Forum Discussion

jimmycrack's avatar
jimmycrack
Explorer
Aug 05, 2016

Motorcycle Carrier

I would like to put a motorcycle carrier on the back of my 2013 Itasca Sunstar 26he to carry my 600 lbs. motorcycle. What should I be concerned about in mounting a carrier. The motorhome is 27 feet long, GVWR 16,000 Lbs. Front GAWR 6,500 Lbs. Rear 11,000 Lbs.
  • If you add 600# + the weight of the carrier to the rear of a 27' coach your front end is going to be awfully light and not in a good way. I can't imagine how you could make this work without compromising your coach. :h

    You might want to consider a small trailer. The 700# Harley tows like a dream on my Kendon single:

  • If you lack the capacity for a motorcycle carrier I have seen one model that actually has a dolly wheel that likely takes enough weight off the load. I'll be darned if I can remember the mfg maybe someone else can chime in. On edit Cruiserlift
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    600 + 200 for a simple rack is going to put 1200 lbs on your rear axle and take 400 off the front. Even without knowing your axle weights... you have weighed your rig??? it's not going to work.
  • I considered one and finally decided on an enclosed trailer for about the same money. That way the bike is protected from being sandblasted while traveling down the road and I have room to put stuff that I want/need to carry for longer trips but wouldn't because of the lack of storage and weight limitations of the coach.
  • Unless you really hate the bike and have really good insurance, it's trailer time! There's a bunch of advantages to a small cargo trailer.
  • Ivylog wrote:
    600 + 200 for a simple rack is going to put 1200 lbs on your rear axle and take 400 off the front. Even without knowing your axle weights... you have weighed your rig??? it's not going to work.


    ^ correct, it's not going to work. You aren't going to be able to use a 200 pound rack with a 600 pound bike. You are going to need something like an Overbuilt lift, and you're going to have to weld a lot of hitch supports and two more receivers into your motorhome. I'm just guessing, but I can't imagine just the rack and all it's additional parts would be less than 400 pounds. So you're easily talking 1000 pounds hanging off the back of your motorhome. There's a good chance when you lift the bike your front wheels will come off the ground! Okay, probably not that bad, but you will end up with very little weight on the front and lots and lots more weight on the rear axle.