[eidolon]

Here is the start of the guessing game. What are the "Special Secret" mods to this Tailwind?

 

[eidolon]

I would love to see a popup camper along the lines of a Roll-A-Home with Tailwind technology. Can you imagine 70 pounds lighter with awesome suspension in a popup? Called the Tailwind XTcc

 

[Glockjock]

I want to play in this game, for I'd like to modify my Tailwind with a few of these ideas.

1. Ability to cat-nap sleep inside, making it a real Iron Butt Motel. This would involve:
A. A lid prop to prevent the lid from fully closing.
B. Mosquito netting
C. A larger battery to power an inverter which in turn would power my C-Pap machine and a small fan
D. A leveling system to provide extra stability. You know, if the trailer's rockin' don't bother knockin'.

2. I'd like a 4 gallon fuel cell, with a pump to pump gas to the Wing's tank. For those who carry extra fuel cells on the Wing, this is not necessary, but I really don't want to take up my rear seat with a fuel cell.

3. A small rear bumper to protect the trailer from those idiots at stoplights who get too close and ding me. (twice)

Knowing ZackyBilly, he's doing it up in spades. I can't wait to see it.

Glen

 

[MD11Pilot]

Zackabilly's tailwind mods

GlockjocK
I helped Tom take off and put on the lid when I repainted mine. Let's just say that it is pretty close to air tight in there. I would need the tail lights to pop out for my feet. Agree about the bumper or a pop out sledge hammer to warn them away.
Dan

 

[Glockjock]

GlockjocK
I helped Tom take off and put on the lid when I repainted mine. Let's just say that it is pretty close to air tight in there. I would need the tail lights to pop out for my feet. Agree about the bumper or a pop out sledge hammer to warn them away.
Dan

Yeah, Dan, sometimes there are advantages to being short. I of course couldn't stretch out, but I can lie in it with my knees bent and catch a few Z's.

I wouldn't do it though without a way to prevent the top from getting accidentally closed. The top is a pretty good airtight seal.

Glen

 

[eidolon]

Yeah, Dan, sometimes there are advantages to being short. I of course couldn't stretch out, but I can lie in it with my knees bent and catch a few Z's.

I wouldn't do it though without a way to prevent the top from getting accidentally closed. The top is a pretty good airtight seal.

Glen

I am sure Tom could engineer an elegant platform that hinged at the rear to accommodate a 6'5" person.. with netting or sides like the SlipStream... and still have plenty of room for cargo. Attached between the front hinges and secured to the top when not in use.
At only 18? pounds the lid would still not be very heavy with that sort of platform added if e-glass was used for the construction. Air mattress that inflated with the onboard air compressor that's already there... I'm just dreaming here.

But then there could be a whole new breed of trailer in the works....That's the reason for this speculative thread.
There are at least two people that know for sure and they ain't talkin. Yet.

 

[Zackybilly1]

Z

 

[eidolon]

Oh and it get's even more interesting!!!

OK, I see remote fuel storage with onboard pump and remote switch capability? If so I hope there is a bathroom on that Wing cause you will not have to stop for a while...
Seriously nice hitch, gotta put that into production. :bow:
Thank you very much Sir Z, may I have some more please!!

EDIT Ok, Looked at the hitch a little more closely and at the Revco page and your picture should be used in their advertising. Much better here than on their site. But I still like that hitch. I am guessing that one is in My future. End Edit

 

[moh58]

You have my attention too!

 

[Just Joey]

You have my attention too!

And mine too.:excited:

Now im not going to bed until I know.

 

[Just Joey]

Oh and it get's even more interesting!!!

OK, I see remote fuel storage with onboard pump and remote switch capability? If so I hope there is a bathroom on that Wing cause you will not have to stop for a while...
Seriously nice hitch, gotta put that into production. :bow:
Thank you very much Sir Z, may I have some more please!!

Ya don't think it's a high impact ejection seat do ya?:shock:

 

[eidolon]

Ya don't think it's a high impact ejection seat do ya?:shock:

With all that wiring it might auto recline....

