inflatable tubes for river crossings

dont know what size would work for a bike, but when backpacking in canyons and i know i will be in deep water i take an inflatable child pool just big enough to set my pack and shoes in, works like a champ. its also great for lounging in the water on those warm days at camp.

I was riding by myself in Lao. Came across a river that at the time was too deep to ride across. Most trails over here in the bush near a major river usually has locals living nearby for the water supply. Not sure if its the same where you'll be travelling. We simply grabed a couple thick branches and threaded one through each wheel, and carry the bike across. This should work up to about chest deep with no problems I would think. The bike is still soaking wet but the airbox at least stayed dry. I gave the camera to one of the locals and gave him a 10 second lesson on taking a picture and this is what he snapped.



KTM 525 getting across.

Those pontoons look wonderful but I bet they don't pack small and weigh a ton. A truck inner tube I'm sure would pack much smaller than the pontoons. My friend did exactly this in Cambodia with a XR650 on top of a truck inner tube..

the "locals" that do live near the streams have very big teeth and long powerful jaws!!!!

local inhabitants (aka aboriginal australians) dont live near any of the streams. they own the country as in they have native title but they all live in towns at the end of many of the roads/tracks in the cape area.

at the time of the year when most people in 4wd and bikes are heading to the cape, the rivers and streams are hopefully at their lowest. and with the OCR this year there is bound to be plenty of people to assist if a deep water crossing requires carrying the bike across. most people doing these trips are usually pretty obliging!

Soul man,

You'll want to connect with Crooked Creek. Sounds like you two have the aquatic adventure spirit.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=713114&page=14

Bernadette,
A couple of thoughts come to mind. Sailing and sea-kayaking are a totally different animal than dealing with whitewater. You may have unique knowledge of tides, currents, rips, etc, but a whitewater river involves (in my opinion) a lot more risk that comes to you a lot quicker than a rogue wave. Overhanging trees, hydraulics, and tricky rapids can bring about your demise very quickly, before you even get your head back above water. You simply don't go into whitewater without a PFD, and I consider swift water too deep to ride through, whitewater.

I gave a lot of thought to this pontoon thing, and I don't see how you could safely do it without three strong men/women, some rope, and at least one PFD. In your picture in post one, I also don't see the needed trees within 300 yards of the riverbank.

Walking/wading the river pushing the float could easily lead to lost footing and your raft/bike combo floating away on the current. Tying yourself to the raft/bike breaks one of the cardinal rules of boating-again you could slip, but this time be dragged downstream by the raft/bike, once again to your demise. Tying a rope, crossing the river, and then pulling the raft across with the rope also has a problem. What if the edge of the pontoon tips under the current, either flipping the raft or acting like a parachute and either pulling you into the water or forcing you to let go the rope?

You seem very committed to this idea, and I don't want to rain on your parade, but losing your bike (at best) many miles from help could lead to a long walk, at worst, your broken corpse jammed beneath a submerged rock until the water level drops. In the picture it looks like the road fords the river; why not scout the river, and either ride or push across the ford. In this scenario, the worst that will happen is water in the engine, which you will be equipped to remedy once on the other side. Or wait for a truck to come that could ferry you. Or detour to a bridge.

Route 18A?

thanks for the input hulgan but if i have it right then perhaps i should just stay at home and do some knitting!!!! so far as offshore kayaking goes, theres crocs that can get me, i can tip out of the boat (as the craft i paddle is a performance craft and very "tippy" as its built for speed) and then i can have trouble getting back in especially on my own,i can get tumbled by sharks, i could get plain lost if i lose my bearing,and i could capsize in the large and very large swells i paddle in when the weather turns foul and im caught out. with the sailing i reckon i could fall overboard and knock my head and drown, i reckon i could break a boom or a mast, drag anchor onto a lee shore, run aground in shallow water, get swept overboard (done that) and get lost at sea (done that too) and so on and so forth blah blah blah. with bikes i could crash into a tree (done that) and just plain have a bad time and break a bone or something (havent done that).
hell im not talking about going down rapids or drop offs, where did you get that idea from? im just talking about crossing rivers that are too deep for me to ride my bike across. and dont underestimate the power of logical thinking.

and i DO AGREE with everything you say in your post on the subject! and i thank you for your valid input. i used to ride rapids in helmet and wetsuit. a very dangerous pastime that i gave up a while back as i wanted to stay alive. it was fun though!! anyhow with this "sport" all too often you are not in control of where you ride and as you say, you can quite easily get sucked under and jammed against rocks.

im just lookinghg for alternatives to deep water crossings when on my own.

the thing i have found with any kind of water at any location is to have a deep respect for what it is capable of and to know that mother nature is supreme. that way i have managed to be here today to write this response.

bernadette

Buy a Rokon, they float. http://www.rokon.com/index.php?p=1_12_Videos-and-Articles

I'm in the rigging business, and it occurred to me that one of these products might work. I think you can even get ones that inflate using the bike's exhaust. (= Less )

Maybe 2 bags and straps under the engine, that way the bike stays upright and you just deflate the bags in shallow water and ride out.

