Hello, Been there, done that is an old saying that rings true. When the rear of the El Camino was full, something happened to make things worse. Once, out in the desert, we had a slow leak that over the course of the long day in the hot sun, made the rear tire flat. Luckily, access to the jack and spare was behind the passenger seatback. But, we had to dig lower into the sand to the hard pack to get the tire up and out. Plus, we had to place the 2x6 wooden motorcycle up ramp on the sand to get a solid base for the bumper jack for the rear bumper. It was not the most enjoyable thing to do in that weather, but we were already sweating from the long desert races and it did not take long to change into the spare tire for the trip home. YRMV sticker in rear window... Jnaki There were a few times that our two Greeves 250 CC desert racing motorcycles, tool box, full ice cooler and some spare parts were packed into the rear bed of our 65 El Camino. The air was filled into the factory rear air shocks and all was good. Our first 250cc bikes were shorter and fit nicely even with the leading link front forks. In 1965-67, the next Greeves custom made for the desert with an extended swing arm was slightly longer, but still fit nicely with the tailgate shut. But, with all of the stuff in the back, we never had to wire or tie a partially closed rear tailgate door. Everything was secure for the 200 mile far away deep, Mojave Desert courses or the closer El Mirage Lake neighborhood and the shorter race courses. The two Triumph 500cc or 650cc motorcycles are larger and there seems to be more stuff in the Ranchero. They are not street bikes because of the missing rear license plate and brake light. The seats are the popular desert padded seats that were able to be put on several different styles of racing bikes. Note 1: These big Triumph/BSA 500-650 race bikes usually started after the 250 cc classes took off for the 50-mile first leg. Before getting back in the pits, those "big guns" zipped by us like we were standing still, even at full throttle. Yikes! Note 2 : Later on in the timeline: A Harley Sportster does fit in the back of the El Camino bed with the tailgate closed. Been there and done that during our street motorcycle days. But, only one and at an angle. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
