Carrying Motorcycle

[Fillinup]

Hi,

I was going to strap a motorcycle onto the back of my SunnyBrook 30' 5th wheel, but after looking at a few horror stories and wondering about frame fractures I decided I needed to find a different solution.
Front of the truck seemed to be a reasonable Idea, but cooling and lighting were a major worry. Adding a castor type extension was too expensive (for poor little me)

Anyway, I was going to get a small scooter and put it inside, but this was lighter, and more powerful (250cc). I built a locking base for it. I'll add pictures of that if anyones interested. Weight is 285lbs.

We go away next week, I'll let you know how it goes. I post because I have seen a lot of interest in taking alternative transport on vacation. 14mpg gets old pretty quick! 😞



If that link doesn't work, try THIS

[Fillinup]

Thank you everyone for your comments..
I used wood for the cradle as it was all I had lol I'm sure a sturdy aluminum, or steel one could be fabricated, but this looks nothing like my original design.. it kinda evolved as I went. It works, so it's good 🙂

It is not attached, at any point to the frame. It sits on it's own base so it's weight holds it. It also has nowhere to go. And I kinda pack it in there once the slide is in there is no danger of it migrating...

Sue T, I love that rack.. My bike is nearly twice as heavy as yours though.. Believe me, that would be a fantastic solutions for me, but I don't trust my frame to handle the stress. I guess a phone call to the makers might be a good Idea, but for now, I'm happy with what I have. 🙂

So, my maiden 5th wheel trip was largely a great success.. On arrival to the site, I had 3 "truckers" offer to park it for me HAHAHA.. Was it really that obvious?? No sir, you do not drive my truck!! I managed fine, and had a great time. Lots of friendly advice and lots of friendly people.. HOOKED!! WOO HOO!!!

So the trial run was a complete success! 🙂

Next year is out 15th anniversary... So, FLORIDA, and Disney World.. Oh Yeah!

Can't wait 🙂

[jesseannie]

This is somthing that interests me.
I have a Honda Trail 110 that weighs in at 250 pounds.
I would like to put in on the back of my 26' Prowler travel trailer.
The attachment of the hauler for the trials bike looks to be pretty stout.
It looks like the part that the bike sits on is removable that is cool.
How would I determine if the frame on my trailer is strong enough to do that?
I assume it would have to do with the depth and wall thickness of the frame member.
jesseannie

[fj12ryder]

That's a pretty good mounting solution, but I think I would have gone with metal. Perhaps just a length of channel iron/aluminum that could be easily bolted down like your plywood. But then a Condor chock to put the front wheel in and then a couple tie downs to the channel iron/aluminum.

Just a thought, but that would make it easier to disassemble and lighter overall. With that light of a bike it would be pretty easy to do.

[fj12ryder]

Definitely not too much weight there. Those things are light as a feather, but not too comfortable to sit on. LOL Yeah, I know, you don't sit down on a trials bike. 🙂

[sue_t]

Our trials motorcycle is only 160 lbs. DH had this made for it; have done thousands and thousands of miles, including lots of gravel and rough roads.

When we don't have the bike with us, we leave the rack on - it makes a nice spot to rest things or sit upon!

The skid plate is bolted to the hump in the rack




We have a cover on it when travelling - this was the test run though where I followed to ensure things didn't bounce around too much

[Veebyes]

Where there is a will, a way will be found.

We considered hauling a bike similar to yours. A street legal offroad bike. The Yamaha TW200. With carrier mounted on the back we were looking at 300-350# back there. Doable, but only just.

We went the first few years bikeless to see if it would really get used. Turns out not having one is really no big miss though the idea is not forgotten.

Spotted a Honda 150cc large wheeled scooter the other day. Nice bike. Storage in box on the back plus under the seat. No lugging helmets around. The bike wish is still alive.

[Me_Again]

How is the platform attached to the trailer? Chris

[Fillinup]

Thanks guys.. Hey Dan, I almost went for a scooter as it was narrower. Watch the vid I made here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNQEsaTOIWc&feature=youtu.be

I wanted a dual sport so this worked, was lighter, but a little wider than I would have liked.

A few of the cradle..

[Valkyriebush]

ereed52 wrote:
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Thanks! That's what I was trying to post. Versahual carrier

[R12RTee]

harley hitchiker wrote:
look at pic in my profile ,I currently haul electraglide classic on 35 ft. jayco designer over 25,000 mi, where do you read the horror stories and are they first hand and involve structural promblems or not securing it properly stories .I would be curious. If you want to see failures check out loading motorcycle failures on youtube there are those who take many things carelessly and end in disaster. None of these failures mean it can't be done safely

Excel has stopped installing the Hydralift on their fifth wheels due to frame flexing. DRV stopped installing the Hydralift several years ago for the same reason.

Excel was putting it on fivers, as a factory option, that were less than 34' but were talked into putting it on a 37' and had to bring the unit back to the factory for the addition of a third axle.
----------------------------------------
From the president of Peterson Ind.:

I have to say I ruined it for everyone. We only offered it on 34' and shorter due to flex issues and the distance behind the axles inherent on longer units.

Against my better judgement, I let a customer talk me into installing it on a 37' and had the exact issues I knew we would have. It ended up costing us

more then the entire profit we have made on all the hydra-lift units we have ever installed combined.

It comes down to a "risk -vs- reward" issue. The potential for warranty isn't worth the reward should there be a problem.

There are many Excel customers out there who thoroughly enjoy their existing Hydra-Lift units and have had no issues but for no more than we actually install, it's just not worth it moving forward.

Bryan Tillett
President

[dapperdan]

Fillinup wrote:
Hi,

I was going to strap a motorcycle onto the back of my SunnyBrook 30' 5th wheel, but after looking at a few horror stories and wondering about frame fractures I decided I needed to find a different solution.
Front of the truck seemed to be a reasonable Idea, but cooling and lighting were a major worry. Adding a castor type extension was too expensive (for poor little me)

Anyway, I was going to get a small scooter and put it inside, but this was lighter, and more powerful (250cc). I built a locking base for it. I'll add pictures of that if anyones interested. Weight is 285lbs.

We go away next week, I'll let you know how it goes. I post because I have seen a lot of interest in taking alternative transport on vacation. 14mpg gets old pretty quick! 😞




If that link doesn't work, try THIS

We ran into a guy a couple of weeks ago camping near the Dells here in WI. He had a little scooter, smaller than your bike and that's exactly what he did. I asked him how he travels with the scooter and that's when he told me he just carries it into his TT and has a way to secure it so it doesn't "flop around". He loves it, and it gets 100 MPG!

I thought it was pretty cool, small but he's able to get around the campground really well and go sight seeing with it too.

Dan

[Bill1374]

Couldn't find a toy hauler that I liked in the size I wanted to stay at so I gave up the fifth and went back to a tt. Now load the bike in the truck with a Rampage lift which works well. The only downside I found is that I hit some snow last year on the way south and spent most of the First afternoon in Fl. cleaning the bike. Still looking for a toy hauler floorplan that suits me.

[MartyMoose]

I carried a scooter for years in my last camper. I tried a larger bike but it was to hard to get though my narrow door. I used a 3 ft pc of 2 x 12 and mounted eyes in the end to secure with tiedowns. Worked great!
I enjoyed so much that we bought a toy hauler to have multiple rides!

[ereed52]

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