Carrying a motorcycle

[Jands]

I am wanting to carry a small motorcycle in a future motorhome.
See that big advantages of visiting places without necessarily taking the MH.
At the moment looking at the Pilote P740c, height adjustable island bed over a large garage, usable weight 550kgs. Max weight of vehicle 3500kgs. We aim to spend trips of a month round Europe.
What experiences have people had of keeping a motorcycle in the garage.
I understand that weight is a big consideration so there is a possibility of a 4400kgs upgrade of the vehicle but yet to explore this.
Looking at a light motorcycle of 125cc Honda do a MSX weighing 100kgs but this is small 125 full size bikes weight 120k. Not keen on a small wheeled scooter.
Any help, advice experiences would be helpful in sorting out my thoughts.

 

[hilldweller]

usable weight 550kgs.

Believe that only when you have the weight tickets in your hand. I have to say that 550kg load on a vehicle big enough for a fixed bed over the garage sounds optimistic within a 3500kg max.

 

[Wissel]

I think the issue will be the weight over the rear axle (as oppose to the total vehicle weight).

Would think the 4.4T chassis upgrade would sort this. As I'm looking at a new Pilote myself, I can tell you the upgrade cost is £1250 to upgrade to 150BHP and £1200 to upgrade the chassis.

I've spoken to a Pilote dealer who says it's not necessary to have the alloy wheels as well, but these are available with AirTop suspension for an extra £1240. The AirTop suspension allows you to make the ride firmer when wanted (imagine useful with more weight in the garage).

I'm taking all three of these options if (when lol) I order.

Just as a fyi, I've done a sheet with all the weights of a Pilote P740GJ. I've attached it to this message.

 

[Wissel]

Believe that only when you have the weight tickets in your hand. I have to say that 550kg load on a vehicle big enough for a fixed bed over the garage sounds optimistic within a 3500kg max.

Totally agree - these figures are misleading IMO. From another post on the same Pilote:

David, Bugsy,

I don't just use the official payload numbers in the Pilote brochure but instead I strip all the figures down to the bones to ensure that I know what weight I have available, axle dependent

The 2017 brochure states that MIRO is calculated on the following:

1. No driver (Unlike some brands which include a 75kg driver in the MIRO).
2. 20 litres of water
3. Diesel tank @ 90% full.
4. 1 x gas bottle at 90% full.
5. There's also the European Leglisation crap about the +/-5% variation in the basic & standard equipment for the MIRO.

If you purchase a Sensation-specced MY17 130BHP Euro-6 P740GJ with an MTPLM of 3.65T, without any additional equipment being added, then by my estimation the following figures apply:

1. Sensation Payload (Basic): 530kg
2. HDV Light Chassis Increase to 3.65T: 150kg.
3. 20-litres of water: 20kg
4. 90% Fuel (90ltr tank so 81ltr @ 0.85kg/ltr): 68.85kg
5. 1 x 13kg Gas bottle with tare weight of: 14.5kg
6. 90% of 13kg gas: 11.7kg

Total: 795.05

..................everything thereafter is easy to calculate for my simple mind, including such things as the upgrade from 130BHP to 150BHP which equates to 11kg according to Pilote.

Very best,

Andrew

So the Payload figure doesn't even include the driver. Let alone passengers.....

 

[SandraL]

Totally agree you need weighbridge figures. Difficult if van is not yet available. We bought a hymer with rear bed over garage. Rear axle p!ated at 2400kg.
When loaded with 110kg scooter in garage and all the usual kit we weighed 2420kg on rear axle.
An upgrade to2500kg sorted us out.
Also most bikes are quoted dry weight, add fuel, helmets, topbox, rack and rampetc...
Plus the spare wheel not supplied!

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[Valkman]

I've been through the same issue. Converting a Yamaha TTR 250 trail bike to accept a pillion & putting it on a rack on the back of a Autocruise Starburst. It was still too much weight over the rear axle according to a weighbridge; despite me working out the theoretical weight compliance. With a later motorhome, I bought an Easylifter hydratrail and trailered my Triumph Tiger 800 XRX and then Bonnevlle T100 for many thousands of miles (through Europe as well) without difficulty (I adapted the hydratrail slightly to make live a bit easier & to add a higher level of security). I protected my bike by making padding from an old duvet and covering that with a waterproof Oxford bike cover. The beauty to the Hydratrail is that it has castor wheels, so reversing is dead easy.

