Carrying a motorcycle

I want to carry a 270lb motorcyle on the back of my Wildcat. I want to weld the motorcyle carrier to the frame and brace it. I know I have heard that I may not want to do this (frame weak etc..) Has anyone done what I want to do? I figure since the fresh water tank (40 gallons is back there) and if I made sure it was empty I am not adding more weight. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks, Tom

I'm very interested in doing the same Tom. I simply modified the hitch on our old 5er to carry my 220lb dirt bike. Our old 5er was much stronger built than our new Wildcat though. Also weighed about 1.5 times as much.

I haven't even brought the new Cat home from the dealer yet so I have no idea on how or if, I will be able to modify it to carry my dirt bike. (KX250 Smoker)

If you decide to go ahead with your project please follow up here with your progress. I'll be bringing ours home as soon as this cold/snowy winter eases a bit. The bike carrier is at the top of my mods list.

I have thought about doing this. If I do it, I will use something like this. Plenty strong for a light weight dirt bike.

You need to install a strong receiver first (photos in my signature). The advantage is the receiver hitch can be used for a number of things and the carrier can be removed when not in use.

Search under Swivel wheel trailer on the forum, This is what I hope to build this spring. I was concerned that using the hitch on the 5vr would change the pin weight to much, and with the building the trailer I could keep the tongue weight in mind.

Scottz, that is what I am looking to do. You could weld two receivers and somehow brace the rack so you don't get any bounce. If anything is going to hurt the frame I would think it is the bouncing of the motorcycle. I am not really concerned about pin weight if I drain the fresh water tank. Do you think the motorcycle for the water is a trade off as far as pin weight?

Thats pretty much what I had made for our old 5er. Only we used steel supports with aluminum channel and tie down points to save a little weight.

Pin weight is of little concern to me as we always "front load" the camper as well as travel with empty water tank like you stated.
Simply move a few things from the rear to the front if needed to help balance out the difference.

Honestly I never knew my bike was loaded on our old camper. It made absolute zero difference in handling of the trailer or truck.

Mountain Man what size bike did you have? The reason I thought about a trailer was that my bike is around 600# plus 100# or so for a carrier that would change the pin weight.

f150k wrote:Mountain Man what size bike did you have? The reason I thought about a trailer was that my bike is around 600# plus 100# or so for a carrier that would change the pin weight.

My bike is a 220lb dirt bike. Much lighter than your street bike. It had minimal, if any, effect on pin weight.

I can understand why you are thinking swivel trailer with 700lbs behind your Cat. Thats a lot of weight to be hanging off the back.

Tom,

I have been investigating doing this myself and found this guy in the link below. He seems to have things quite figured out. Considering he puts his bike and gear on the back of his trailer (not a fifth wheel) I think there should be no weight problem with the bike your considering. I have carried my dirt bike inside my fifth wheel (27bhwb) in the back bunk room and had no issues other than struggling to get it in there. My son now has a bike so I'm looking to carry that one as well.



http://www.everymilesamemory.com/motorcycle_&_carrier.htm

Yep, now thats what I'm talking about. I like that link maxum.

Went to a small local RV show last night. The first two Wildcat 5er's I came upon had factory frame mounted receiver hitches just like the hidden hitch in Scottz's signature photos.

I ask the Forrest river rep about the hitches. He said there are two models coming from Lippert right now. One is 1 1/4" and the other is a 2". (Both receiver type hitches). He said the 2" on the Wildcat was rated for 350lbs. The 1 1/4" was around 200lbs. (Not certain on this one.)

He said enough "off the record" as to where I would beef up the 2" receiver and not have a worry in the world about hauling two of my dirt bikes.

As for pin weight - I've been thinking about that as well. It seems to me based on where the axles are located more toward the rear of the 5er; Leverage will be much, much less on the rear of trailer resulting in the added weight having very minimal effect on pin weight.

My only concern now is axle/tire weight.

Thanks for the info Mountainman. I think with 2 receivers and my bike of 270lbs I should be good to go. I am going to go with and aluminum carrier to keep it even lighter on the back end.

If you hear anymore please let us know.

Tom

You could build something like my generator holder as seen in the pic below.

any more pictures? how is it attached to the frame?
it looks good. how much does the generator weigh?

You may want to look at a dampened pinbox too (Demco or similar). You will get some teeter tottering with the extra weight on the rear (removed from the pin box). It translates into for and aft motion as well as the vertical effects. I get this when double towing when I hit a bump. The tongue weight on my tag trailer is around 250-300#. I've had my tag trailer hitched and jumped up and down on the
connection (225#) and it shook the entire rig. It felt solid to me.
The key is keeping the center of gravity of the cantilevered load as
close to the WC as possible. If work steadies for the remainder of the year, I will through some money at a Demco to increase ride comfort. I've been putting it off for a few years now.

As far as construction, you could probably get away with a well built receiver welded to frame and stabilize the tray with chains/turnbuckles to the trailer frame (side sway). Similar to what Brad has done with his generator and the other link above.

270 lbs. is what my XT250 weighs. I installed a hidden hitch brand with a single 2" receiver. No problem with the weight however it was a little bouncy because of the length of the carrier. I solved that problem by adding a U bolt at the end of the receiver with a 1/4x4x24" steel flat plate on top of the factory bumper. I didn't weld the hitch in as my welder wouldn't reach that far so it is all bolted in with 3/8" bolts. I don't think I would carry anything heavier than around 300 pounds with this setup. The trailer pulls fine I just think it might cause to much stress with the weight hanging out there like that. Would need a one wheel double receiver for a big bike.
There are plenty of pictures of hitches at the old Wildcat site we used to use.



