Easylifter warned off!

[jerryz]

I have been looking at easy lifter for my Ducati for my MH for months ,, am actually bidding on 2 at the moment , but 2 of my pals who both have MH and big bikes , say my Adria 680 which is actually 7.26m long with a 1.6m over hang is not suitable for an easy lifter partly due to ground clearance height and the sheer length of overhang , they say it will be very difficult to actually get the easylifter hydraulic ram high enough to get dolly wheels on ,,,Joe has an easylifter and he knows all the issues with them , his van is shorter and more ground clearance and Dave uses trailers for his bike as his van is also low ground clearance like mine and he borrowed Joe's easylifter and it was not a good working solution

now im concerned ,,,

 

[Silver-Fox]

I thought the easylifter didn’t touch the ground or am I thinking of a different one

 

[jerryz]

they dont,,,, the dolly wheels touch the ground but apparently my vans over hang is so long that the easylifter mechanism will not lift high enough to fit the wheels ,, and the weight distribution on rear will be risky and the van itself may not clear bumps and so the rear underside will get broken

 

[Silver-Fox]

I’ve got the type that runs trailer wheels on it and a clever mechanism that allows it to move up and down.

It’s not a trailer as it doesn’t articulate.
I assemble it prior to loading a bike then use a ramp to load the bike

My Moho is 7.2m long and you can reverse with it all fitted.

 

[Phill D]

they dont,,,, the dolly wheels touch the ground but apparently my vans over hang is so long that the easylifter mechanism will not lift high enough to fit the wheels ,, and the weight distribution on rear will be risky and the van itself may not clear bumps and so the rear underside will get broken

excuse my ignorance but i assume that the easy lift is for a proper Bike ( not a Bycicle ) so bike and lifter would be approaching 150 / 200 kgs at a guess.

your adria will have the same chassis extension as mine and that would require a strengthening kit to hold such a set up and that whole combination would put significant load on your back end, which i agree with your mates is probably not a good idea.

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[ChrisL]

If your easylifter is the single lever type you might be able to put a trolley jack under the bottom of the lever system once the supplied jack is as high as it can get and lift it that little bit higher to fit the wheels but that would mean carrying a heavy jack around.

 

[jerryz]

excuse my ignorance but i assume that the easy lift is for a proper Bike ( not a Bycicle ) so bike and lifter would be approaching 150 / 200 kgs at a guess.

your adria will have the same chassis extension as mine and that would require a strengthening kit to hold such a set up and that whole combination would put significant load on your back end, which i agree with your mates is probably not a good idea.

more like 250kg but only 30kg when on the wheels ,,

 

[jerryz]

If your easylifter is the single lever type you might be able to put a trolley jack under the bottom of the lever system once the supplied jack is as high as it can get and lift it that little bit higher to fit the wheels but that would mean carrying a heavy jack around.

Yes but thats more weight and i dont like bodge ups and no trolley jack would fit the lifting point which is half a meter in the air

 

[jerryz]

also been pointed out that easylifter cant be towed empty which could be a big issue for me but i really hate trailers,, no security, length,,, no brakes, , and reversing

 

[ChrisL]

In terms of security a motolug might suit you as they can be stripped down and put in the motorhome garage and reversing one shouldn't be too difficult with a bit of practice.

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[scotzsue]

Wasn't aware the easylfter can't be towed empty, why not?

 

[jerryz]

Wasn't aware the easylfter can't be towed empty, why not?

Without weight it's unstable

 

[EuroTrotters]

I’ve got the type that runs trailer wheels on it and a clever mechanism that allows it to move up and down.

It’s not a trailer as it doesn’t articulate.
I assemble it prior to loading a bike then use a ramp to load the bike

My Moho is 7.2m long and you can reverse with it all fitted.

Interesting ! Do you have a link ? Photos ?

 

[Sue and Rick]

Why not back up some ramps to make the back of the moho higher whilst loading the bike?
Also, when empty jack up the easylifter and remove the wheels ?

 

[Fulham Dave]

We have a Peugeot Metropolis trike and a Deffy 8.7m tag axle.

Bought a Easylifter but had to return it.

The Metropolis is approx. 260kg, but with uneven weight distribution and very heavy on the front end. This meant that the jack would not lift straight & trying to attach the wheels was a problem and sometime impossible - it actually bent the tow ball. Also, it was extremely unstable when reversing as it the Easylifter would rock, too and fro when dolly wheels turned from front facing to rear facing when reversing.

Explained all this to Antony the designer and seller - he advised it is engineered to 300kg (in fact to 500kg). I think this would be on an even weight distributed bike as it certainly did not work for us. He did not quibble and gave us a full refund

A real shame as I loved the idea. No have a 3.25m trailer with tail gate and ride the trike onto it and secure it. Safer and easier.

