mws Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) I mentioned this in another post and some folks wanted to see it, so here goes: We were crunched for time, so I started with an el cheapo cargo carrier from harbor freight (plus they were on sale for about the same price as raw steel to make my own!? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=34313 From there, I welded up a front wheel brace out of 1.25" angle iron ('cuz that's what I had lying around, and then added 2" angle iron struts for tie downs. Those will need to be cross braced before the next adventure as they did flex more than desired. Lastly, this is exactly the kind of thing Air-Lift bags are for! With the stock suspension, this would not be good idea. Probably almost end up riding on the axle bumpers. But 30 psi squirted into the bags and we were riding level and handling felt none the worst. Edited January 9, 2006 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 And, they fit XR400's, too! This is the partner to my rack, sized to fit my nephew's Cherokee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) And here's a side view on the Cherokee. We angled the tie down braces up to increase exit angle. Even so, you can see why I yanked mine out and put it on the roof! My nephew's roof rack wasn't sturdy enough to support it, so they did the entire adventure with the rack in the receiver. It drug a few times, but no problems. It flexes up about 2-3". Edited January 9, 2006 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abomb1 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Cool!! A friend of mine just got a receiver rack to haul his XR400 from Cabela's. With all the discounts he ended up paying about $40. I think they messed up the price though, you can't normally find one of those for a bike for under $150. So does it sway from side to side (front to back from the bikes perspective) when you take corners? I've seen so many of those racks on the back of vehicles and it looks like they are bent down to one side or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) Not if it is anchored properly... Yes, anything plugged only into the receiver will rotate around the vehicle axis - in this case, the front wheel would bob up and down about 5-6". To stop it, we just attach a tie down from the handlebar down to the end of the bumper and cinch it down so it is held in the front wheel down position. I am actually cinching that strap in the first picture, and you can see the XR4 is still cinched down in picture 2 - - the rack is not level. Edited January 9, 2006 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Nice !! So how much does he want for the XR ??? I'll trade him a Blackbird and it and $... I like the carrier set ups. Seems to me it wouldn't be hard to set up bolt on left and right stabilizing bars. That prob what I would do rather than just cinch one side down. Good point about the air bags, I'll have to look into that. Might be worth pulling the carrier too... Ok, SAS and XR400 are the goal for this summer... Now that it is settled, I'll get a job... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 I'm afraid it would require a large pry bar to get that bike away from him.... To pry his cold dead fingers from it! We have been tweaking on it for a couple years, and it is LOADED. Beyond what you can see, it has a 426 kit, RTT steering damper, Mikuni pumper, an A-loop skinny tank and seat for woods riding, and lots more. This winter the suspension is getting redone (again) to optimize for his size and riding ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) Oh, and ahem, I fabbed the rear disk protector, billet and delrin chain guide, CA dB legal insert for the WB muffler, mount for enduro computer, and rewound the coil and added an extra regulator so he can run about 150 watts worth of lights. Edited January 9, 2006 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsicks Pathy Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 The cops don't pull you over and fine you heavily for obstructing your number plate and your brake and indicator lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Yeah, I could tell that weren't no ordinary XR400... Thats why I want it !! Tell him he has an admirer, and to keep the garage locked !! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 Nope. Well, didn't fine me, anyway. I did get pulled over just outside Gerlach, Nevada, but that was because I had thoughtlessly stuffed a bag of stuff (beer!) under the skid plate at the last gas stop that did block the license plate. We drove with the lights on so law enforcement could see that the wheels did not block the effectivity of the tail lights to any significant degree. That gave the highway patrol officer an excuse to pull me over and ask a whole lot of questions about the KTM and to tell me about his older KTM. And wish me a nice day. He didn't even want me to move the beer... We were only 20 miles from the Black Rock Desert at that point, and once the KTM was unloaded, I could open the hatch and tuck the beer away where it belonged. As I re-look at the pictures, Cherokee license plate was blocked. We'll want to remove and zip tie that to the carrier next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Seems like a set of cheap trailer lights mounted on the back of the carrier would be cheap insurance... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) It certainly would be. We finished welding at about 1:00 am day of departure (notice the lack of paint?), so we didn't do so. I probably will for the next trip. Some officers are cool. Some are, well, what they are. Edited January 9, 2006 by mws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abomb1 Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Wanna make another one of those rear disk protectors? :idea: I've still got my stock plastic one, but have been looking at the billet ones on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonianbrat Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 i dig the hauler except i loaded my XL250 on my buddies and he said we needed to cinch it down tight or it would sway and bob and we were heading up the mountain so i did and sure enough i blew my fork seals. talk about a wasted trip, we just ended up wheelin his cheerokee. I left my bike leaning on a tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abomb1 Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 i dig the hauler except i loaded my XL250 on my buddies and he said we needed to cinch it down tight or it would sway and bob and we were heading up the mountain so i did and sure enough i blew my fork seals. talk about a wasted trip, we just ended up wheelin his cheerokee. I left my bike leaning on a tree. Just cut a 2x4 about 8 - 10 inches long and stick it between your front wheel and the underside of your fender where it attaches to the forks. It'll keep you from needing to compress the suspension and make the bike a lot more steady when tied down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 i dig the hauler except i loaded my XL250 on my buddies and he said we needed to cinch it down tight or it would sway and bob and we were heading up the mountain so i did and sure enough i blew my fork seals. talk about a wasted trip, we just ended up wheelin his cheerokee. I left my bike leaning on a tree. If you look closely at the photo, you'll see I use a plastic version of the 2x4 on my forks (the KTM). Upside down forks are even more of a pain to change seals on so I do what I can to avoid having to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 Wanna make another one of those rear disk protectors? :idea: I've still got my stock plastic one, but have been looking at the billet ones on ebay. For what bike? An XR4? What year? I could borrow the old one back from my nephew to use as a template. Let me check if I have any more aluminum plate laying around. I'm afraid I don't have any 1/4" left after fabbing up fins for all of my nephew's kids bikes. I used 1/4" because, well, because I could! It still weighs less than a pound, but can take some serious on edge wallops. And has. The only weakness is that unless you weld it to the swingarm, you have to rely on the stock mounting bosses. And a really hard impact from the side will likely bend and/or shear those off. We decided to use just the bolts until they shear, and then take it in and get it welded on. So far, none have. The one on my KTM came from EE (Enduro Engineering) and is ultra sweet. Check it out: http://www.enduroeng.com/item.asp?ItemID=1...n&Placeholder=0 If you can find one like this, they are well worth it. They can take a considerable side impact as it also mounts to the axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abomb1 Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Yep, mine's an XR4 also, a 99. I'm sure they all mount the same. If you can find the aluminum, let me know what the cost would be. The one from Enduro Engineering looks cool, but I don't want to spend that much on one. My plastic one hasn't failed yet, but I'd rather not wait for my brake disc to get bent before buying something stronger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted January 11, 2006 Author Share Posted January 11, 2006 All outa 1/4" plate.... all I have is 1/8" which is not a whole lot of protection. Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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