I am buying a postie bike - any tips or ideas on this from users would be helpful.

This coming winter I am off to WA for six weeks and want to get a postie bike for use over there. I will be mounting it on the extended A frame of my caravan (with a dust proof cover).

Can any users please answer some questions or advise me about important things I have not asked about.

I was thinking of buying a new bike, with the low range. Is this a good idea, or is the single range with full time lower gearing a better option ?

What, apart from detecting gear, do you carry on the bike (like fuel, water, oil etc) ?

HOw do you fix a puncture on a bike ? Same as a car ? Are the tyres tubeless. If you stake a sidewall and the hole is too big to plug, can you get the tyre off ( without major tools), patch it and put a tube in, or is it a walk back to camp job.

Do you have to refill the tank during a normal days detecting ? I have no idea what the range is.

What do you think is the best way to carry a detector on the bike (in one piece or two pieces) ?

What are the best type of carry boxes to mount front and back ?

Are their any options I should order with the new bike ?

Thanks a lot,

Jig.

Went to Tibby with Freshwater, he on his Postie and me on my quad.
I was amazed with the posties ability to stay upright on some of the crap we rode through, it's light weight and small amount of space in the trailer, so much so I bought one when we returned.


So with my limited experience with my quad I'll try and answer some points.

Jigalong wrote:This coming winter I am off to WA for six weeks and want to get a postie bike for use over there. I will be mounting it on the extended A frame of my caravan (with a dust proof cover).

Can any users please answer some questions or advise me about important things I have not asked about.

I was thinking of buying a new bike, with the low range. Is this a good idea, or is the single range with full time lower gearing a better option ?

From what i understand, models prior to this years with the duel range cant be registered. Honda have released a duel range registerable as of 2010.
Mine is an ex-postie single range and so far has gone anywhere I've asked it to. I noticed a lot change the sprockets for some cheap extra low down grunt

What, apart from detecting gear, do you carry on the bike (like fuel, water, oil etc) ?

Water, food, firstaid etc all go in my backpack, I occasionally carry a coil or two bungie straped on the rear rack

HOw do you fix a puncture on a bike ? Same as a car ? Are the tyres tubeless. If you stake a sidewall and the hole is too big to plug, can you get the tyre off ( without major tools), patch it and put a tube in, or is it a walk back to camp job.

Firstly, don't get John to fix it Tyres are tubed, but with a bit of practice you change them like a pushie tyre, and it gets easier with every go and can be done in the field. John had a puncture in his and rode it all afternoon and back to camp. At $17 for a tyre and tube, it's no biggy if you stuff one

Do you have to refill the tank during a normal days detecting ? I have no idea what the range is.

No, you'll get a days heavy riding from a tank, they have a reserve, dont do what I did though and start off in reserve.

What do you think is the best way to carry a detector on the bike (in one piece or two pieces) ?

One piece, strapped over the shoulder with the lower shaft going through the handle bar

What are the best type of carry boxes to mount front and back ?

You can get a purpose built rear box, but a milk crate fits perfectly and is a lot cheaper when stollen from behind the local fish and chip shop

Are their any options I should order with the new bike ?

Camo paint work...ask Marco for the colour code



Thanks a lot,

Jig.

[b]

Thanks Tuna, good info.
Jig.

Hi Jigalong, check out www.postiebikes.com (FAQ's section) for a run down on models and changes and buying a postie (CT110). The bikes made for Australia Post are stronger and better then the low range ag models. The website and others that you can find by google will point out common problems to look for when buying second hand (cracked main frame near forks, dodgy first gears etc)

Models after 1998 are better i believe. Pickles auctions sell the ex postie bikes every couple of months or there are plenty on ebay.

I paid $1600 for a 2008 model (ex Aus Post) with 17,000kms on it. I put a 11 tooth front sprocket on it and it goes up rough steep hills with ease. 17,000kms is nothing for a maintained postie, most go well with 30-45000 kms on them.

They are a good prospecting bike if you only have limited space to carry one on a 4WD or trailer/van frame. My bike got me to spots that would take an hour to walk to from any spot a 4wd could get to and it paid for itself in a matter of days. My only concern is I recommend you should have a buddy on any prospecting trips where you are off on the bike alot. I have had a couple close calls where I could have fallen off and got injured. Certainly the risk is greater then just walking around detecting.