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[jockaneezer]

Without weight it's unstable

I've never liked the fact there was no suspension on an Easylifter and can understand why towing it empty is a no no. I also thought it would benefit from a shock absorber in the linkage section too ?
I did some back of a fag packet sketches when we still had a motorbike and even bought some rubber "springs" from a company that made stamping presses, but the mock ups for a suspension castoring wheel assembly (with the materials and machinery I had available) was starting to get a bit too heavy.
I do like the French Yo Remorque style trailers but they come at a premium.

 

[Jev88]

Is your tow bar a bolt on? Can you fit a height adjuster to raise it?

 

[Bubba]

I have been looking at easy lifter for my Ducati for my MH for months ,, am actually bidding on 2 at the moment , but 2 of my pals who both have MH and big bikes , say my Adria 680 which is actually 7.26m long with a 1.6m over hang is not suitable for an easy lifter partly due to ground clearance height and the sheer length of overhang , they say it will be very difficult to actually get the easylifter hydraulic ram high enough to get dolly wheels on ,,,Joe has an easylifter and he knows all the issues with them , his van is shorter and more ground clearance and Dave uses trailers for his bike as his van is also low ground clearance like mine and he borrowed Joe's easylifter and it was not a good working solution

now im concerned ,,,

You could always put axle stands under the towbar as you are lifting the bike. Then remove them when the wheels are on.

 

[jerryz]

Is your tow bar a bolt on? Can you fit a height adjuster to raise it?

View attachment 829192

Yes but all these ideas wont really help the fundamental problem is the long overhand of my Adria and ground clearance im running the van today over to Joes and he will put his easy lifter on my van to show me the issues and why he says it will not work for me ?

 

[jerryz]

OK back in house now, with a nice cuppa,,

Joe mounted his easylifter onto my Adria , then we put his Fireblade onto the lift and jacked it up to maximum,,,, but due to the very low ground clearance on my van we could not fit the dolly wheels , adding another temp jack made no difference , seeing it in operation its very fiddly IMHO

I have definitely decided against getting an easy lifter , now will have to think about some kind of fold up trailer that I can have confidence in . I have used multi Bike trailers in the past but not for very long distance high speed travel and I find reversing them even in a normal car a nightmare , in a 7,2m van it looks much harder ,, only thing is Trailer can be easily detached in awkward places but ferry and toll costs will be much more ....

glad i took Joes advice ,, I really wanted a van with a big internal bike garage when I was looking at vans , but all the decent ones were on C1

I really thought easy lifter would be answer but alas no.

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[Silver-Fox]

they dont,,,, the dolly wheels touch the ground but apparently my vans over hang is so long that the easylifter mechanism will not lift high enough to fit the wheels

Can’t you fit an adapter plate that lifts the mechanism higher?

Most of the weight is carried on the caster wheels.

As I’ve said I assemble mine first and ramp load the bike.
Makes life soooooo much easier.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Interesting ! Do you have a link ? Photos ?

It appears I have the same as the op was looking at, the Hydra Trail.

 

[jerryz]

It appears I have the same as the op was looking at, the Hydra Trail.

Thats a fair trial ,, a lot of faffing around , time consuming and in my vans case we could not get it high enough to fit the wheels ,,add in a massive over hang and its just seemed all a bit flimsy, overcomplicated and prone to issues ,, plus I need to carry bikes sometimes from place to place and you cannot tow an empty easy lifer ,,

 

[Silver-Fox]

Thats a fair trial ,, a lot of faffing around , time consuming and in my vans case we could not get it high enough to fit the wheels ,,add in a massive over hang and its just seemed all a bit flimsy, overcomplicated and prone to issues ,, plus I need to carry bikes sometimes from place to place and you cannot tow an empty easy lifer ,,

You could fit an adapter plate to lift the Hydra up.

But I think you’ve already decided against one now

I do like mine I have to say.
Nice and compact being transverse, also a doddle to reverse with

 

[Stoosal]

What about a folding trailer…..something like this?

ive been looking for something for a heavy bike but I think a proper trailer is the only real option.

Motorhome Trailers in Bristol | LNB Towbars

Browse our range of motorcycle trailers available across the UK. Let's get your motorhome ready for your holidays!

www.lnbtowbars.co.uk

or

YO Remorques

www.yoremorques.fr

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[jerryz]

yes Im looking now at small folding trailers , preferably with suspension i will also have to update my rear camera its a camos but only runs when reverse engaged , i would get paranoid if i could not see trailer and Ducati ...

second hand preferable but i wont be towing until the spring ,, and I wont ever do a long trip without a bike again it was torture ,,,,

I could try and get my C1 back and go for a MH with a decent garage but thats probably another £15k ..

 

[stevewagner]

Have you thought about a side loading trailer?

 

[jerryz]

?

Yes several ,, armitage type seems best sideloader option also looking at Motolug, erdre from France , and several others but they all have potential downsides ,,, I dont have do to anything until spring so time to research and maybe test some out

 

[ChrisL]

Im looking now at small folding trailers ,

How about one of these?

 

[Oldrat]

Motolug don't have suspension. They have thin rubber bungs inside the axle assemblies, but in no way would I call it suspension.

They also don’t like being towed empty, they lack rigity and bounce all over the shop.