 

[vwalan]

i use a 90cc easyrider dax , carries two if your not too big .
had mine 16yrs now great little bike .
these days you can buy a similar one for less than a grand and they weigh about 80kg.
not a serious m,bike but great for just nosing around on .
have had mine with my 17 stone and a mates 20 stone . that was a bit of a squeeze but we had a few trips into gib on shopping trips .
he was impressed and later bought a 110cc version for in his camper.

 

[Vic]

Another consideration is whether the garage is sealed, otherwise petrol fumes could enter the bedroom area. This happened to me, so another vote for a Hydra-trail.

 

[mustaphapint]

I think you'll struggle to carry a bike and keep within 3,500Kg, especially if it's on a rack. This one weighs about 160Kg and we are right on the limit for the rear axle and a total weight of 3,850 once we are loaded.

 

[airwave]

i use a 90cc easyrider dax , carries two

You are joking ent ya , 37 stone on a daxhound . I bet it was a bloody squeeze . I'm gonna stick a 125cc version on my bus , next year .

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[vwalan]

You are joking ent ya , 37 stone on a daxhound . I bet it was a bloody squeeze . I'm gonna stick a 125cc version on my bus , next year .

here,s a pic .of us playing in the sand in maroc . it does work. yes its not the most comfortable . but it was handy years ago if parked outside gibralter and two of us wanted to go in to gib . saves lots queing to get in or out .

 

[SUGGY]

I have a Carado T447 , i got it up plated to 3850 and put air suspension on it, ( The same as i did on the Fendt ) and carry a 125 cc Lexmoto Gladiator Scooter weighing 110kg . in the garage.

 

[airwave]

here,s a pic .of us playing in the sand in maroc . it does work. yes its not the most comfortable . but it was handy years ago if parked outside gibralter and two of us wanted to go in to gib . saves lots queing to get in or out .

, Jeeze that's a bigger squeeze than i imagined ,

Least i now know it will cope with my 11 stone frame .

I remember the original coming out , from honda , used an engine from the c90 step though . The advert they used , showed a guy carrying one in a bag toward's a light aircraft , with it's baggage door open . I think it was Piper arrow . Then it was rereleased in the 90's , as the st50 , but didn't have the folding handle bars , had a hefty price tag to go with it though , now the chinese have got hold of it , ye god's .

I've heard their pretty robust , which is unusual for a chinese bike , and to my way of thinking a lot of the original part's from honda would probably fit , so i can't see spare's being an issue . I've also been in touch with a couple of owners though utube , who say despite the small wheel's their pretty stable , and both had been , well shall we say souped up a little (carburetor work) , making them both capable of hitting the 60 mark . The original could only touch around 45 -50 . The 12v electric's are definitely an advantage , over the original 6v system and weighing a shade over 70 kilo's , make them ideal to drop on the back of an rv . With the grand price tag , i can't see what's not to like .
Electric start and folding handle bar's , perfect for just me , but i will be honest , if i did have someone with me i'd probably go for something a bit bigger . Like you say , who need's the hassle of trying to park in a town centre , and of course some town's are starting to oust motor vehicle's . The really best bit is , if ya happen to buy something you can't carry , then get a taxi , fold the gofor up and put it in the boot .

I've still got the giggle's from that pic , mate , fair play to ya .

Edit . Just one criticism though , i know it was probably hot , but short's and tee shirt on a motorbike , really , and were's the skid lid and glove's too , okay so that's two .

 

[Badknee]

I got our suppliers (BCS Manchester) to weigh our new to us Moho before we bought it to give us a definitive payload which they did with pleasure and did comment that no one else had ever asked them to do this. I think the payload on our mohos and modern caravans is diabolical, we had ours uprated to 5250kgs so a scoot on the tow bar was a piece of cake. Fully loaded for our Spain trip, gas tank, fuel tank, water tank all full. Wife on board and over the weighbridge we went and I was delighted with the readout.

 

[vwalan]

, Jeeze that's a bigger squeeze than i imagined ,

Least i now know it will cope with my 11 stone frame .

