Mel B Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-18 10:42 PM peter - 2011-10-18 8:07 PM rupert123 - 2011-10-13 10:25 PM peter - 2011-10-10 11:25 PM They make a cheaper one that has all the weight on the towball. A 100Kg bike on there? I think not. I assume you mean the one without the wheels. It does not sit all the weight on the towball, how could it remain level with just the towball supporting it? Their are two additional support points on the towbar bracket. Watling engineering, among others, will supply a towbar with a nose weight of 150kg.Not much point of doing that though, if the chassis won't take the load. As for a rack staying level on the towball only, I have a bike rack that does exactly this and has a max' loading of 75 Kgs Peter I must be missing something here. If a rack is just clicked onto a towbar with no additional support how can it possibly stay level, it would swivel around the ball. The chassis ability to take the load is another issue and it is easy to keep throwing up objections without trying to answer the question. This one appears to be bolted to where the towball bolts would normally be on the old style tow bars. http://www.watling-towbars.co.uk/motorbike_scooter_carrier.html We have seen ones similar to this where a plate with 2 square 'slots' are attached to it into which the bars of the rack slot, similar to this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-T25-Camper-Towbar-Motorbike-Rack-Carrier-/260874615244?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item3cbd56b9cc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 Mel as far as I am aware all the scooter racks and things like the Hydratrail have to be fitted to what you term old style towbars, they cannot be used with a 'swan neck' towbar. This in itself brings a problem to people with new vans that are EU type approved as all type approved towbars would appear to be swan necks. Personally It would not bother me much to fit a non approved type but for those worried about the strict letter of the law it may well be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 There seems to be a lot of confusion being generated re the HYDRATRAIL in the thread and it's not helpful to the person wishing to acquire onel ! The HYDRATRAIL can be summarised thus:- the weight of the motyorcycle is taken by the removeable jockey wheels of the rack; vertical movement is controlled by the pantograph thereby ensuring the weight doesn't move to the towing veh; lateral movement is eliminated by a plate which is located between the towball and the towbar. Two locating lugs, wich are secured by split pins,slot into this plate ; the fitting to a "swan-necked" tow ball can, I'm sure, be accomodated by Easylifter ; the loading/unloading of the bike is facilitated by a hydraulic system which takes the weight when the w heels are either fixed or removed. The weight is not placed on the towing veh; It should be clearly understood that at ALL TIMES a min of 85% of the weight of the bike is taken by the HYDRATRAIL and not the towing vehicle or towball. The bike can be safely loaded/unloaded by one person. As someone who has used both versions of the Hydratrail and covered thousands of miles without concern or fault I praise its design and construction. I am at a loss regarding concerns bieng voiced in this thread re possible legal issues (con & use regs, I suppose) as there are none apparent to me or have any been raised by those who have examined the system and know what they are talking about!! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-18 10:42 PM peter - 2011-10-18 8:07 PM rupert123 - 2011-10-13 10:25 PM peter - 2011-10-10 11:25 PM They make a cheaper one that has all the weight on the towball. A 100Kg bike on there? I think not. I assume you mean the one without the wheels. It does not sit all the weight on the towball, how could it remain level with just the towball supporting it? Their are two additional support points on the towbar bracket. Watling engineering, among others, will supply a towbar with a nose weight of 150kg.Not much point of doing that though, if the chassis won't take the load. As for a rack staying level on the towball only, I have a bike rack that does exactly this and has a max' loading of 75 Kgs Peter I must be missing something here. If a rack is just clicked onto a towbar with no additional support how can it possibly stay level, it would swivel around the ball. The chassis ability to take the load is another issue and it is easy to keep throwing up objections without trying to answer the question.The fixing of the rack on the towball is achieved with a clamp which is tightened up and is very secure. What question are you suggesting I am evading an answer to?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuxDeluxe Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Frank McAuley - 2011-10-19 6:54 PM There seems to be a lot of confusion being generated re the HYDRATRAIL in the thread and it's not helpful to the person wishing to acquire onel ! The HYDRATRAIL can be summarised thus:- the weight of the motyorcycle is taken by the removeable jockey wheels of the rack; vertical movement is controlled by the pantograph thereby ensuring the weight doesn't move to the towing veh; lateral movement is eliminated by a plate which is located between the towball and the towbar. Two locating lugs, wich are secured by split pins,slot into this plate ; the fitting to a "swan-necked" tow ball can, I'm sure, be accomodated by Easylifter ; the loading/unloading of the bike is facilitated by a hydraulic system which takes the weight when the w heels are either fixed or removed. The weight is not placed on the towing veh; It should be clearly understood that at ALL TIMES a min of 85% of the weight of the bike is taken by the HYDRATRAIL and not the towing vehicle or towball. The bike can be safely loaded/unloaded by one person. As someone who has used both versions of the Hydratrail and covered thousands of miles without concern or fault I praise its design and construction. I am at a loss regarding concerns bieng voiced in this thread re possible legal issues (con & use regs, I suppose) as there are none apparent to me or have any been raised