My Newest Versahaul Set Up Trial by Fire West Coast Run

I’m going to slightly modify a Fly Racing folding aluminum ramp which is stronger than the steel Versahaul ramp yet lighter and a few feet longer for less steep load angle

Garfish said:

Man, that looks like a slick set-up!
Let us know how it works out for you.
Care to share any details on your latest TW acquisition?
Enquiring minds want to know!

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Yes I’ll post as soon as it’s real lol
Here’s the Versahaul with the first TW I tried it’s a 2021 with 121 miles pictured at the northern Cali coast along the 101 in Humboldt county one of my favorite travel stops due to beauty and no civilization to speak of

Great to have you back posting LT it just ain’t the same here w/o you Brother !

so last night I delivered a Kendon single to Anacortes WA and by coincidence a decent looking 06 TW popped up on CL for $3k listed as “Yamaha dual sport” it had 4300 miles and I normally don’t look at anything over 1000 miles but price seemed right and it was right on my route so I looked at it and it was better than usual condition for 4300 miles with no unusual wear I could see signs of the notorious base gasket leak and I was still going to buy it for $2850 partly to help out the nice widow lady who was selling her husbands bikes we got to the money for title phase and she had affidavit of lost title vs the actual title meaning I have to go to the Gawd awful WA state DMV pay 10.3% sales tax and wait 6 weeks for the title to arrive
Since I wanted to take it to Prescott where there’s no sales tax on private party vehicle sales the paperwork would not work for me so I passed but if any WA forum members want a decent 06 TW I’m happy to share the ladies contact info

Today I delivered sweet 2021 TW in Oregon and the guy asked if the hitch carrier came with the TW I he said the last TW he bought included a hitch carrier lol
I politely explained I had just finished assembling that carrier and had well north of $1000 into it and lot of time and travel procuring the parts so the price of the carrier might rival the price of his new TW lol
I got lucky and a few miles away a gent had this 2021 KLX300 with 66 miles it has nice Renthal bars. risers and Tusk hand guards for a great price so I couldn''t say no!

Motor7 said:

I made a bike trailer out of a single wave runner trailer. It was so narrow I had trouble seeing it when backing. I zip tied a 10' stick of 1/2" pvc pipe across the deck frame, then hung two short surveyor flags off each end.....problem solved for about $6.
With that TC and dually, you might need something like that, unless you have a camera back there.

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Excellent observation and a very real problem

I did add a rear camera to my Blackvue dashcam for this trip but I decided to use the rear cam as an interior driver cam to monitor any potential LE or other incidents at my drivers door area

I add a sticky note to my steering wheel, windshield or GPS screen depending on my tow rig to remind me of the trailer

I have only had a few issues and all were a result of being road weary and pulling up to a gas pump that is either out of order or where another car speeds in the opposite direction and blocks you from the pumps, then I try to hurriedly back up as to get to another pump island and I forget the trailer is behind me I have caught it right as it was fully jack-knived and never hurt anything on my trucks but in my Prius I did put a small ding in my plastic rear bumper

I have had people crash into my Kendons while they were unloaded no less than 7 times once by a CHP officer who nearly pushed my Prius into heavy PCH traffic while I was stopped at a red light (story at a later time lol) I recommend installing lighted 4' whips on the trailer they are so low to the ground people seem to forget they are there and they try to pull up closer to your car and they hit the trailer it happened mostly at construction delays, long red lights and drive thrus

In a drive through a new Mustang GT ran into my trailer and as the guy backed up I saw massive damage to his spoiler and running lights (no damage to my rig) but he sped off and backed into a steel post crunching a huge dent into the back of his new Mustang I actually felt bad for him I would not have asked him for anything other than please be careful in the future lol

if you have a bike etc on the trailer they can see it and it's no problem

PS the real reason for the rear hitch carrier is because California enforces a 55 mph speed limit on vehicles towing trailers (btw most states have rules re lower trailer towing speeds but rarely enforced) and driving 55 mph on Cali freeways will not make you a very popular person! I can haul 3 or maybe 4 if I squeeze in my truck and one on the rear carrier before I need to add a trailer. Cali also requires any bumper extensions to have stop, turn and tail lighting as well as license plate mounts if your load obstructs the view of the license pate

