Carrying a 500 lb motorcycle on the back of a Solitude 5er

ford truck guy wrote:
As most are stating, it can be done.. The issue will be the factory receiver, MOST of them are rated for 300# carry capacity, or 3,000# tow capacity… that carry capacity would NEED to be beefed up..

There are a couple members on here that haul their HD’s on the rear end of their fiver…BUT ALL made modifications

Yes, like most, mine says 300/3000. Mine is reinforced with heavy square tubing, that I think is much more capable than 300 lbs tongue wt. I am thinking the manufacturers real issue, with this limit, is the FW suspension, and maybe reduced pin wt. In any case, I would never hang 500 lbs on rear.

Jerry

As most are stating, it can be done.. The issue will be the factory receiver, MOST of them are rated for 300# carry capacity, or 3,000# tow capacity… that carry capacity would NEED to be beefed up..

There are a couple members on here that haul their HD’s on the rear end of their fiver…BUT ALL made modifications

klr650goldwing wrote:
Has anyone carried a 500 lb motorcycle on the back of a Solitude 5th wheel? Did you reinforce the receiver hitch on the trailer? Any negative pin weight consequences? Please tell me about the pros and cons of doing such a thing.

Yes, it can, and has been, done. You'd want to reinforce the frame from the rear a minimum of 4-5' to the front, if not all the way to in front of the rear spring hangers. You'd also want to add several cross braces. Bouncing is likely to be a problem. Look at what people with rear kitchens can face, and that's =inside= the rig, not hanging 3-4' off the back. Handling can be affected but, IMO, not as much as you might think. If you =do= have handling problems again, IMO, you're already marginal on pin weight to begin with.

Alternatives:

1) Easiest, IF IT'S LEGAL, would be to tow a small trailer. You'd likely also want to add a rear view camera, NOT a backup cam, so you can keep an eye on the trailer.

2) Add a swivel wheel tote. You'd still have to do some beefing up of the frame, especially if you use one that uses dual receivers to mount. Be aware that even one of these, that's mounted to the frame, is considered by some states to be a "trailer" and, if double-towing isn't legal there, you can get ticketed for it. I do know of one instance where someone added a swivel wheel to his FW but took it off after only a couple trips, as it =did= affect handling. Now, this was with a Gold Wing-sized bike, so likely added a =lot= more than 500 lbs to the back of the FW.

Lyle

Does your 500# figure include the weight of the rack or contraption you plan to use to carry/support the motorcycle?
Once upon a time I carried a 170# genset on a rear rack and it definetly impacted my tongue weight.
Including the weight of the rack you will be close or in excess of 700#.

Keep in mind, for every pound you put on the bumper, you will remove in tongue weight proportionately, with out specs on your rig, cannot calculate. The weight on the rear will be doubled at the axles, do you have enough capacity left to carry an extra 1000-1200 pounds

Look into swivel wheel trailers.

They are a gray area in terms of double towing as the can't jack knife. The advantage is they cut the weight on the back of the trailer by roughly half.

The big thing to check is what is your current pin weight. You should be north of 20% of the trailer on the trucks pin and putting 600-700lb off the back will take several hundred pounds off the pin.

Best bet is to swap the fifth wheel for a toy hauler, or a double tow (where allowed) with a utility trailer.

Way back in 2005, when we were researching, we considered getting a bike to carry on the back of the 5er. The bike we were thinking of is the Yamaha TW200, a cross trail & street bike weighing about 260lbs.

We questioned the Carriage builders at an RV show. The answer was, even with reinforcement of the frame, estimated to weigh at least 100lbs, the net weight of bike & carrier well over 300lbs would be too much.

Yes it can be done but it would need to be reinforced for sure.

I doubt if you asked, GD or Lippert they would approve such loads on the back of their frame. Next is 500# plus the carrier frame on the back will lighten the pin and provide a poor ride and handling.

Ken