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Posted by rob f
- January 23, 2018, 22:25:23 PMFound a bike that has a fender mounted rack just like I imagined it in my head. Was starting to second guess myself.
This bike is on kijiji in Norwich Ontario and sounds like the brother has an original exhaust and a solo seat to go along with the bike sale. Maybe if someone needs them they could sweet talk him outta the spare parts?
Posted by CDNRatMan
- January 15, 2018, 16:19:24 PMI built Red's luggage rack while still using the stock shock, and it was set to 7, and I still bottomed out. So off to progressive and bout a 465 mono shock. I then had a few emails back and forth with their tech people. I am or was 250 lbs at the time, and rode 2 up the odd times. The person, think his name was Tom, said for me to do the sag thing with the bike, which I did and then I added 2 full turns to the preload on the ring on the shock, and that was with the setting on 3. I really like the ride on Red now. For Pearl which is going to be a solo set up I am still going to add the 2 full turns to the preload ring. The shock on Pearl is now on 7 so in my mind time to replace the shock.
Posted by OR Seedman
- January 15, 2018, 15:25:24 PMI designed the rear racks that mount to my saddlebag mounts to have plenty of clearance over the rear fender...even at the lowest setting (3 height settings). The only time I hit mine was when I had it at the lowest setting and went over a huge dip at about 60 mph. a couple of the studs on my fender bib bumped the bottom of the rack slightly. oh, and I weigh about 240...I think that is the only time it ever came close to hitting....the setup I was using at the time is in the attached pic
Posted by Tfrank59
- January 15, 2018, 13:59:49 PMI think my shock is set at #6, I'm around 200Lbs, and the rear wheel travels quite a bit when I'm on bumps and dips. It's going to be like that. Just give whatever you have mounted over your back fender plenty of clearance, or it will probably hit it possibly damaging or at least scratching the fender.
Posted by rob f
- January 15, 2018, 13:24:52 PMCan't see what the shock setting is now but will check it out when i remove the pivot mechanism to replace the sheared off grease zerk. Apparently it goes up to 7. I am under 180lbs and never carry passengers so I should be able to stiffen it up with not to much cranking.
R
Posted by jmbo
- January 15, 2018, 10:54:05 AMQuote from: rob f on January 14, 2018, 09:15:09 AMI am sure you can stiffen up the rear suspension however at some point it will effect your ride. Stiffening the ride will not effect the suspension travel under extreme conditions. Might be best to deal with the limitations as they exist. At one time there were Drifter luggage racks available for sale. Might want to find some photos to get ideas.jmbo, can this cantilever motion be dampened by tightening up the shock? I see that there is an adjustment of some kind but not sure how effective it is. is there an aftermarket air shock available?
R
Posted by rob f
- January 15, 2018, 08:45:44 AMFormer Calgarian, Ratman. Moved out in '72 and only head in for Kijiji shopping. Beautiful city but too many people for me.
Living in the wilderness now for 46 years and have earned my "Alberta Redneck" badge.
R
Posted by Tfrank59
- January 14, 2018, 21:32:40 PM Well I'm not Canadian but I don't want to cover my beautiful back fender either which is why I went with a slim swingarm bag 
Posted by CDNRatMan
- January 14, 2018, 18:47:52 PMQuoteA shame to cover up that beautiful fender anyway.
amazing such words of wisdom from a Calgarian....amazing...I been saying this for years why cover those fantastic fenders...........
Posted by rob f
- January 14, 2018, 18:24:15 PMThanks for the pics KW but after consideration I am ordering a rack set from OR that attaches to the seat.
A shame to cover up that beautiful fender anyway.
Posted by kw-retrorider
- January 14, 2018, 15:41:12 PMrob f: Following up on my previous post....the Drifter with the Saddlemen bags mounted to the fender. Not saying it's a great idea, but how I got the bike. Once disassembled, it was obvious this was a homemade fabrication, but not a bad one. I may play with it to get the bags lower and space them off the fender better....but to your question on mounting to the fender:
- as the others have said...not the usual, but can be done.
- this seems to be a fairly secure set-up. The angle bracket supports the bags vertically and the forward lower corner of the bag is drilled to pick up the other fender bolt.
More to follow on the new 800 and how the insurance company calculates how much our Drifters are worth
Posted by Tfrank59
- January 14, 2018, 11:01:05 AMI think if you stiffen it too much you'll just have a hard tail, which is what Kawi was trying to imitate with the stealth monoshock.
Posted by rob f
- January 14, 2018, 09:15:09 AMjmbo, can this cantilever motion be dampened by tightening up the shock? I see that there is an adjustment of some kind but not sure how effective it is. is there an aftermarket air shock available?
R
Posted by jmbo
- January 14, 2018, 08:18:29 AMGreat video. Back to the original issue. ender travel is the issue when it comes to anything hanging out braid the seat on a Drifter. Since the fenders are plastic, a miscalculation can do some damage. The specs on Drifter are supposed to indicate the travel limits on the rear suspension. I can personally attest for the fact that my 250lb butt sitting on a moving Drifter while it bottoms out on a unsuspectingly fought set of rail road tracks greatly exceeds the Drifter spec.
That said, the stock cantilevered two-up seat seems to clear the fender under even the most sever conditions. Copy thoe dimensions and you should be in good shape.
One final comment: Few of us get to see how our own bikes look going down the road. Truth is we look pretty funny. One of my friends described it as well as any. "You look like and inch worm going down the road" Other said you bike looks like "It is broke in the middle" One day I followed another Drifter on a bumpy road. They were right.
Posted by Tfrank59
- January 12, 2018, 17:09:41 PMQuote from: CDNRatMan on January 12, 2018, 16:12:46 PMWho's Tfrank?Why are you yelling at me, I was not even going to suggest it because I understand how busy you are. Now perhaps Tfrank should think about hosting an event.........