Motorcycle Rack/Rear Spring Spacers/Air Shocks

[adv rider]

I carry my dirtbike's all around Washington on the back of my van. I have G.W 0" lift springs all around, and I run 2 spring spacers in the rear. The bike's I carry typically weigh 250-280 range. It does feel a little front end light in some situations, but I never felt unsafe.

I have never measured the height. I will try to post a picture.
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86' Wolfsburg weekender 2.1, 4spd, , merian brown

[Steelhead]

[rmcd]

Here is a kit of sorts.

http://www.syncro-bernd-jaeger.de/ENGLISH/Spezialitaten/spezialitaten.html
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VW LT40 build. Like a Vanagon but 30% larger in every direction and 40% slower even in metric.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749359&highlight=

[rmcd]

Another samba build. Go figure another xt.

[rmcd]

I haven't been thinking about this for a while or anything ...

[SyncroScott]

Hey Highsierra,

Your thread couldn't be timed better or more applicable to my situation! I have a TW200 as well and have been dying to get it on rear rack this summer! The wife just gave me a the thumbs-up to buy Burley's HD hitch with some of our tax return too!

Got some questions:
- How do you like the cycle rack itself as far as fitting a TDub on it? Pros/Cons?
- How is the lateral movement/rocking side to side?
- Is the "anti-tilt plate" a Burley product as well (I hadn't noticed it on his site)
- How is the steering/front end feel with your TDub loaded?
- How much distance is there between bike seat to the rear hatch, as well as from handle bars to rear window?
- How is the ground clearance/scraping potential with the rack and bike mounted (steeper driveways, curbs, etc.)?
- How well does the bike's rear tire fit in the trough?

And lastly (and only very slightly off topic), what tank bag is that; do you need to remove it to fill up?

Thanks! Love the info and TDub/VDub combo!!
-Scott
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'90 Flat-top Syncro
‘17 Golf Wagon
'15 Golf

[highsierra]

SyncroScott,
-Glad this post is helpful for ya! TDubs are so fun and versatile. Great for camping/adventures so of course it pairs well with a Vanagon.

-Here is a link to the rack I have. Looks like the price went up a bit since I got mine a few years back: http://www.discountramps.com/motorcycle-carrier/p/AMC-400/ I've found that the TW tires fit most conventional dirt bike racks/carriers just fine. I use a separate strap to tie down the rear end, either the rear wheel or the swing arm.

-I got the anti-tilt plate from Discount Ramps too. With that installed and properly tightened, the side to side play is zero. Tightening the straps on the moto helps too. You gotta compress the suspension a good bit so it doesn't bounce around.

-The biggest challenge I am facing right now is getting the van leveled with the load on the back to improve the steering feel. I'll be installing air shocks soon and will report back. Its a WIP.

-There is not a whole lot of room between the TDub and the back window. The handlebars/pegs prevent the hatch from opening more that 6-8" so you basically lose access to the back with the bike on.

-Depending on how high your van sits, scraping may be an issue. My setup is fine for "normal" driving. Even up and down my steep driveway, no problem. I do foresee problems with more extreme off-road situations but honestly, I plan to park the van and rally the T-Dub when the roads turn hairy.

-Are you on TW200Forum?[url] http://tw200forum.com/[/url] Its not as good as the Samba but its a great place for TW info. My handle is Highsierra over there too.

-My tank bag is the "Enduro Tank Bag" from Wolfman. I love it! You do have to unbuckle 2 of the 4 clips to fuel up. No big deal. All of the Wolfman stuff is top-notch! http://wolfmanluggage.com/

I'll be reporting back soon, hopefully with some fully loaded road test results.

[highsierra]

Oh and I love my Burley HD hitch! Great product, bolts on easy and Burley is a great guy to deal with. I'd recommend powder-coating or re-painting your hitch if you want to prevent rusting. Burley was very straight-forward and told me that the rattle can job he puts on them is not bomb-proof. Aside from that, its a quality product.

[davevickery]

That bumper above looks very well made, but I wonder about adding all that weight to the back. The further you get from stock design/balance the more odd surprises you get down the road or just worse handling.

What is wrong with a small inexpensive trailer? It loads easier and gives you space to carry extra gas, tools and other camp stuff. Plus you can access the rear hatch. I have a spare tire carrier and a 50 lb tire back there and I'm not even crazy about that.

[Homercules]

Here's an early project photo of my bike rack. I need to take some more of the final product.

The tray pivots to roll the bike onto then slides back and locks into the receiver.

Rack weighs 25lbs or so and the bike is 175lbs
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89 Syncro

[highsierra]

[SyncroScott]

Thanks highsierra,

Ordered my hitch from Burley on Friday! That cycle rack looks like a good deal even if it has gone up a few shekels.

