Buddy and I recently bought bikes. Buying the bikes was just the beginning, so I thought I'd share what I discovered along our journey with the goal of helping future / current riders.
Trailer and accessories - $2500 - TLDR; 5x8 sure trac trailer setup properly can easily pull 2 bikes with a class 1 hitch with a loaded tongue weight of 160 lbs
We both have a class 1 hitch, making this one a bit tricky and required some research before buying the bikes to ensure we could haul them around. Our research landed us on a 5'x8' sure trac trailer from First Class Trailers (650 LBS empty). $1899 + tax, A frame, 15" wheels, leaf springs, with a spare, galvanized utility trailer. We removed the "wind catcher" ramp and had d-rings setup around the trailer for hook up. Empty tongue weight is 120 pounds on my 4 door sedan, with the wheel chocks set at 13" from the front of the trailer, it leaves 2" behind the bikes at the rear end of the trailer. This setup allows the bike weight to fall over the trailer axle. With a 250X and 230F loaded our tongue weight is only 160 pounds, perfect for a class 1 hitch.
Pulling this trailer is a breeze with the huge tires and leaf springs. Only time will tell how it holds up in our Canadian weather since its loaded with rivets on the side panels. We looked at other trailers but couldn't justify the extra $ for a non rivet trailers and simply couldn't pass up on the 15" wheels / large leaf springs. They all have there pro's and con's, sharing what worked well for us on a class 1 hitch.
Moto-Gate - we tried, it doesn't work well at all for a trailer. It's wide enough, but a trailer simply bounces too much that eventually it comes loose and falls. We did over 500 km's with it and finally gave in to good old traditional strap for the rear.
-$1899 trailer sure trac 5'x8'
-$130 foldable aluminum ramp from princess auto
-$80 for two bikemaster wheel chocks from FortNine + $8'ish for mounting hardware
-$34 USD for two motorsport aluminium fork savers from rockymountainatvmc https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/10 ... fork+saver
-$40 for 8x10' straps from CanadianTire (4 for the front, 2 for the rear)
Gear Wear - $500+ - TLDR; Shop FortNine for free shipping and $7 returns on everything; look at different colors for cheaper prices
I'm a big guy, 6' & 240lbs and had a lot of trouble finding stuff that fit me comfortably, especially the helmet and pants. I tried local shops, but the selection simply wasn't there for my size. I turned to online shopping and discovered FortNine's return policy, along with steep discounts on less popular color choices. You can order as much as you want, try it, doesn't fit, return it. You can return any number of items, which can also be from different orders, for only $7 per box full of returns. Best part, you do the return yourself online without talking to anyone. I completed 8 orders over 4 weeks and 3 returns to outfit myself head to toe.
Overstock on some colors = huge discounts, I explain...Alpinestars Tech 7's - I read so much about them, I really wanted a pair. Discovered the red / white / blue color scheme for $280 instead of $450 for most of the other colors. They do a great job of pricing items that are not "mainstream" or overstocked. Shop shop shop will save you a ton. I found Fox V3 / V4 helmets cheaper then V2's.
I also found that gear wear was in most cases cheaper or on par with Fortnine then on US websites, so I stopped looking south of the border for wearable's. US buying can also be tricky for returns, so this worked out really well with Fortnine.
Garage / bike accessories - mucho $ - TLDR; Rocky Mountain ATV & MC with border shipping; need cheap oils quick? check out Kanata Honda / Fortnine; Princessauto for tools
No one can touch Rocky Mountain ATV & MC for selection. We spent a ton just on oils, chemicals and bike accessories. but now we have everything we need for the next 2 years.
Most items are cheaper then anywhere else. I compared prices with a slew of Canadian and US online and brick stores (Revzilla, FortNine, Motosport, Wheelsports, Kanata Honda, crfonly just to name a few), and Rocky Mountain was cheapest by 10 to 50% on most items. On some items they were very close to FortNine once you accounted for USD to CAD conversion, but given we were making a large order, saving 2-3 dollars here and there added up fast. I also found Kanata Honda to be competitive on oils. If that's all you need, that's a great local option. And finally, princess auto for tools. The selection + pricing I've found to beat canadiantire / homedepot / lowes most of the time. The $199 bike lift from princess auto I discovered from another thread on this forum is awesome: https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/ ... -p8667792e
A note on Rocky Mountain warranty replacement. We bought two trail tech vapors and one of them came with a damaged speed sensor (cracked). Called them up, they asked for pictures and shipped (expedited package) a replacement free of charge directly to my house, not the border. Customer Service was top notch and had the replacement 6 business days later.
Also if that wasn't enough, Rocky Mountain gives you RM cash - think cash back / canadian tire money. It works out to 4 to 5% cashback to spend on future orders. Finally, if items you already purchased come on special shortly after, they give you the difference in RM cash automatically, you don't even have to monitor / ask for it.
