carrying a motorbike.

[peter t]

Who carries a motorbike on their van, I was down at J/Cross last weekend and spotted a motor fitted with rack bike rack fitted, just wondering what are the common issues to consider re , fitting and carrying a bike.

 

[Forestboy]

Hi Pete
I carry a 650 Kawasaki Versys

 

[Forestboy]

Sorry posted before I finished
The biggest issue is the weight of the bike and the rack on the rear of the m/h.

Depends what bike, what rack, which m/h and how much overhang you have.
You need to do a lot of homework before you take the plunge unless you've got a 12ton Monaco in which case you can hang a Harley on no problem.
It took me weeks to sort it out and even then I had to modify the bar as it was'nt really up to the job
If you're going to Newbury mine will be there with the bike on you're more han welcome to come along and have a look and a chat.

 

[Beachbum]

Carrying a motorbike

Link Removed

Hi Pete,
I have a motorbike rack fixed to the back. I have removed the stabilisers from the rack. Basically the frame is bolted to the chassis from underneath, then a rear panel of your lights are fixed. Look closely and you can see the channel and wheel block
This particular build can take up to 120 Kgs.

 

[peter t]

Sorry posted before I finished
The biggest issue is the weight of the bike and the rack on the rear of the m/h.

Depends what bike, what rack, which m/h and how much overhang you have.
You need to do a lot of homework before you take the plunge unless you've got a 12ton Monaco in which case you can hang a Harley on no problem.
It took me weeks to sort it out and even then I had to modify the bar as it was'nt really up to the job
If you're going to Newbury mine will be there with the bike on you're more han welcome to come along and have a look and a chat.

Thanks alot, hopefully will have a chat one day, to be honest I think we will be putting the bikes on a back burner for a month or two while we get accustomed to the m/h routine, but if we decide to to carry a bike I would like to know " the pro's and con's "
At the moment We won't be going anywhere for a while... I'am awaiting Royal Snail to deliver my insurance Docs ....4 days for 1st class mail :Angry: and when it does turn up it will be delivered at about 1 oclock in the afternoon, cause thats the norm now. :shout:
Pete.

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[highwayman]

Hi peter
Whatever bike you decide to carry, you'll have to be carefull about your rear axle
weight due to the cantelever effect. ie 130kg hanging 1.5 meters behind your
rear wheels can cause havoc with the axle loading and cause a significant payload
problem. :Sad:
If you want to take a big bike with you it'd be easier to put it on a trailer.
We had-to with ours cos if we put it on a rack the m/home would wheely



regards....nige

 

[American Dream]

Sorry posted before I finished
The biggest issue is the weight of the bike and the rack on the rear of the m/h.

Depends what bike, what rack, which m/h and how much overhang you have.
You need to do a lot of homework before you take the plunge unless you've got a 12ton Monaco in which case you can hang a Harley on no problem.
It took me weeks to sort it out and even then I had to modify the bar as it was'nt really up to the job
If you're going to Newbury mine will be there with the bike on you're more han welcome to come along and have a look and a chat.

You Guys Chat and I'll check the bike out.:Cool:

 

[michaelc]

In answer

Hi, I have a Hymer b544, I made up a very light weight scooter rack for the back, and after filling up with 1/2 a tank of water, and our bits and bobs and placing our scooter on the back, went off to weigh bridge. found out we had over 55kgs over weight on the rear axle, that was with the battery out of the scooter and little fuel.
I also found that the steering became a bit to light for my liking.
I give up on the idea as we would always be near or just over the limit and went for a trailer and quad bike.
my other half likes the quad better anyway, and as shes a rubbish jump around rear seat driver i am happier that I have 4 wheels and not 2.
terry

 

[Forestboy]

I would agree that unless you have an RV you're better off with a trailer. We towed a bike trailer for years with no problems what so ever, it also gives you the option to have a bigger bike rather than struggle with a tiddler. Even on RVs the ones under 7.5 tons will struggle to carry much more than a lightweight trailbike.

