Motorhoming with a motorbike?

[lesandy247]

I'm sure we are not alone - carrying bikes on the back is a bit of a pain, and hard work if we have to cycle uphill! Not having the money to afford to tow a car, we are thinking of towing / carrying a motorbike - probably a 125 cc. Does anyone have any ideas how best to carry one - we haven't got a garage underneath our motorhome? Are there motorbike carriers similar to bike carriers, or is it some sort of mini trailer we need? Any sensible suggestions much appreciated!! ;-) *-)

[RonB]

Funny enough we are going the other way. We've found wondering around like Michelin man carrying helmets is too much of a pain. Just a thought. In my opinion a motor cycle is best carried on a trailer due to its weight. Even our (130Kg) 125cc scooter comes out at near 200Kg when due allowance is made for the weight leverage factor if carried on a rear rack. To this add approx 25Kg for the rack itself. Not too many motorhomes have the spare rear axle payload or spare total payload to accommodate this. Have fun.

[Wingpete]

I also now travel with motorbike and motorhome, but use a Brian James enclosed trailer, as the bike is a 1800 Gold Wing, weighs in at 365 kg. The enclosed trailer means when parked up, sticky fingers are detered, and the spare capacity in the trailer is useful for carrying all the clobber and more ! The pulling behind a 2.8 Ducato gives no problems, and enables the driving over long distances to be shared.

[Mel B]

First obvious question for me anyway - have you got your bike licence? If not you won't be able to carry a passenger on the bike anyway (unlss they've changed the ruddy law!).

[spartan3956]

Ive towed a motorbike on a trailer for years never had a problem. My current and the best touring bike is a Honda Pan European loads of pannier space for those trips to the shops and easy to stow your gear when you arrive at your destination. It is a very comfortable bike. The trailer is an home made affair with independant suspension units cost all of £80 out of local paper and its been all over Europe. the trailer has a built in loading ramp and is held in place with 4 ratchet clamps and straps. Two round the front fork yokes and the rear grab handles. Takes all of 10 minutes to load and unload. You could go for a smaller capacity bike or scooter but i wouldnt go below 250cc or you will struggle with traffic a larger machine would be more comfortable and able to overtake and cruise at a decent speed. My first bike was a 125cc carried on the rear of the camper but it was definitely too small and put a lot of strain on the rear suspension of the MH. The advantage of a bike is you can almost park it anywhere especially abroad. Down side if it rains you read a book. Pete

[bjphillips]

I tow my 250 Honda CBF on a trailer behind my Laika M/H.No problem at all,I made 2 long boxes that go each side to put the M/C gear in,1 for mine & 1 for the wife's kit.The hemets both go into the large topbox.Because this bike is not too heavy its reasonably easy to run up the ramp, the wife then holds the front brake on while I hook 1 strap on, the rest I can manage myself. I can reverse it fairly confidently with the aid of the reversing camera but its not too difficult to unhook & manhandle a 2 wheel trailer if necessary even with the bike on.You may have to raise the center the bike stands on to clear the boxes because obviousely the straps will pull the bike down lower & you dont want to foul the boxes with the footrests etc.I do run the bike off whilst hooked up to the M/H but have made an udjustable stop for the rear of the trailer with a piece of tubing & a exhaust "U" bracket.Happy biking

[Clive]

Me and the Mrs have "His" and Hers" small motorbikes. We carried them around on a special rack on the back of our Autotrail Scout for 7 years without any problems before I weighed the axles and thought "oops". So now we have a home made trailer. We tend to not do more than a 100 miles a day on our bikes. 50 being typical for a gental saunter. The bikes are Monkey bikes of one type or another with "suitable" engine units. Our current bikes are new as some scroat stole the originals from our home on 20th July 2006. Mine is a 115cc Ape and hers a Monkey with a long rear swinging arm to stop her doing wheelies. Our next motorhome will have a garage and twin rear tyres each side! (And a tow hitch!)

[Geoff Bell]

I bought a 50cc Piagio thinking that as I could ride it without 'L' plates I could take a pillion. Not true, still need to do basic training and the test. It weighed 80Kgs and did 45mph, not bad for a runabout. Just fitted under the roof of the garage with wing mirrors removed.

[barrie w]

you don't say what van you have but a brief run down of our experience. we run an auto sleeper symphony on which we carry a vespa et4 on a rear rack.the scooter weighs in at about 110 kg and carries 2 up easily. i had the van replated by sv tech but have found that fully loaded for a trip we weigh in well under the original limit. hope this gives you an idea. barrie