Overloaded bike rack damage

[Makingtrax]

Discussing possible e bikes on another thread, there’s a few posters cautioning against the potential damage that might result from an overloaded bike carrier mounted on my rear wall of a coach built. A quick search shows it been discussed before on threads both here and on other forums. The 60kg limit seems very debatable.

I’m loathe to fit a new tow bar mounted carrier for two ebikes at around 46kgs or clutter up the garage with folding ones,(or buy a new motorhome with a bigger garage) so I’ve searched the internet for photos or links to evidence of damage such as rear walls being pulled off going over bumps etc, but can find little about it.

Is there any real evidence of this or am I just sh!t at searching the Internet. Is it a myth like gassing, or have people sustained real damage from the forces exerted. Would like to make a decision on this.

 

[DBK]

I know someone who bent the rear door of their PVC when they went over an unseen sleeping policeman at speed. Their bikes were on a mount fixed to one of the doors so it does happen. I think in normal use there won't be a problem but it just depends if you feel you will always see a sleeping policeman or big potholes. If you plan on driving at night then the risk will be much higher as not all hazards are well marked. We have a storage box on our bike rack mounted at the back of our PVC and I've done about 35,000 miles with it now and not had any mishaps - and it must be loaded to something very close to the limit for the rack.

 

[Makingtrax]

I know someone who bent the rear door of their PVC when they went over an unseen sleeping policeman at speed. Their bikes were on a mount fixed to one of the doors so it does happen. I think in normal use there won't be a problem but it just depends if you feel you will always see a sleeping policeman or big potholes. If you plan on driving at night then the risk will be much higher as not all hazards are well marked. We have a storage box on our bike rack mounted at the back of our PVC and I've done about 35,000 miles with it now and not had any mishaps - and it must be loaded to something very close to the limit for the rack.

Maybe wrong but probably more chance of problems mounted on the door of a van.

 

[TheBig1]

I have personally seen several vans where the bolts holding the rear cycle rack have been pulled into the inner face of the wall and damp has then got in rotting the wall and floor

 

[TheBig1]

I seem to recall Chris having a loaded bike rack snap

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[Stealaway]

There was one on here recently, due to hitting road hump.

 

[Podney]

I know someone whose Eldiss rear end was badly damaged by carrying e-bikes,but I don’t know what they weighed.
I had the same dilemma myself,until Mrs P announced that she wasn’t going to ride a bike any more!
I now have the option of either leaving her at the van when I go off biking,or maybe getting a scooter that takes two.........but then I’d need a van with a bigger garage or a trailer.
Erm..............I think I’ll just go biking on my own (ouch!), .....only joking dearest!

 

[Makingtrax]

There was one on here recently, due to hitting road hump.

Cheers have you got a link to this. Be interesting to see how many bikes they were carrying.

 

[TheBig1]

Rear Mounted Bike Racks.

I need to fit a cycle rack to the rear panel of the m/h with the intention of carrying 2 standard bikes . I am a bit concerned about the weight that will be put on the panel with regards to possible movement and water ingress into the sealed joints. I have seen plenty of m/h with racks on and...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Chris]

I seem to recall Chris having a loaded bike rack snap

It didn’t actually snap, but it started pulling away from the van half way across Spain.

It could have been quite nasty if I hadn’t by chance checked over the rack during a stop.

It was 2 adult and 2 children’s bikes but within the weight tolerance ( I think).

We had it put back on with bigger brackets and had no problems after that.

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[Landy Andy]

I assume the 60kg limit is what the rack can handle, not what the rear wall of the MoHo can take?

In regards to what the rear wall can take that depends on how the weight is attached. If it is direct to the structure of the wall or just through at any point. The size of the inner weight spreading plates will also be a consideration between big enough to take weight but small enough to be cosmetically ok.

For me, I hate bike racks, the idea of assisting someone to climb on my roof to gain access, the difficulty cleaning around them, the idea of making my MoHo even longer, theft of bikes, damage to bikes from elements, damage to bikes from locks, and possible water ingress issues. So I removed rack from mine.

 

[Stealaway]

I think they were carrying electric bikes. Bike racks are only made for push bikes -IMO.

 

[jockaneezer]

When I fitted our bike rack (2 Ebikes) I emailed Burstner and they sent me a drawing of where the reinforcement was in the back wall for the strongest fixing, that and decent sized spreader plates and positioning the bikes as close in as possible without touching the back, have seen no problem after 5 years of touring.

