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Camping is a lot more fun when you can take the whole house with you.
This Dauntless hitch is relatively easy to install, sturdy
and the receiver is hidden..
If I wanted to pull the Kwikamp I’d have to install a hitch. I considered the Bushtec, and Rivco, but my dealer could get the Dauntless and I didn't care what it looked like, only that it worked well and didn't fall off. The receiver is hidden - a bonus. One of the mounting arms had to have a hole enlarged to make it fit properly, but it's a fine hitch. A set of relays are required to protect the small gauge bike wires when hooking up trailer lights and the unit I choose from Electrical Connection is compact and relatively easy to install except for the confusing instructions and wires that change colors. Each set of lights requires its own fuse and rather then tuck those in behind the rear fender, I put another fuse block in the right trunk pocket. A chrome Kuryakin ball cover keeps the dust of the ball when it’s on the bike and the trailer is in the campground and helps keep grease off my hands when plugging in the hitch.
In addition to camping, sometimes it's nice to be able to haul
enough lunch for everyone.
Big Bike Parts luggage rack, powdercoated 60% gloss black..
The Wing has adequate storage for a long weekend, but not really enough for a couple weeks without the trailer. Well it really does, but it's always nice to have places to put the sundry of small stuff one likes to carry onboard, especially stuff that needs to be accessed while riding - endurance riding requires efficiency after all. There are times a guy wants to haul a mega-large pizza back to the work party, too. Only a luggage rack fits that bill and I didn't need anything too fancy. Round and black would be just fine, but you can't buy a black rack, so I had a Big Bike Parts (BBP) rack powdercoated. I did put a set of star washers under it to reduce the chance of cracking the trunk lid. The rack is used more often as a handle for the trunk lid, which it is perfectly suited for, than carrying stuff. I did get a matching bag to put on it for extended tripping.
The trunk itself is plenty large, but there is no way to organize stuff in there so I put some plastic trays from BBP on either side. They make small stuff easy to store and access.
These lexan trunk organizers keep small stuff handy.
Bar Pack makes a great place to store rally notes.
I had been using a BarPack map pouch for a few years on my old bike, It will hold all kinds of notes and receipts in addition to maps and lots of flat paper, but I needed a better way to mount it on the new bike than the straps it comes with. So, I cut, bent, drilled and powdercoated some aluminum plate to fit behind the Cycle Gadgets RAM mounts and a plate to attach the BarPack to with hook-and-loop. The new map plate made a great place to mount the Terralight so I can easily read rally notes.
BarPack has lots of room for receipts and writing utensils, too.
This it the long Hopnel Fairing Pocket Bag.
I also wanted some places to put other small stuff that I'd want to get to while riding, so I picked up some Hopnel pouches that fit on top of the fairing pockets and fuel filler door. I didn't like the strap mounting system they come with for the water they would let into the fairing pockets, so I had a local upholsterer put four snaps on each bag and corresponding snaps on the fairing pocket lids. The snap system makes the bags very easy to remove for washing, without opening the lids. I did leave the straps on the fuel doorpouch because water would do no harm under it and I can pull the fuel door open with it. It’s also where I keep my ashtray (I don't litter) so it has to come off easily to be emptied.
This is the short one.
The addition of snaps to the bag and pocket lid make for
secure mounting and easy removal.
This bag on the fuel door only needs straps and makes a
great handle for the fuel door.
Modified Trunk Nets work in the saddle bag
and help keep things organized.
The saddlebags suffer the same lack of organizational capability as the trunk and there really isn't anything available except luggage bags, which I do use, for clothes. I modified some trunk-lid nets to work on the saddlebag lids to give easy access to larger, often used, flatish stuff. For extra traveling capacity, I use a T-Bag on the back seat, or on top of my fuel cell which sits in the same place. All these extra bags make a huge difference in cargo capacity and, more importantly, organization when time is of the essence, but I still wanted more, especially to carry a high volume hydration system and a few snacks to gobble while making time.
Common Sense Fasteners riveted to the seat pan hold cargo bags.
When I had the seat made, I had two Common Sense fasteners installed on either side of the seat just for such an event. It took a long time to find bags that fit in the space beside the seat with adequate capacity that wouldn’t get in my way. I found some Rapid Transit expandable tail bags that fit perfectly. With some minor modification (removal of the "rear" pocket so it didn't rub on my saddle bag fronts) and fastener crimping the match was made. They even come with some built-in bungee cords to wrap around the passenger floorboards, keeping them from flopping around, and some really nice size pockets on the sides for other small stuff. I now have a great place to store lots of water and some snacks along with a few more spares.
Rapid Transit tailbags fit nicely beside the seat.
Reflective piping is a bonus.
Cargo Bags have a lot of space inside.
Short key stays in fairing pocket lock. It won't work in the ignition.
I bought some chrome radio knobs and glued a cut-down key into one of them which is left in the bike's locking fairing pocket. Now I don’t have to dig out a key to change my glasses. It’s much easier to leave the key in the ignition. One does not want to drop that key behind the upper triple clamp, don't ask!, especially when out of town. It can fall down onto the frame and into the black hole requiring much bike disassembly to retrieve. The gap above my frame is now filled with foam!!!
Photography and website byDAYLE DESIGNScopyright 2009