I remember the original coming out , from honda , used an engine from the c90 step though . The advert they used , showed a guy carrying one in a bag toward's a light aircraft , with it's baggage door open . I think it was Piper arrow . Then it was rereleased in the 90's , as the st50 , but didn't have the folding handle bars , had a hefty price tag to go with it though , now the chinese have got hold of it , ye god's .

I've heard their pretty robust , which is unusual for a chinese bike , and to my way of thinking a lot of the original part's from honda would probably fit , so i can't see spare's being an issue . I've also been in touch with a couple of owners though utube , who say despite the small wheel's their pretty stable , and both had been , well shall we say souped up a little (carburetor work) , making them both capable of hitting the 60 mark . The original could only touch around 45 -50 . The 12v electric's are definitely an advantage , over the original 6v system and weighing a shade over 70 kilo's , make them ideal to drop on the back of an rv . With the grand price tag , i can't see what's not to like .
Electric start and folding handle bar's , perfect for just me , but i will be honest , if i did have someone with me i'd probably go for something a bit bigger . Like you say , who need's the hassle of trying to park in a town centre , and of course some town's are starting to oust motor vehicle's . The really best bit is , if ya happen to buy something you can't carry , then get a taxi , fold the gofor up and put it in the boot .

I've still got the giggle's from that pic , mate , fair play to ya .

Edit . Just one criticism though , i know it was probably hot , but short's and tee shirt on a motorbike , really , and were's the skid lid and glove's too , okay so that's two .

honda did 50cc or 70cc . jincheng that did mine took the 50cc with 4 gears and a clutch and built it to 90cc .like i say had mine since 2001 its been all over europe .morocco. and i can say gets abused .
it has broke two speedo cables while playing in the desert and on mountain tracks . hasd 4 batteries and one rear tyre . chinese motor bikes are ok. but some better than others . fluff brown imported mine . was a famous trials etc rider . they chose jingchen as he thought it was good quality and i say he was right .
mind i have had a few lifan m,bikes and they were ok as well. had 50cc to 250cc .
some bmw bikes are made in china . plus loads car /van parts are but built in germany just so they can say built in germany not made in germany.
dont need anything in morocco.
mind in uk you only need crash hat.
i ride a 1500cc here in uk . jeans ,t shirt, cut off, what more do i need oh a cut away skid lid .
i do wear strong boots but they fir over my orthotics on my legs .
mind that pic was before i had supports for my legs .
nothing to do with m,bike riding ,i have charcot /marie /tooth thats why i need orthotics .

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[Lenny HB]

With an adjustable height bed the garage is unlikely to be sealed from the living area so petrol fumes could be a problem.
On our Hymer there are ventilation grills between the garage and hab area not good if you want to carry a scooter or motorbike.

 

[airwave]

i have charcot /marie /tooth

Sorry to hear that mate , i'd never heard of it , so had to ask google , i know now . Just don't let the dam thing , stop you having fun eh . I've got copd , was diagnosed 5 year's ago , but i don't let it take over , though to be honest , it can be a struggle this time of year .
Now the dax , yep your totally correct it was a 70 , it was me that wanted to plant a 90 in it , just never invested in one . Gotta be honest , i didn't know they made a 50cc version , at the same time , only when it was reintroduced in the 90's .

The van's got it mot's monday , then i'll knuckle down and get it up plated , before i do purchase one . I've been in touch with a company up north that import's them . They have several for sale on their web page's , trouble is none of em are grey . Still i may get a white one and colour match it , ent decided yet , and i'm gonna replace some of the other bit's too .
Yeah i know , but i was brought up in the skid lid era . I always wear glove's , and actually i got badly burnt by the sun when i was 13 . It was bloody painful for day's , and i never forgot it , never wear short's now , though i do wear tee shirt's .

Oh and it's same thing with the mini , actually half the range ent even built here .

 

[Minxy]

There's no way on earth a large island bed MH is going to be usable at 3500kg, it just isn't possible once you've got yourself, partner etc and all your kit on board, along with water, fuel, gas etc. It really annoys me that MH dealers still sell these at that weight to the unsuspecting public.

For any MH you intend to buy get a weighbridge certificate before you go ahead, it's the only sure way to find out what the exact payload left is. If its a new MH so you can't do this then get a dealer to obtain confirmation from the manufacturer stating what is included and more importantly what isn't!

