Quote:
Originally Posted by Daschicken
Due to the decapitation hazard for motorcyclists or anyone exposed should the rear of your vehicle come at them rapidly, I would advise against making it out of sheet metal.
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Hmmm I didn't think about that. Yeah that would be a pretty gruesome scene. Has it ever happened before? I know that bikers crashing into the back of cars [happens far more often then the motorcycle crowd likes to admit, and youtube has the evidence as you can imagine. It's actually the
number one way bikers crash according to a Virginia Tech study.
It's about 5' above the pavement, right at neck height for a tall male. And, depending on the type of bike, a motorcyclists ride height is usually a little lower to the ground then standing height, but higher then sitting in a car. But if the rear tire rams into the back bumper, especially if braking hard on the front wheel, it would catapult the rider upwards and forward, wouldn't it? They basically get launched onto the roof, from the many videos I've seen.
Maybe this will add a point to the notion that my kammback can only be a temporary one that is tapped onto the jeep right before taking off down the highway for road trips.
IMO if it's going to be permanent, it's gotta be steel and it's gotta either be welded on or riveted on. I could also weld on some threaded studs and carefully fasten a roll of sheet metal with a nut & washer onto said studs. Would be less permanent that way.
At the very least it would need a strip of soft rubber around the edge so that folks walking behind it don't cut their faces. Ouch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elhigh
ALSO: can you take off the roof rails at all when you're not overlanding? If you don't need them and removing them won't open holes in the roof, that's worth doing. That's costing you too, and they're actually a surprising source of wind noise right up near your head.
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Yeah I was waiting for someone to say that, lol. I just built those things with my new welder, it was my first welding project, and they replaced the stock ones which had two crossbars. These are sans crossbars so I'm counting it as an aero mod
