I'm afraid it just never gets boring (to me) about how to transport goods in this culture. It's probably because in Oregon I have a fancy truck with a top rack for hauling really long lumber and super long extension ladders, and I have a utility trailer and sometimes I rent a double-axel trailer for hauling earth-moving equipment or for dump-trailer functionality. So it's a professional interest and a lifestyle intersect, and to have it all be so amazing different here is just difficult to wrap my head around.
Early in our time here I took this photo:
Some astute viewers will immediately recognize this for what it is, but for me it's still a boggle. This, my friends, is a moto-trailer. You position the crossbar on your motorbike just behind your tailbone, load the trailer with all the weight forward, take off slowly, and hope you never have to hard-brake during your trip.
In the photo above, and behind the moto-trailer, you can see what is essentially my local ACE Hardware. They have most of the tools and wall anchors and spray paint that I need. To buy specialty tools I need to head to the parts of town where those specific tools and supplies are sold. Did I ever tell you about replacing the hockey puck lights in our dining room? Finding those lights was an adventure!
Before I show you more photos of moto-trailers, I should add the caveat that not everyone uses a moto-trailer when the need arises. I bought a couch loveseat from a foreigner and my friend, Nha, arranged a minivan-sized moving truck to transport it for $11. I saved this photo mostly so I could have his phone number if something else comes up that I need help transporting.
And then early last week I was able to capture all the rest of these moto-trailer photos on a single day before noon. Two outings, and I got a lucky break to see so many while my phone was handy or when Janet was riding with me and could capture the shot.
Video of a lady with an empty trailer, southbound on the High Road near our house. Her trailer connection is a little different, because instead of resting on the seat, the crossbar has a bolt down into the back of the motorbike. I see that style about as often as the ones where the crossbar rests on the seat behind you or where you have to sit on the crossbar (you have to do that when the trailer is empty and there's not enough tongue weight). https://youtube.com/shorts/c_JOh9VzLK8?feature=share
The photo above shows a guy with a moto-trailer carrying rebar in coils and lengths. Easily 800 pounds.
And the weight is NOT what impressed me about this guy's load, yet I'm impressed. And it wasn't even on a trailer--all that styrofoam is just on his bike as he transports it from point A to point B, cool as a cucumber. I get all wobbly when I transport a metal dining table home from the market, so I'm telling you he has my Respect.
The final three pictures that I took that morning are all one guy's load. This intersection is down at the Dragon Bridge and the High Road, where we're all about to turn left to go out toward the ocean beaches. After some of the super-sized or very heavy loads, this one seems a little unremarkable. Just a normal way to haul some plywood out to the job site.
