Archive for April, 2008

I present the UniRack a Unicycle Rack for my Harley Davidson Sportster Motorcycle.

With a KH 20 on the back:

It is handmade from an old bicycle with oxy-acetylene (torch) welding. It supports a 20″ or a 24″ unicycle.

Here it is sporting the KH 24 mountain unicycle:

View the gallery of unicycle rack images on my picasa web albums.

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Construction process:

Start out with an old bicycle frame:

An important step is to remove the paint from the steel before welding to produce a cleaner weld, and to not emit toxic burning paint fumes into the air (plus, it catches on fire if you don’t remove it):

Figure out where on your motorcycle you want to mount it. For mine, I wanted somewhere structurally sound, and attaching right by the rear shock was a perfect place:

Cut out the steel tubes with a sawzall, or whatever method you have for cutting steel:

I heated up the ends with the torch, and then squished them on an anvil. Then, I needed to drill a hole through them to attach it to my motorcycle’s frame:

Trial fit:

I figured out a rough length for the two sides, and welded a bar in between them. This involved cutting 45 degree angles on each piece, and then welding them to make a square. Then, a trial fit:

Next, I wanted a post that came up vertically from the center. To do this, I took another tube and cut a semicircle out of it using a dremal (I wish I had a better and more accurate way of doing this):

Weld the piece on at an appropriate angle for your unis. To find a good angle, I just trial fitted it, and then figured out where I wanted it:

Trial fit to find out where the post should come out to support the uni. I wanted to have the post come on top of the 20″ tire, and inside (directly underneath) the 24″ tire. Here it is with the 20″:

Cut off the top at about a 45″ angle (I had it have a slight up slant to better hold the uni on) and make a matching piece:

Weld it together:

Finally, I cut the end piece to length, and welded on a few bends to attach the bungee cords to: