Brian Kirby Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 Reading some of these posts I wonder if some of the "attachments" being cited are really adequate. A scooter must weigh around the same as an adult. It seems to me that what is needed is far more than just a means of keeping the scooter steady while on the road. I assume all of these "garages" will carry the scooter transversely, so that any voilent braking, or even worse a frontal impact, will place considerable strain on the attachments. The last thing you want under those circumstances, is the scooter joining you in the cab!Remember motorhomes are only made of chicken poop and lard and, to restrain the weight of a scooter, something along the lines of full adult seat belt anchorages, plus similar belts, would become necessary in an accident. Securing the scooter to the rear wall of the motorhome is unlikely to be adequate, unless full width metal reinforcing straps are fitted externally. Also, the "walls" between the garage and the van interior are unlikely to put up much of a struggle if hit by a flying scooter. Any attachment to the garage floor would need even greater strength, since the resulting leverage against the attachment points must be resisted. Some floors may be up to this, or the attachments may be down to a chassis extension, but are they all, I wonder?It is ulikely, of course, but it does happen. Should misfortune strike at you, better to be sure your scooter will stay where it's supposed to be, than to make assumptions. I can't calculate the forces, but 70 - 80 Kg of scooter at 60 mph decelerating to 0 mph in, say, twenty feet? Your front seat belts and airbags (if you have them) will stop you OK, but your scooter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 Mel B - 2007-04-04 6:37 PM Clive And Georges comments then??? (lol) Is it goint to be 'flipper' at dawn with him and Don then? (lol) (lol) (lol) No, I asked George where the comment was plus he swears he was not thinking of me and the Mrs at the time. Er indoors wouldnt want to ride pillion with me since I broad sided to a halt in front of a bus when she was 8 months pregnant about 40 years back. She passed her Theory test on Thursday so as she passed her CPC the previous week its the practical driving test for her ASAP. How much is a nice Harley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crob Posted April 8, 2007 Share Posted April 8, 2007 Re commenets from Brian Kirby - a bit of scaremongering perhaps? I can't answer for all campervans, but in ours, although the front wall of the garage is plywood, there is a lot of hardware between that and the driving seats e.g. toilet, washroom, wardrobe, fridge, settee etc. I know a scooter weighs about 100kgs, BUT there is very little for and aft movement in the garage. The handlebars are amost touching each side of the garage wall, and with securing straps, that in themselves are fastened to bolts screwed into a van-width steel channel, there is very little room for the scooter to fly around. I agree that it would be interesting to see a crash test for this scenario. Has anyone got a spare £40k + ??? Colin Robinson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 No Colin, not "scaremongering". The kinds of attachment you describe are what, broadly, I was advocating. Clearly you have thought through the safety aspects of your scooter mount, and acted accordingly.Now read back through all of the posts above, and I think you'll see that some at least of the other contributors seem somewhat optimistic as to what is necessary to hold 100Kg of scooter secure in the event of an accident.My comments weren't directed at you personally, but were intended to draw attention to a potential risk it seemed some contributors might have overlooked. Why is it that as soon as a potential safety issue is highlighted, someone wants to pooh pooh it, and demean it, by calling it "scaremongering", or some such?The incidence of accidents involving motorhomes is, thankfully, low, but they do arise. An inadequately secured scooter, under such circumstances, is liable to make an already bad situation worse. It is that, alone, that I was pointing out. Go in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Not a garage (yet) but my home made trailer. Each bike runs in an aluminium trough. the drivers footrests rest on two stout plywood supports. Along each side of the bike are two "U" bolts bolted through the aluminium floor of the trailer with spreaders on the uinderside. One long ratchet strap loops through all 4 "U" bolts and over the bike near the front and acros the seat or similar. A second ratchet strap also clamps down the front of the bikes for duplicate security. The bikes face the direction of travel but are so secure they could be sideways in a garage if the floor were robust enough. Now I will try and attache a picture or two! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 It's good Clive, but won't that rear strap play havoc with the Ape saddle after a while? Would it go over the rear wheel instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 I seem to have got away with it so far!. But its possible I could thread it another route. It survives me sitting on it though! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Clive I think you'll find it will damage the saddle after a while - why not get an old cusion or something to put on top of the saddle and tighten the strap over that, it will still compress the saddle a bit hopefully any dip will only be temporary, at least it won't ruck the material up as it appears to be doing ... you don't want a dip do you now or you might slide into it when braking and you don't want your d*ngly bits doing a dip and hitting the tank!!! :D (Same reason you NEVER polish a motorbike seat with Pledge! 8-) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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