There's some slight juggling of components, and sequence is important but again, no big deal.

Then it was time to reinforce the cracked, almost broken bracket onto which the upper mount of the Cyclerack Cargo Rack mounts.

The frame bracket in question.

Not too bad, but time to reinforce it.

Bought some steel strap with 5/16" holes in it.  Cut to fit over the above bracket and modified it to still allow the use of the two smaller screw holes used by the cargo rack mount screws.

 Three bolts with corresponding washers, lock nuts and nut 

secure the steel strap  to the damaged aluminum bracket

I cleaned up the bracing I'd put in place to hold the top mounting bracket in place for the cargo rack, which had broken at the weld before.

Also added metal strapping as reinforcement

OK, so everything went back onto Yagi with only minor adjustments required to accommodate the center Hex Bolt in the middle of the steel strap.  

Gave the cargo rack a tug and it feels pretty solid; the only give is at the above picture's hold down points.

I also decided to remove the soft panniers that I'd been using on Yagi and replace it with a plain old plastic toolbox I had just laying around.  Easy to mount, fits nice, and looks OK.

 Now I have the option to carry one gallon of extra gas either

secured to the back of the top case or:

inside the top case!  Probably more secure this way.

But when I add in air compressor, jump start battery....

The weight of the gas is definitely more forward, and shouldn't cause oscillations that break things again when riding off pavement.

We'll see how this new cargo arrangement works out over the next few outings with Yagi.

Broken cargo rack bracket and adding a trailer anchor point

Some minor work on both the T-Dub and hopefully improving its transportation tie down system.

I discovered, at the start of the last camping trip, that the bracket which supports the rear portion of the Cycleracks cargo rack had broken.  I'm thinking mounting the Kolpin gas can mount on the rearmost portion of the cargo rack caused too much flex/stress.  My fault.  Back to the drawing board on carrying extra gas.

Until I can find a welder to hopefully fix the weld shown above; I drilled the holes you see, and used safety wire to hold things together for now.  Also found an old metal strap, for use in the middle hole....so far so good.

Oh, and speaking of welder work needed, the bolts you see in the foreground, mount to an aluminum support that is part of the frame of the motorcycle.  It has a crack, probably from all the weight/stress.  Hopefully, that's an easy welding job.

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As I learn to safely transport the T-Dub on the rack I bolted to the front of the trailer, I've been learning how to best tie it down for transport.  Have lost a couple of straps due to wear point damage, and have tried several ways to hold her upright and steady.

Below pics show latest version of the tie downs.  Any thoughts/feedback would be appreciated if you see something not right.

 Front view: anchor point is attached to rack at right front wheel,

through the middle frame and ends at the spare wheel.

 Rear view, the new anchor point is the silver one 

at bottom of above picture.  It extends the angle

so there's less stress on the blue strap.

The front wheel is kind of held in place by the adjustable clamp that came with the rail, not great at that role so I also used cam lock straps to secure each wheel to the rail as well.

Home for a bit

Returned home today, rain in the forecast drove a lot of people out of the Rampart Range area as well.

Here's some pics from Saturday's sunset at Sunset Point Trail.

Some after-camping notes:

Some campers are swine, leaving behind garbage at campsites.  I picked up two shopping bags of trash at the site I stayed in.....this is why we can't have nice things and why government agencies shut down access to camping sites.

Rampart Range Road can swarm with dirt bike riders, takes some work to find a campsite away from the trails they frequent.

Next time, will try and get a site in the 20s-30s in terms of campsite numbers....better to find a site on east side of the road vs the west side where the dirt bike trails are located.

Camping without needing to find Cellular Internet access, nice.

Sunset Point Trail, it's OK for sunset pics but probably won't try it again.

A Single Track kind of a day

Aug 9, 2019

After breakfast, I rode Yagi, my 2006 Yamaha TW200 Dualsport over to the Dutch Fred campground (it appears to be a free camping area) to capture a nearby rock formation I'd spotted the day before.

Where it had been empty before, it now had three campsites with campers.

After I took the above shot, a rider from one the campsites came up to me.....yelled "Hey, that's my T-Dub!" and circled around to come park next to me.  Turns out, it was Dustin, the guy who'd sold me the TW200!  Small World.

We chatted for a bit, were joined by two of his riding friends.  They were going out for a bit of riding.  They offered to let me join them in their riding but I declined since I like to stop so often to take pictures.

After they left, I rode on over to the vicinity of Devil's Head hoping to get a shot of the mountain itself.  No luck at this point, though I did find a nice pile of boulders to climb and get shots of the countryside:

 Above, the view of the road where I left Yagi parked

Below, the rock pile I spent some time clambering over.

Here's the view from up there:

I turned back towards the turnoff for Devil's Head Trailhead and stopped for a pic of a nice rock formation:

I got back on Rampart Range road and soon found an entrance point to the single track trail that was running alongside the road.  It was Trail #627 I believe, and it was very rideable in spite of my lack of dirt biking skills.  I went slow and steady of course, not going like a bat out of the hell like most of the dirt bikers I'd seen in the area.

Moseying along, I came upon this open area that gave a good view of the nearby mountain range of which Devil's Head is a part:

Devil's Head is the rock formation atop the middle of the 

mountain on the left.

I continued on what I believe was Trail 627 until I got to one spot where I mistakenly got onto Trail 787, boy was that a mistake.

What had been pretty doable single track terrain turned hilly and full of series of holes, one right after the other, which tended to bounce one's motorcycle about quite a bit!

Still, it was still doable but definitely was pushing the limits of my dirt riding skills.  Trail 787 took me deeper into the woods, steadily descending into some valley.  Narrow spots abounded, and I was concentrating really hard in not smacking the mirrors or for that matter, myself, on the trees alongside the trail.

There came one tight turn to the right, with negative camber and mud which proved my undoing.  Took it too fast, hit the front brake as I was aimed at a tree turn, and crashed.  I pitched forward onto the ground while Yagi buried it's right side into the mud/dirt.

I banged my left knee and the side of my right calf pretty good, but was able to turn off the engine and slowly get up.  I was dragging Yagi to a better position to pick her up when two other riders came by with their dirt bikes.  They stopped and offered to help and it was easy work to pick up Yagi and get her upright once again.

We chatted for a bit, then a third member of their party showed up on a small ATV and advised them that another one in their party had gotten stuck further back the trail.  I examined Yagi and she seemed OK, covered in mud of course due to the many puddles and being crashed onto the dirt.

I said my goodbyes and thanks and after some encouragement from one of the riders, kept going instead of turning back.

It would be many more miles of sometimes tricky trail riding but no more crashes but there were a couple of close ones!  Let's just say I breathed a sigh of relief when the trail finally ended at the entrance parking lot to Rampart Range Road!  

So, Trail 787, not a trail to do by yourself, trust me.

I rode the trail that borders Rampart Range Road back towards the campsite, it wasn't as technical but it did have some steep hillls!  I was tired and hot, so went slowly all the way back to the campsite.  Still, made it back without incident and rested the rest of the day.  I had left the campsite around 8AM I think and didn't get back till almost 3PM!  Long day of riding!

No pics of the trail riding, picture a rough dirt trail, barely wider than your handlebars, bordered by pine trees on both sides, throw in many, many, holes filled with water, sloping walls on each side, steep hill climbs and steeper descents.....and you'll have an idea.