Was just thinking I should post more in this thread.
More tinkering with the Tucker. I’ve been nudged to share some details on my new canopy I had made for the back of my Tucker. The beginning of this thread shows details on the bench seating box on the back of the 542.
The box is awesome when it’s sunny and nice. Best seat in the house. But I needed more ski storage and some shelter when the weather is..well like winter and snowing and blowing. So I have been working on a canvas canopy for the rear.
This fall I worked with the local welding shop to make and mount some hoops. I started with two and then with some more nudging, increased it to four hoops for extra strength.
While making the hoops we also came up with a design for some light, foldable, simple board and ski racks. It will hold anything that’s long, snowshoes, shovel, etc. I use a couple of bungees to hold things on. Easy access and they fold away when not in use.
I basically copied a canvas canopy that is used on the old 60’s and 70’s VW pickups.
Once that was done I needed someone to make the cover for it. It has to be strong, fit right, waterproof, lots of visablity, last a long time and sides and back need to roll up when it’s nice out. So I turned to my first windsurfing sponsor that makes custom windsurfing sails. He has all the stuff needed and knows how to make things last. It’s been over 25 years since I used his brand of sails so I was excited to work on something with him again and I know he enjoys it too. Aside from his sail making he’s an amazing person and probably built more miles of Mt biking trails here in the gorge than anyone. So we picked out material and I brought the cat over and he put this together in his spare time in a week or so. The first trip for the cover was our Two Valcano Tour with the 500 Club. We still have some trimming and details to do but wanted to use it for a bit and see how things work.
I’ll bounce back to my cell phone now and post some pictures.