 

[Zackybilly1]

And mine too.:excited:

Now im not going to bed until I know.

JustJoey,

I believe I met you over at Red Bluff. If I recall, it was your ****-O-Pegs I was checking out. I was the one that spanked the crotch rockets that day on the stretch of twisties...on my Wing...unfortunately, no trailer in tow. Six of them were cranking up leaving the Bluff and heading for the twisties. I heard one of them jokingly say to another..."maybe theres one you can handle" referring to me, my Wing or both.

They were relatively young and all decked out in pretty leathers, knee pucks and colorful boots. Before I knew what I was doing, I was stomping out my smoke, loading my helmet and firing up the bike. I let them all file out of the Bluff entrance and out on to the main road. Once out on the road, they were clustered up behind a farm truck pulling a trailer. We followed the truck through the first curve and they started working there way around the truck on the next little straight and the pace improved. I got the last guy in the pack with little difficulty. He was doing a serious set up going into the corners but was just dead slow. Once he was out of the way, I quickly caught up with the next guy in the rolling turns.

I saw this rider looking in his mirror and he seemed perplexed that I was behind him and not his buddy. I followed this cat through a couple of turns which I could tell he didn't like and determined he was just holding me up. He kept drifting around in the lane as if blocking me. In the next corner, I showed him my front tire on the inside line of the turn. The guy cut in on me to block me from passing. I don't know if he was trying to protect his buddies ahead from me or his own pride. Following him into the next corner, I dipped to the outside and let him see my headlight in his outside mirror and when he thought he had me blocked, I cut back over and took the inside line to pass him. Within a few turns, I was nipping at the next guy.

By then, we were getting into the section with longer straights and I was having to drive hard out of the corners and taching high in the straights. Naturally, I was getting eaten alive on the straights but offset alot of the damage by late braking in the corners as if I were going for the money. Got back into the tighter sections and I was all over the guy. When we got to the first 90 degree right-hand turn, while he was hard braking standing it on its nose in the center of the lane, I was backing it in carrying some speed on the inside line and was in front of him exiting the corner. It was getting interesting.

I pushed it hard until I caught the next two riders who were running neck and neck with each other. I pushed on them and intimidated them through the next series of turns. When we came to the 2nd 90 degree right-hand turn, they were hard braking, bunched up both fighting for and hogging the inside line. While they were pre-occupied with and on top of each other, I passed both of them on the outside line at the same time. Driving hard up the hill coming out of that tight corner, the hunt was on. Four down, two more to go.

I ran hard for the next series of turns and as the road began to calm down on the north end, I noticed the first two riders had pulled over in a gravel patch on the side of the road and were looking back (I guess for their buddies). They were obviously better riders than the rest of the pack based how much further up the road they were. I slowed down coming by them and made sure I flipped my modular open as to let them see the big smile on my face and gave them a little acknowledgment wave. They just looked puzzled. I continued down the road a mile or two at a slow speed watching my mirrors waiting to see if they wanted to continue the session...trolling I suppose. No show. I turned around to head back south and saw all six of them grouped up in the same gravel patch. As I approached them, some were laughing and most were not.

Once I passed them and cooled it down, when I was down the road a mile or so, I started laughing and laughed so hard I thought I was going to have to pull over. I couldn't stop laughing. I laughed until it hurt. Seriously, that was the best laugh I've had in many years before or since. I rode back to the Bluff to finish that smoke I didn't get earlier and the crotch rockets pulled back in 10-15 minutes later. By this time, I had stopped laughing and had re-gained my "lone wolf" composure. Although not much was said to me other than "that thing does alright" or a nod, (probably due to the size of the crowd there), the attitude was certainly different and there was alot of loud-mouth razzing going on. There were a couple of them that wouldn't even look me in the face as if I invalidated their need for a sportbike or fancy gear. Without trying to be too obvious, I fixated on trying to see how many of them really had scuffs on those pucks but couldn't tell much from where I was at.