 

[martin2603]

I had a rear wall mounted rack but it was too high to lift the bikes with comfort, the tried a tow bar Thule rack , worked ok but I there was flexing with 2 e bikes . The we fitted a
Memo Chassis mounted scooted / cycle rack. It does increase the length but it is not a problem on the Tunnel , we take two bikes or one scooter and one bike. Problem Sorted.

 

[Mikeco]

If it’s fixed properly and you don’t exceed the rack weight allowance then it should not be a problem.
A few years ago I had a bike rack fixed to the rear wall of a Swift caravan, this was only fixed with coach bolts into the timber, not all the way through to the inside.
Did the trip to Spain and back three times without any problem.

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[Mikeco]

I think they were carrying electric bikes. Bike racks are only made for push bikes -IMO.

Bike racks have a weight loading, it does not matter if they are e bikes or not, we used to carry two ebikes on a rack with no problem.

 

[Steve N Tracy]

The rear mounted bike rack on our Rollerteam is supposed to have a static weight limit capacity of 75 kg but the dynamic weight loading will be much higher over bumps, and one of the rear mounts is very close to the rear bathroom window, if it was a solid rear panel, I would feel better about it, so as it's also mounted quite high, I decided to remove it fit a towbar and use a towbar carrier, much easier to lift 2 E-bikes onto.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

I know someone who bent the rear door of their PVC when they went over an unseen sleeping policeman at speed. Their bikes were on a mount fixed to one of the doors so it does happen. I think in normal use there won't be a problem but it just depends if you feel you will always see a sleeping policeman or big potholes. If you plan on driving at night then the risk will be much higher as not all hazards are well marked. We have a storage box on our bike rack mounted at the back of our PVC and I've done about 35,000 miles with it now and not had any mishaps - and it must be loaded to something very close to the limit for the rack.

We have a Fiamma rack on the rear door of our PVC. Even if you don't exceed the recommended weight limit of the rack, going over a ramp or pothole can momentarily increase the load massively. It flexed a bit too much for my liking, so we tend to take just lightweight road bikes on it now rather than the heavier hybrids we previously carried.

 

[tuscancouple]

This company does a proper rack for carrying eBikes. We looked at a Ducato PVC fitted with one, very impressive! ??

https://www.frankana.de/en/

Mick

 

[busby]

I know someone who bent the rear door of their PVC when they went over an unseen sleeping policeman at speed. Their bikes were on a mount fixed to one of the doors so it does happen. I think in normal use there won't be a problem but it just depends if you feel you will always see a sleeping policeman or big potholes. If you plan on driving at night then the risk will be much higher as not all hazards are well marked. We have a storage box on our bike rack mounted at the back of our PVC and I've done about 35,000 miles with it now and not had any mishaps - and it must be loaded to something very close to the limit for the rack.

I have had two heavy bikes on the rack of my two pvc s (not 2 at the same time) for over 5 years,,never had a problem.BUSBY.

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[Jonno1103]

The rear mounted bike rack on our Rollerteam is supposed to have a static weight limit capacity of 75 kg but the dynamic weight loading will be much higher over bumps, and one of the rear mounts is very close to the rear bathroom window, if it was a solid rear panel, I would feel better about it, so as it's also mounted quite high, I decided to remove it fit a towbar and use a towbar carrier, much easier to lift 2 E-bikes onto.

We've put an ultra box 500 on ours...

 

[pandas]

I think they were carrying electric bikes. Bike racks are only made for push bikes -IMO.

We carried 2 x electric bikes on a Fiamma bike rack that had a 60kg weight limit for 4 years all over Europe without any issues at all (45kg, took the batteries off). Back of a Hymer B544 A class. So providing the rack has been installed correctly there is from our experience no problem providing you are within the weight criteria of the rack as it factors in the dynamic weight rather than a static weight.

 

[Pebble99]

This company does a proper rack for carrying eBikes. We looked at a Ducato PVC fitted with one, very impressive! ??

https://www.frankana.de/en/

Mick

Hi Mick, are you referring to the EUROCARRY E-BIKE CARRIER out of interest.



I am weighing up the pros and cons of door mounted Fiamma vs bumper swing out carrier like this eurocarry or the Vanstar Memo, so would be interested to hear what you thought of the Eurocarry.

 

[tuscancouple]

Hi Mick, are you referring to the EUROCARRY E-BIKE CARRIER out of interest.

No, it's this one below. It was a serious bit of kit which attached via the four door hinges on the rear of the Ducato and could swing out to gain access as well as raise and lower, electrically!

<Broken link removed>

Mick