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.

Riding the Northern portion of the Gunnison Gorge Conservation Area

Monday, June 17:

Not much riding done.  Instead Rich K. generously offered to tow my trailer over to the local welder's place of business; just outside the town of Hotchkiss.

Materials are on order and should be here Friday, perhaps I can get the welder to do the work first half of next week.  More on this later.

Got some supplies from the local hardware store, chores around the URRV, a couple of brackets to help the left side bags stay away from the tool tube....not much in the way of work.

The day was overcast, spitting rain on occasion so that's why not much riding.

Tuesday, June 18.

A good riding day.  Though the forecast threatened light rain, we never saw more than a few drops while riding.  Rich K rode his Yamaha WR 450 and led the way to the entrance to Pleasure Park Road.

Taking the first dirt road to the right, we rose to the top of the cliffs/bluffs that form the northern edge overlooking the Gunnison Gorge.  Nice trails, not very hard or technical and some nice views from up there.

 A view of the confluence area and Pleasure Park Resort

 Rich K. and his WR 450, quite the speedy machine

We rode along the north rim trails and then ended up at the Eagle Rock area.

From this area, we ended up once again on the north rim of the Gunnison Gorge and stopped at several points to take in the views.

A far off view of the site I used for RV camping, 

turns out it was a parking area for hiking the trail

that goes up into the canyon above

Closeup of the campsite, the URRV was parked right

at the entrance into the canyon, pointing south.

A view of the South River Road that I transited several times,

at the end you can see the steep hill access road.

 Another view of the steep hill used to descend down

to the level of the Gunnison River, I should not have

driven the URRV down there but I was pretty much 

committed at that point in the travels that day.

Swing away from the north rim, we enjoyed miles of wandering trails, using relatively smooth downhills for me to practice bump-starting the T-Dub.  It proved very easy to do with the transmission in third gear before rolling down the hill.

After some more wandering, I noticed (finally) at a stop that my gas can was gone!  Dammit.  I thought the belt I'd put around it would act as a dummy cord but nope.

We spent perhaps 30 minutes retracing our riding, all the way back to the North Rim without seeing the gas can.  Rich led the way back down and onto a particularly rocky trail and found the can.

I could see him, in the distance ( I ride quite slow when compared to Rich, slower when also looking for the missing gas can ).  He'd dismounted and was looking back towards me approaching him:

 photo courtesy of Rich K.

Yep, there the can was.....you can see my head hanging low in the shame of it all....  :)

 photo courtesy of Rich K.

Gas can retrieved and secured better this time (hopefully) we motored on out of the Conservation Area and took Highway 92 back into the town of Hotchkiss after some more fun trail riding that paralleled the highway where the speed limit is 65 mph.  We would enter the highway where the speed limit drops to 55 mph so the T-Dub could keep up with traffic.

Note: The mods done by Rich K. previously to the T-dub's front fronts have lessened the times it bottoms out on the deeper holes by a lot!  I think I only bottomed her out twice today and I think if I'd slowed down some more before the dips involved, it would have been fine.

No issues encountered, and we went to the 133 BRGR burger joint near the town's grocery store.  Lunch, of course, was on me and we enjoyed our burgers in the uncrowded dining area.

I rested and worked the rest of the afternoon as the weather alternated between cloudy and clear skies and clouds raced across the skies.

The skies looked promising as sunset approached and so Rich K. and I rode out to the pre-selected spot from the morning's riding.

I'd say Rich picked a great spot, don't you think?

Rich K. doing his own shooting of the views

painted by the setting sun.

Soon after the lights started to fade, we geared up and carefully made our way back to Highway 92.  We made it back to Hotchkiss in the gathering darkness with no issues and no encounters with wandering animals.

Wednesday, the plan is to displace to the Dominguez-Escalante Conservation Area and see if I can find a camping spot for the URRV.

Pitbull Trailer Restraint System for Yagi

In order to transport Yagi, my 2006 Yamaha TW200 Dual Sport, I had either the option of using straps as most riders do.

Even spent a day figuring out how to do it safely and by myself.  It does a bit of time and if you aren't careful you can compress the suspension too much and blow fork seals.

Then, having seen the Pitbull Trailer Restraint system in use by friends of our in their Sprinter Van; used to secure their two Honda motorcycles with minimum fuss, I went in that direction.

More info on the Pitbull System here:  LINK

More pricey than straps of course but it sure appears to make things easier to load when one is by oneself; loading and unloading the TW200 on/off the trailer!

Check out this video on how the system works:

Thursday afternoon, a neighborhood friend: Dale B., came over to help me install the restraint system.  It's much easier with two people, one to hold the motorcycle up while the other does all the drilling of holes, securing bolts and such.

Took a couple of practice sessions but yes, I can easily load/unload Yagi onto/from the trailer.

I can either ride Yagi up under power or push her up while walking alongside.  As for unloading, I found it easier to sit on Yagi and back down the ramp.

In the last few days....

Over the last few days, I've been puttering in the garage as the weather is quite cold.

Rides have been short but did manage to get a ride in for each motorcycle in the garage:

 Fiona and Mount Evans

Brigitta at the Westlands Park entrance

 Yagi at Sunset

Speaking of Yagi, I'd noticed the battery she came with didn't seem to hold a charge for long.  The records I got from the previous owner showed it was less than 3 years old too.  Some reading online at the TW200 forum showed that the stock flooded batteries don't tend to last very long.

Disregard battery replacement, ended up returning it.  

So I ordered a LIFePO4 Lithium Ion battery.  No maintenance and when I drop the motorcycle, no worries re spilling acid.

The battery got here today and at first I was suspicious.  Not only was it so light that it felt like an empty plastic case in my hands; it was much smaller than the stock battery!

1.1 lbs vs 6.2 lbs

Link to the battery on Amazon

Still with doubts, I went ahead and prepared Yagi for the replacing of the battery.

Stock Battery

The new battery being smaller, I had to cut to fit some padding using an old Army Sleeping Pad.  The new battery is cushioned from below, and all sides and the top to create tension on the rubber hold down strap.

New battery in place, snugged up.

Yagi is now sitting on the battery charger for today and will take her for a ride once the battery reaches float mode.

The new battery and the removal of the passenger pegs have decreased Yagi's overall weight by 7.7 lbs.  Hopefully it'll make a difference when I am picking her up on the trails after a fall.

To go with the new battery, also bought a three phase battery charger/tender:

click on the image to buy it from amazon

$26

• Complete 4-step charging program (Initialization, Bulk Charge, Float Mode) allows for optimization of battery power, without overcharging

Mar 2, 2019 Update:  I didn't know at the time, but have it confirmed through RichardM:  The LIFePO4 batteries need to have a "load" placed on them before they "warm up" enough to provide full power or amps. 

The first engine start of the day, the starter sounded like was not getting much power....it would take 3-4 attempts of 2-3 second presses of the start button to get it to catch.

Will try turning on the ignition and let the headlight place a load on the battery for at least 30 seconds and report back.

Update: gave up on this battery, not enough cranking power even after waiting a minute of "load".  Returned it.  Different one inbound.

Update: this is the battery I got.  The image and link is to the one on Amazon but you can find it cheaper on ebay if you're willing to wait a couple of extra days above what Amazon promises.

Same size I believe as the previous battery, but more CCA I believe.  Worked like a charm after I charged it up before installing it.