motorcycle carrier

pigginchilli

pigginchilli

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Town Yetholm
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Hi, picking up our first motorhome this weekend will post a pic of bike rack and hopefully someone will tell me what size bike would be suitable? This is a pic of it. sorry for my ignorance iam bad with computers.
 
well the truth is, thats a complicated question. its not necessarily what the rack can carry, more how much can the back axle take weight wise to stay legal. in reality this often means a 50cc scooter + the rack is even pushing the weight to the limit
 
TheBig1 said:
well the truth is, thats a complicated question. its not necessarily what the rack can carry, more how much can the back axle take weight wise to stay legal. in reality this often means a 50cc scooter + the rack is even pushing the weight to the limit
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that's exactly what I thought, I could do with contacting the previous owner to see what he. her carried on the back, I have a Honda cg125 which we wanted to take with us, hence buying home with carrier fitted, thanks for your reply.
 
I'll hazard a guess at quite a small one. I'm fairly new to this as well. The one thing I have learned though is nothing is straight forward. As basic as it comes (at least with my small brain) .....You have a maximum weight..... You have to take your clothes, a percentage of water, fuel, passengers, what is left (in max gross weight terms) is (if you have any weight left at all) what you can load on the vehicle??? Simples, no because then you have to take into account maximum axle weight.

So I suppose what I think I'm saying is, everyone and every van is an individual and there is no "one size fits all" but I suppose you have to decide which is the most important item you want to carry. :imoutahere:
 
when you have the van, its easy to check. on the plate you will have maximum weight of van. maximum including a trailer and maximum for front and rear axles. then just drive onto a public weighbridge to see where you stand. the complication comes with the fact that the load on the rear axle will actually be more than the weight of the bike due to the fulcrum effect.

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pigginchilli said:
size bike would be suitable?
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You need to get some work done. First find a weighbridge and get total and back axle weights. Then find your weight ticket near the driver's door. Then measure wheelbase and distance from rear axle to bike rack.

Post these and we can help you.
 
We have a weighbridge on the farm so that's np, sounds like iam gonna have some fun, farmers tend not too worry too much about being overweight. will google the word fulcrum.:rolleyes:
 
Was planning to go to the iom tt next year with my gsxr1000 on the back. I think that wont be happening. :mad::mad:
 
pigginchilli said:
We have a weighbridge on the farm so that's np, sounds like iam gonna have some fun, farmers tend not too worry too much about being overweight. will google the word fulcrum.:rolleyes:
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from most of what I've seen over the last 9 months neither do motorhomers:LOL:
 
Derbyshire wanderer said:
Not unless you like banana shaped chassis. (n)
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I have a Blackbird and have been searching every avenue to be able to take her with me.

Option 1..... Fit a hiab so as to be able to lift the Bird on the roof and thus evenly distribute the weight.
Option 2...... Get a trailer. Option one means Mrs Barsteward will have to stop at home.:whistle:
 
Had a rack and assured it was OK for my Honda 125, but with "tail wagging the dog" I knew it could not be right, especially with the "nose up" attitude of the van - so sideways loading trailer it was and I don't regret it for one minute. PS anyone fancy a motorbike rack seeing I've done such a good sell of it?
 
just get a chinese dax style m,bike . folk laugh at you as you ride along . but you are laughing all the time you are riding it. had mine 15 years . from new even wore a set of tyres out on it . i also ride a 1500cc drifter but the easy rider dax always brings a smile . i did buy them both at the same time . even the reg numbers are consecutive. i think the drifter will go soon but not the easy rider.

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I have just taken my scooter rack off after 4 years ( will be selling soon ) and carried a Honda PCX125 ( 120kg ) without problem. Not sure about OP and as many have stated I would get your back axle take weight checked for total weight. Anyone interested in buying let me know.
 
I have a Hope Rack n Roll available if anyone is interested. This rack pivots and has a built in ramp making the loading of the Bike / Scooter very much easier. PM if you would like more detail.

