motorcycle with a leather scabbard.

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rustymaggot

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id like to make a scabbard for my shotgun and mount it to my motorcycle. so far what i am planning is a leather case with a locking buckle, with locking straps to attach it to the bike. i plan to allow enough room in the scabbard for a trigger lock to be in place as well.

my question here is if im missing anything to stay legal. i live in california.
 
Terminator is your governor, what could be the problem? :neener: :neener:
images
 
the main thing you have to worry about is 'safe storage and transportation laws' and 'attractive nuicance laws'

if you go through with it, you should make the straps double thickness leather with a strand of air core cable in the center, you have to ensure that some joker doesen't/can't just walk up with a pocket knife and help himself to a shotgun.

It would be possible to stay within the law in building it, but you'd better be prepared to spend A LOT of time on the side of the road getting your bike partially dissasembled, and you need to keep your nose 100% squeeky clean, no equipment violations no improperly stored ammunition.

A shotgun is a big thing to make inconspicuous on a motorcycle, you'd probably have better luck making a holslter that hid underneath the saddle bags for a pistol.
 
Legal Matters in CA are going to be the biggest problem, followed by people struck with the "oh my gosh" -syndrome.

Scabbards for Bikes are nothing new, and are available in leather, including "leg of mutton" style to cotton duck to man-make materials.

These scabbards have been used in War Time , Harley Davidson's shown in past wars show these, as do bike [and bicycles] of the enemies around the world.

Here in the South, like other areas of the Country, Scabbards are part of 4 wheelers, tractors , combines and such. Not long ago, heading down a two lane blacktop, small rural area, an Old Norton, with a leg of mutton scabbard passed me - did my heart good to see that.

Kids still sling a rifle, and take off on bicycles to head down the road to shoot on someone's property. Kids, with a slung rifle / in or out of a case, and fishing gear, to do what kids do in the summer time. Shoot in safe areas with berms, and fish the farm ponds.

This is not CA though.

Political attitude is different here. Most folks carry concealed, no gun locks on the gun behind the kitchen door, over the mantle, or on that lever action or AR15 in the truck - in a gun rack, handy, when they come to town.

Guns are in the farm truck, tractors, combines , barns and sheds. Kids know the 4 rules and know how to shoot. Not uncommon to hand a kid a box of .22 ammo in broad daylight, be it in the town square, or the local diner.

Politics are going to be the biggest hurdle in CA.
 
well, the bike has a theme. one of my geekier friends said last week, "hey, your cosplaying your bike!" so part of the reason i want a scabbard is decorative. ill be building the scabbard and mounting it on the bike anyway. i just wanted to look into what laws there might be against actually using it for transportation purposes.
 
Old Bro of mine use to carry a big holster meant for a 7" SAA strapped to his fatbobs. He never put anything in it, but whenever we stopped someplace to have a brew, we felt like the scoots were pretty safe.
Bike thief; "If it ain't in the holster....!!!!"

Biker:) ;)
 
In Advent Children, Cloud's bike has this butterfly mechanism that has scabbards for six (?) swords. Presumably various ones you pick up throughout the game. It's got more of a Tomahawk feel to it than the Mad Maxish/Harley sort of thing he had in the game (which he stole from a glassed in display in the Shinra building, if I remember correctly).

It's just such a trademark of excess that I love it.
 
Perhaps set it up so that a cable lock can go out the back of the scabbard and around some portion of the frame of the bike. That way the gun is locked directly to the bike and not just the scabbard.
 
erebus,

what i thought of like that was a post, attached to the upper fork that would go thru a round hole in the leather and go thru the trigger guard, then a outer metal plate to cover it and a lock thru a hole in the post. kinda like a jeep hood, or a drag car hood sort of thing. if i designed it right i could undo the one lock and the whole scabbard would come off in one piece(and stay locked via the locking buckle).

i really want it along the forks. ive always thought they looked good there. having trouble with the movement of the fork, but its comming along. im at the point where ive made a cardboard and tape scabbard(so i can cut it apart later and use it as a exact patern for the leather) and i need to mock it up and go hit some good bumps to see how the forks move with it in place.
 
this is really funny

Yesterday I went downtown to drop off some stuff at the CU's ATM, and on the way back, I was sitting at a stoplight, and looked off to the bike in the lane next to mine, and I'll be hogtied and dipped in bbq sauce if this rider didn't have a fullsize 1911 (chromed, didn't catch the make) on their right hip. I couldn't tell if it was a male or a large female, and they had a dark helmet.

I doubt it was the police cuz PPB usually carries a Glock.

Surprised the heck outta me.
 
haha, reminds me of a friend of mines biggest slip up. he was out shooting all day in the hills above santa barbra and when he packed up all his guns and went into town he had forgoten to take off his sig. so there he was walking down whatever that main drag is with his holdster on. i think its state st. anyway, he got somthing like 4 blocks before someone asked about it.

anyway, my buddy got back to his car without anyone else seeing it and his story always reminds me to take off my holster after a trip out to the woods. maybe that biker just forgot it was there.

edit... on second thought, maybe the rider had a ccw but his jacket rode up over it. when you raise your arms up to handlebar height it can untuck your shirt, or whathaveyou. might have been a accidental showing of a ccw.
 
I don't think it was a "slipup"

it looks like it was on a Roto-holster type rig. It was too low to conceal.

I thought it looked pretty neat-o actually, and probably pretty dang stable.
 
almost done

ive made the scabbard and ive worked out the mounting. i need to trim the flap to a more pleasing shape,and the scabbard has no buckle on the flap yet as i need to go get a locking one. scabbard will eventually get painted the same 'ultra flat' black as the bike. the whole theme is for it to look like a gi joe toy. the bike is all painted one color so it kinda looks like its stamped from one piece of plastic like the toys are. the scabbard is rigid enough that it probably wont flap much in the wind when empty. i left enough room when making the scabbard to allow a ca. approved trigger lock to be in place for when i actually have to transport with it. so, what do you guys think? hows it look? cobrabike1.jpg

cobrabike2.jpg
 
I like it!! Looks cool. Anyway you could run your lines behind the scabbard?

Biker
 
roscoe, its the "cobra the enemy" logo from gi joe. the badguys had a evil biker gang called the dreadnoks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnok http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_Organization

biker, i hid the throttle cables under the scabbard but its dragging a bit. its strapped down pretty tight at the top and the empty leather is flexible. might have a problem with the throttle sticking when the guns in there. probably ok with it empty tho.
 
Don't paint the leather - you're sure to have color bleed, cracking, flaking, etc., as the chemicals from the tanning and dying process will interact with the paint. There are plenty of leather treatments you can give it that will make it more moisture resistant and, with time, it will dull to the flat black you seek. Just my $.02 - keep the change.
 
well, i used the shiny rivets with the express plan of painting the whole thing. if i wasnt going to paint id have stitched it instead.

the paint i used had held up pretty good on the seat. should be ok for the scabbard. also, i want it to match the bike exactly, so it blends in better.

thanks for the tip, but i will probably end up painting. ill try it on a scrap piece first to check on what it does. you may be right, it may crack up bad.
 
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