Rear motorcycle rack
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antiqueman
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Gosh that looks like mine but cleaner.Before you do anything its probably best to have a look at this article then do the maths further down in it.
Safe loading and payloads - Practical Motorhome
Exceeding your payload can affect your motorhome’s stability and stopping distances, and could land you with a fine or invalidate your insurance.www.practicalmotorhome.com
Several things are crucial. The distance between the centre of the back wheel and the back of the van. The shorter the overhang the better, Available payload and if your van uses chassis extenders how strong they are. Armitage Trailers in Ferrybridge fitted our rack in 2008 would you believe and apart from me constantly smashing the trailer board lights its still going strong. Its fitted into the end of the Alko chassis so is as solid as a rock and is rated at being able to take 200kg. However as you have discovered no motorhomes can handle that weight. I Reckon as a rough rule of thumb you need 250kg - 300kg of spare capacity over the rear axle to safely fit a rack and all the bits that come with it and a light bike by the time you add in the overhang into the equation.
We have a Honda Vision and its great. Just 102kg. The one below is an old photo and is the old Peugeot Speedfight 2 stroke we had 100cc but went like the clappers and only 95kg. (well it sounded like it was going like the clappers)
First thing to do is visit a weighbridge, sit in the van with whoever normally travels with you then weigh the entire van and then each axle. Then use the calculator in that link to see if its doable. If it is, talk to Armitage.
mfw
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My old van was always overweight although it was on heavy duty suspension and 16in wheels although didn't look it visually - would probably only been paper exercise to increase weight to 3850 but that would of restricted the selling market so i never did it - it is a chance people take and if caught you have to be prepared to accept the consequence
barryd
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If you speak to Armitage trailers about the make and model of the van they will tell you if they have fitted a rack to that van before and as said their racks (Well mine at least) does not depend on the towball. Mine actually slides out of the end of the chassis. Well it did, I suspect its never coming off now, its been on there 12 years. If you have the weighbridge tickets you might be able to do the calculation but as said you really need the total weight and then then the front and rear axle weights individually. Issues can arise if you end up with too much weight on the back even if in theory you have enough payload overall for the rack. with ours being an extended Alko chassis and a luton van firstly the overhang is a bit shorter than most none Alko vans and secondly because of the luton cab I stick stuff like folding bikes etc up there and the overall effect is a well balanced van with the scooter on. Too much weight on the back in an unbalanced van can lead to handling problems with the weight on the front being too light.
Its one reason I have stuck with the ageing Kontiki so long. There are only a couple of modern van models with the same layout that will work for us now with enough Payload.
If you can do it though its a much better solution that taking a trailer of any description. Loading and removing the bike literally takes less than a minute and once its on you just forget about it. The compromise is you cannot carry anything powerful much greater than a 125 scooter. Having said that we can rack up a thousand miles a month on the little Honda Vision and its been all over Europe.
mfw
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Have to say if you are struggling with weight there is always the option of dumping the water tank if pulled and that was 150 lts and another 12 lts in boiler on my old van - that was my back-up plan if pulled anyway but you have to get it back to the weight limits before continuing journey
mfw
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No chance she's on her own or she can dump her toiletries bag
mfw
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But putting a motorbike in the back takes up a lot of room and a compromise do i want a motorbike or other things - mine will take a motorbike but at the expense of other things - and i decided on a pushbike and everything else i wanted in the end
Alshymer
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Hi. What width do you have for your garage door? I do have a garage but don’t think the door is wide enough at 59cms.
mfw
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59cm or 2ft wont be wide enough
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We use a Dave Cooper bike rack and carry a Suzuki Scooter, weighs around 100kg. I've carried
We use a Dave Cooper bike rack for our Suzuki Scooter. Weight 100kg.
tribby
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Van conversion with both rear doors opening. Fits lovely in the back of the van with the bed centre section hinged up
mfw
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So where do you put the other stuff you want if the bike takes up a lot of space and i could fit a motorbike in without touching the bed above garage
Drover
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Worth checking for those of you with racks.
Vosa/ gov law.
The maximum distance a vehicle may extend past its rear axle is 60% of the length of its wheelbase - the distance between its 2 axles.
Some vehicles are exempt from this rule but not sure if a motorhome is included.
Vosa/ gov law.
The maximum distance a vehicle may extend past its rear axle is 60% of the length of its wheelbase - the distance between its 2 axles.
Some vehicles are exempt from this rule but not sure if a motorhome is included.