Tributer

Ya cant go wrong with a postie bike jig, just look at the way most posties flog the arse out of them, up and down the gutters, into the side of peoples cars pulling out of drive-ways, falling off them all the time, pranging them into brick walls, running over people and dogs on the side-walk, leaving them to deliver mail down a steep dive way, only to return and find that I stole it for a joy ride and dumped it off a bridge, or gave it to a bunch of hoons at the local park to finish off
Thats why they off load them at 17,000klm.
As Tributer says, water off a ducks back to a postie.

Iv had a few, but what I did with them was not or the norm, they were not of the postie configuration for any real length of time while in my care.
However they look good in a trike configuration, and a side-car.

Gday


I got my hands on a postie bike a short time back with the same idea of setting it up for the bush, initially I thought about setting it up to drag a coil but then decided not to do that but to set it up just for getting about looking for new ground.

With the amount of ground that has been flogged to death you best chance of getting onto a patch is to simply investigate more ground than you can on foot, the best thing about the postie bike is that its able to get into some spots that the quads cant, and can be carried on a bike carrier rather than on a trailer, I have watched people using quads and for the most part they seemed to stay on the tracks rather than go through the bush.

I havent started to modify mine as yet as I thought I would leave that for a summer project, but I have started to get some bits and pieces for it, there are a couple of things that I think are really important to do if you want to get about the bush on it and limit the problems you could have.

1. fit knobby tyres and heavy duty tubes and fill with slime to prevent leaks
2. change sprockets to lower drive ratio and make it easier to handle hill climbs and sandy areas (if not a dual ratio type bike)
3. carry a few spares, spark plug etc, and some tools.
4. fit a rack or crate to the back to carry your detector and things like water, spare coil, battery etc
5. make a mounting for the handlebars to carry gps and uhf radio.

There are probably some other things I will do along the way, also I think that it is really important that you mount your detector on the bike rather that do as I have seen others doing, carying it over their shoulder while riding, thats all well and good until you come off, firstly you might try to save the detector from being damaged if you get into problems and end up getting damaged yourself, same with the gps etc, mount it somewhere so that you have both hands available to handle the bike.

One method I saw for carrying the detector was having a crate mounted to the back, their was a length of say 50mm pvc pipe about a mtr or so long fitted inside of the crate, the detector was placed into the crate on its end with the shaft shortened, and then attached with a bungy cord to the pvc pipe, so it remained upright.

The other way I was thinking of was to make a mounting at the side of the crate so that I could secure the detector control box into that and then have a support bar facing out the back to support to shaft and coil, that way I could leave the crate free for the other stuff, I will have a closer look at each way and see what is the best method.

cheers

stayyerAU

Tributer, Narawa and stayyerAU,

Thank you all very much for the information. I am going out this morning to look at a couple of second hand ones and to a dealer to to check out a new one.

I have seen guys in Cue with their detectors broken down into the two pieces in the milk crate on the back. That looked reasonably safe. I will have to have a look at Tuna's set-up as well, as I have only seen him and Freshwater putting past in the distance. Most of my gear (UHF, GPS) are kept in a small backpack, but I can see a need for the GPS to be on the handlebars when locating a spot I have found on Google.

Heavy duty tubes and slime is a great idea. I guess a spare tube might be a good thing to carry as well. I will ask the dealer about this. Can anybody recommend any particular tyre brand / model ?

Do you guys wear helmets out in the bush ?

Thanks again,

Jig

Gday Jig


My bike already had some knobby tyres on it but they look a bit average, so I bought 2 knobby tyres and two heavy duty tubes (they are thicker at the bottom) off abay, think it cost me about $75 all up including delivery.

If you buy a new one they may give you the option of what type of tyres etc you want as they are really an agricultural type bike made for farm use, and would be able to add slime as well, its used a lot on quad bikes.

On ebay there are all sorts of things for them like different sprockets, spare chains etc (that reminds me carrying a spare chain or joining links would be a good idea too) and a spark plug, attaching one of those small metal ammo boxes for tools and bits and pieces is something else I was thinking of too, the type that the link ammo comes in.

