From as far back as I can remember, 15 years or so, I have wanted to combine two of my favorite things to do. Riding motorcycles and surfing. How awesome would it be to hop on a bike and shoot through a canyon or some city traffic and land at the beach. A quick change of clothes and hop in the water. Sounds like a dream. Well, dreams come true.
One of my rides is a 2002 Honda XR650l . It’s a great traffic bike when I want to zip around through downtown and the freeways when they are packed with cars during rush hour. I have taken her out in the dirt a handful of times too. She’s a bit heavy for the dirt but still a lot of fun. It’s the ak47 of motorcycles. Great for all around fun and reliable. Not very precise but very effective. Perfect for any chance of a post apocalyptic future.
I added some side panel racks and a luggage rack about a year or so after I purchased the bike. The main problem was that the luggage rack was not enough to support the weight of a board. On an XR650 the luggage rack sort of dangles over the back fender.
I purchased a surf rack system on Amazon that was made for mopeds. It has two separate mounting pipes and some extra hardware which could have been a big help depending on where the mounting would be done. They also have solo mount options available as well.
A couple of pieces of flat stock and angle iron. A couple of tabs, and a few bolts and we are ready to weld. I am using a little Chicago 110 welder with no gas. Not great by any means but it got the job done. It just needed a little more clean up (grinding) than normal.
The piece of straight stock on the back right needed a lot of old school black smithing. In other words I torched, hammered and twisted it to my needs. Robert shaped it a little more after we drilled wholes into it. 1/4 steel might be overkill.
Here it is with my old Dog Town Longboard skate. That board could be in a museum! As far as the rack, it sits perfectly.
Here is the first run with a 7’6″ JK Surfboard. This board is very wide and over 3.5 inches thick. It handles it just fine. I will run it with a performance longboard and a short board to see how it works out.
I really would love to take this down to Baja and ride around to all the hidden surf breaks. For now I will just keep cruising to all my local spots here in So Cal.
When James isn’t working, surfing or riding he is content to hang out with his family, making them laugh till they pee and baking a mean artisanal sourdough batard.
Here’s a quick example of how I wax a surfboard.
When James isn’t working, surfing or riding he is content to hang out with his family, making them laugh till they pee and baking a mean artisanal sourdough batard.
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