Lload testing a Llama...
 

I just finished my first loaded ride with my (nearly) new Pocket Llama and the luggage system that I worked out. Had a good time, managed some nice pics, and gave her a real workout. I have to say the Llama passed her test :). The luggage did okay, but wasn`t really up to this kind of riding.

For the luggage, I was inspired by the Path Less Pedalled folks and the Moulton flat racks- taking advantage of those low profile wheels sure seems like a good idea to me. My front rack is a foldable version of the little front platform I`ve had on my non folding beast of a Schwinn for several years and have grown to love. I clip a repurposed camera bag (thrift shop find) to the goal posts on that rack.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...front-platform

For the rear, I built a folding platform similar to the BF folding rear racks except lower and not really useable with panniers, since I intend to use only the flat on top. The shorter legs are inherintly stiffer than long legs, and skipping the lower pannier hooks also lets me fold this rack down a bit flatter than GG`s version.

On the fork, I just went with the standard Friday disassembleable pannier rack. I see no way to really improve on their design, so might as well let them have my buck and save myself a lot of hours.

I ened up with a lot of pics on Photobucket so won`t bother uploading them again here. The first two legs were mostly dirt or gravel:
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t...nio/?start=all
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t...ach/?start=all
And the last leg was almost entirely paved:
http://s161.photobucket.com/albums/t...eno/?start=all

This route had nearly 200 miles of unpaved roads, including a good dose of washboard, rocks, sand, loose surface gravel, and even some nice smooth hardpack (but what fun is that?). I had 20 x 2.0 BAs on the bike for the whole trip and they really didn`t do as well as bigger wheels when the going got tough, but they did make it through everything with a bit more care though no more hike-a-bike than I would have had to my big wheeler. Structurally, the folder was outstanding- no feeling that it was going to snap, no noticeable flexing. And that`s saying something since the road was rough enough in places that the stuff I had bouncing around in my panniers was damaged. Since this route was a rough as I plan on riding the Llama for, I know it`ll take anything I can dish out.

The luggage system was a "mixed bag" (haha- get it ?!?). I still like the platform + small front panniers idea, and still think it`s the way to go for lighter loads, but not when things start getting into the mini expedition scale. For this trip, I had to devote most of the space in the panniers to water storage, so the dry sack on the platform got kinda big. Add to that several days worth of food (unreliable resuply points) and it was downright huge. It was hard to arrange in such a way to avoid heel strike (wore a tiny hole on the bag with my heels without even noticing they were hitting) and the load had a tendency to fall off to one side if it wasn`t cinched down super and tight, which probably isn`t very good for the cargo.

I was a little apprehensive about the way the BF front pannier racks mount, but they held up as well as the bike did. What I don`t like is the way they stand off from the frame on the little plastic spacer bushings. I don`t know physics or math enough to prove it, but I`m convinced that using those long skinny bolts loses stregth to using short skinny bolts, and that there`s extra leverage from the length of the spacers trying to snap things compared to bolting the rack tightly to the fork. Besides that, as the spacers are relatively thin walled plastic, they compress as you tighten the mounting bolts, so it isn`t easy to judge when the bolts are tight. I still don`t like it, but don`t know a better way. And since they didn`t break on this trip, with a lot of heavy water bouncing over all those rocks and washboard, I`m probably over thinking thigs- will just keep the Loctite on he bolts and try to ignore the squeemish feeling that the spacers give me.

Oh, the bike rode to the starting point for this ride in the trunk of my wife`s little Saturn sedan. That isn`t a good test of suitcase-ability, but I didn`t have time to make up a custom cardboard box this time around. Gotta save something to test later! I do need to practice packing it though because I hope to fly it to Puerto Vallarta next spring.

I thought you were talking about taking a "shake-down ride" around your neighborhood.

WOW! That's serious terrain and distance - and out in the middle of no-where, to boot.

The only concession I can see is that there were "roads".

Lou

Excellent tour!

I had the same thought when I assembled my BF NWT front rack for the first time, but I've never had any issues with it in use. I tend to pack lighter than the average loaded bike tourist, but I use the bike for around town hauling missions that have gotten quite heavy [ie. tins from grocery store, beer, etc...].

I'm glad you enjoyed your tour...:thumb:

Cool tour!

That is really sweet setup. You can still mount more stuff such as a bigger saddlebag and/or strap something to the top of the front rack. If an SQR is appealing, if you get the big ring clamps, they'll fit over the seat mast instead of the seat post. You might be able to get it to rest on whatever is on top of the platform rack.

Thanks for the props, guys!

Already taken care of! I started off doing the around the block thing of course, when the bike came in this past April. Before I had it ready to tour, I had already taken it out for a few half-day unloaded rides and played on the local mtb trails a little bit to get a feel for it and make sure it was all dialed in right.
Good to hear I`m not crazy for thinking that and that yours is hanging in there. Yeah, groceries runs often end up being heavier than touring loads!
This load is bigger than my usual tours, so hopefully won`t need more space- I think you`re right about the top of the front rack if I need it, though. Definitely right about a bigger saddlebag. What`s SQR?

Awesome trip! I'm familiar with the Oregon section of your ride. Beautiful, remote Great Basin terrain. You'd have found great camping up in the Trout Creek Mountains (immediately south of Whitehorse Ranch Road), and fantastic milkshakes if you'd ventured a few miles north to Fields.

OP, my first thought was "what the hell is wrong with this guy?" but man, congrats on a great achievement. Looks like an enormous task from where I'm sitting. Sleeping 'rough' to boot!

Kudos to you!

Making your trip pay
 

I think you should make an album of the photos from your trip with the bike it them, add a few scenery shots in between and send it to Bike Friday, see if they'd want to use them for advertising. They certainly qualify for putting the model in an adventure setting.

