• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Beefier Rear Rack Replacement Options...

I spent the majority of the day messing with this damn rack. It is a pain in the ass.

Finished the main hoop this morning:
IMG_20130716_145304_541_zpsb760f7bd.jpg

The tubing notcher is working OK, but stills needs some shimming:
IMG_20130716_145334_269_zps4a0e3ea3.jpg

UPS came and dropped off a package from MotorcycleSuperstore... This giant box contained a chain rivet link. That's it.
If they didn't have free shipping I would be pissed.
IMG_20130716_153157_616_zpsd71d64da.jpg

I unhooked the battery and removed the computer from the bike before I began tack welding. Even though its only about 14-16volts, I don't want to take any chances. I started off covering the bike with this towel, and cutting holes for the mounts to go through, then it began catching fire in spots and I called off the towel.
IMG_20130716_154930_935_zps91454011.jpg

Got the main hoop welded to the front mounts:
IMG_20130716_161356_091_zpse471cbfc.jpg

Shimmed the hole notcher a little more, now its cutting the pipe evenly:
IMG_20130716_170020_437_zps02448865.jpg

This step was the most time consuming. Since the small sections of pipe are too small to be cut in the notcher, I had to do some saddles by hand with a small cutting wheel:
IMG_20130716_174348_376_zpse89179c3.jpg

Back mounts welded to the hoop:
IMG_20130716_182228_423_zpsdec2107b.jpg

Showing the clearance above the tail:
IMG_20130716_182309_861_zpsd199c6ad.jpg

IMG_20130716_182332_795_zps36984927.jpg
 
This is what it will look like with the Rotopax 1gal on there:
IMG_20130716_182756_122_zpse1812ea1.jpg

IMG_20130716_182824_962_zpse11a15a3.jpg


I welded some strap across the back for the Rotopax mount. Drilled it and went to put the rack back on the bike. Somehow the straps pulled the hoop ends close together and now the front mounts don't line up.

Great.

IMG_20130716_215102_176_zps4db172df.jpg



So tomorrow I am going to have to cut some wedges out of the hoop, open it up a tad and weld them back together.
Luckily this rack is just to be used a template for dimensions. What a pain in the ass.

You'll also noticed I had to stray away from the design of my rough sketch. There just wasn't enough room for two more pieces of pipe to run the length of the hoop and I don't think it would have made that much of a difference strength wise. This hoop is already stout, and I don't want the extra weight.
 
Can you get the back wheel off with TCI's rack installed? I can't really tell if the brace behind the rear wheel would interfere, or is easily removed. Could be a royal pain on the trail in the event of a rear puncture...
 
I like the options, but I'm already firmly in the brmoto camp. I have no doubt that will be a great rack for big expeditions, but it seems a bit much for my needs. I don't have bags on unless I need them, so the brmoto sides look better to me. The top rack will be used quite a bit more for my needs, and both look to have their pros and cons. The TCI setup looks to be a better all around setup for hard cases. Where the brmoto setup would favor soft sides and any top setup.

The tube rack vs. plate rack implementation is interesting to me. The plate rack would let you bolt down to a flat surface, but that tube rack would let you use conduit clamps to mount with and that could REALLY make for some interesting mounting/quick release options. If you're using a bungee net or straps, the plate would seem more secure and have less slipping. A duffle would work on that TCI one well, but anything oddly shaped, I just don't know how well you could strap it down.
 
chris1261 said:
Can you get the back wheel off with TCI's rack installed? I can't really tell if the brace behind the rear wheel would interfere, or is easily removed. Could be a royal pain on the trail in the event of a rear puncture...
Click to expand...

I don't see why not. The picture, taken from above, makes it look like the rack is much lower than it really is.
 
The TCI setups normally weigh 9.2lbs. That is both sides and the tail rack combined. According to krussell, his BRmoto setup without tail rack is a hair under 9lbs.

BRmoto uses 3/4" tubing, which is stout, but heavy. I believe TCI uses 5/8". This would account for the difference.
 
I wasn't happy with using MIG for this rack, so I ordered a TIG setup for my welder and it arrived yesterday. Unfortunately there was no pedal included so I'm having to deal with set amperages :mad:. Once I get this dialed in (or a pedal ordered), the racks will commence.
IMG_20130730_195937_875_zps28ae92eb.jpg


I'm making a table today for setting the jig/template on since welding on the floor is a pain in the ass.

More pics to come.
 
F'ing awesome. I asked Brother#1 to make me one based off your design, and he said we should just buy one from you as you've done all the measuring and set up and whatever.

So....let me know when you're all set. I'm ready and waiting!!
 
msmith345 said:
I like the options, but I'm already firmly in the brmoto camp. I have no doubt that will be a great rack for big expeditions, but it seems a bit much for my needs. I don't have bags on unless I need them, so the brmoto sides look better to me. The top rack will be used quite a bit more for my needs, and both look to have their pros and cons. The TCI setup looks to be a better all around setup for hard cases. Where the brmoto setup would favor soft sides and any top setup.
The tube rack vs. plate rack implementation is interesting to me. The plate rack would let you bolt down to a flat surface, but that tube rack would let you use conduit clamps to mount with and that could REALLY make for some interesting mounting/quick release options. If you're using a bungee net or straps, the plate would seem more secure and have less slipping. A duffle would work on that TCI one well, but anything oddly shaped, I just don't know how well you could strap it down.
Click to expand...

The TCI set-up will work with hard or soft bags. Mine will have soft bags.
 
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