 

[American Dream]

How did you get on towing a trailer you cant see Ror?

I was thinking about it ,but the combination of Left-hand drive and no visibility is a bit daunting.

Do you have a reversing camera?

Good Morning to you and Jan.

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[Forestboy]

Morning Mate

It was'nt behind the Rv it was a big old panel van but I still could'nt see it. To be honest they're so small and light you don't even know they're there. My first bike trailer was a single axle but I then changed to a twin axle and it towed lovely used it for years. If you're worried about not seeing it fit a small reversing camera, use mine on the RV all the time as a rear view mirror.

 

[michaelc]

In answer

Hi, I know you did not ask me, but I will give my view on towing a trailer. My hymer is LHD. and I tow a small box trailer with the quad inside and a few other bits and bods.
OK, as to towing, well going forward is easy, the trailer just follows along.
backwards can be a bit of a pain, with the trailers narrow track its easy for it to get off course, so I need to watch and just go nice and slow.
I have set the camera up so I can see the whole length of the trailer and this helps alot.
parking at times is a pain, but I just find bigger places to stop.also being unbraked it slows me down abit on motorways etc.
Is it worth it, the answer is YES.
terry

 

[dylan]

Hi, I know you did not ask me, but I will give my view on towing a trailer. My hymer is LHD. and I tow a small box trailer with the quad inside and a few other bits and bods.
OK, as to towing, well going forward is easy, the trailer just follows along.
backwards can be a bit of a pain, with the trailers narrow track its easy for it to get off course, so I need to watch and just go nice and slow.
I have set the camera up so I can see the whole length of the trailer and this helps alot.
parking at times is a pain, but I just find bigger places to stop.also being unbraked it slows me down abit on motorways etc.
Is it worth it, the answer is YES.
terry[/QUOTE
Hi do you race your quad or just off road or road legal - other half is just interested (works on arctic cat and polaris quads) ?:thumb:

 

[American Dream]

Hi, I know you did not ask me, but I will give my view on towing a trailer. My hymer is LHD. and I tow a small box trailer with the quad inside and a few other bits and bods.
OK, as to towing, well going forward is easy, the trailer just follows along.
backwards can be a bit of a pain, with the trailers narrow track its easy for it to get off course, so I need to watch and just go nice and slow.
I have set the camera up so I can see the whole length of the trailer and this helps alot.
parking at times is a pain, but I just find bigger places to stop.also being unbraked it slows me down abit on motorways etc.
Is it worth it, the answer is YES.
terry

Cheers Terry,

Many thanks for your thoughts.It's the reversing aspect that's the problem for me.

I'm ok with things I can see.Caravans dare I say it.

I guess the camera is the way to go.:thumb:

 

[Ralph-Dot]

Hi, I have a Hymer b544, I made up a very light weight scooter rack for the back, and after filling up with 1/2 a tank of water, and our bits and bobs and placing our scooter on the back, went off to weigh bridge. found out we had over 55kgs over weight on the rear axle, that was with the battery out of the scooter and little fuel.
I also found that the steering became a bit to light for my liking.
I give up on the idea as we would always be near or just over the limit and went for a trailer and quad bike.
my other half likes the quad better anyway, and as shes a rubbish jump around rear seat driver i am happier that I have 4 wheels and not 2.
terry

I had a similar problem, so I moved all of my heavy stuff to the front of the van, transferring weight from the back axel to the front axel.

For a big bike you need a big van .

Ralph

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[michaelc]

quad bike

Hi, the quad is road legal, its a polaris trailboss, not to big to pull around and fits in the box trailer with a bit of room for odds and ends. I fitted road tires and we use it a lot to get into cities and so on, easyer to park then a car, and as its french there is no road tax or mot to deal with and the insurrance allows us to drive it all over europe which a lot of uk motorbike insurrance companys will not do..
terry

 

[dylan]

If you get stuck for spares Marks your man ! Of course we are in Wales
Anyway nice quad:thumb: