Can 1983 Honda VT-500 Meet the Vetter Challenge?

[redyaris]

Adventures in loading/securing streamliner in sprinter van...
Over the last few days I have been working out how to secure my VT500 stream liner in the sprinter van. On normal motorcycles there are lots of locations to hook onto the bike but with a stream liner they disapear under the body work. I have to remove the front and rear bodywork to get at good locations to hook onto the bike, this means I now need to take up other space to stow the bodywork peaces. I will look into wheel clamps to see if they will work. The main issue is the long haul and the constant vibration and other movement. I have hauled other regular bikes in trailers and small mini road racers inside a minivan without problems but this is more demanding.

[renault_megane_dci]

This particular issue I never really thought about !

Wheels clamps + pegs to control roll would be my attempt but they might be too low ?!

[euromodder]

Best way to secure a bike is rails of some kind so it doesn't slide left & right, then tie-ing down the bike on the non-suspended parts - i.e. rear swingarm and the fork crossbrace .

Front wheel clamp + rails is also quite popular.
These clamps need to have some space around the front wheel to work though - could be covered by your streamlining .


A popular way to transport awkward stuff around here, is to put an old mattress between the item and the side of the trailer and the item, then pull the item against the side, sandwiching the mattress - works only if the bodywork is sturdy enough for the bike to lean on.


How accessible is the seat with the streamline on ?
You might be able to route the strap inside the fairing if it's open on the bottom.
On ferries, they put the bike on the side-stand, put some protective cushioning over the seat, and strap the bike down with a strap over the covered seat.

Works surprisingly well despite the suspension still working some, and can be used in combination with something to keep the wheels from sliding sideways or fore and aft. (Straps or wood blocks nailed down in strategic places.)

I've also used this technique with the bike on the centerstand .
In this case you eliminate the suspension working on the strap, but you need to pull it down in front of the center stand in this case, and make sure the bike can't slide forward at all.

[redyaris]

euromodder
Thanks for the input, It helps to find out what others have done. At this stage I have installed a front wheel over center role into wheel clamp that is attached to the floor. With the rear bodywork removed I will use the rear foot rest attachement points to tie down the rear of the bike. I will probably use the method you seggest for the front, attaching to the fork cross brace. I have also bought some cargo extendable struts that will help limit the movement of the bike...
I wonder what kind of air bags I could get?????

[redyaris]

On the Vegas to Barstow run I used 3.092 gallons [11.68L] to go 379km [235 miles] which translates to 3.08 L/100 km or 76 mpg. This is less than the 87 mpg I had hoped for. However given that there was a 20 to 30 mph head wind on parts of the ride its not that bad. I suspect that I am in the last 10% of what can be achieved with stream lining on this bike, I may look into changing the ring and pinion to drop the rpm but short of this I am at the end of the road on this bike with respect to improvements in fuel consumption.

[ldjessee00]

You may not be able to easily adjust the final drive ratio where the shaft meets the rear wheel, but how about changing the ratio at the transmission or a transmission with an extra gear?
I keep trying to shift up from 5th on my shaft drive motorcycle that only has 5 gears.

[minimac]

I checked out the results (@Vetters site) and I've got to tell you "great work!" You got pretty impressive results with a less than optimal vehicle. Thanks for sharing your build-I picked up plenty of ideas.

[renault_megane_dci]

Originally Posted by redyaris

I may look into changing the ring and pinion to drop the rpm but short of this I am at the end of the road on this bike with respect to improvements in fuel consumption.

I recall suggesting you to try and source the 18" rear wheel off a Honda CX500 which is also shaft driven and more or less from the same era.
I assume there is a fair chance they are interchangeable.

Ring and pinion swap looks like much more involved to do.

[redyaris]

An other posible final drive option may be from a Honda VT700, I suspect that it has lower final drive ratio. I will have to look into the ratio and the fit up on a VT500. I recall from visiting the motorcycle wrecker that he had a few shaft drive swing arms...

[renault_megane_dci]

I believe that your small (16" ?) rear wheel means the ratio is already tall to make it spin more (compared to the bigger wheel of a CX 500 for example) but maybe the tire is taller too to give extra comfort ???