One of the problems I've had this year is getting to bike races... I can't drive a car, just a motorbike. This is all well and good for 99% of the time, however on the rare occasion when you want to move something large and unwieldy over large distances, and away from train lines, you're a bit flummoxed. The end result is that I do most of my racing in the same place, which I can get to by train and/or cycling...
There are a
couple of commercial solutions from the US, but these involve hanging a significant part of the bike well over the tail of the motorbike, something I was keen to avoid, with UK traffic being significantly heavier.
My first plan was to mount the motorbike sideways, with the wheels slotted alongside. My bike is pretty wide once the panniers are on (about a metre wide), however after having gotten a basic platform assembled and fitted last night (and getting some feedback on the photos I took) this may not be great aerodynamically (which is less about speed here, and more about lifting the front wheel off the ground and losing handling).
So, this morning I had a look at "Plan B", which is a more traditional set-up...the bike would be mounted in the same orientation as the motorbike, both wheels off and slotted alongside. I lose the top-box with this set-up, so I'll only have the panniers (main issue with this is no motorbike helmet storage), but it does have a significantly smaller frontal area, which will mainly be behind me.
I'll also need 2 sections, as the existing luggage rack is on a different plane to the seat. What I'll try and do is create one section that sits in the seat, and is braced by slats running under the grab bars, and this will have the front fork mount, and a couple of padded table legs to secure the frame, and give me something to strap the wheels to. There will then be a second section on the luggage rack, and will consist of a rest for the bottom bracket (to keep the chain-set off the surface), and strapping points. to hold the bottom bracket down.
The wheels will be lashed to the table legs, and also to the luggage rack (and probably each other as well..). The rear mech is a little exposed...not sure what I can do about that, though I may see if I can run a table leg up from the bottom bracket mount to act as some knock protection...