For this trip I picked up a nice set of Discount Ramps brand 10’ long by 2’ wide ramps 1200lb rated so I can walk or even ride up safely wet or dry they are a bit bulky but my new carrier holds them nicely
As I get older I realized my loading using thin steep ramps and plastic stepping stools is a recipe for an accident so I’m very happy to get some nice ramps
Funny I bought that exact ramp set 15 yers ago and sold them when I didn’t use them but now that I have tried them about 6 times I can’t believe I didn’t use them all the long

The not so fun part of travel

UFO cloaking device over Black Butte near Mt Shasta

BTW the UFO cloud caps actually formed over Mt Shasta and just happened to drift over near Black Butte as I was driving by - pics taken going 65mph through the windshield lol

Allanb said:

Nice set up placerload! What kind of camper do ya have on there? Nice, simple, clean lines.
slick carrier too. Wish I had know about them before I went with the motojax.
Just fyi. there is a great little vehicle registration place in anacortes. Probably could have squared it all away.

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It's actually a canopy made from a TIG welded aluminum square tube frame from a place in Winters CA out in a corn field they make canopies for many retailers

BTW the canopy mfg is "Advanced Mfg" and they refer to this tall canopy line as "Tradesman Canopies" last I checked 2013 they had a terrible website and almost no web presence an older gent owned the biz and didn't see the need for "that darned interweb stuff" lol but he complain ed about not selling many canopies

I bought 3 of these in 2012 two for RAM and i for my 1997 F350 I have had great fun with all of them I can sleep in my bunk over the cab and I can see out 360 degrees from bed and even though the glass is clear you can't see in it looks black for some reason but I do have solar shields I can lower for assured privacy

they have never leaked a drop and I have been very happy with them

The only downside is a loss of aprx 2 mpg due to the wind displacement factor and in a snow storm in Flagstaff in January a 50mph side wind gust spun me 90 degrees in a split second and came close to wrecking me and the truck lol but through dumb luck and steering I saved it but ruined my clean shorts lol

I'll post a pic showing the inside and the new ramp set when I unload tomorrow

Xracer said:

I also have a single rail Versahaul and you are giving me idea's. The only mod I've done is to install non-skid on both the ramp and rails. Wet steel gets kind of slippery.

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the non skid is another great idea the decks are too slippery

The TW has such limited suspension travel that when you cinch down 4 straps (I use 6 2 on each end and two in the middle) the TW rarely moves anywhere

I did have a learning experience loading my CRF300L Rally I got it done after midbight and it was cold and blowing in Prescott Valley and I was tired so I went to close up the truck and locked my damn keys inside! I had a spare in my canopy but didn't want to untie the CRF and unload it by myself the dang things are tall and top heavy vs the TW and they are a bit scary to load on Versahauls deck

I realized my rear canopy door opened just far enough to squeeze through so I climbed up on the CRF planning to climb over it and when I got almost to the top it started to fall backwards as the suspension compressed and felt like it was nearly horizontal when I caught it but all of the straps stayed attached and it uprighted itself but scared the snot out of me lol

The suspension has so much travel and the shocks are gushy on the CRF and I am near 285 lbs now (doh!) I should have known the suspension would compress

so back to the smooth deck I was worried the tires were gonna slide off the deck and that might have bent or scratched rims on my showroom CRF300L Rallly so I think we should be tying the rims to the deck AND using non skid on the deck

PS I promised ramp pics and one showing my 2021 CRF300L Rally and that’s before I added the extra deck on my Versahaul Sport

PS-2 you can add a deck to a model VH-55 just make sure you get another VH-55 deck as the Sport model is slightly longer and you need the tie down rails to slide through properly aligned
I thought about using an ATV Versahaul they have even wider ramps but are not quite as long and they don't have the tie down arms that extend 10" for fastening bikes - The ATV use eyelets which pull straight down which is great for ATV's since they don't have to be balanced upright like bikes do

It’s always cold when I’m in Reno today was no exception! Picked up a nice 2022 wife’s TW with 650 miles

Good morning from Turner OR

Wonderful to see Lake Shasta at what appears to be 90% levels and still lots of snow in the mountains. I never thought I’d see it again one of my favorite most beautiful areas in the world.