Best way or easiest way to transport firearms on motorcycle

NaeKid · #1 10-22-2010, 09:20 AM

I did a search and only found one thread in here about the legality of transporting firearms via motorcycle (http://outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthrea...ght=motorcycle) but I didn't find an answer to the best way to transport.

A little background: I am a new rider having a bone-stock KLR650 with no aftermarket bags or racks on it. I would like to have an easy way to carry long-guns (rifle / shot) on the bike to and from the outdoor range as well as carry the required ammo for a day of practice.

I have a BassPro backpack (RedHead Hybrid Illuminator Pack) with rifle "sock" that allows me to put a large non-scope'd rifle -or- a small scope'd rifle like a .22 - or - a standard shot-gun into it for back-pack based transportation - and there is lots of room for ammo in the main body of the pack. I might be able to carefully wiggle a large scope'd rifle into the backpack, but, I don't know how comfortable I would be doing that.

The other option that I thought of was hard mounting a hard-shell GunBoot to the bike and using it like a saddle-bag (panier) when there isn't a gun inside it and when I am heading out for target practice, it can carry the gun and then I could carry the ammo in a small backpack .. I would also like to have a way to carry my fishing rods and thought that I might be able to put my rod-holder into the GunBoot (just an after thought).

If I hard-mount the GunBoot, it will always be there as I ride around the city and on the trails around Calgary. I don't know if I will be hassled by the city-police for it. Anyone have comments on this?

Finally, do any other riders have any thoughts on my ideas, or, maybe other tried-n-true options that I haven't considered yet or know of products that I haven't seen online or in stores?

dogslayer403 · #2 10-22-2010, 10:03 AM

I think those hard mount gun boots have a quick pin you can take it on and off the bike easily. I have to say though Ive only seen them on quads not road bikes ha Id like to see a pic if you do it.

CaberTosser · #3 10-22-2010, 10:28 AM

Strap 'em to the handlebars so you can clear traffic in front of ya!

Seriously though, I would do the gunboot as a pannier thing and just MacGuyver up some brackets to suit.

Okotokian · #4 10-22-2010, 10:45 AM

Suggest you watch "Mad Max" again... they had some innovative ways...

HunterDave · #5 10-22-2010, 10:52 AM

Don't strap it on your body (ie. sling across the chest and rifle on your back)! There was a guy in CFB Petawawa that did that and he hooked the barrel on the bumper of a truck. I heard that it wasn't very pretty.

Cal · #6 10-22-2010, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Suggest you watch "Mad Max" again... they had some innovative ways...

Lol I was going to suggest Terminator 2 but Mad Max is even better.

NaeKid · #7 10-22-2010, 12:01 PM

I was thinking of pulling the foot-pegs for the passenger and using the mount-points for the lwer-portion of the GunBoot and then use the holes for the factory-mounted rack to hold the upper section of the GunBoot ... imagine the barrel pointing towards the ground at about 45° with the barrel residing just behind my heel of my boot. High enough that it wouldn't catch on anything and low enough that I would take off my head about the same time as taking off the butt of the rifle ... straight up and down so that it wouldn't catch on anything to either side of myself ...

I might just be going shopping this weekend for a new (maybe two) GunBoot to try out

If this works out I'll be a very happy camper. If not, I might just hard-mount the GunBoots into my Jeeps so that my rifles wouldn't be sitting on the floor.

Cal · #8 10-22-2010, 01:50 PM

Not sure how this would work on a KLR but with a trike the best way I've found to mount a gun boot is running down one side of the fork. To me it seems like if you mounted it like a saddled bag there would be a couple problems. If you mounted it too verticaly you would risk it hitting the ground while turning or else it would have to stick up pretty far. If you mount it to horizontaly its going to interfere with either your leg or your arms/ torso, depending on how you angle it. Besides if I had a KLR with a gun boot on it I would use that baby for hunting, with the gun mounted like a saddle bag its in a pretty good position to get wrecked if you drop the bike going down a lease road.