Colin
 
Colin,
Just sent a message re rack,
Lloyd.
 
When we first started motorhoming I wanted to take my Yamaha DT125 (100Kg) on the back and I have to say I have never been so frightened in my life. The steering was non existent as well as the brakes. Something I was told is that for every 12inches past the back axle you double the weight of the load :sick::sick::sick:
 
Well in 4 years and 25,000km later can say never had a problem, however my rack was fitted to chassis and not tow bar mounted as some are. Been checked and weight done by police whilst in UK in 2014 without problem. Moving away from scooter now and getting eBikes.

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It's all down to the rear axle loading and what the axle can legally weigh.

We've got a Suzuki Burgman 400 which we are building a carrier for, we don't have a weight issue as the Mercedes has a reasonably short overhang and the rear axle is rated at 4300kg. The scooter goes 238kg.

Vehicles with a lot of overhang have a problem because (as already mentioned) there is a fulcrum or lever effect of the weight of the bike multiplied by the distance from the rear axle.

Working on our own vehicle, the Suzuki + carrier would weight about 300kg. Assuming 400mm rearwards of the back of the vehicle, it adds 470kg to the rear axle and takes off 171kg from the front axle.

The wheelbase is 4250mm and the overhang is 2025mm. Axle weights are 2300kg and 4300kg, SVTech can give us 400kg on the rear axle as a paper exercise. The axle itself is a 5600kg rated item, used on the 7500kg 814 version of our chassis.

Peter
 
You can carry a bike but need to do some basics, first thing is get the vehicle weighed. Gross weight and axle weights then as others have said you can work out how much you can carry.
We've been carrying a 650 Kawasaki for 8 years which weighs 225kgs its with us now in Croatia and been out on it today. On the current van it fits in the garage on another it was on a rack both methods were check weighed and legal.
A bike makes a massive difference when travelling as you can visit places other motorhomers never get to. We were considering getting rid of it as we now have ebikes but they've been useless in Croatia and without the motorbike the trip wouldn't have been half as good.
Get it right and enjoy the bike as well as the motorhome best of both worlds.
 
pigginchilli said:
Was planning to go to the iom tt next year with my gsxr1000 on the back. I think that wont be happening. :mad::mad:
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Hi fellow biker,reckon the MH will be popping the wheelies not the gixer!!
Seriously all other posters offer good advice,I am going back to a trailer as for me easier to load and carry bike of my choice,have a Guzzi 750,Chinese Dax 125 copy,Honda Dylan 125 any of these go easily on my Erde trailer,sadly not the Rewaco 1600 trike though!!
 
Figaro said:
Can I ask why that was
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There are no designated cycle paths and Croatian drivers make tailgating an art.
A couple of resorts have had a few cycling trails but not many.
Just don't feel safe on local road's

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Can put my blackbird inside the rear of my camper (see in the bike section) having converted a disabled lift for it, only thing is it blocks the dinnete, bed, fridge and wardrobe so only really good for one night but looking at a folding trailer and put the bike in the back for ferrys etc and save the trailer fee
 
Don Quixote said:
I have just taken my scooter rack off after 4 years ( will be selling soon ) and carried a Honda PCX125 ( 120kg ) without problem. Not sure about OP and as many have stated I would get your back axle take weight checked for total weight. Anyone interested in buying let me know.
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If anyone wants a scooter rack,I would recommend John's.
We have bought his scooter and it's immaculate,as is his van and his rack.
Lovely guy and looking forward to seeing him again soon.
Check overhang and total weights,ferry to IOM well that's another can of worms!!
 
lincolnshire lad said:
Can put my blackbird inside the rear of my camper (see in the bike section) having converted a disabled lift for it, only thing is it blocks the dinnete, bed, fridge and wardrobe so only really good for one night but looking at a folding trailer and put the bike in the back for ferrys etc and save the trailer fee
Click to expand...
I use a Motolug. Not cheap but very good.
http://www.motolug.com/
 

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