Scooter With Boardracks Coming to Australia
Awesome.. much prefer something like this over a Camry any day!
Thats so sweet!
+10 knots crosswind = roadkill
Theres a guy at my local who has a push bike that has home made boardracks on it, looks just like the top photo but on a push bike. way cheaper than $3000 - $4000 to.
^^^ Can do 90 k's an hour on it can he? I'm keen to get one of these simply to get around the beaches with. Good to avoid traffic and enough legs to get me to the other side of the city if conditions call for it.
The crosswind bit is a worry though...
Just throwing it out there is all, plus you can do anything when you put your mind to it, even 90 k's an hour on a push bike. Never say never stunet.
Hmmm...nice sentiments, but I reckon I'm safe saying I'm never gonna ride a treadley with a boardrack from Manly to Cronulla and back. Call me a clairvoyant but I'm pretty sure of that.
90 ks an hour? Where'd you get that from Stunet? The Wikipedia page for the Zoomer has its top speed of only 70 ks. There is nothing about its top speed on the official Honda site so Wikipedia could be wrong too. Even with 90ks I wouldnt be too keen hitting the freeways to get down to the peninsula or Torquas. Might just stick to the Camry for now eh Ben. Mine just keeps goin and goin ;)
Scooters with a board rack are a pretty standard way of getting around on Bali and the time I was there never had any problems with sidewinds. Even after getting caught out in some monsoonal weather. I must admit it was a great mode of transport so have always thought about the possibilities in Oz. Sidecars and trailers on bikes have always been a legal accessory on bikes in Vicco so why not board racks. The only info I could find that may make them illegal is a ruling that you can't have protusions fixed to a vehicle that could cause danger.
Is there now a specific rule for boardracks?
90 k's an hour? I just made that bit up to add weight to my argument. Thanks for popping a hole in it PR...
Still, 70km/h is faster than most pushies, and definitely faster than Ben's Camry.
The fellas at Deus reckon the Zoomer is compliant with the racks as is.
At this time I have to point out that Craig owns a Camry, and not me. This is very important :D
^^ I used to own a Camry, and it was the best car I ever had!
Now I'm in the Subbi remember :p
Oh yeah :O That's right.. hard to break a reputation though.. ;)
Nah craigs rep is already shot. Get the hell out of that thing you are driving and jump straight back into a Camry if you want to retain some credibility ya bloody traitor! :s ;)
Do you guys exceed the age of 55 and drive around constantly with your indicators on? Oops! I mean do you guys all own camrys?
Keegz, obviously you have never experienced first hand, the reliability and versatility of the Camry!
They keep on going and going and going....
Go out and get a late 80's or early 90's model Camry and be amazed :p
I have unfortunately driven a Camry before, one word 'boring' comes to mind immediatly :)
I'd be amazed if I could get my girlfriend to actually sit in a late 80's early 90's Camry... nevermind me drive around it it hehe.
Yeah well Keegz you might be right us Camry drivers have taken over volvo drivers as the most annoying bastards on the road. And by the time I get to 55 I intend to still be driving the same Camry I am driving now.
hahahahaha
Best thing ever I reckon. I love travelling around Indo on a scoot with racks. No worries with side winds, monsoons and even when pissed on Arak. Bring it on.
Owned a Camry for 10 years, what a fucken peice of crap it was, new motors and all sorts of rattles and clunks. Fucken expensive to repair, rusting garbage.
Just saw this chat when looking at swellnet and thought I'd add my personal experience. I have fitted board racks to my BMW 650 Dakar. I'd been wanting to do it for a while and got the idea for the design after Googling "board racks for motorbikes"-- there are lots of pics on the web. There is a guy in the US (search for "Surfer Pegs") who sells a commercial product made from stainless steel rod-- a bit pricey though by the time you land them in Oz.
As far as the "legality" is concerned........if you don't ask the question then you don't get told an answer you don't like.
I've been riding with my board on the bike since January, past plenty of cops and no-one has given me any grief.
Had to laugh at Ethereal's comment re crosswinds-- it's the same from a lot of people (especially those who don't ride). The effect from crosswinds is not much different whether the board is on my bike or not. The side surface area presented to a crosswind by a board or the bike is little different: if you're going to get blown sideways by a 10 knot crosswind then it doesn't matter whether you have a board on or not. My Beemer is pretty heavy so that probably helps.
