Bike mounting- Would like input.

[RoyBell]

I saw another member with his bikes setup like this and it seems like a great idea. What is everyones thoughts?

1) Is the table safe to travel in the down position? I may put a bit of velcro at the corners to prevent it from sliding. Will it tend to scuff the sides after some miles if it's wedged between the two benches? The only other location I can see storing it is under the sofa, but I will have to rig something up so it doesn't bounce around and go out the side of it.

2) How much does the trailer bounce around inside? The table is just over the axles. I don't have much in the storage there. The bikes combined weight I would guess roughly 50-60 lbs.

I need to figure out how to secure the tires to the plywood. I have some ideas and will look around my shop tomorrow. I am picturing a strap that can use thumb screws to undo and release the tire. Same thing for the plywood. I know we have some double sided bolts, lag on one side and machine thread on the other. I can drive the lag into the bench supports and leave enough poking through the plywood to get a thumb screw on.

I am open to ideas.

20150610_214313 by RoyBelluomini, on Flickr

closed

20150610_214447 by RoyBelluomini, on Flickr

[RoyBell]

dodge guy wrote:

skripo wrote:

by RoyBelluomini

When I saw this I did 2 things:

1) Loudly exclaimed "Eureka!"
2) Ran out and bought 2 fork holders for $15 CAD each

I never would have thought of doing this.

Until one of them comes loose and goes through the dinette window. And what happens if they're wet or muddy?
Not a good idea!

No offense, but that is quite an ignorant comment.

1) Fork mounts will clamp tight and not come loose. What do you think holds the wheels on while biking? I have fork mounts on the top of my truck/other vehicles and they never fell off, even while traveling 80 mph and the bikes were in direct wind.

2) I have the plywood secured when traveling. No way the bikes are moving.

3) When camping I am not riding in mud.

4) I have a rack on the back bumper for storage during the day/ dry off/wash if they DO get muddy

5) I have a rack on my truck topper if things get out of hand I really don't want them inside the camper for some reason.

6) Last time it rained and we had the bikes, I threw them into the back of my truck until it stopped raining. They stayed dry.

[RoyBell]

skripo wrote:

by RoyBelluomini

When I saw this I did 2 things:

1) Loudly exclaimed "Eureka!"
2) Ran out and bought 2 fork holders for $15 CAD each

I never would have thought of doing this.

Check out my other pictures in this thread. I have set them up a little better than the original mock up.

[RedRocket204]

dodge guy wrote:


Until one of them comes loose and goes through the dinette window. And what happens if they're wet or muddy?
Not a good idea!

Really depends on how much you value your bikes. If you have cheap bikes, I can understand why you would feel that way. But you saying not a good idea questions if you have much experience with those types of mounts. Certainly the plywood is not going to lift up allowing the bikes to go through the window. Not sure the reason for your "Not a good idea" comment.

[93Cobra2771]

dodge guy wrote:

skripo wrote:

by RoyBelluomini

When I saw this I did 2 things:

1) Loudly exclaimed "Eureka!"
2) Ran out and bought 2 fork holders for $15 CAD each

I never would have thought of doing this.

Until one of them comes loose and goes through the dinette window. And what happens if they're wet or muddy?
Not a good idea!

8000 miles of travel and no incident yet. As far as wet and muddy - a person could always rinse them off after a ride and let them dry prior to putting them in.

[dodge_guy]

skripo wrote:

by RoyBelluomini

When I saw this I did 2 things:

1) Loudly exclaimed "Eureka!"
2) Ran out and bought 2 fork holders for $15 CAD each

I never would have thought of doing this.

Until one of them comes loose and goes through the dinette window. And what happens if they're wet or muddy?
Not a good idea!

[skripo]

by RoyBelluomini

When I saw this I did 2 things:

1) Loudly exclaimed "Eureka!"
2) Ran out and bought 2 fork holders for $15 CAD each

I never would have thought of doing this.

[krobbe]

Thanks. I use this portable Yardstash storage tent at the CG. Keeps em dry and outta sight.
But it only holds 3 bikes. 4 if I really put some effort into it.

[RoyBell]

Looks good. You will love having them inside. We have done 2 trips now and it's nice having them out of the elements. I put a rear hitch on and store them on the bumper when at the campsite. It's nice to keep them out of the way when not in use.

[krobbe]

Finally installed my bike carry solution based on MarkieMark and RoyBell's installations. Thanks Guys! The Sunlite fork mounts were $16 ea. I had the velcro and boards left over from another project. The front wheels store under the table between shipping blankets. Will test it out next week on my 3 week vaca to Pictured Rocks and Copper Harbor.

[gazingm42]

I have the inside ones. I put to eye loops on the seat and use a bungee cord on the seat and they don't move at all.

[RoyBell]

rear bumper is for kids bikes only if they bring one. Although the way I have it setup now, I can get another one inside.

[Markiemark32]

Looks good!

Markiemark

[RedRocket204]

Yeah, my comment was not so much about the bikes getting dirty, more so about the out-of-sight, out-of-mind aspect of it. The Yeti is a $6k bike and my wife will not be letting me buy another any time soon... so it needs to stay in my possession.

Aside from that, I've read way too many stories of RV bumpers/racks failing, regardless of how many say they have been mounting bikes on the backs of trailers for years, to let my bikes be transported that way.

[RoyBell]

I will say, I drove home in a rain storm the last camping trip. My bike was really muddy from a previous ride. When I got home, it was washed and air dried 😄 This is the one benefit to having the bike travel on top of the truck 😄