Birthday present!! Yah, you'll like this one....

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Bailey28
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Birthday present!! Yah, you'll like this one....

Post by Bailey28 »

So Saturday was my birthday, and the first cool day in a while here in Florida. I go to the track and ride most of the day, trying the new RB mods and my home made reed spacer. The bike is perfect and rips more than expected. I nearly shat myself a few times!!

I load the bike up and start to leave the park on a bumpy dirt road. I get to some pot holes and slow down to about 5mph. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my bike jump off of the trailer and capsize underneath of it!!! :shock:

I slam on the brakes and bail. The bike is lying under the trailer, still attached to one tie down on the bars. Nice B Day present :evil:

I had leave the bike on the ground and unhook it, then drive the trailer away from it to pick it up. It looked like the bars were trashed, grips gone, and the rear fender was slightly bent. The throttle tube and front brake lever assy. were pulled off of the bars on the right. I stood the bike up as others gathered to see what happened.

Turns out the wood front part of the trailer I have/made/ cobbled together flexes when the trailer and bike go over bumps. The braking action and the bumps were enough to allow the tie down to "unhook" and let the bike go over the side.

I stripped it all down and thank goodness for the rubber bar mounts, the bars and levers and throttle tube were all fine. I pulled the wheel, forks, and triple clamps to make sure everything was fine. After resetting it all, the only damage was the toasted grips. The rear subframe was bent back into place with a rubber mallet. This is a testament to how tough the KDX is! I got lucky on this one folks, it could have happened at 60mph on the road! :prayer:

On that note, anyone got a good source for trailer parts, such as the bike wheel chocks, tie downs, etc. I checked Rocky mountain and a few trailer places on line, but they all seem geared toward street bikes or quads.
FAZ
Paka
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Bungee cords......

Post by Paka »

Tie down your bike with Tie down straps. Take a bungee cord and put the hook into each tie down hook end. Repeat on other side. Take bike and try get the tie down to come off. You will notice that the bungee cord provides enough tension to keep the hook on the trailer/ bars.

Hope this helps.
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Colorado Mike
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Post by Colorado Mike »

Paka is a very smart man. Also a fork brace keeps the tension from going away when you hit bumps.
Mike

Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid.
'04 KDX220
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krazyinski
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Post by krazyinski »

FORK BRACE = small 4x4 wrks like a charm.
2000 KDX220 FRP Ported,plated cylinder,milled head, FRP bored carb, V force 3 reeds, FMF desert pipe, 10oz FWW, 98 KX forks and oem shock re valved by Pro Action, hyd clutch, fastway pegs, tall seat foam, gripper cover, 29" CRhigh mini bars, Cycra brush gaurds.
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Indawoods
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Post by Indawoods »

Put a Wooden block under bike frame ratchet the bike down to it going under the rail and hooked to the pegs.

99% of my bike is held in place this way and no fork compression at all. It is solid as a rock... but you better use a very high quality ratchet strap!
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MXOldtimer
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Post by MXOldtimer »

Here's a tip. Cut those damn hook off your tie downs and replace them with Carabiniers.

Image
Use them with soft ties on the bars and eye hooks in your trailer and they can never come undone. I've done this forever and the nice part is you don't have to cinch the bike down tight, leave it loose doesn't matter can't come undone.
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KDXer
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Post by KDXer »

A 2 foot piece of rope might have save it also. Just tie the front wheel to the front of the trailer somewhere. It's cheap insurance.
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Bailey28
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Post by Bailey28 »

Thanks, I bought a bunch of the carabiners for the straps and cut off the old S hooks. I also went and had a new front frame welded to the trailer and took out the wood parts.
FAZ
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