Thread: Motorbike hunting setups

Don't have a Pic handy but have set up my dr250 with rear rack, front rack with large LED, bark busters.
Tool kit strapped to front rack.
You can get away with strapping a 25 kg pack to the rear eack but does take a bit of practice climbing steep stuff but doable.
I hardly get out of second gear when hunting, generally it slow technical climbing and trying not to ditch the bike.
Bloody good fun!

Originally Posted by XR500

Those DR 200's aren't too bad. Bloody heavy for what they are though. All modern bikes run stupidly small quantities of engine/trans oil, so don't skip service intervals.
My original XR500 ran 2 Litres. My 1990 XR 250 ran 1.8 litres and 6 grease nipples. My last XR 250 (a 2002) ran 850 mls of engine/trans oil and no grease nipples. Needless to say it got the drill and tap business to keep all the swing arm bits well lubricated, and made pushing water and mud out of the pro link rear suspension so much easier than just waiting for it to rust up and need replacing.

The Yammie Ag 100's and Suzi 185 mudbugs won out as the most popular for hauling deer out of the hills, as they had nice low seats. It made paddling along with your feet in the tight stuff so much easier. 12 Horsepower when brand new was never going to make the Suzuki mudbugs fly up those hills, but with a new tyre, superlow tyre pressure and very low engine gearing they hauled silly weights over some pretty nasty terrain.

Yeah, I've used mudbugs with 12T front sprockets for years hauling loads and getting out bush. Great tools.
Preferred it to the XR's as they were so easy to fix out bush and were great at getting loads out through mud etc.

Sometimes I ride my trusty XR250 all the way from Christchurch to the Alps and beyond. I find it best with a bit on the front and back carrier therefore a lightened backpack. Takedown rifle in my pack so no awkward questions to answer at the petrol station or cafe on the way! I take one of those lightweight game-bags so when I leave the end of the road I stash my helmet, leather jacket, dry clothes, towel, fuel bladder etc. in that bag and find a place to hide it then I halve my tyre pressure. I take a mini compressor, spare tube, chain links and basic tools and I have been thankful to have these things on several occasions. It can turn into a fun outing with a couple hours river bed riding thrown in & it's more enjoyable than in my 4WD on a bumpy riverbed track. But it's taken me a while to work out the best load distribution, more on the back carrier works for me crossing rivers & gravel roads. I'll pre-walk the odd deep river or gnarly bit and leave my pack on the other side then ride through. I've only taken out butchered animals as I hunt a couple of hours walk further in, but yeah good to get the weight off your back if it's more than a couple of hours ride.