US shopping / border shipping - TLDR; Kinek.com for border shipping
If you haven't discovered Kinek.com yet, look it up. It's a service that allows you to ship stuff to the border for cheap (no signup or annual fee, per package charging). One of the locations is Ogdensburg, a short 45min. drive from Ottawa. Costs are straight forward, essentially $5 a package. Our first Rocky order had 82 items and came in 5 boxes = $25 at pickup location + $10 gas + $3 bridge toll. Ask them for bridge toll tickets when you pick up your stuff, they sell them for cheap! I've done this for years with the N.A.C Logistics Kinek location and has never failed me. They will also ship stuff back to the merchant for you if you need to for whatever reason.
So why do I ship to the border and pickup? 99% of the time you won't pay the 20% duty, its free shipping, and all you pay is 13% HST on the USD to CAD amount, e.g.: $1000 USD converted to CAD is $1350, you pay 13% HST on $1350. Our import laws on goods is straight forward when it comes to duties. If the item is made in usa / mexico, no duty, if made elsewhere, 20% duty. When it comes to personal items you buy for yourself, you usually get a pass. I say usually, since in theory, you should be paying 20% since most of the stuff isn't made in USA / Mexico, but border agents don't charge the duty unless its alcohol / tabacco outside of your allowance. I've crossed items multiple times over the years and have yet to pay the 20% duty, even on large orders. Bring a detailed list of what you bought (receipts), and its easy going at the cash counter to pay the HST.
Garage Workbench - DIY <$100, 4 hours - TLDR; Build your own + SAMLA Ikea bins
Bike maintenance is just as much fun as riding, right? Buying a bike finally gave me an excuse to start getting my garage in order. I could not find a workbench that fit the bill for cheap, so I built one.
https://www.familyhandyman.com/workshop ... h/view-all
Only change I did was a full pegboard mounted from behind. The middle 2x4 makes for a great shelve but does break up your pegboard space. I also recommend the SAMLA bins at Ikea, multiple sizes and they work really well with the shelve space on this workbench, especially the top one if you have a low ceiling garage and plan to put your workbench under your garage door rail.
View attachment IMG_20170426_102323--.jpg
Insurance
State Farm or Dalton Timmis - look no further, pricing is very competitive and we were impressed by the plans they offer, even on house and car. We both switched everything to Dalton Timmis.
GPS setup - 75 to 150$ TLDR; Ram Mount Universal Finger-Grip + Mpow Waterproof bag + old used phone + Backcountry Navigator app
After much research I landed on using a Ram Mount Universal Finger-Grip with 2 ball joints and a U clamp to the bar http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-174-UN4U. I figured this would give me the best flexibility to try out different devices and also move it anywhere I want on my bars.
Next item, waterproofing. Most aqua boxes on the market suck and only offer "splash resistant", not "drop the bike in water resistant", so I went with a waterproof bag. I've purchased a lot of mpow / anker /aukey products in the past and have yet to be disappointed, so I picked https://www.amazon.ca/Waterproof-Mpow-U ... 1494038075.
Finally, what GPS app? I tried a ton of them, and prefer Backcountry Navigator (android) http://backcountrynavigator.com/ . You can try it out for free for 21 days, then its only 15$. You can record tracks, pause, create multi layers, multi databases, import, export, merge, download any map for offline mode, the list goes on. It's everything I want in a GPS software. The UI is a bit messy, but once you learn how to get around, its not bad. The "how to" documentation on the website is also pretty good.
PC editing software, I like GPX Editor (free, open source) https://sourceforge.net/projects/gpxeditor/ very simple, and allows you to add / remove / modify / merge tracks and waypoints, and you can overlay your tracks on google maps and edit from there.
As for the phone size with my setup I'm using a Nexus 4 with a 4.7" screen size. I also tried my OnePlus3T with a 5.5" screen without any problems, they both fit really well in this mount / bag setup. It's very easy to mount / unmount the phone, yet solid in place while riding crazy terrain.
I tried my setup last Friday and managed to record 75 km's over several hours without a hitch . The setup worked extremely well and highly recommend it to anyone trying to get a gps setup on the cheap side.
Update on my GPS setup, see: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2786&p=7465#p7465
View attachment IMG_20170503_165818--.jpg
View attachment IMG_20170503_165552--.jpg
-Our trail pack emergency kits are almost done with everything we wan't / need. I'll update the post in the near future with what we did.
-Something else we want to tackle is gear holders / setup in the trailer, either infront of the wheel chocks or between the bikes. I haven't found a good light weight option yet or build one out in the trailer, so for now the gear goes in bins in the car.