'

mga60tw wrote:any more pictures? how is it attached to the frame?
it looks good. how much does the generator weigh?

You can see some more pics in my gallery. The generator was still green then, I have since painted the cover white. http://www.wildcatcamperforum.com/gallery/Personal-album-of-moo2613-cat_u55.htm

It is attached on top with hammerlocks on each corner that are welded to the cat frame above the bumper, but you could weld straight to the frame. I had planned to remove the genny when not using it, but I have never taken it off. It weighs in at 260 #'s, 12 gallons of gas at 96 #'s, battery at ~ 10 #'s?, and framework is about 30 #'s for a rough total of 400#'s. I have pulled the cat ~ 10k miles since me and dad built it. I can get some teeter-tottering going on if the road is just right, but it only seems to happen on a road by my house that is "wavy". I have tried to move as much to the front compartment as possible including the spare tire trying to even out the weight. I usually pull it with a full water tank since we boondock alot and it sure is nice while traveling to not worry about if you have somewhere to plug in for the night.

Thanks for the pictures. It gives me some good ideas.

PonyPower, looks great Thanks for the post. My TW200 weighs the same as your bike. I am going to have 2 receivers added to hopefully help with the bounce. What type of carrier did you purchase?

Thanks, Tom

Thanks, I forget the exact name. Mastercraft or something like that. Big mistake, cheap praice and cheaply built. I had to beef it up and change the square tube to 1/4" as the other was thin wall even though they claimed safe to carry 350#. Be safe spend more and get a carrier that has the 1/4" receiver tube. Not really sure a dual receiver would really make any difference. Some of the bounce comes from the flexing of the hitch mount its self. There is around 65" between the frame rails and the 1/4" square tube on the hidden hitch actually flex's up and down because of the length of the motorcycle carrier is hanging out there with all of the weight on the end. Kind of like a teeter totter with only one rider. When I added the heavy gauge square tube to the carrier and a u bolt and flat plate at the end of the receive through the bumper is seemed to correct the floppies.

* When I replaced the square tube on the carrier I made it three inches longer and now carry the spare on the back where it was originally mounted without it interfering with the bike. So far I have over 5,000 miles with this setup and it seem to be holding up fine.

I was looking on ebay at the single carriers and saw a bunch of Aluminum carriers for around 100 bucks shipped.

came with anti rocking device, ramp and everything. all I would want to carry is my dirt bike, what do ya'll think about those ?

In the instructions ,,, how they copy and paste those , it says not recommended for 5th wheels or pull behind trailers ,,,, whats up with that ?

What that means is, they are not strong enough to withstand the punishment of the back end bounce a 5th wheel trailer. It will only support the advertised weight if it is installed on a car or pickup with a smooth ride. That's why I had to replace the square tube with a 1/4" tube as the original one was bending. Don't waste your money on a cheap light weight one as you will end up having to replace it.

Can the VersaHaul carrier for two scooters be attached/used on a 5th wheel travel trailer by installing a class III hitch to its rear-end?

We do not reccommend putting any VersaHaul on the back of a 5th wheel. We have found that the added weight on the back of the fifth wheel tends to back-load the trailer, which may cause it to fish tail.

Even the expensive one's have the same warning .....

Your saying the tube that is on the carrier itself was bending ?

That is a CYA statement. Its all about weight distribution. More weight in the rear just means that you have to add something up in front of the axles. I run with my fresh tank nearly full to balance things out. If you can handle the extra weight of two machines and a heavey carrier plus your hitch mount I would say go for it. However, if I were to carry much over 300 pounds back there I would have a dual hitch receiver setup as a single mount would have a lot of stress on it. I think our I Beam frame rails are fairly strong but I added some 1/4" x 4" flat stock to each side where the Hidden Hitch mounts just for a little bit of insurance.

We carry the Wife's "Hardly" with us mounted on the back receiver, without a problem. Hey Phillip,,, since you are into high performance bikes,,, can you handle this??

Actually it is a neat little scooter,, that the wife has fun with in the sand and off road. It can sustain up to 18 mph. With a massive 6.5 hp.

I guess I was looking at the double carrier, but I think the single has the same statement.

All I'd be carrying is my one dirtbike, its about 220lbs. KLX300 kawasaki.

I've never put water in the tank since I bought the camper so I wouldn't have to worry about that weight.

Cool looking bike Maxtor, I bet that would be fun in the sand with the big fat tires.

Philip, mine was in a permanent bent position and getting worse. It was a thin wall tube. The weight of your bike should be no problem as long as you make sure the carrier you buy has the 1/4" tube. I was also getting flex in the Hidden Hitch 1/4" square tube that goes between the frame rails because of the length of it and all of the weight on the end of the carrier. The motorcycle acts like a big lever hanging on the end of the set up. That is why I ended up putting a U Bolt and a flat plate of steel on top of the bumper at the end of the hitch to give it a little more support. My Yamaha 250 weighs around 275 pounds.

Pony Power wrote: I run with my fresh tank nearly full to balance things out.

Your tank must be up front; mine is in back.

Bummer, my fresh is right in front of the front axle and one gray tank at each end.

*Edit: 37 gallon black, I think is over the front axle. The fresh is front of that and one gray all the way forward and one in the rear. (Or something like that.) anyway it rides pretty good fully loaded. It seems to get a little choppy if I let the truck fuel tank get down to around 1/3.

I'm planning on adding a second 40 gal fresh water tank. I'll probably try to put it forward of the axles.