Also I just remembered, the other day while passing a mob in town that sells the Polaris quads etc, I saw that one of them had a big plastic rifle holder attached to it, I dont carry a rifle but one of those attched to the bike would keep people from messing with you wouldnt it

cheers

stayyerAU

Jig ask Narawa re tubes...he mentioned to me about something he used to paint in the tyre which prevented punctures.

As for the detector over the shoulder, the strap goes over the head and shoulder and the detector goes under the arm...control box behind and coil out front. You sort of wear it like you did your old school bag.

On a postie when going bush we are doing very low speed just poking about. Basically you dont crash, due to thier design and size you step off and let the bike go. If the detector is on the bike, the detector is subject to damage.
When stepping off you're saving yourself and the detector gets saved because it's on you. Your hands are free, GPS, UHF etc are all on your body.
In the rough crap we are going as little as 5 to 10 kph and often with both feet on the ground like training wheels.

Yep a crash could happen at speed....if you're riding that way, which we generally don't. I've seen Freshie come off his with the detector over his shoulder and his bum didn't even touch the ground. Had the detector been on the bike....damage? who knows.

As for the quads, I've only ever found one place the quad couldn't go that a postie could and that is a small gap around a locked gate with a sheer drop off into a ravine.
Yeah a postie can fit between a couple of narrow trees, the quad just goes around them. When riding through spinafex and tussocks the postie goes around, the quad just goes over.
At Tibby, there were some rock and shale covered hills where Freshie had to negotiate a way down where with the quad you just stuck it in 1st gear and pointed it down hill, sat there and enjoyed the ride.

Tracks are for pussies!

I'd rather my quad...but posties can be registered and my quad couldn't be

When you get the bike jigalong,pull the wheels off in the shed and practice removing and fitting the tyres a few times,it sounds like youve never changed bike tyres before,at first you will hate it but after a few goes it will get easier.Don't leave the practice for the first puncture in the scrub.
Im an ex enduro/motocross racer and i had a motorcross tyre retreading business for a long time so ive done my fair share of tyres.
Buy some decent tyre levers
The slime sounds interesting,ive never seen it used,another thing you can do is get heavy duty tubes(im not sure on postie bike sizes) metzeller used to be the thickest and best for our race bikes but maybe not available in postie sizes.Before enduro races i used to double tube my tyres,basically pull the tube in the tyre out,cut it around the inside with a stanly knife,cut the valve out as your going,wrap it around the new tube going in,put them back in the tyre,plenty of talcom powder inside helps also.This realy works.
Carry levers and tools,tubes,small hand pump or even easier co2 canistors so you can fix a flat 10klms from camp and you'll be good.
Im picking up a CT200 next week for prospecting and i'll be setting up the tyres something along these lines,i was thinking about a postie but i might be able to get the little woman on the back of the CT200 from time to time as they have a bigger seat.

Goldchaser,

Great info on the tyres. You are correct - I have never changed a bike tyre. I have however changed a few 4WD tyres and patched tubeless tyres and put tubes into them (not legal, but in the desert). As you say, talcum powder is a must with tubes. Unfortunately, when I sold my Tyre Pliers I sold all my patches etc, but I can build a new set.

Good idea to practice as you suggested. I all seems a lot harder in the scrub ! Will use an extra tube as you suggest - smart.

I don't need room for my wife as she gets bored with detecting.

Thanks a lot,

Jig

Oh you'll be fine then,they are actually a little harder then car tyres as you haven't got as much sidewall to flex when levering.

Another little tip is whenn levering the tyre on as soon as the bead starts going over the edge of the rim you start to twist the lever out in the process,much less chance of pinching the tube,a little hard to explain in words.
My early days i'd pinch the odd one levering tyres on but since i changed the way i use the lever i haven't pinched a tube for 10yrs i reckon.
Good luck with the postie,when i can afford it im getting a camper trailer and i'll mount the bike on the A frame.

Ive got this on the way to cart the bike at the moment,should be here Tues.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330469784883&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Im not that keene on taking the trailer where im going just for the bike.