Heres what I'm thinking, get someone to fab you up a bracket that you can mount to one of your front shocks. Without looking at the fork I cant tell you exactly how the bracket should look but as a hunter, motorcyclist, and welder thats done a fair amount of precise fabrication I can tell you off the top of my head a couple things you will have to watch out for.

1. The bracket will either have to be mounted on the top part of the shock high enough that it will not interfere with the shock compressing, or on the bottom part. Although it sounds a little weird I would try and mount it to the bottom part of the shock, if it gets mounted to the top you will probably have to have the boot sticking up higher so the tip doesnt hit the ground when the shock compresses.

2 It may interfere with how sharp the handle bars can be turned to the side that the boot is mounted to as the boot may hit the gas tank. I would make the bracket so that the boot sits forward of the fork tube which should both minamise this problem and keep the boot a little closer to the tire, because of concideration #3....

3... you want that boot as tight to the tire as you can safely put it, the closer you can get it to the centerline of the bike the less chance of it tagging the ground when leaning the bike over. As well if you were to drop the bike I feel it would be pretty well protected as handlebar will hit the ground first and keep the weight off the gun.

4 I would put the boot on the side oposite the kickstand, I've had more bikes fall over from the kickstand sinking than from the wind blowing them over the other way. if I remember correctly KLRs lean over pretty good with the stock kickstand, probably so when you load them down and take off for Alaska the kickstand isnt to long with the suspension compressed.

5 You will be able to keep your passenger pegs, which you are obviously going to need if your riding around with a gun mounted to a KLR

you might want to fabricate a nunchuck holder for the other fork tube so you can keep the ladies off.

BallCoeff.435 · #9 10-22-2010, 11:20 PM

Back in the day, I used to take the motorcycle out to Sunshine Village/Banff for spring skiing. The only way that would work without engineering a bracket of some sort, was just to tie the skiis and poles diagonally onto the back seat.

They'd stick out one side just a little wider than the handlebars, and to the rear just a little wider than the big panniers I had back then. Other drivers thought that was pretty cool.

gunsrocky · #10 10-25-2010, 05:07 PM

Back in 73, I would pick up a case of 7.62 at the ammo dump, in Pettawawa and proceed to the range.through the main gate, with the ammo box on the gas tank,between my legs, and a fnci over my back. no problem. Don

NaeKid · #11 10-26-2010, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cal

Heres what I'm thinking, get someone to fab you up a bracket that you can mount to one of your front shocks. Without looking at the fork I cant tell you exactly how the bracket should look but as a hunter, motorcyclist, and welder thats done a fair amount of precise fabrication I can tell you off the top of my head a couple things you will have to watch out for.

I also am a designer / fabricator and I have a laser at my disposal for cutting the steel (stainless, aluminum, etc).

On the KLR, the fairing is mounted to the frame, not the forks so trying to turn with something attached at the front would be a PITA to design and implement.

Here you can see a generic picture of a bike similar to my own (mine is 2005). There is the rear foot-peg that is held to the frame via two allen-headed bolts and then the one bolt that is visible beside the passenger handle on the cast-aluminum rack. The bolt that holds the rack in place goes directly to the frame. I am thinking of using those bolts (two of the three) to hold the GunBoot in place placing the tip of the GunBoot at / about the lowest portion of the frame and pull it as tight as possible to the body of the bike.

I am also concerned about dropping the bike and crushing the boot and wrecking a gun, so, I am thinking of putting a simple set of crash-bars around the boot to take the hit instead of the plastics ...

shortaction · #12 10-26-2010, 06:05 PM

Check out the picture at this site. It is the bracket that is used on Polaris ATV's. http://www.purepolaris.com/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2875310

If you could make up something similar that attached at the points you have referred to it might work? Nice and simple, the boot just slips in and out with a short bungy cord to hold it in place. You could probably incorporate the crash bars into the design.

Good luck.