by those who have examined the system and know what they are talking about!! ;-) I still don't understand where the legally required suspension is, despite having examined one of these devices. There is no clarity at all. I am at a loss as to why no-one has satisfactorily and clearly answered this simple question asked by many. As per previous post, I was impressed with the bit of kit itself, but clearly I do not know what I am talking about as I have queried it's legality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 DuxDeluxe - 2011-10-19 9:30 PM I still don't understand where the legally required suspension is, despite having examined one of these devices. There is no clarity at all. I am at a loss as to why no-one has satisfactorily and clearly answered this simple question asked by many. As per previous post, I was impressed with the bit of kit itself, but clearly I do not know what I am talking about as I have queried it's legality From comment on the "other" forum, all suspension movement is on the Pantograph, which fits on the Towbar & connects to the trailer platform frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuxDeluxe Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Thanks for that. I need to have another look. Damn this iPad - cant see the pictures on his website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 The clever aspect about the Hydratrail is that the suspension is achieved by utilising the system contained within the bike. If you examine the method whereby the bike is retained it becomes clear that the bike's own suspension absorbs any vertical movement ! If you examine the French manufactured version it has rubber straps as a type of suspension. THe pantograph does not act as a shock absorber but facilitates vertical movement - a well engineered and clever device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Hi Crob, Well you may have struck lucky here. I have one but it has been slightly modified to improve the angle of attachment for the rachet straps for the scooter as the original design was very narrow. Anyway, it's in a bit of a buying chain at the moment. I am waiting for a guy to buy my van. He has paid a deposit and has a short period of time to come up with the rest of the money. If the van gets sold then I will sell my hydralifter as I am looking to import a Hymer 740 which has the capacity to take my scoot on the pull out rack. If you are interested then email me on geminiandrew32@ntlworld.com. I shall be out for a week starting at the weekend so don't worry if I don't get back to you until the beginning of next month. Cheers......................... Ned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Just to update this a little..Someone has posted that there is a CCJ against the Easylifter chap..something about "goods unfit for purpose"..don't know how much truth is in it though(..as it was his 1st post). posted by "mikebux" on page 27 of here: http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-85106-days0-orderasc-260.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 I understand there were some loading issues with the very early single wheel version which resulted in bearings suffering if a bike of maximum weight was carried, however I believe that is now resolved and my preferance would be the two wheel version anyway if I needed it. The ferries still class it as a trailer and not as an extension of the motorhome so expect to get pasted by them should you venture across the water. Good luck with the quest. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Clive - 2011-10-28 4:53 PM I understand there were some loading issues with the very early single wheel version which resulted in bearings suffering if a bike of maximum weight was carried, however I believe that is now resolved and my preferance would be the two wheel version anyway if I needed it. The ferries still class it as a trailer and not as an extension of the motorhome so expect to get pasted by them should you venture across the water. Good luck with the quest. C. Clive can I ask how you know the last bit about the ferries? I doubt the checkin would even notice it and if they did could you not just remove the wheels until you were loaded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 hI BEEN ACROSS 4 TIMES BY THE TUNNEL AND NO-ONE SEEMED TO CARE. THEY JUST LOOKED AT IT AND SMILED NED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 ned - 2011-10-29 6:58 PM hI BEEN ACROSS 4 TIMES BY THE TUNNEL AND NO-ONE SEEMED TO CARE. THEY JUST LOOKED AT IT AND SMILED NED They did not look at our passports when we went on the tunnel this year. BUT when we returned via Portsmouth , we had a few questions asked, as to when we left UK and how!! PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 "Clive can I ask how you know the last bit about the ferries? I doubt the checkin would even notice it and if they did could you not just remove the wheels until you were loaded?" I asked the question specifically to the personell on the Ferry stand at the NEC. Sea France, but hey ho, perhaps thats all academic now!! BUT If you want to tow a motorcycle or three the most economical way is to gut an old caravan, but keep the curtains so they cannot see inside. Special deals are done for caravans but not trailers. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank McAuley Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Just to qualify Ned's comments: I have used the single wheel and two wheeled Easylifter Hydratrail on ferries to France a number of times and never been queried re additional costs. In my experience they have classed it as part of the mhome. BTW my HYDRATRAIL ( & Honda 125i PS if reqd) is still for sale. It's been back to Easylifter for refurbishment prior to storage- I now have 4 wheels and a B J Micromax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairweather camper Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Not being pedantic, but if you were so satisfied with the single wheel version, did you then go and purchase a two wheeled one. Just wondering ? I'm just so nosy *-) :-D ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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