Good to know about rustproofing. Its going to be a bit of a project since I have GW's 1st gen rear bumper and I assume I'll have to do a bit of cutting and sealing anyway. Since it is not a show piece I'll probably use POR on the exterior if I can, and Waxoyl/Fluidfilm on any interior surfaces.

-Scott
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'90 Flat-top Syncro
‘17 Golf Wagon
'15 Golf

[jackbombay]

How long have you had the TW200? Will it cruise at 60 for short periods of time?

I have an XT225 and like it a bunch, but I think a TW200 would be really fun with the huge tires and massive traction they provide. I did put notably bigger tires on my xt, some kenda 270s, cheap and worth it.
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[highsierra]

[highsierra]

OK, so the air shocks arrived and I found some time this afternoon to install them. Installation is really simple. I spent as much time routing the hose as I did actually installing the shocks. The supplied air line seemed kinda flimsy so I used some extra fuel line I had laying around and routed the stock air hose through that, then zip-tied it to the van. I found a decent little hole in the body, behind the drivers' rear wheel. This is where I mounted the air valve.

(really tough to get good pics of the hoses, etc under the van so this was all I got)

The kit to adjust the shocks independently was not available in a timely manner from Amazon (1-3 month for delivery) so I mounted everything up with just a single valve. Having an air valve for each shocks has several advantages as I see it. Obviously, you can adjust each shock independently so you can really fine tune ride height and compensate for that Westy-Lean. But the routing for the air hoses is simplified with 2 valves as well. Each shock can have a short air line to a valve somewhere in the wheel-well or similar instead for routing a line from each shock up under the van and find a mutually agreeable meeting place. I opted to run the passenger side air hose under the engine mount cradle over to the drivers' side. I was as careful as I could be to avoid getting too close to the exhaust system. Hopefully the fuel line will provide some protection from excessive heat. Ultimately, if I stick with these air shocks, I'll switch to a dual valve set-up to avoid this issue.

I was surprised at what a small volume of air is used in these shocks. A quick bust of air from a compressor took the pressure from 0-60psi. I could see the van rising as the shocks filled. Kinda fun. Because of the small volume of air, I found it difficult to really fine tune the pressure. The air compressor I was using did not have a pressure gauge so I had to add some then check the psi with a tire gauge. Maybe its just my gauge, but I couldn't avoid some loss of air (and subsequent loss of ride height) every time I checked the pressure. This was annoying and I found myself adding a little more than desired and fudging it from there. I wonder if a bicycle floor pump with a pressure gauge might work well. Anyone tried it?

On to the drive test:

Got the TW loaded, adjusted the air pressure to what seemed about right and took it for a spin. I think I've got about 60psi in there now. The front measures 17 1/2" to 17 3/4" and the front about 18 1/4" to 18 1/2". It was hard for me to find a truly level piece of ground for scientific measurements so consider these numbers "pretty close". A little more fine tuning and it should be right on the money. Driving the van with the bike on there felt great. I've got 45psi on the front tires, 60psi rear. That is more than I usually run, but I am setting up for an extended roadtrip (+/-1,000 miles from Downieville, CA to Missoula, MT via Idaho with sidetrips for camping/T-Dubbing) with an ample supply of gear. Once the suspension is dialed, I may revise tire pressure to suit. Hwy 49, the main/paved road out of town, is full of twists and turns and I drove about 15 miles along the North Fork of the Yuba river for a drive evaluation. Lots of twists and turns to evaluate corning performance, etc. The van really felt like it was just kinda heavy, but because it wasn't saggy in the rear, handling did not suffer. I had to adjust from my usual driving style to slightly slower speeds around corners and had to anticipate braking a little more than normal but overall, I drove basically like I always do and the van performed satisfactorily.

As for rack clearance, the rack extends out from the Burley hitch about 2 feet. At the farthest point out, the rack is 19" off the ground. Doesn't make for a great approach/egress angle but fine for regular driving.

Now...about those brake/tail lights...

Obviously, visibility is an issue. Gonna have to work on that...

[jackbombay]

[jackbombay]

[alaskadan]

Right on! XT 550, DT 175.

[rmcd]

Thx much for the ride height and driving performance. I've got uk super heavy duty AAA springs and Gabriel hijacker shocks. Bad news is these are NOT turnkey install on a Syncro as they have clearance issues with the fuel filler pipe and the pinch seam om the factory rail. I'll post my solutions to both when done fiddling around with mods and upgrade reinforcements to the trailing arms and shock purchases.

Coincidentally I have an 85 xt 350 that I purchase specifically for this application. Higher displacement with low weight and cheap price. Unfortunately I did not anticipate the horrible carbs and hard starting issues. Always trade offs.
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VW LT40 build. Like a Vanagon but 30% larger in every direction and 40% slower even in metric.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749359&highlight=

[jackbombay]