I've had a Montague bike, two actually, for over 20 years. The first one had a solid front fork and you could buy 2.5 (2.7 when totally filled) gallon jerry jugs back then. I carried hundreds of gallons (actually, a bit over 2,000 gallons by one estimate) of mo gas by the simple expedient of using the same straps that secure the bike in the plane to hang the jugs to the handlebars, KISS. I almost wore through the handlebars with the straps, polished the hell out of them anyway! 5.4 gallons a ride, usually a few rides, but at around 4 gph not too many. Many times places other then airstrips, or airstrips with no fuel sales, so the only option being to go get it.

Then, someone somewhere decided 2.5 gallon jugs were no longer kosher, and all you can buy now are 2 gallon jugs (2.2 maybe if filled to the very brim). Right about this time I finished my current S-7S and celebrated by buying my second Montague, one with a sprung front fork. Unfortunately this shock gets in the way of the now smaller fuel jugs, though still possible it is not an optimum setup anymore. I have put up with this as I now have more range thanks to more onboard capacity, and also a bit more ready cash and I'm not shy about borrowing a loaner car and paying for it in order to get the vastly preferred mogas for the Rotax. The extremely rare airports that sell mogas of course get my business, otherwise I have gotten over the awkwardness of dissing the FBO selling avgas, and I head to the closet gas station. It long ago just became another part of the challenge of xc flight in a small plane, you guys who just land and taxi up to the fuel pumps or wait for the fuel truck to approach are laughing like hell about now. That's cool, I think it's pretty funny also, but it's the way I roll, and it's not like I'm flying behind a big Lycoming, the miserly fuel burn of the Rotax makes this "system", for me anyway, doable, and helps me get in a lot of hours as cheaply as possible. The exercise doesn't hurt either! Feels good actually after sitting on your ass for 6 hours straight, like I did this weekend, it gets the blood flowing.

So, for the first time in a while, this weekend I was reduced to making multiple bike trips, but only bringing back a bit over 4 gallons each trip, and it got me thinking "there must be a better way". I now carry the 5 gallon+ ABW gas bags, in addition to the plastic jugs, and I gave some thought to rigging them to a rear rack, but it got complicated quick, I cogitated over it for a couple hours and then gave it up as a dead end. Then I thought maybe a backpack for the fuel bags would work, it would but had other obvious drawbacks (I'm a chain smoker, no not really just kidding). And then..... I pulled out the trusty smart phone and googled "folding bike trailers", and this popped up. http://www.burley.com/page_12208/travoy.html

I'll post a few pictures of it in use after I get it setup. As the videos show it quickly folds for transport, (I'm furiously thinking on a currently unused free space for it to reside in, maybe a belly pod) plus another handy feature is how you can use it as a hand cart, in effect, when off the bike. I can think of many times when I parked the plane HERE and wanted to camp out THERE, but it was too much hassle to pack all the gear over there. Beside fuel, note the pictures of it shown being used as a beer hauler, several cases at a time! Imagine landing at JC, and wanting to haul some brewskis to your buddies on the other end, and maybe haul the lawn chairs and some food also. That would be a handful, but using the handcart function simple and convenient. Going to buy it now

Cool find!

A guy could use one of those for a whole bunch of things. I've been trying to figger out how to have the dog take ME for a walk instead of the other way around. Chasing mister rabbit might get a little too thrilling though. This post doesn't pertain to anything. Good find on the bike trailer though.

I think they need to hire you as a salesman.

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I got fired up, and drove to the Salt Lake City REI and bought the thing, couldn't wait for UPS! I found my hoped for unused area to stow the folded trailer in, absolutely perfect, meant to be, couldn't fit better 15 seconds to fold or unfold it, real high quality and just super trick engineering, I love this thing already. All I need to do further, is optimize my tie down method, and that will be easy as the trailer has many hard points to tie off to. Using just what rope and straps I already carry and use to secure the bike, seemed to work well.

The hand cart thing: either pulled/pushed forward or backward, is a real bonus. I had the fuel in the car and the bike a ways away, so just rolled it over to the car, loaded it up, rolled it to the bike, and hooked it up to the hitch. That takes 1 second, super quick, just a flick of a spring loaded keeper latch. I loaded it down about 10 lbs over gross (72 lbs) and took it for a ride. Like a fifth wheel trailer, how it interacts with the tow vehicle is ideal, other then more effort to get going and stopped, no real change in the handling. I'll a few pictures using it in the real world in a few days probably.

Cool, I had an original (stiff fork) montague as well that I carried folded in my plane. Never thought to haul gas with it, in those time-building days I'd use my Oklahoma credit card on whatever was parked in front of the hangar.

That is slick! I love it when you find a product that fits a niche like that! Very nice!

