Trailer Hitch Bike Carriers

So I live in an area where it isn't uncommon to travel 50 miles up a Forest Service Road before the really interesting side roads and trails start - and that doesn't count the miles of tar you might have to cover to get to the FSR itself. The nimble little WR is a little short in the legs for those of us in the mountains where gas stations can be few and far between.

The discussion of large capacity gas tanks coming out and other means to carry extra fuel aside, a trailer hitch mounted bike carrier seems like a good solution. Discussions about the ability of the vehicle to support the weight, vehicle imbalance, etc are not really germane to me: my truck is a Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel 4x4, with a big assed hitch on the back which will tow just about any size RV that has a ball hitch.

So with that in mind, does anyone have any experience or knowledge of these:






AMC-400 Aluminum Motorcycle Carrier

Looks like it might be just the ticket, and has all the load capacity I need to haul around a 300 lb bike. And as the travel is pretty much on tar or graded gravel roads, I don't think I need something capable of holding it in place on a 4x4 trying to crawl over the Himalayas. When it gets like that, that's when you get on the bike.

So... any experiences with these carriers out there - other than those of you who've found putting one of these on the back of your Ford Pinto or Mercedes SmartCar isn't such a good idea? I am wondering how much my handlebars will clear the rear window of my Gemtop canopy, but it should be good.

Hell... I could even run my mountain bike around on it!

I've seen a couple of those around; one was on the back of an 03 Navigator and a Chevy Blazer (the mid 70's style). Seemed to have lots of clearance. The one guy said he almost took out his back window but that wasn't due to the fitment of the bike on the carrier...he didn't tie a knot in the cinch strap and it loosened off on him and the bike decided to tap on the window to say hello.

Here's something else that would be kinda cool.
Bike Trailer

It's made right close to where I live, and they seem to sell a lot of them. Kinda neat.

SheWolf wrote:

Here's something else that would be kinda cool.
Bike Trailer

It's made right close to where I live, and they seem to sell a lot of them. Kinda neat.

Holy Shyte! Does it articulate at the back so it doesn't put leverage on the swing arm. I've seen bob trailers for mountain bikes and am in fact shopping for one I can use to go elk hunting in vehicle closure areas. This is the same, somewhat!

What do they give for a load? Any reports of guys saying the trailer screwed their bike up? It isn't much for single track... but with a couple of jerry cans, a cooler of food, and some basic camping gear... wow, you could really set up an impressive base camp a long way up a forestry or mining road.

More info! More info!

Better yet, buy one. Then let me know if it did any bad scoobies to your bike!

I really have to hit the road. Back in three or four days.

Does it articulate, yes (also has 6 inches of travel). Has it been used in single track? Yes (check out the specs page and you will see a guy on a Kawi pulling one of these going OVER a log). How much can it carry? EASILY 100 lbs. The guy who builds it is only 45 minutes away from me and he's going to send me some more info on the unit; he is also an avid rider so he really put a lot of thought into this thing. To date, it has NOT caused any problems to a bike. You can, however, still get flats as you can on your own ride. It also has an optional fiberglass cover if you want to keep shit dry. The trailer itself is $800 CAD, and the fiberlgass top is another $300 if you want it.

I have an Add A Bike carrier that I used with my DRZ before I bought a trailer. It's a bit dated compared to the newest model shown below but the concept is the same.

Well, in typical hillbilly fashion , I just wondered into Wal-Mart and picked up one of those generic "Hitch Haul" type carriers for about $50.



Then I bolted a $15 wheel chock to a length of pressure-treated 2x6, and bolted the chock/board to the hitch-haul.

Done and done, and have space to carry a cooler or gas can outside the vehicle.

SheWolf wrote:

Does it articulate, yes (also has 6 inches of travel). Has it been used in single track? Yes (check out the specs page and you will see a guy on a Kawi pulling one of these going OVER a log). How much can it carry? EASILY 100 lbs. The guy who builds it is only 45 minutes away from me and he's going to send me some more info on the unit; he is also an avid rider so he really put a lot of thought into this thing. To date, it has NOT caused any problems to a bike. You can, however, still get flats as you can on your own ride. It also has an optional fiberglass cover if you want to keep shit dry. The trailer itself is $800 CAD, and the fiberlgass top is another $300 if you want it.

Just occurred to me... the trailer wouldn't help because it wouldn't be legal on the gazetted roads leading to where I wanted to go. So I'd be back to square one all over again.

I do see a large after market gas tank is getting closer and closer, however...

You wouldn't be able to insure it as a utility trailer? I'd think it'd be pretty cheap.

SheWolf wrote:

You wouldn't be able to insure it as a utility trailer? I'd think it'd be pretty cheap.

Ah... I'd have to go look at the MVA and Regs to see if it would fit the definition of a trailer. I think the definition is that it has TWO wheels. Not sure though; I'm guessing.

You would, however, for sure have to have brake lights, turn signals, etc, etc. And of course those lights have to meet requirements regarding height above ground and whatnot.

Not really doable for gazetted roads, I fear.

I think it would be good if it works well. Seems like there would be a lot of torque on the piece going into the hitch socket. I can just picture the bike swaying from side to side taking turns and going over bumps. Might be able to rig up something on one end of ramp to the frame of the truck to prevent it..

i have the versa hauler dual carrier. I like it alot. i carry my wr250r and my kids ttr110e. i carry them for 5.5 hrs on the road when we go out of town works great.



crappy phone pics

turboedmsp wrote:

i have the versa hauler dual carrier. I like it alot. i carry my wr250r and my kids ttr110e. i carry them for 5.5 hrs on the road when we go out of town works great.


crappy phone pics

Whats the make of that racK? hitch size? price?

