Guest JudgeMental Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I hope Rupert has bought a maxi chassis van.. I have seen these jockey wheel trailers in action down in Spain, and they do not inspire confidence! speed bumps a major hazard from what I saw (I was following a UK camper on my bike) and the van had to slow down to about 5mph to get over bumps.... i would go for the german solution as per usual they know what they are doing.... I honestly dont see the need for jockey wheels on a panel van which has hardly any overhang. saw an old camper on way down to Italy and it had a scooter on the back which was nearly touching the ground and front wheels where ready to take flight... just get a rack fitted to rear chassis and fit air on rear axle is what i would do. (35 deg C here in Italy and wonderful) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Some very interesting replies, thanks for that. When you do something like fitting a scooter rack, same thing applies to 'A' frames, it is almost impossible to comply with all the differant regulations that may apply. You have to make the decision whether to go ahead and maybe bend the rules a little or abandon the idea altogether. When we fitted a rack to our Swift we were informed by many it could not be done within our weight limits. In fact it was easy and we carried our scooter all over the Uk and europe with no problems at all and within the rear axle weight limits. It is true we had to be carefull with water carried but no great problem. The handling of the van was not affected a great deal although steering was a little lighter but not much and of no concern. All the weight distribution percentages came within Fiats recommendations. Because of what we do being without our scooter, we tried one trip last year without, is a non starter so it is essential we work it out. Over the years our vans have got smaller, we now have no kids, dogs or cats to cart around so have gone for the smallest van we can live with. The new one is a MWB panel van, an Autosleeper Stratford, which has all we need including the essential, to us, proper cooking facilities, we like our food, so none of this two hobs and no oven stuff. I am confident we can carry a scooter in some way and would rather have a rack but if not an Ezetow type thingy. Armatige towbars are very confident they can provide a towbar and rack but I need to do the weights first when we take delivery in about ten days. The German rack looks great but for me is a non starter, to many problems sorting it out, and I see no reason a UK firm used to dealing with this stuff should not be competant to come up with a solution. Getting a type approved bar with a nose weight of 150kg is now no problem and because, as Eddie mentions, their is pretty much no overhang weights should be ok. The only grey area is the one Mike mentions, Fiats maximun load rating of the rear chassis. I am going to talk with both Armatige and my friendly engineering company about this but if it appears that the chassis is strong enough despite what Fiat say will go ahead anyway. Did this on the Swift with no ill effects and can see no real problems here as it is undoubtably over engineered anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanbiker Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 We have a Gilera 180 cc 2 stroke scooter on the back of our MWB Renault Master. The scooter is tuned but the standard ones do 84 MPH and are described as the Ferrari of the scooter world. Weight of scooter 108 kg wet. He is really tiny but :'<% quick. We call him scoot as he is not really big enough to be called a scooter. We have a hydraulic tail lift on the van, that works a treat. Fortunately the rear overhang is minimal compared to most Vans. All works a treat, and as we very little in the van itself the extra weight keeps the Camper much more stable on the motorway, especially in crosswinds. We had to forego the scooter last trip as it was not well. We had to use the push bikes instead, that meant we could not park up within say 15 KMS and trundle in on the scoot in 10 mins. I am hoping to get Scoot introduced to the garage area of an Exesis -I next year. JR (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 vanbiker - 2012-08-09 8:14 PM We have a Gilera 180 cc 2 stroke scooter on the back of our MWB Renault Master. The scooter is tuned but the standard ones do 84 MPH and are described as the Ferrari of the scooter world. Weight of scooter 108 kg wet. He is really tiny but :'<% quick. We call him scoot as he is not really big enough to be called a scooter. We have a hydraulic tail lift on the van, that works a treat. Fortunately the rear overhang is minimal compared to most Vans. All works a treat, and as we very little in the van itself the extra weight keeps the Camper much more stable on the motorway, especially in crosswinds. We had to forego the scooter last trip as it was not well. We had to use the push bikes instead, that meant we could not park up within say 15 KMS and trundle in on the scoot in 10 mins. I am hoping to get Scoot introduced to the garage area of an Exesis -I next year. JR (lol) Interesting John. Exactly what rack are you using that has a hydraulic lift, the only one I know is the Easy-lifter one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 19, 2012 Author Share Posted August 19, 2012 Got the new van a little earlier than predicted and have just spent a weekend away to try everything out. Although still not as convinced as some others about panel vans first impressions are good, it has drawbacks but overall we feel it will work out fine. We have had to cut down on what we carry, not really a problem as a lot was never used anyway, but the driving and parking is certainly a lot better. Internal space is pretty good and all works well for such a small van. Next week will take a trip to the weighbridge and get it all checked for the scooter setup. Although I have refered to it as a Fiat it is in fact a Peugeot Boxer base and the handbook makes no reference to rear chassis download limits, unlike my previous Fiat handbook did. I have always assumed the two vehicles have exactly the same chassis, is this the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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