 

[vwalan]

as a kid in the 60,s my mum had a c50 stepthrough . i remember seeing the monkey bikes and honda dax in the show rooms . they even let me ride one in the yard . my parents couldnt afford to get me one . but these days i ride around and i,m 8-10 yrs old again . folk laugh at me when they see me on it . but i dont care i,m laughing from the minute i cross my leg over the seat.
even more when on the narrow roads round here that i used to sneak off on my mums stepthrough. couldnt use main roads might have got caught . its still great fun .
keep the big bike for long runs these days .

 

[sciac2001]

We carried a 125kg m/bike on a rack on a Burstner Aviano 684 plated at 4000kgs. Overall weight was not a problem. However, it was definately a case of the tail wagging the dog. Handling around the interminable roundabouts found in France & Spain was not impressive. Being frontwheel drive meant intensive understeering. I won't mention the wheel skids when traction was lost on steep inclines. I must admit that my confidence was shot after experiencing wheelspin and loss of traction on more than 2 occasions. I have removed the rack and keft the bike at home. (Having your m/bike inside your garage and therefore nearer the rear axle will help.)

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[airwave]

keep the big bike for long runs these days .

Yeah i do too , not as big as your's though , it's only a 500 .


Got a couple of cb250rs in the garage , both need a lot of work , but i was gonna put one of them on the back as they only weigh 120kg each . However i decided against it when i started reading about the problem's , some of you guy's were having with payload . The big selling point of the dax is it's weight , at a shade over 70kg . It's probably one of the lightest bike's i've come across , and nearly half the weight of my 250's . It took me a little while to get there though . Actually i was looking for a 100n , i owned one year's ago , and at around 78kg , another light weight . When i came across some new frame's for the dax , a bike that had been outta production for some 10 years , no v5 though . Then i discovered some strange new part's that were never fitted in the first place . I considered assembling one from the part's , but a lack of v5 would make it difficult to register . Then i happened across a post on fun , got a feeling it was one of your's , that had me googling skyteam , and it all fell into place . I didn't know the chinese were knocking them out , and after a little bit of research i found out who was importing them , they have since stopped , but a new company has taken over , and i've been in touch .

 

[Richard n Ann]

The KTM Duke 390 looks a nice bike and only 137kg. I'm chomping at the bit to get rid of the Honda Vision, it's so damn practical though. Wish it would just blow up

 

[vwalan]

Yeah i do too , not as big as your's though , it's only a 500 .


Got a couple of cb250rs in the garage , both need a lot of work , but i was gonna put one of them on the back as they only weigh 120kg each . However i decided against it when i started reading about the problem's , some of you guy's were having with payload . The big selling point of the dax is it's weight , at a shade over 70kg . It's probably one of the lightest bike's i've come across , and nearly half the weight of my 250's . It took me a little while to get there though . Actually i was looking for a 100n , i owned one year's ago , and at around 78kg , another light weight . When i came across some new frame's for the dax , a bike that had been outta production for some 10 years , no v5 though . Then i discovered some strange new part's that were never fitted in the first place . I considered assembling one from the part's , but a lack of v5 would make it difficult to register . Then i happened across a post on fun , got a feeling it was one of your's , that had me googling skyteam , and it all fell into place . I didn't know the chinese were knocking them out , and after a little bit of research i found out who was importing them , they have since stopped , but a new company has taken over , and i've been in touch .

i didnt know china was making them when i bought mine 16yrs ago. i had actually gone upto exeter to look at the drifter and saw what i thought was a honda dax . it was the easyrider jincheng dax 90cc . i ended up buying the drifter and the dax .
i had built the truck garage to take a dax following john speeds measurements in his travel van book.
it just fits . well for height . i can and have had three in the garage at times .
used mine today and heard a sqeak from the front brake shoes . looks like i might have to change the front brakes . but cant moan .
i dare say i had better check the rear while i,m playing about . you would think things would last for ever but they dont .
hopefully my little dax will see me out , mind these days i use it more and more . beats walking .
the local kids wave and cheer , they think its amazing , little bike ,big bike ,mini artic as a camper . mates turn up with all sorts of truck campers etc or custom cars . they wonder why their grandad is so miserable .