Cal · #13 10-26-2010, 07:04 PM

aww rats, I was thinking of the old style faring, with that new one its not going to happen. All the more reason to go with suzuki if I ever get around to geting a dual sport

danieldelamont · #14 10-26-2010, 07:55 PM

get a rifle backpack there are packs that just hold a rifle straight vertical between your shoulder blades

saw one at shooting edge in calgary might work for yah

or try blackhawk.com

NaeKid · #15 10-26-2010, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cal

aww rats, I was thinking of the old style faring, with that new one its not going to happen. All the more reason to go with suzuki if I ever get around to geting a dual sport

I was on the fence between a Zuki and the Kawi, leaning towards the Zuki until I found a smokin' deal on the Kawi KLR and it became my newest addition to my toy-collection. My buddy rides a DRZ650, maybe your idea would work on his bike, I'll ask him if he wants to be a tester.

danieldelamont, I have one of those rifle-backpacks and considered it for use on the bike, but, after testing my shot-gun and rifle in it and walking around my living room looking at a mirror at how it moves (I have a large mirror on one wall), I don't feel comfortable with having it residing on my back while on a motorcycle driving at highway speeds for 2(ish) hrs to one of the ranges that I visit.

mudbug · #16 10-26-2010, 09:34 PM

That's a nice bike, maybe go to some old tech method, leather rifle scabbard that you would use on a horse saddle

just a thought

NaeKid · #17 10-27-2010, 07:59 AM

I found a picture of someone who has done what I am thinking of doing (go figure, eh). I attached a copy of it below from doing a search on GoogleImages ...

I know it can be done now!

NaeKid · #18 10-27-2010, 11:52 AM

.. and I have found a thread showing how several people have mounted cases to their bikes now ... thought I would just share just in case there are other's who ride-n-shoot.

http://www.klr650.net/forums/showthread.php?p=691561

dewalt18 · #19 10-27-2010, 04:40 PM

Love the idea!!! The pics look good, being a fabricator you should have no problem outfitting your Kawi.... Now, figure something out for my R6 and you'll be my hero!

NaeKid · #20 10-28-2010, 09:22 AM

That R6 of yours is damn-fast and anything that I do to mount a gun-boot to it would only slow you down. I did a search on saddle-bags for your bike and didn't find anything beyond soft-sacks that strap-onto the bike, nothing hardmounted.

We might have to sit together over coffee in the morning to beer in the afternoon in order to hash-out something that might work for you. Ya, I already have an idea churnin' in my mind, but, till I can put a wrench and tape-measure to the body-panels and then start cutting them up into little pieces and glue them back together again, I won't know how it would all fit in the end.

Ya wanna take a chance?

dewalt18 · #21 10-28-2010, 04:48 PM

Well if you pour some bailey's in that coffee we can deffinately sit down and mull it over for a bit.... not sure I wanna start cutting quite yet though!

mudbug · #22 10-28-2010, 04:56 PM

That's a slick set up for mounting on your bike. I was reading some of the feedback on that thread link you posted and they bring up a good question, where do you put the deer or moose once you've got it?

I'm thinking just bring some duc tape and an extra helmet for it and strap it on like a passenger

NaeKid · #23 10-28-2010, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dewalt18

Well if you pour some bailey's in that coffee we can deffinately sit down and mull it over for a bit.... not sure I wanna start cutting quite yet though!

Could do Bailey's - or - if you haven't tried it yet, I could whip-up some Klah for you instead....

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudbug

That's a slick set up for mounting on your bike. I was reading some of the feedback on that thread link you posted and they bring up a good question, where do you put the deer or moose once you've got it?

I'm thinking just bring some duc tape and an extra helmet for it and strap it on like a passenger

I am not interesting in hunting from a bike, it is hard enough transporting a deer in a Jeep

I am thinking of the GunBoots more for heading to the outdoor ranges for trap shooting with the ol' shotgun or to the range with the rifle to sight-in the scope or to the farm for removing gophers or coyote. No matter what direction I head for practice or fun, it is a minimum half-tank of fuel in one of my Jeeps to get there and back again ... or a full-tank when driving another one of my Jeeps ...

CR5 · #24 11-02-2010, 05:36 PM

Like this

John Spartan · #25 11-04-2010, 09:36 PM

I went the other way: got takedown rifles and shotguns that when taken down, both parts are short enough to go into a long camping backpack. Once inside, no one can tell what I am carrying on my back until I arrive at the range and reassemble them for a shooting session.