BPG wrote:

Well, in typical hillbilly fashion , I just wondered into Wal-Mart and picked up one of those generic "Hitch Haul" type carriers for about $50.




Then I bolted a $15 wheel chock to a length of pressure-treated 2x6, and bolted the chock/board to the hitch-haul. Done and done, and have space to carry a cooler or gas can outside the vehicle.

I did the same years ago with a pep boys carrier (same one I'm sure.) I built mine for a street bike because at the time no one was making them for anything but dirtbikes.

It progressed to having extra recievers on the hitch and extra support rods to keep it from twisting when I load a sportbike.

Added air shocks to the van and it is no problem to have a bike back there.

You could forget a bike is even back there.

turboedmsp, if you put a 'return' between your pics, everyone's text won't stretch several screens wide.


I used to use a hitch rack that had a jack incorportated into it. You'd lower it down, center
the bike's frame tubes/skid plate over it, and jack it up. the wheels hung in mid air. Then
you locked it down with pins and took the pressure off the jack. Did several 1,000 mile trips
with it, plus local. Worked slick with both a CRF450R and a bit heavier XR400R. I still have it,
but haven't used it for some time now.

i have that exact one. just make sure you check the bolts ever so often. i used blue locktite. i love my hitch rack. i mostly use it when i dont want to pull my trailer.

eastcoastzigzag wrote:

i have that exact one. just make sure you check the bolts ever so often. i used blue locktite. i love my hitch rack. i mostly use it when i dont want to pull my trailer.

I'll have to check on that but most if not all of my bolts are tack welded. Welded most of the carrier together when I was adding the rail, left the bolts for back up.

miamimotorcyclist wrote:

eastcoastzigzag wrote:

i have that exact one. just make sure you check the bolts ever so often. i used blue locktite. i love my hitch rack. i mostly use it when i dont want to pull my trailer.

I'll have to check on that but most if not alll of my bolts are tack welded. Welded most of the carrier together when I was adding the rail, left the bolts for back up.

-----def good idea!

After pondering many options, I recently bought a basic carrier with the design style below. The one thing that I hadn't thougt of is that the extension in the rear (necessary for tie downs) can hang up when going through a large dip. Hasn't been a problem yet, but the pit roads at some events can be pretty bad. Thinking that the hydraulic lift type might have been a better choice. It could also double as a work stand since the wheels are both free to move, unlike the ramp style.




AMC-400 Aluminum Motorcycle Carrier

Looks like it might be just the ticket, and has all the load capacity I need to haul around a 300 lb bike. And as the travel is pretty much on tar or graded gravel roads, I don't think I need something capable of holding it in place on a 4x4 trying to crawl over the Himalayas. When it gets like that, that's when you get on the bike.

So... any experiences with these carriers out there - other than those of you who've found putting one of these on the back of your Ford Pinto or Mercedes SmartCar isn't such a good idea? I am wondering how much my handlebars will clear the rear window of my Gemtop canopy, but it should be good.

Hell... I could even run my mountain bike around on it![/quote]

BluePill wrote:

After pondering many options, I recently bought a basic carrier with the design style below. The one thing that I hadn't thougt of is that the extension in the rear (necessary for tie downs) can hang up when going through a large dip. Hasn't been a problem yet, but the pit roads at some events can be pretty bad. Thinking that the hydraulic lift type might have been a better choice. It could also double as a work stand since the wheels are both free to move, unlike the ramp style.




AMC-400 Aluminum Motorcycle Carrier

Looks like it might be just the ticket, and has all the load capacity I need to haul around a 300 lb bike. And as the travel is pretty much on tar or graded gravel roads, I don't think I need something capable of holding it in place on a 4x4 trying to crawl over the Himalayas. When it gets like that, that's when you get on the bike.

So... any experiences with these carriers out there - other than those of you who've found putting one of these on the back of your Ford Pinto or Mercedes SmartCar isn't such a good idea? I am wondering how much my handlebars will clear the rear window of my Gemtop canopy, but it should be good.

Hell... I could even run my mountain bike around on it!

[/quote]

------that is the exact one i have. i love it on my f150 :Beavis:the hard part is that im 5'8, and getting the bike off the rack takes some practice.

Hey guys and gals,

Just put 850 miles on my AMC-400 and thought i'd throw in my opinion: for the money I think it's great. The bolts and straps it came with suck and I don't know why no washers were included, but other than that it works great.

The rack will kind of see-saw a bit, which made me a little uncomfortable hitting bumps at 75mph, but I checked it at every stop and it was solid.

Good cheap rack!

https://2img.net/h/i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt262/Wildmotha/DSC01312.jpg

This is how I carry my bike when I want to move it with my car and not use a trailer. Works great.

Click the thumbnails to see a bigger image.

Looks like a great fab job there! Better market that, I think it'll really hit big...especially for cage runners.

could i have read somewhere that it was bad for this bike to coast with out the engine running?

Maybe if it was in gear... Yeah I don't know about that one. I've never heard about coasting a bike in neutral being hard on anything. I know coasting an automatic without the engine running is BAD. But a bike?

You have to take the chain off or you will burn up the the gear box.