You have to look very carefully but then you can see the retaining device which prevents the assembly rolling right off the end. I could have just drilled a hole in the end and put a pin through but that would have required it to be longer (and it's already long enough) and would have allowed water entry into the tube where it would of course start rust. The end is capped and then a strap welded around the end which can then hold a flat bar with a rod welded along the top, which prevents it falling through and helps to act as a stop. Seems to work quite well.
So with the wheel lifter now working very satisfactorily it was time to move onto the bike carrier. The bars which act as supports were trimmed back to the correct length, as the original hinges from "idea #1" were no longer needed the bars were now too long.
They also needed a mechanism for stopping the carrier from slipping off the end.
For some reason or other I had an idea which incorporated black acetal (which is why it appears in the photo) but for the life of me I can't remember what it was) so what I ended up with was a large stainless steel disk drilled to take a countersunk bolt which I thought would look good with a reflector covering the end. I suspect the transport authorities may even have insisted on that last detail.
When it's bolted to the end of the bar it looks like this.
Then it was just a matter of taping everything up (as is my normal wont) and applying liberal amounts of silicone adhesive and taping them together until set. Peel off the tape and it's all cleaned up beautifully, and the hole in the reflector allows me to get to the allen screw if it ever needs to come off.
Next I decided I needed a better way of hooking onto the bike. The front is OK . . . a nylon covered steel hook fits between the handlebar supports and is easy to slip on and off but the rear end I just slung a strap under the rear mudguard and frame. Not very elegant and not very convenient. On the top of the guard just behind the seat were a couple of 8mm screws holding on the guard. Maybe I could do something there . . .
I found a block of aluminium the right size and 30 mins work on the mill resulted in a convenient bracket to match the bolt holes.
The relieved ends go through the guard, which has had the holes opened out a bit, and bolt down hard on the frame to make it more rigid.
And the top looks like this
There is a reason for the top looking like this and I'll tell you if it works after I get back from a short break . . . .
Yep. It worked.
One of the places I wanted to have a look at for an overnight stay can be approached by driving down the boring bitumen highway but some time ago I had driven there in a 4WD I had at the time and it was a really pleasant track to drive along. The only trouble was at the time I had not been thinking about clearance for a truck. So I thought I would ride my dirt bike through first just to check it out. The trouble is it's a 300km round trip with no fuel stops and the bike will only go 200km. There is no way of carrying extra fuel and I didn't like the idea of strapping a jerrycan to my back - but I did have a piece of 6mm thick aluminium plate about 350 mm square which if I machined a few holes in could be bolted through on top of the lifting bracket and would make a carrier of one sort or another. The two big holes allow the hook to be fitted through and under the bracket.
I was so enthusiastic I couldn't even wait to make a second support bracket at the back (which will be necessary eventually) but packed some of the high density foam I have lying around under the plate on top of the guard and strapped on a 10 litre container and off I went.
That's 300km of accumulated mud under there - which just proves it works great!!
But now I've been I don't think the campground is worth a 3rd trip before going somewhere more serious. . .
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