Having 4 kids and living in an area full of cat-heads, I had to come up with a way of being able to repair my kids bike tyres and most of there friends tyres as well.
So I started using under-body paint which is used in the motor trade, penal beaters would know what Im talking about, anyway, just paint it into the inner of the tyer and let it dry, can take a day or so then put another layer or so on, let it dry.
Its that think rubbery looking stuff that was used in most of the older model cars of yester year, it may still be used on some cars today.
Paint the bike rim where the spokes join also, but keep it off the area of the rim where the tyre makes its seal.
And buy the biggest knobby tyre you can to fit it.
Better then all the money I ever wasted on green slime and many other kinds of tyre goo, including thorn proof tubes.
Now to teach them not to skid the back wheel and ware through to my work.

Gday


I have also heard of a mob that fill your tyres with some sort of a rubbery substance and its sets semi hard I guess its a bit like that pressurised gap sealing foam stuff where it is put in under pressure and it expands to fill the gap.

With it being an almost solid rubber tyre there would be no need to worry about flats in the bush, might be a rough ride but better than repairing flats all the time.

Narrawa that idea with the under body sealer is a good one too, I think by memory its was called "Tetroseal" or something like that, used to brush it on floor pans when you cut out rust etc, and used to paint it under the chassis of commercial rotary lawnmowers to slow down the wear from the sharp sand, think i still have some in the shed so I might give it a go as well.

cheers

stayyerAU

I mount my Postie on a single piece of lightweight channel on the camper trail frame. It is placed as far back as it can go on the frame. I have a doubled sheet of brown shadecloth wrapped around it and the spare tyre which is mounted vertically in front of bike to help protect against rocks. The shade cloth is connected to the trailer with springs to keep it tight. I place one of those foam camping mats under the shade cloth to give further stone protection.

I think bikes are the best detecting assessory you can have.

Tributer

While doing the Canning stock route a couple of years back we kept running into a group of motorbikes doing the same and they were having endless trouble with punctures until some one came up with the idea of using seatbelt webbing placed in the tyre before putting in the tube. Worked a treat. Actually offered to buy any spare seat belts not being used off us. It must have worked as they moved a lot faster than us after that and we didn't see them again. You should be able to pick old seat belts from the wreckers for next to nothing. Hope this helps

Jig you won't need tyre pliers to break the bead etc on bike tyres,all you do is step on them and they break,all ya need is axle spanners etc and a cuppla levers.

Nice postie Tributer but man that nugget ,what a ripper,what size?

Narrawa - Thanks for the info. I will get the nobbliest most aggressive tyre I can find.

stayyerAU - I think you are thinking about what they do with forklift tyres. They fill them with silicone and this is what I did with the jockey wheek on my caravan. I reckon it would be like driving without tyres though as they have bugger all give and are quite heavy.

Duck - I am going to keep the mounting simple and light like you, but I will get an "outboard cover for it though, to keep the dust out. I will mount the rock deflectoe in front of it.

dock- Top idea - I will definitely do that. They are nice and slippery too, so they wouldn't pinch the tubes.

goldchaser - Thanks for the info. I will do some dry runs after I get the bike and then I will figure out the least number of tools I can get away with. Sounds a lot easier than my cruiser rims !

Thanks fellas,

Jig

Make sure you register the bike, saves looking over your shoulder when on public roads.
As mention above carry some spares like throttle cable, spare chain, 3 tubes (avoid me for help changing them or youl have non left) don't forget 3 rim tapes, possessively a carbie rebuild kit but that's your call and1 tyre. Thats probably it except for some engine oil, don't wry about brakes parts there for girls .
Excellent fun these posties i find myself just riding around for the heck of it.
O yer get hold of a 11 or 12 tooth drive sprocket, as stayyerAU has pointed out they will climb a lot better.
You may have to break a link in the chain to make the chain fit thou (then again my chain was stretched when i did mine).
Regards
John
PS an ordinary ex postie is fine you don't need a L/H range one. O and as for knobby tyres proberly not as necessary as indicated after watching MT follow me thru some HE quagmires on standard tyres .

Thanks John. I have started making lists - gotta love a good list.

Nobody has mentioned if they bother to wear a helmet. I guess on a public road you have to, but what about puddling around in the scrub ?