Another thing to look into is those gas carriers for ATVs. They come in all shapes and sizes, and some collapsible. You might be able to fit a couple vertical on the bike. You might as well add a weed-whacker motor to the bike at this point though

I'm pretty sold on the bush bags: did I mention that carried in front of my aux tank and behind the pilot seat (otherwise wasted space, two of them and a spout fit perfect), depending on how snug I have the caps, how high I fly, and how much air I squeezed out before snugging the caps, they function as extra cushy lumbar support, exactly in the right place!

Only thing is, the trailer wheel base is not wide enough for one, rather then fashion some type of anti bush bag abrasion shield/fender, I found that the 6 gallon marine tank loaded first (which fits perfectly) and the BB on top of that was a natural. The BB's are pretty stable in transit also, the one pictured was aired up/filled up, usually they won't be that rotund.

I got some real world use out of the trailer last weekend, here's a pic of it in it's stash place in the airplane, a space that had gone unnoticed and unused until now! 8200', by a little lake.

Later, in town, I used the bike and rode into a gas station and a restaurant, about a mile ride so real quick but a pain to walk. I hauled 11 gallons in one trip and 3 the next, more then I needed,and other then needing a better tiedown setup it went as expected. Level pavement so once started I could hardly tell it was there. At the gas station I parked the bike out of the way and to the side, and then unhitched the trailer and just walked it over to the pumps. Once filled the re hook up took 1 second at most, and I rode off, simple as that.

Minor thread drift, as per the utility of having a bike: I was talking to the owner of the joint I ate dinner at and when I mentioned I was camped out at the airport, she said her husband used to fly when they lived in Alaska. This led to me saying I was looking forward to a o dark oclock takeoff the next morning, and I would be flying low level over a area close to where they bear hunt in, and my main concern was filling up my thermos with good coffee (hell, any coffee will do) that early in the AM (didn't bring my camp kitchen). To my surprise, way before dawn but light enough to see, the next day I discovered there was NO coffee for sale in town, the bike making this easy to ascertain of course. Confused and dismayed, I was riding back to the strip when I happened to notice the cafe owner was, though not open, already back in the kitchen. I knocked and held up my thermos, and as she had already told me to stop by (she wouldn't be there that early I thought, when she said this, and other places would be open, wrong on both counts) the night before she put two and two together and unlocked the door and put a pot on. Minutes later, back at the plane with the bike stashed, and with the final needed early AM flight requirement on board (java) I took off and now fully alert had a GREAT flight home, with a stop at 9500' to get rid of some of that coffee:

made possible by the easy access to town via the bike, using the fuel also thanks to the bike. The Iron Horse Cafe in Three Forks Mt, highly recommended

Tom,
That not only holds your fuel so perfectly, but even better it holds your beer!

Looks like a good deal. I used to carry a 6.5 gallon jug on the bar between the seat and handle bars but just on the bike path between town and the airport. Was a little awkward to pedal.

courierguy wrote:I got some real world use out of the trailer last weekend, here's a pic of it in it's stash place in the airplane, a space that had gone unnoticed and unused until now! 8200', by a little lake.

Later, in town, I used the bike and rode into a gas station and a restaurant, about a mile ride so real quick but a pain to walk. I hauled 11 gallons in one trip and 3 the next, more then I needed,and other then needing a better tiedown setup it went as expected. Level pavement so once started I could hardly tell it was there. At the gas station I parked the bike out of the way and to the side, and then unhitched the trailer and just walked it over to the pumps. Once filled the re hook up took 1 second at most, and I rode off, simple as that.

Minor thread drift, as per the utility of having a bike: I was talking to the owner of the joint I ate dinner at and when I mentioned I was camped out at the airport, she said her husband used to fly when they lived in Alaska. This led to me saying I was looking forward to a o dark oclock takeoff the next morning, and I would be flying low level over a area close to where they bear hunt in, and my main concern was filling up my thermos with good coffee (hell, any coffee will do) that early in the AM (didn't bring my camp kitchen). To my surprise, way before dawn but light enough to see, the next day I discovered there was NO coffee for sale in town, the bike making this easy to ascertain of course. Confused and dismayed, I was riding back to the strip when I happened to notice the cafe owner was, though not open, already back in the kitchen. I knocked and held up my thermos, and as she had already told me to stop by (she wouldn't be there that early I thought, when she said this, and other places would be open, wrong on both counts) the night before she put two and two together and unlocked the door and put a pot on. Minutes later, back at the plane with the bike stashed, and with the final needed early AM flight requirement on board (java) I took off and now fully alert had a GREAT flight home, with a stop at 9500' to get rid of some of that coffee:

made possible by the easy access to town via the bike, using the fuel also thanks to the bike. The Iron Horse Cafe in Three Forks Mt, highly recommended

Nice story and example CG........You are doing some great flyin....