The Build

I am not going to go into the whole "why a postie bike" thang, suffice to say you work with what you have. We have owned the bike for a while and dragged it around the country for a year on the back of a bus (http://evosheas.blogspot.com.au/), during which time it never failed to start first time every time. So why not.

The next thing to do was to ask a bona fide postman (thanks Trev) did he know of a good CT110 mechanic who could lay their hands on the machine and correct any faulty components invisible to my eyes. Trev directed me to the champion CT110 guru mechanic Ken, who replaced the front and rear sprockets and generally tweaked all components into ship-shape working order. Thanks also to both Trev and Ken, I procured some ex-postie pannier frames, panniers and a handlebar bag, and then mined the collective knowledge of a local Australian postie bike forum (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/postiebikes/) on the best way to go about setting up the rig, and proceeded to pimp my ride. Here's the bike without any modifications except for some nice new CT110 stickers and the chrome front rack which bolts onto the forks and sits above the headlight. Click on the pix for a better view.

The first thing i did was to construct some skeletons for the panniers in order to help give them some shape. Given that they had been retired from postal service they were pretty flogged out. I used corflute which is the same material they make real estate "For Sale" signs from. Then i sprayed them matt black. The other good idea i had seen was the attachment of "rocket launchers" to the front bash plate struts so i got some PVC pipe and caps from the plumbing shop and knocked up a pair. I also bought a sheepskin seat cover and stitched a clear plastic map cover onto the top of the handlebar bag. Another idea was the inclusion of a thin piece of plywood between the original chrome rear rack seen above and the pannier base frame which sits on top of it. This allowed me to overhang the plywood 100mm or so beyond the chrome rear rach which ultimately allows me to strap gear behind the milk crate. See below for a visual. Again, click on the pix for a better view.

So thar she blows. Packed low. Five litres of fuel, five litres of water and one litre of oil in the milk crate. Bed roll and tarps on the front chrome rack. Butane stove, cooking utensils, food, clothes, tools, spares etc etc in the side panniers and a tent and sleeping bag on the back. Lets roll. Last weekend in July 2012 = test run.