Hey, Glowboy- if I had known I was missing a milkshake, I`d have probably have headed up to Fields. It sounds like you`re familiar with the place, so maybe you can settle my mind on something. I could have sworn there was a little store right in Denio (not talking about the soda fridge and cookies department in the restaurant at the junction), but I didn`t see any sign of one. Maybe there`s one in Fields that I was thinking of and just misplaced it in my mind?

Lleo! (Llike that extra L? just keepin the theme :D) Thanks for dropping in, looking forward to riding with you Sat.

Thanks for the ego massage guys, but really these funky little bikes have been dragged through much rougher stuff than my little adventure.
For example:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/8178
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/7929

Just looking at the photo, it appears that your nice rear rack may not have sufficient lateral stiffness. If that is the case, you might want to consider doing something about that. It would cut down the lateral sway. One way to do it might be to add stays on each side going from the frame attachment points at the drop-outs to the middle cross member, attaching to the middle cross member at least an inch inboard of the outside fore and aft tubes. Does that make any sense?

Low Rack with gear pack sitting on top, seems fine
with Herr Heinz Stuke, for his many decades of touring.

path less pedaled pair adopted it for their gear packing layout.

Yeah, sorry the shakes at Fields are world-class, and available in about 20 flavors. Burgers are excellent too. Which is great since it's the only place you can buy prepared food for 100 miles in any direction, with the possible exception of Denio.
I haven't been through Denio in quite a few years, but I thought I remembered the usual desert "station" there (combination store-bar-cafe-"town" hall-gas station). I'll look it up in my copy of the Oregon Desert Guide by Andy Kerr (highly recommended for the area, and has a chart indicating which services are available in every settlement in SE Oregon).

EDIT: looking at Google Street View, I don't see anything "in" Denio proper (to the extent that one can even be "in" Denio), but it looks like there is a store at Denio Junction, a few miles south where Fields-Denio road intersects with highway 140. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=denio,...28.44,,0,30.53

For grins, click on the street view link above, and move a few yards east to the T intersection, where I'm happy to see one of my favorite billboards is still there: "Winnemucca ... City of Paved Streets."

What a great trip report, with great photos! Nice job. A question: did you take any special precautions against the goat head thorns that seem to be all over eastern WA and eastern OR.?

Dan
BF Pocket Companion

Goat heads are mostly a problem at lower elevations. I see them all over in places like the Deschutes Canyon, as well as most of eastern WA which is fairly low. But I've never seen them in SE Oregon, which is almost entirely above 3500' except in the Owyhee Canyonlands.

Yeah, I like their backpack trick even better than my way, but think the 20s are too big for that. I didn`t actually try it though, so maybe it could work.

Thanks, Glowboy. I did eat breakfast at the "station" at D. junction, and it was pretty good- was half kidding about the milkshake, but genuinely curious if the store I remember was actually in Fields.

I bet your guide book is interresting, but remember that things in one stop "towns" are very subject to change. For example, Burns Jct is completely closed now, there were a few years when Denio Jct was open, but unable to sell gas, and I once tried to buy gas in Rome, but the only station was out of it, so had to cross my fingers and backtrack to Jordan Valley. With only one or two businesses open in an area, you can never be sure what you`ll find when you get there. Further south, I`m happy to report that the store in Empire NV is open again- was closed briefly when the company running the town closed up shop.

I can`t see anything on the link (slow connection), will try when I get home. Did you know that 140 is billed in Winnemucca as the "Winnemucca to the sea" highway? I get a kick out of that because it doesn`t actually reach Winnemucca OR the sea! There`s still a sign with that slogan where you make the left turn for 95, northbound.

Hi, Dan. No, no precautions and really no trouble with them by the time I started the tour. The day before I started, I spent a few hours playing and riding around with a buddy and his kids in Meridian, through a bunch of playgrounds, canal trails, and parking lots. I pulled several goatheads out of the rubber that afternoon, but fortunately none went all the way through.

I follow you Clem, and yes it does make sense. I thought I might have to do something along those lines, but it turned out stiff enough without it. I think the very short legs go a long way in keeping it stiff, and I also beefed up and triangulated the front connection, which normally only functions to keep the rack from pivoting fore and aft. Seems to have done the trick. I did have trouble with the bag wanting to tip, though. If I ever have to stuff it that full again, I`ll think seriously about sewing a little loop to the top so I can tie it to my saddle rails. Credit to path Less Pedalled, of course :)

Glad it is stiff enough. I got a Jack Taylor touring bike many years ago. The racks were nice tubular steel, but they were a little flexible laterally. I put angled stays on the back as stiffeners and secured the front like you have on yours. It made a world of difference. Still light but stiff as hell.

It appears your lateral stiffness is dependent on the bolts at the top of the stays. Be sure the bolts are up to the job and carry adequate of spares.

Clem, we`re definitely on the same page :p
The forward stays just use simple bolts to little tabs, but I wanted to be sure the rears (further from the triangulated mount) were plenty stiff. I also used heavier steel (1/8 instead of .085) for the bottom end of the struts than I would have if I had been able to braze the whole thing solid and triangulate the legs.

As far as loading a 20" wheel , etc.
bikefriday.com/community/stucke,, Heinz had a Pocket Llama for a few years,

the Brompton folks sponsored Him with A Bike and perhaps additional support ,
so he parked the Bike Friday back at the company in Eugene.

Whoa, I did not know that. Thanks for the info. Fortunately Rome is pretty close by, but otherwise it can be a long way to get gas or other supplies with that one gone. So now if you're heading out from Burns on OR 78, it's now about 105 miles to the next gas in Rome (I've never seen the stations in Crane or Princeton open).