Give the guys at this site a call.

It's a gutsy move. Make sure the first thing you do is set up a video camera on the other side. This I'd like to see!

Good luck!

hi craneguy

thanks for the link.
if you check out the thread "zambian joyride" on the forum here you will see that its already been done.....




This is so excellent!

Excellent! Now all we need are some bolt-on paddles and you could ride across!

nah! i need some handy locals to pull the whole thing in the right direction!

Please keep the ideas about floating your bike across a water body coming, as this is a situation that stops many of our rides, so the collective interest is surely high.
I'm sure within short order, several great options will materialize, or an inmate will pick up the challenge and solve this problem by producing a dedicated product for us.

ktm950se

The water stuff starts at about the 3:30 mark, but DAMN, I wish they'd imported those Trickers here to the US of A:

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dK9F_6ND3k4" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

i am looking to see where i can get a pair of floats made up out of lightweight but durable material. stay tuned!

Once I read about some mototravelers who were engineers and took a KLR and an old small boat and adapted both of them so the bike would power the boat and cross the Darien Gap. If I recall correctly, They reported that were about to get the boat sank due bad weather, and the salty water generated some rust... although they DID cross it!

I am about to start my trip to SA and that idea keep popping in my mind... but with a variant of having some inflatable "thingys" like the ones described here.

This thread is really good.. keep the ideas flowing!!

Just like these two.

More at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2015912

A great read and I'm liking the ideas being thrown out there. I think who ever mentioned the truck inner tube may be onto a good solution. Light weight, strong, heat resistant. I'm looking at dropping my money on one of these inner tubes and running some tests (in shallow water first of course)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/70-Truck-Ti...-Tube-Snow-Tube-Tubing-Sledding-/110944151398

At 25lb, one could easily carry this along on the back of their bike. I don't know how small it would collapse to but I'm hoping not much larger than a good sized sleeping bag. Volume calculations based on the given dimensions say this tube should displace approx 423l of water. My farkled dr650 weighs in at 190kg with a full 32l fuel tank. I weigh in at 90kg without riding gear so we're at 280kg. The tube is 46cm in diameter so assuming the bike and myself are on the tube it should be about 2/3 of the way submersed. That leaves 12cm or so of elevation so if the water is relatively calm we should float across high and dry.

I will probably buy a guide line to secure. Would hate to drift into a submerged tree branch, boulders etc or downstream for that matter. I figure a good length 150m+ of 600lb dyneema or similar spear gun line would be perfect (light weight and compact) Also the end of a paddle and an exhaust adapter to pump up the tube would complete the kit.

The system
remove all gear from bike
assemble the paddle using a suitable tree branch
Inflate tube via motorcycle exhaust adapter
Loop line around a secure branch
paddle across and secure both ends of the line at opposite bank under tension
pull myself back across while checking the course of travel for any snags
Load up the bike and pull myself to opposite bank
unload bike + untie line
Ride off into the sunset


A couple concerns I have

Saltwater crocodiles - This is the reason I can't walk/swim the floating bike across.
I have no idea if they'd take a liking to a truck tube. I guess the croc breeding season would be the worst time to attempt such a trip as I hear territorial males will attack almost anything that floats by:eek1 Any top end locals want to chime in here?


Loading the bike - strength isn't the issue for me but practicing good technique so as not to drop the bike in the drink might be. I guess in the event someone is nearby to offer assistance it shouldn't be too big a deal.

tube bursts - I guess this is always going to be a possibility. Not too sure there's an effective plan B here.

Tube like this is big and heavy, and you need a BIG compresor to fill it (as a kid I used a tube like this as a boat on the creek and I spend all afternoon to fill it with hand pump) . You can get used tube for free at tire workshop (I did) .

I have seen a 250 Ya,aha floated across a river in Australia on a single air bed. Lay the bike down exhaust aide up and away you go!