Moto Guzzi V9 & Watsonian and other stuff.

Potential sidecar carrier.

The back doors, that's a door within a door within a door.

Have it seems taken more time, effort and what's left of my grey matter than the whole canopy thingie so far.

The  curved personnel door will open with probably a small gas strut to keep it open.

(Somebody just had to got the extra and curve it.)

The inner mesh (so far ) door should stay shut with another small gas strut.

Then the whole back should lift on gas struts forming a canopy over the ramps.

The ramp can be levelled to use as seating.

Was hoping to have it done this weekend coming as the Heritage motorcycle club is having a meet end run.

They are awarding 100 yr badges for bikes that age.

And maybe a certain Fiat.

Will see how far we get.

Had a tooth pulled today it was a bigger deal than I remember 50 years ago...

Oh and the weight crept up a bit.

Thinking around 45kg so far. 

About 50% over the plan.

Gas struts definitely needed. 

Hopefully I won't have to ditch the steel and timber ramps at 53kg.

Then spend a few hundred on a pair of loose Ali ramps at around 20kg.

Bruce, I have to ask, with your fabrication skills, why didn't you simply pull that tooth yourself, and save on the dentist appt. ????

BTW, very nice work on the trailer, and the door, within a door, within a door.

Oh, and in your post above, you say that the weight crept up a bit...then you say in the next line around 45kg so far.

Did you mean 450kg, as in the total weight of the trailer is now at 450kg ?

And finally, everyone is asking, WHY the curved entrance man door ?  What is the purpose of the curve in that man door ?

The weight refers to the entire rear lift up door.

It's  a lot about weight distribution, I'm still within the aggregate limit but may need to move the axle assembly rearwards. 

Will see soon enough.

As to the curve on the door within a door within a door? 

It's already got Miles asking why......

Nuttin like success!!!....

But really it was the picture I had in my head.......

It will always make me smile.

Wanted to curve the whole lift up door but the ramps made it impossible. 

The solution for slipping Moto Guzzis will be to rough sand the ramp.

And turn of the traction control each time.

Getting closer to completing 

Wild wet and windy here today.

There wind surfer's out on Shoalwater Bay. 

Do 5hey have some speed or what.

Curved fits the overall theme.  😎 

Windsurfing is very fast.  The foils are even faster.  There is a shallow section of the south end of the San Francisco bay with a long bridge (San Mateo Bridge). Five miles is a low trestle section that the windsurfers would parallel.  When working in the S.F. bay area, pacing them in the work van I was amazed at the speeds they can achieve on windy days. 🤩 

Thought it would be a lot of fun, but had already spent all the "beer money" on scuba gear. 

We have two popular water sports locations here. 

That's if you ignore the thousands of miles of coastline that surrounds WA.

The pond which is a small bay that appeared in very recent history. 

A sand bar built up in the last 50 yrs or so.

But it's beauty is in its still water when the winds are up.

Perfect for kite surfing.

Lots of multi coloured kite going back and forth.

3 engines

  3 engine made between 1903 and 1906?

The Brown is 1903 as far as we know based on newspaper ads.

The JE Smith ( a clip on engine ) is a few years latter.

And the Minerva is somewhere in between I think.

Cut and mostly fitted the top 2 sheets to the trailer.

And a coconut? Washed up on our beach.

Palm trees are A very long way from here so interesting. 

My my sister suggested a dinosaur egg???

Have to load the Fiat tomorrow for Saturday's meet. 

So what's done is done on the trailer.

Could bolt the 2 smaller doors on though.

Just haven't worked out any sort of locks and handles.

My guess is.....either a bloated Prune that has been in the water for a very long time, and despite being "bloated", it still maintains it's natural beauty of a......prune.

Or....it's WILSON....from the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away".

Turn it over and see if there is a face painted in blood on the other side.

You could sell that to Tom Hanks for a million Euro (don't settle for that Aussie dollar), and convince him it is WILSON.

Wilson??

That's as good as any.

Got the Fiat loaded for tomorrow. 

And the 3 engines.

That's 4 100yr old plus motors.

Cool.

Don't let me forget to tie it down.....

The liftup door is mostly done though will be using props tomorrow instead of gas struts.

Also used a temporary lump of wood to hold the 2 smaller door's shut.

Looks OK to me.

Speaking of okay the good wife at the beach??

It's under the seaweed somewhere. 

You can see the results of wave action from Wednesday's winds.

Last year the bench seat got undermined. 

This year the posts are much deeper. 

The too and fro of the beach is an annual thing.

Prevailing winds blow the sand up the beach forming dunes then winter weather drags it back overnight. 

Always different. 

It was a good day at the Heritage motorcycle gathering today.

It was put on by Marley's transport in Hope Valley , well Frank Marley In particular. 

There were a lot of vintage and veteran bikes on show. 

With some of the guys bringing 3 and 4 machines. 

A smaller group of machines went on a short run then it was lunchtime. 

Burgers by Marley's.

After the run and lunch Frank showed us around his business premises. 

That's parking for 70 road trains plus workshops multiple,  bulk storage facilities for chook foods.

( tomorrow alone they will ship 1000 tonnes of chook tucker. )

There's some pictures on the wall in the office building of the world record road train. 

45 trailers or 980 wheels.

Not bad for a guy who bought his 1st truck in 1968? It might have been 1969.

And a genuine down to earth man proud of his family's achievements. 

OK.

143kg on the towball.

603.4 kg on the left.

607.6 on the right.

Total is 1354 kg with a good 10% on the drawbar.

Room for another 46kg 

Pretty stoked about getting that so close.

The lift up doors are 35.2 kg plus locks, gas struts and mounting.

A mere 5kg over.

That part is on track.

Where I did get a fright is in the axle.

It's a 50mm solid bar drop axle.

Looks to be flexing a bit.

So had a look underneath.

The brake levers on the disc callipers have just  over an inch travel till they hit the chassis 

The axle though has more than 2 inche's travel.

Problem if any distance is involved.

Looking into it now.

Maybe a straight axle is needed? 

The drop is only a couple of inches.

Will see. 

Suggestions from the wanker On The Road.....cut off the remaining 1.3 inches, or 34mm of thread on the bottom of all those shackle bolts at the leaf springs,  so you end up with another 34mm of clearance. 

Remove all brake pads, lube the caliper pistons, lube all contact points, then reinstall the brake pads in the calipers,  so that the trailer brakes actually function. 

At this point,  it is far too late to consider replacing that drop axle with a straight axle.  Yes, the roads in OZ, and in Western Australia are bad, but....you are hauling precious cargo,  so slow down. 

Edit:   or.....replace those smaller wheels and tires with  16" wheels and tires that have a taller profile, like a 195/75-16.....or even a 195/80-16 tire, then simply raise the fenders. That is much easier to do than replacing the axle. 

Actually Miles the point I was trying to make even though the threads could well be cut back.

Is that, that brake lever will hit the frame well before the axle does on hard bumps. 

Enough repeats will break said lever and there go the fancy brakes. 

A straight axle would solve that issue.

Or see if different lever set ups are available. 

I could perhaps try modifying them.

Though that would need careful thought 1st.

Servicing the brakes does seem a reasonable idea but won't stop them from failing.

I'm surprised I never saw this before.

And that they got the thing registered like this.

Saw a straight axle on Facebook the other day.

Raising the trailer an inch and a half shouldn't make the ramps too much steeper.

Under slinging the axle would be a bit extreme.

Giving more than a 4 inch lift.

I do like the idea of larger diameter wheels. 

Say matching the Dodge.

But reluctant to do that.

Bruce....Just Do It