I know many frown on this behavior but if you could bottle that feeling, you would be a rich man by tomorrow evening. If you have ever been competetive on a motorcycle of any kind, its hard not to be whe a good opportunity arises. My only regret is not having a video camera rolling.

Joey...if you weren't aware of what was going on, being familiar with the area, I knew you would enjoying knowing and appreciate it was done on a Wing. I guess we all thought we'd never be old pharts...but some days we don't have to be. The Wing gives an out-of-balance edge, whereas, if a sportbike outruns you on you Wing, he really has nothing much to brag about and its a hollow victory for him, but let the Wing outrun the sportbike and they play he11 ever living it down with their peers. Either way, its raw fun.

Z

 

[eidolon]

Huh? A bed time story so JustJoey can sleep now?
OK I'm good with that but for my story you have to pull the Tailwind 700 miles nonstop and slay the sport bikes then be able to just pull into a rest area and grab a nap in the trailer.....

 

[Zackybilly1]

With all that wiring it might auto recline....

The wiring has only just begun. Besides the Blue Sea block, this is a two Fuze block bike. After I install the proper filters and auto-disconnect, the welding machine in the trailer will power the doppler radar, a color plotter, the amp for the PA system and charge both the deep-cycle trolling motor batteries (wired in series) for the "low-rider" 24v hydraulic pump for cylinders on the bike's suspension.

Z

 

[eidolon]

The wiring has only just begun. Besides the Blue Sea block, this is a two Fuze block bike. After I install the proper filters and auto-disconnect, the welding machine in the trailer will power the doppler radar, a color plotter, the amp for the PA system and charge both the deep-cycle trolling motor batteries (wired in series) for the "low-rider" 24v hydraulic pump for cylinders on the bike's suspension.

Z

Awesome! You will also need to account for the power draw of the Dual Klieg Lights for night trolling for gators or blinding tailgaters!

As much more as you are willing to share about this project is appreciated. Great job on the whole thing so far.

 

[Just Joey]

Is that a stainless ball?

 

[Zackybilly1]

..... but for my story you have to pull the Tailwind 700 miles.....

It wasn't Nicky Hayden...it was Nicky Hayden wannabes fresh out of Nicky's dressing room. It kind of equates to a fellow showing up at a pool hall carrying his own fancy stick in a fancy case and getting his a55 handed to him by some guy shooting with a crooked, house "soup bone" with a loose tip.

700 miles? A day in the mountains maybe? Why stop after 700 miles?

Think big.

Z

 

[Zackybilly1]

Is that a stainless ball?

Joey,

I made those out of 17-4PH HH1150 (high grade stainless) with a strength of about 160,000 lbs yield (2x as strong as 4140 steel). The shank on the bottom is an integral part of the ball. I use a nylok nut on them and they are cross-drilled for a cotter pin. It will not rust. I made them a bit taller than those in the stores for more rotational clearance when hot-rodding with the trailer.

I probably have an extra laying in my shop but the catch is you'd have to ride over on a Wing to get it.

Sleep is over-rated.

Z

 

[Zackybilly1]

As much more as you are willing to share about this project is appreciated.

As it relates to the bike, you haven't seen anything yet. And when you do see it, it will not be like anything else you've ever seen before and possibly ever again. What I got coming, you can't get at WalMart or over the internet. It's not in J&P Cycle's Big Book nor available from WingStuff. Some will love it, some will question it and others will hate it. I suspect it will be WOW or WTF. I can hardly wait. Can't get the full effect or a ride report until its finished so until then, I'm playing with my cards close to my chest. Although it will be a little different, so far, the trailer will be tame compared to the bike.

Now, you know I hate doing that to you but its just the way its got to be. I don't want you to go into sensory over-load.

However, if you want to share your idea of your perfect Wing for the way you like to ride, I'd be interested in hearing which direction you would go, no matter how far fetched..

Z