Carrying a motorcycle ?

You might want to look at the IDAHO TOTE type Dolly that attaches to your trailer or truck camper and has swivel wheels on it to help out with the added weight.


Google Image

I think in most states these are not considered an additional added trailer...

Adding a platform to the rear of any trailer to haul a motorcycle will probably take some very special welding and support framing to be safe.

Roy Ken

700lbs too much unless its a DP.

850# on the rear hitch bouncing up and down going down the road. Not for me. Most MHs have a max tongue weight on the hitch of 350# even if you have one that is for 500# you have exceeded it also by over 50%. Most MHs have extended frames and are not meant to support that much weight. You are going to have to really beef up the rear frame and then you well probably going to exceed the rear axle rating. Take a look at how long the rear over hang is on a MH and then figure out how much leverage that much weight is going to add to rear end weight.

IMO not something I would do or recommend but what you do is up to you.

Thanks RoyB exactly what I thought of just never seen one didn't know how a cantilevered wheel would ride at speed. Never considered putting it on the hitch, and I have the fabrication and welding skills to build the platform but RoyB has my solution.

You might want to have your Itasca Spirit weighed to see how much extra weight could be carried on the front. If you have about a 1000 lb. margin, then you might be able to have a double receiver mount welded onto the front two frame ends so that the receivers protrude out slightly just underneath the bottom of the bumper. Then a custom made platform could slide into these double receivers to support your 700 lb. motorcycle.

A bit of work and/or money, but would prevent having to tow anything.

As others have said the Idea of a rack is not a good idea but I have seen the one that Roy B mentioned and they seem to fit the bill a lot better.

Here is a website that has them

As said you don't want to hang 700 lb bike off the back of a class C. I use an inexpensive 5X8 utility trailer both for my quad and for my motorcycle. It has a ramp gate for easy loading. My one suggestion (class C towing)when looking for a trailer is to get one which doesn't require much drop in the hitch..less to drag.

The trailer is so small and light I may not choose to back it up. I offload the motorcycle and easily walk it around. But I can easily see it in rearview camera if I do back it.

pop-sicle wrote:
So I am looking at 30 Itasca Spirit today and feel certain will purchase. More to the engineers out there or experienced with same scenario, hope to build platform for 700 lb. motorcycle plus weight of platform assume another 150lb. as oppose to trailering. My first thought is might be a lot of extra weight on back unless compensated by keeping as much of loaded stuff more forward. Opinions.

As others have stated, that could be way too heavy to carry on the rear of the frame. Motor homes that are 25 to 30' long almost always have extended frames. The biggest problem you have with trying to carry a 700 lb motorcycle, is the "see-saw" effect on the rear axle.

You will need to know what your current "ready to go" weight is on the rear axle compared to the GAWR. You need to know the capacity of the receiver hitch - usually 350 or 500 lbs.

There is a simple formula - Know the weight of your motorcycle. Add the weight of the carrier for the motorcycle. Measure the wheelbase (distance front axle to the rear axle). Measure the distance from the rear axle to the center of your motorcycle carrier. Now multiply the weight of the motorcycle plus the carrier by the distance behind the rear axle. Divide this answer by the distance between the axles. This is the amount you are lifting off the front axle (the see-saw effect). If for example:
1. motorcycle weighs 700 lbs
2. carrier weighs 150 lbs
3. motorcycle carrier is 6 feet behind the rear axle
4. wheelbase is 15 feet.
(700+150=850 x 6 feet = 5,100 divide by 15 feet = 340 lbs). In this example the motorcycle would be lifting 340 lbs from the front axle and is adding 850+340 = 1,190 lbs to the rear axle.

You may have that much capacity on your rear axle, but many do not.

I'm in the same predicament. I have a rack 80 lbs, bike 340 lbs. was going to beef up my extensions with 2" box tubing and the hitch another 80-100 lbs. I'm under my GVWR by 2008 pounds but still haven't convinced my self to pull the trigger. I've thought about hanging it off the front but don't know if it's legal to do that any more, so I'm in limbo with it. that caster rig looks like a descent alternative though it's probably as mush as I have invested in my whole rig at this point.

We "TOW" our Honda Shadow behind our MH. I use a set-up from "billybob1.com" that mounts in the MH's receiver and the front tire of the MC's put on the mount, and the rear tire just rolls on the road. this whole set up might at the most add about 300lbs to the receiver of the MH. I've towed our MC now for 2 years and over 5000 miles with no issues.