Appendix - Other Options

The following is a detailed list of other motorcycle carrier options I found, what I found appealing about them, and why I ultimately dismissed them:

Back-Pack

Muttmover Backpack (from Timbuk2, an online retailer).

I have no experience with this item, but it looks pretty good. Seems to have come on the market recently (It's April 6th, 2011 at this writing update). It sounds secure and well ventilated. However, it is only for pets around 15 pounds or less.

Front-Pack

Pet-A-Roo (from Petco stores), Pet-A-Roo (from Pet Smart stores), and others.

This is the same idea as they have for babies. You wear your pet in a sling on your chest. I got one, and used it for two years. It worked pretty well, but I had three issues with it:

• It was not easy to get her to tolerate doggie goggles (Doggles). Note: My rule is: no eye protection, no ride. She accepted this rule because she loves to ride, but would fight them off as soon as we would arrive somewhere. I could tell they weren't very comfortable, and without hands, she wasn't able to adjust them if they slipped off center.
• The front pack made her sit upright. She could not adjust her basic position, and I could see her looking for ways to lie down on trips longer than 20 minutes. Note: I think it's not likely natural (and therefore not comfortable) for these four-legged creatures to spend much time upright.
• It was a bit distracting to my concentration when she would bark or lurch because she caught glimpse of a squirrel, a garbage truck, or another dog.

On the other hand, I did really like being able to easily keep my eye on her.

Carriers Mounted on a Luggage Rack

Road-Hound (from Moto-Pet Carriers), Pet Carrier (from T-Bags), Pet Carrier (from Scootworks.com), and others

These looked quite nice to me. Online photos showed some good, clean designs -- well constructed. In the end however, I had several issues with these:

• I could not see an easy way to make a quick release system. They were made to be semi-permanently mounted.
• I did not want a big box sticking out the back end of the bike whenever I rode solo. In fact, I didn't even want a luggage rack permanently mounted.
• The T-Bag one was designed for animals smaller than my 15 pounder.
• I was uneasy about having my pet completely out of my sight. I might have no clue if she needed immediate attention.
• Some of them seemed expensive.

Booster Type Seat on Passenger Pillion

Beast Rider (from BeastRiders.com), or Pet Carrier (from Scootworks.com)

This is a pretty good idea if you don't have a human passenger. Also:

• These would sit my dog immediately behind me on the passenger pillion, so I could just feel behind me to check in.
• I believe it's a fairly quick on/off system for mounting the carrier to the pillion. Once removed, the bike shows no sign of permanent mounts, or anything.

However, on the down side:

• It occupies the passenger seat area, so this would mean my wife would have to have her own bike -- which she did not want. For us, this draw-back eliminated this option completely. The whole idea was to take wife AND dog, not either/or.
• Doggie goggles would be required.
• They are fairly expensive, in my opinion.

Saddle Bag Carrier

Saddle Dog (from SaddleDogs.com)

While this solution satisfies nearly every desire, the issues that remained were deal breakers for me:

• The saddledog bag is a bit narrow, so our pet would be fairly cramped, and might become over-heated on hot days.
• She could turn her head out to the side, so as to be the widest point of the bike, which just feels too dangerous to me.
• Saddlebag guards would be required, in case the bike was ever accidentally laid down onto her side.
• Doggie goggles would be required.
• It would require all our gear to fit into one saddlebag.

Side-Car

Champion Side Car (from championsidecars.com).

This would be a good solution for dogs too large for other options, and there is a great novelty factor. But it seemed like over-kill for our 15lb mut. Also:

• It would cost thousands of dollars, rather than hundreds.
• It could not be easily or quickly detached for solo riding.
• I could not fit the bike and side-car into our available garage space.
• It would significantly reduce gas mileage.
• It would reduce the joy of two-wheel motorcycling, (i.e. cornering).
• Doggles would still be required.

Ride on.

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