adonnante Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I have been researching the feasability of carring my KTM Duke motorcycle (149kg) on the back of my Autotrail Excel 600B. The results of the local weighbridge give a rear axle weight of 1440kg with a full tank of fuel and 75% water, the plate indicates a rear axle max. load of 2000kg, so far so good. As I shall be loading the bike single handed a hydaulic hoist has its attractions. This has lead me to the Easylifter Hydraulic Scooter and Bike Rack, (not the Hydratrail which most discussions here have centred around). As my chassis is not an Al-Ko model the towbar will need to be purpose made and I have been talking to our local (Plymouth) trailer and towbar company. Any advice and thoughts regarding this and any first hand experience of this Easylifter would be greatfully recieved and are there any similar racks being sold in the UK that are available? Regards Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Ideally you should have weighed your vehicle fully laden including a passenger. Is your motorhome "Type Approved". If prior to 2009 it probably isn't. If Type approved you will need a type approved towbar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adonnante Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Thanks Mike, we did down to some basic food and clothing, its within 30kg of our typical cruising weight. Its also to early to be type approved so we appear to have greater freedom in what we fit. Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairweather camper Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Hi have you taken into account the weight of the Easy Lifter, they are quite heavy I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 You would seem to have plenty of capacity here. Bear in mind that the weight of bike plus the easylifter will add more than their own weight to the rear axle load becase of the overhang. As an indication our last van had a rack and towbar that weighed 55kgs, scooter weighed 105kgs but it added around 210kgs to rear axle weight. I see no problem getting a towbar made, which is what we did, as it is very unlikely your van is EC approved. The towbar company just has to make sure your rear chassis can take the load and if not how they intend to strengthen it. Although I have no personal experience of the Easylifter I have spoken to them and it looks a very well made and engineered product and despite some negative reviews with all it latest modifications so does the Easytrail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adonnante Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 The weights are for the van as it is without the towbar, bike rack or bike. The Easylifter weighs 35kg, the bike with a full tank of fuel 160kg, I'm still waiting for an estimate of the towbar weight. The difference between the measured weight of the rear axle (1440kg) and the plated rear axle weight (2000) is 560kg which looks plenty, its the load bearing ability of the towbar I'm currently worried about given that they are designed to tow and not support a vertical weight. Still, given a purpose made one, the design should be able to accommadate this. Peter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 You can buy eu approved towbars now of up to 150kg nose weight but we had no problem getting a bar made for up to 200kgs, just get a company that knows what it is doing. As i said in previous post you must also get them to check the download weights for the van chassis. Their are companies around now, Armitage Towbars is one, who have a lot of info on most vans, might be worth giving them a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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