Nehoot, hope that helps.
Happy to answer any questions.
Trailer and accessories - $2500 - TLDR; 5x8 sure trac trailer setup properly can easily pull 2 bikes with a class 1 hitch with a loaded tongue weight of 160 lbs
We both have a class 1 hitch, making this one a bit tricky and required some research before buying the bikes to ensure we could haul them around. Our research landed us on a 5'x8' sure trac trailer from First Class Trailers (650 LBS empty). $1899 + tax, A frame, 15" wheels, leaf springs, with a spare, galvanized utility trailer. We removed the "wind catcher" ramp and had d-rings setup around the trailer for hook up. Empty tongue weight is 120 pounds on my 4 door sedan, with the wheel chocks set at 13" from the front of the trailer, it leaves 2" behind the bikes at the rear end of the trailer. This setup allows the bike weight to fall over the trailer axle. With a 250X and 230F loaded our tongue weight is only 160 pounds, perfect for a class 1 hitch.
Pulling this trailer is a breeze with the huge tires and leaf springs. Only time will tell how it holds up in our Canadian weather since its loaded with rivets on the side panels. We looked at other trailers but couldn't justify the extra $ for a non rivet trailers and simply couldn't pass up on the 15" wheels / large leaf springs. They all have there pro's and con's, sharing what worked well for us on a class 1 hitch.
Moto-Gate - we tried, it doesn't work well at all for a trailer. It's wide enough, but a trailer simply bounces too much that eventually it comes loose and falls. We did over 500 km's with it and finally gave in to good old traditional strap for the rear.
-$1899 trailer sure trac 5'x8'
-$130 foldable aluminum ramp from princess auto
-$80 for two bikemaster wheel chocks from FortNine + $8'ish for mounting hardware
-$34 USD for two motorsport aluminium fork savers from rockymountainatvmc https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/10 ... fork+saver
-$40 for 8x10' straps from CanadianTire (4 for the front, 2 for the rear)
Gear Wear - $500+ - TLDR; Shop FortNine for free shipping and $7 returns on everything; look at different colors for cheaper prices
I'm a big guy, 6' & 240lbs and had a lot of trouble finding stuff that fit me comfortably, especially the helmet and pants. I tried local shops, but the selection simply wasn't there for my size. I turned to online shopping and discovered FortNine's return policy, along with steep discounts on less popular color choices. You can order as much as you want, try it, doesn't fit, return it. You can return any number of items, which can also be from different orders, for only $7 per box full of returns. Best part, you do the return yourself online without talking to anyone. I completed 8 orders over 4 weeks and 3 returns to outfit myself head to toe.
Overstock on some colors = huge discounts, I explain...Alpinestars Tech 7's - I read so much about them, I really wanted a pair. Discovered the red / white / blue color scheme for $280 instead of $450 for most of the other colors. They do a great job of pricing items that are not "mainstream" or overstocked. Shop shop shop will save you a ton. I found Fox V3 / V4 helmets cheaper then V2's.
I also found that gear wear was in most cases cheaper or on par with Fortnine then on US websites, so I stopped looking south of the border for wearable's. US buying can also be tricky for returns, so this worked out really well with Fortnine.
Garage / bike accessories - mucho $ - TLDR; Rocky Mountain ATV & MC with border shipping; need cheap oils quick? check out Kanata Honda / Fortnine; Princessauto for tools
No one can touch Rocky Mountain ATV & MC for selection. We spent a ton just on oils, chemicals and bike accessories. but now we have everything we need for the next 2 years.
Most items are cheaper then anywhere else. I compared prices with a slew of Canadian and US online and brick stores (Revzilla, FortNine, Motosport, Wheelsports, Kanata Honda, crfonly just to name a few), and Rocky Mountain was cheapest by 10 to 50% on most items. On some items they were very close to FortNine once you accounted for USD to CAD conversion, but given we were making a large order, saving 2-3 dollars here and there added up fast. I also found Kanata Honda to be competitive on oils. If that's all you need, that's a great local option. And finally, princess auto for tools. The selection + pricing I've found to beat canadiantire / homedepot / lowes most of the time. The $199 bike lift from princess auto I discovered from another thread on this forum is awesome: https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/ ... -p8667792e
A note on Rocky Mountain warranty replacement. We bought two trail tech vapors and one of them came with a damaged speed sensor (cracked). Called them up, they asked for pictures and shipped (expedited package) a replacement free of charge directly to my house, not the border. Customer Service was top notch and had the replacement 6 business days later.
Also if that wasn't enough, Rocky Mountain gives you RM cash - think cash back / canadian tire money. It works out to 4 to 5% cashback to spend on future orders. Finally, if items you already purchased come on special shortly after, they give you the difference in RM cash automatically, you don't even have to monitor / ask for it.
