Another Day Working On the Van’s Vertical Motorcycle Carrier

Saturday January 27, 2018 Guerneville CA.

Slow start on the carrier project

It was cloudy out when I got it going this morning. I went out to start work on my van’s motorcycle carrier, but the cold went through me and I couldn’t get started.

Raspberry vine transplant

So I did something else which was to transplant this small raspberry plant that came up in my garden. I dug it up and moved it into one of the corners so it won’t be in the way. As it grows it will get a lot bigger and be in the way where it was.

The raspberry plant I was digging up by the tip of the shovel.

Warming up and getting to work

By now the sun had come out and it was warming up a bit. I got my brother’s bike and brought it over to the work area for measurements.

Here I’m checking out the bracket that goes under the engine frame to lift it up on my carrier.

Since I didn’t drill holes in my bracket, I needed something to hook a strap to the bracket which had big enough holes for the big hooks.

Using chain links for hooks

I thought the best way to do this would be to use some old chain pieces as they fit the hooks much better than a small hole would. I’m checking the chain for fit here.

I welded the chain links to the bracket. I’m not sure what will work so I added some extra ones just in case.

Testing the bracket with a strap

I tried the bracket on the bike with a strap to see how it would work. Seems ok. I think a nice pad on the seat would be good to distribute the pressure from the strap.

Here’s another look at the strap and bracket. I plan to make some hold down bolts for the bracket that will securely hold the bike to the bracket, although, it looks like the strap may work pretty well without the bolts.

Measuring for more holes

Here’s my work area where I’m figuring out where some bolt holes I need to drill go.

Here’s she engine frame bracket attached to the carrier.

Lifting pipe attached

I may not need it, but I bolted this lifting pipe to the unit so I can lift it.

I may not need that lifting pipe as I have a small crane on the top back of the van to lift it once I figure it out. It’s the yellow strap on the top seen in the above photo.

Taking it all apart

Here’s the unit in the down position which I now need to disassemble to drill some more holes in the parts.

Got the holes drilled

I drilled these holes which I will use to hold the unit in the up position. A half inch pin will go through a set of those holes to hold the unit up in the traveling position.

Checking with my motorcycle

I also made some spacers that I bolted onto the levers to hold the front tire up. Here I’m checking the tire spacers out with my motorcycle to see how things might work.