The Surfer Pegs guy reckons that you actually get a "negative pressure vortex" between bike and board, which acts to stabilize you at speed. Not sure of the science (maybe just Yank sales bullshit!) but I do 130km/hr on the Dakar with my board on and it handles beautifully. The main point to consider if you want to do it is to make sure they are strongly made -- I got mine made up at the local Marine engineering company from 25mm stainless steel tube and they are attached to the bash plate frame at front and the pannier rack at back. Most of the racks on bikes in Bali are made from cheap shit materials and poorly designed-- that's where problems will occur.
All I can say is: it's sweet to be able to ride to the beach on these beautiful Autumn mornings and have a surf-- combines two of my favourite things which used to be mutually exclusive!
Contact me if you want some pics of the Dakar racks.
Cheers
Ross
cheers Ross, sounds awesome, and you always get a park at the beach !
Thanks for the heads-up Ross. At one stage I was thinking about using a sidecar to carry a board but it sounds like there's no need. Good info.
Riding a pushie with solid i.e. kevlar and fibreglass sheet wheels, I'd be forced to stop and walk in a wind when crossing bridges.
Riding a pushie with a surfboard rack where the tip of the board would hover above my head, got pretty wobbly on a road trip :) from Redfern to Maroubra. Hope don't have be doing that again.
I've been riding a Honda CT110 postie bike with boardracks attached around the north end of the goldie for ages now. It goes 90 clicks easy and I use it to get to work everyday as well. I didn't even know it wasn't road legal, no cop has ever pulled me up on it either. We need more bikes and less cars on the road in built up areas as it is.
PS: I've ridden it in all kinds of strong crosswinds and it's not a problem, unless your going to try and cart your 10ft mal or SUP around.....
Rasda mate we have been riding pushies to hthe beach for decades with board racks on them. My tip is this: If you find it difficult riding from Redfern to Maroubra then stay the fuck away from the beach and take up some other sport more suited to a softie like you, ie. Rollerblading.
The point being that a rack that's poorly mounted so it only holds the back of the board, with the front high in the air over your head then pushes your centre of gravity too high and is unstable.
These scooters look the tits, everything's low and out of the way.
Fuck off yourself, big man.
Bet you're a "local", hee haw, fucking donkey.
Rasda mate I think you are even too soft for rollerblades.
Mount the friggin rack better then, by the way do you know that side mounted racks have been available for aprox 27 years now?
The only problem with the back mounted rack, the vertical mount is that you tend to smash the tail of your board doing jumps off gutters.
Be careful around the Bra though, those guys are big men and they are tough.
Sounds right.
Yeah, the only ones I've pissed off weren't local, 1 might've been but he was a dickhead, can't count that and a big heavy that sent me in once when it was big and I shouldn't have been out there was right, so, fair enough.
This thread caught my eye so thought i'd join n throw my 2 cents in...
I made racks up for my ol' 550 Kwaka about a year ago out of plumbing PVC and never had a problem. I'm on the Goldy and pass cops all the time no dramas (though it's a good idea to paint em up so they look at least a little credible).
As for cross winds etc, I've tested mine to 150km/h with no adverse affect on ride, and regularly squirt down to the beach at 110km/h. Properly positioned you won't notice a difference.
Fuel is cheap. Parking is a snap. Great way to combine two things I love. I leave em on all the time but it's only a 5 min job to remove if I want to go for a RIDE ride
Basically cost me 1.5 days and about $90 to make. Happy to provide pics or pointers if anyone is considering the same
-rob
By the looks of the fat tyres they should be able to be ridden on sand. Guess that will give the clubbies somthing other than seagulls to chase on their quaddies.
it will make accessing that peak up the beach that much easier.....hehehe
I want one. Would you have to have a motorbike license for that scooter? Im clueless as to the rules here, normal license ok for a scooter of that power?
i've ran into alot of walls in bali i'll have to practice lol
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahhahahahahahahahahahahget a pink 1 with matching board hahahahahahahaha
For the first time in Australia a motorbike....well, a motorscooter, can be registered with board racks. The scooter is the Honda Zoomer and the fellas at Deus Ex Machina reckon the imports will begin in the next couple of months. Word is they'll retail for between $3000 - $4000 and you won't need an engineers certificate. Bring on the gravel rash!