US shopping / border shipping - TLDR; Kinek.com for border shipping
If you haven't discovered Kinek.com yet, look it up. It's a service that allows you to ship stuff to the border for cheap (no signup or annual fee, per package charging). One of the locations is Ogdensburg, a short 45min. drive from Ottawa. Costs are straight forward, essentially $5 a package. Our first Rocky order had 82 items and came in 5 boxes = $25 at pickup location + $10 gas + $3 bridge toll. Ask them for bridge toll tickets when you pick up your stuff, they sell them for cheap! I've done this for years with the N.A.C Logistics Kinek location and has never failed me. They will also ship stuff back to the merchant for you if you need to for whatever reason.
So why do I ship to the border and pickup? 99% of the time you won't pay the 20% duty, its free shipping, and all you pay is 13% HST on the USD to CAD amount, e.g.: $1000 USD converted to CAD is $1350, you pay 13% HST on $1350. Our import laws on goods is straight forward when it comes to duties. If the item is made in usa / mexico, no duty, if made elsewhere, 20% duty. When it comes to personal items you buy for yourself, you usually get a pass. I say usually, since in theory, you should be paying 20% since most of the stuff isn't made in USA / Mexico, but border agents don't charge the duty unless its alcohol / tabacco outside of your allowance. I've crossed items multiple times over the years and have yet to pay the 20% duty, even on large orders. Bring a detailed list of what you bought (receipts), and its easy going at the cash counter to pay the HST.
Garage Workbench - DIY <$100, 4 hours - TLDR; Build your own + SAMLA Ikea bins
Bike maintenance is just as much fun as riding, right? Buying a bike finally gave me an excuse to start getting my garage in order. I could not find a workbench that fit the bill for cheap, so I built one.
https://www.familyhandyman.com/workshop ... h/view-all
Only change I did was a full pegboard mounted from behind. The middle 2x4 makes for a great shelve but does break up your pegboard space. I also recommend the SAMLA bins at Ikea, multiple sizes and they work really well with the shelve space on this workbench, especially the top one if you have a low ceiling garage and plan to put your workbench under your garage door rail.
View attachment IMG_20170426_102323--.jpg
Insurance
State Farm or Dalton Timmis - look no further, pricing is very competitive and we were impressed by the plans they offer, even on house and car. We both switched everything to Dalton Timmis.
GPS setup - 75 to 150$ TLDR; Ram Mount Universal Finger-Grip + Mpow Waterproof bag + old used phone + Backcountry Navigator app
After much research I landed on using a Ram Mount Universal Finger-Grip with 2 ball joints and a U clamp to the bar http://www.rammount.com/part/RAM-B-174-UN4U. I figured this would give me the best flexibility to try out different devices and also move it anywhere I want on my bars.
Next item, waterproofing. Most aqua boxes on the market suck and only offer "splash resistant", not "drop the bike in water resistant", so I went with a waterproof bag. I've purchased a lot of mpow / anker /aukey products in the past and have yet to be disappointed, so I picked https://www.amazon.ca/Waterproof-Mpow-U ... 1494038075.
Finally, what GPS app? I tried a ton of them, and prefer Backcountry Navigator (android) http://backcountrynavigator.com/ . You can try it out for free for 21 days, then its only 15$. You can record tracks, pause, create multi layers, multi databases, import, export, merge, download any map for offline mode, the list goes on. It's everything I want in a GPS software. The UI is a bit messy, but once you learn how to get around, its not bad. The "how to" documentation on the website is also pretty good.
PC editing software, I like GPX Editor (free, open source) https://sourceforge.net/projects/gpxeditor/ very simple, and allows you to add / remove / modify / merge tracks and waypoints, and you can overlay your tracks on google maps and edit from there.
As for the phone size with my setup I'm using a Nexus 4 with a 4.7" screen size. I also tried my OnePlus3T with a 5.5" screen without any problems, they both fit really well in this mount / bag setup. It's very easy to mount / unmount the phone, yet solid in place while riding crazy terrain.
I tried my setup last Friday and managed to record 75 km's over several hours without a hitch . The setup worked extremely well and highly recommend it to anyone trying to get a gps setup on the cheap side.
Update on my GPS setup, see: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2786&p=7465#p7465
View attachment IMG_20170503_165818--.jpg
View attachment IMG_20170503_165552--.jpg
-Our trail pack emergency kits are almost done with everything we wan't / need. I'll update the post in the near future with what we did.
-Something else we want to tackle is gear holders / setup in the trailer, either infront of the wheel chocks or between the bikes. I haven't found a good light weight option yet or build one out in the trailer, so for now the gear goes in bins in the car.
Nehoot, hope that helps.
Happy to answer any questions.
