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| The Long Road - Adventure Touring Ride a dual purpose bike ? Want to turn your bike into a sport-tourer? Rack up big mileage here! |
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07-19-2006, 09:08 PM
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| In Training   Join Date: Jan 2006
Bike: "Little" 6Fiddy
Location: Carlsbad (Not NM)
Posts: 127
|  PennyTech PVC Storage. . .12K miles later
Shortly after I installed my HT panniers, I saw a thread about using a chunk of 4" PVC for a storage device on the "No Exhaust" side of the 6Fiddy. Neato I thought except I really didn't want to weld on or hack or change the original HT side mount racks. So for the past 5 months I've had this 4" X 17" hunk of PVC sitting on my workbench. The day before yesterday I finally got off my *** and bumbled/stumbled thru the "PennyTech Engineering & installation" process.   Since I thought that occasionally I might "strap" other items in that area I decided to mount the tube in a fashion that would allow it to (1 bolt) be removed easily. After deciding roughly where I wanted the tube to sit, I fabricated a small L bracket out of some aluminum, drilled a few holes (yea I know my chamfer job on one of the holes ain't that great) for mounting and rounded up a stainless clamp, bolted one end up and I was ready to tackle the rear mounting.  Rummaging around in my "stuff" organizers I came across these.  I kinda remember picking up these Velcro "devices" at my local Home Depot back when I was a "boat person". The larger of the two was a perfect fit. Small problem to be addressed: The "Eye" is an oval, not a round hole.  A little more digging and I came up with a longer bolt for one of the HT brackets, a pair of tiny rubber bushings (since the opening was oval shaped, not round) and a fender washer.  Mounted the Strap, positioned the tube, tightened everything up and took it (and the bike ) out for a 288 mile test thrash yeserday. Stayed in the pre-ordained position, didn't come loose, allowed me to take my large book of topo maps with me. aaaaaah the non-smell of success. (as opposed to the smell of burning/rubbing PVC I guess) 4 bucks for the PVC, about 6 or 7 for the two straps (if I remember correctly), another buck for the various nylock nuts, bolts, washers and aluminum. The net result is easy to take off and on (as required) inexpensive extra storage. Looks OK too. 12+K miles later the storage tube is still hanging in there. I've checked it for "loosness" on occasion and actually took it off once when I was replacing my chain, as "planned", EZ off, EZ on. I keep it stocked with Maps and water whenever I ride. Works good and cost "little". |
