Dan Burkhart 

10-4. Thanks for that.

Dan Burkhart 

Hmm. That wouldn gain me a bit as my current bender is a 6" radius, but I'm not sure if it's enough of a gain to merrit buying another tool.

Dan Burkhart 

I put the wide loaders aside for a bit so I can get the running boards done. These will be mounted high enough for little legs to reach, so not on the wide loaders. They will be removeable, so they won't be in the way for cargo hauling.

vik 

Great work so far....looking forward to the finished product...just curious what the idea with the up turned bend on your wide loaders is for? How do you plan on using them?

Dan Burkhart 

The idea is about load containment. Some cargo netting supported by wooden slats for groceries and such, or for trips to the building supply store.
I just wanted to try something different, so we'll see how it works out.

purplepeople

The idea is a good one, but you give up large items like boxes. I suggest a second smaller set of flat ones, or making the vertical shorter so that inverting them will not negatively affect your cornering lean angle as much.

:)ensen.

Dan Burkhart 

For the rare occasions when I will need to haul large boxes, I still have my trailer. I'm setting this up more for hauling shopping bags or loose items.
It's just an idea I'm trying out to see how it works.

Dan Burkhart 

Got the running boards mounted this morning.



Took my two gransons for a ride this afternoon.

BossCat

Job well done Dan, and it looks like the grandkids approve

Regards
Tom

russell39

Would you be able to post some pictures on how the running boards mounted?

And also, what do you have planned for the bags? Are you going to sew your own?

Dan Burkhart 

The boards are mounted with angle brackets and hose clamps.

Makes for a nice solid set up. and fully adjustable.
No plans to make bags or have them made either.

Dan Burkhart 

I just received and installed a kickback stand on the Dummy, and there is an issue. The fit of the pegs in the horizontal bridge is very loose. I measured the pegs and found they were 22.2 mm, whereas the internal diameter of the bridge is 23.5mm.
I contacted Xtracycle, and they very promptly responded that all the V racks, wide loaders and pegs are 22.2mm., and they had never heard of a case with such a disparity in size. My question is to anyone elso who has installed a Kickback, or Xtracycle V racks and wide loaders on a Big Dummy. Do they always fit this loose?
I can work around this I'm sure, just by reaming out the plastic bushings and carrying on with my build like I was in my right mind, but it's worth noting here that the 3/4" EMT conduit I'm using may not fit all Xtracycle kits, so check before you start. The conduit measures about 23.45mm with the galvenizing sanded off.

purplepeople

If I had to guess... I'd say that there is a discrepancy between Surly and Xtra regarding the spec. Could this spec have changed during one model year and that Surly was not somehow updated? The reason I would look in the direction of Surly is that 22.2 mm is almost exactly 7/8-inch and I expect that to be a highly probably specification for an American mfg.

:)ensen.

busted knuckles

Dan, that project looks great.

Dan Burkhart 

Well, the person who responded to me from Xtracycle told me he has a 2008 Big Dummy, the same year as mine, and everything fits fine. You would think, comming from the same factory, in Taiwan I believe, they would be consistent, but maybe not.

Dan Burkhart 

Thank you.

kellymc

How did you get the front tubes to fit past the brazeon's that project into the tube? Or does your rack just sit on top of them?

Deanwvu

This is an old thread, but still google-able and very relevant!

I tried adding homemade wideloaders to my Big Dummy just yesterday, based on the recommendations of this thread.

I bought the 3/4" EMT tubing from my local Home Depot. However, I find that the EMT is just slightly too large (the OD) to fit in the wideloader receivers of my Big Dummy...

Is the OD of all 3/4" EMT the same? I bought my Big Dummy used on craigslist, so I'm not sure what year it is... is the ID of the receiver different from year to year in the Big Dummy line? I have an xtracycle rack on my Bid Dummy, and it fits just fine.

Dan, if you could, would you please measure the OD of the EMT you used with calipers? I may need to search different manufacturers for EMT that will work for me.

Thanks!

Dean

Dan Burkhart 

I can measure them for you later in the week. I'm on the road until Wednesday, but I'll get that to you.
I've had others comment that EMT was too large. I sanded a bit of the galvanizing off to make it fit better, and the pipes are pretty snug, but they didn't have to be forced.
The bike is still working great, but the grandkids are getting pretty big. I took the two of them out last weekend for a bit of a ride, but I can't go too far with both on board any more.

Here's a couple of videos on the bike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlS_wdRmWOA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXOsHPuPkB4

Deanwvu

Thank you, Dan!

I will fool with this EMT and see if I can get it to fit without diminishing it's integrity.

Would you say that it would have been impossible for you to insert the EMT into the Big Dummy receiver if you had not sanded away some material?

It would definitely not be possible for me to insert this EMT as-is by hand. Perhaps I could hammer it in--it might go, but I would have a heck of a time getting it out!

Deanwvu

Is there a way I can use heat (a torch) to slightly reduce the OD of this tubing?

Dan Burkhart 

I would not hammer it in.
Big Dummies used to ship with a tube expander tool for exactly this purpose. (Maybe they still do, I don't know.) I did not need it for mine.
I sanded the galvanizing down to make insertion smoother. It was possible to insert it without, but it took considerable effort.

Dan Burkhart 

I just took the caliper to my EMT tubing and measure an OD of 23.42mm. Where I sanded off the galvanizing, it measured 23.38mm.
It's worth noting that when I got my centre stand, the mounting tubes were a sloppy fit. I sent an e-mail to Surly about it, and they seemed to think my tubing was larger than normal because it should not have been sloppy.
The tube expansion tool that came with the bike has an OD of 23.11 mm.
Could be some bikes were built with off spec tubing and I must have one of those.

registrar

Why do you need such a big storage on a bike ? Doing delivery ? or use it for a long ride trip ?

fietsbob

aluminum tube and conduit benders that fit, are a good combination ..

pretty straight forward to make side loaders to change out as the load to be carried changes. ..

that is if your hands on fabricating chops are up to it .