Jig

freshwater wrote:Make sure you register the bike, saves looking over your shoulder when on public roads.
As mention above carry some spares like throttle cable, spare chain, 3 tubes (avoid me for help changing them or youl have non left) don't forget 3 rim tapes, possessively a carbie rebuild kit but that's your call and1 tyre. Thats probably it except for some engine oil, don't wry about brakes parts there for girls .
Excellent fun these posties i find myself just riding around for the heck of it.
O yer get hold of a 11 or 12 tooth drive sprocket, as stayyerAU has pointed out they will climb a lot better.
You may have to break a link in the chain to make the chain fit thou (then again my chain was stretched when i did mine).
Regards
John
PS an ordinary ex postie is fine you don't need a L/H range one. O and as for knobby tyres proberly not as necessary as indicated after watching MT follow me thru some HE quagmires on standard tyres .

The ones I got were road/trail, not quite knobby but a tad more agressive than standard road tyres. At $40 delivered to my door for two and two tubes I wasn't going to argue.
We rode through mud that was that sloppy and deep we actually hopped off the bikes and they remained upright without using the stand.
The things are that light weight, if they did get bogged you just pick them up and drag them out. The sharp shale and rocks don't seem to worry them that much either. Some of that stuff at Tibbooburra was like riding on razor blades.

No helmet in the scrub Jig...but that's my choice for me

Don't worry about rim tapes jig just use elect tape,make sure the rims dry and a bit clean,cuppla good layers around the spoke nipples.Freshy has a point on the chain though,i'd never carry a spare on a bike but spare link is handy,you can also get small chain breakers that may get ya outa trouble,i don't see the posties snappin chains often though.

If you are thinking of options for carrying the bike, have a look at this site - http://www.ezimotow.com.au/gallery.htm

Is is an hydraulic lift (works on simple bottle jack) that slides into the towbar drawtube. The hydraulics lift it much higher than the standard cross carrier. My bike in the photos is a 200cc Ag bike - much heavier than a postie so I helped support the bike with straps once jacked up. I have got into some rough areas and sharp gullies with minimal issues. It's a one man operation - mush easier than trying to scruff it into the back of the truck. The drawback is you can't tow a trailer/van.
https://i.servimg.com/u/f29/15/19/96/21/bike2113.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f29/15/19/96/21/loaded11.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f29/15/19/96/21/moto111.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f29/15/19/96/21/moto_l11.jpg

Tuflux,
That looks like a very handy idea, but I need to put it on the A frame of my van which I always take detecting nowadays.
I think there are a couple of other guys on here that might be interested though.
Thanks,
Jig.

Thats a good looking rig Tuflux but $1500 is outa my range,more rear ground clearance then the carrier im getting though,interesting how it clamps the frame rails on the bike etc.
Jig the link above to what im getting for the CT200 im pretty sure they sell a setup that bolts on to a Trailer A frame also.

goldchaser, I will ring Daniel tomorrow and ask him. It's an 02 number so hopefully he is not too far away from me.
Thanks - Jig.

Yippee,

I passed my bike licence computer exam on Friday and my driving test today. The guy doing the driving test said I was "lucky to pass" ! Little did he know - I have not driven a bike in 38 years, so I was a tad rusty. At least now I have my licence, I can get some practice around my block.

I have the bike carrier for the van draw bar and just await the return of my van from hospital, where it is having it's water tanks removed and reconfigured. Then I will be set.

I still have not settled on a way to carry the detector, although I am leaning towards breaking it down to two pieces and setting it in padded spots in the milk crate. I want to be able to remove the milk crate without too much trouble for when it's on the bike carrier. I was thinking maybe 6 velcro straps might work. Cable ties would be OK, but I would be forever cutting them off.

Thanks to all who gave me advice on this,

Jig

huge congrats to you! There will be no stopping you now!

Jig for what it is worth.....I put control box in small back pack (Extra incentive not Fall off) along with something to eat on the journey.

20 ltr Plastic chemical drum bolted on rear carrier with a lid cut out at the top, 2 hinges so the top opens like a flap, slip the coils in (Usually have 2) close it down away you go.

Length of black poly wired to rear of carrier, secure on one end of poly a bolt , drill hole in widest part of pick (as in Part used for scraping away dirt) Bolt that is attached to black poly goes thru hole in pick head, secure with wing nut.......good to go.

Did i explain that very well??? if not will give it another crack.

You would make me a very happy old fart, if you could post a couple of photos - it all sounds good.
Thanks,
Jig.