Trailer Hitch Bike Carriers

In my owners manual, for a 09 R², on page 6-2 under "shifting" it says in bold print -

"Even with the transmission in the neutral position, do not coast for long periods of time with the engine off, and do not tow the motorcycle for long distances. The transmission is properly lubricated only when the engine is running. Inadequate lubrication may damage the transmission"

ok that is where i read it and you take the chain of.....all is welll again

I have that AMC400 now, but last year when buying a DR650 800miles away, I got jammed by the no-show Uhaul dealer , I had just happened to bring my hitchhaul for backup, along with some giant rolls of bubblewrap !! Worked great ! Cajun ingenuity baby !

I just used one of these for a four hour trip from PA back to long island. It was VERY disconcerting how much the thing bounced, flexed and twisted back there. I can't imagine putting a bike that weighs another 100 pounds on it.

I'm going to try what one other poster did and add a 1 1/4" receiver on each side of my hitch and weld some bars onto the sides of the carrier to keep the swaying down. I'm running it on a Santa Fe and the hitch on that is already pretty close to the ground. It doesn't take much of a dip at speed to here it touch down.

Went with a Versa-Haul rack. Got it from discountramps.com who were great to deal with. The Versa-Haul is made of steel, and somewhat heavy. It will hold up to 400 pounds. I thought about the aluminim AMC-400 ramp, but ended up spending alot more for this ramp. So far, been happy with the set-up. Only issue is making sure the bolts are tightened down securely. The instructions were vague, and mentioned "not to overtighten" the bolts. After coming loose on me, I called Versa-Haul and asked what too tight meant to them. Was told they did not want customers to "damage" the powder-coating on the ramp. Umm, rather scratch that then drop a bike, so now all the bolts are tight.





On my Ford 3/4 ton 4x4, the ramp sits up nice and high. The bike does rock around, but everything rides very well, even on off-road trails.

I bought a JOEHAULER for $350. it fits into my 2'' receiver with no problam.It took about an hour to put together.the instructions had one of the steps backwards but I figuered it out in a few minutes. I did a 800 mile round trip and the bike never budged.

I just hauled my X 2 days from where I picked it up with a Joe Hauler (www.joehauler.com)
Worked awsome. My bike will live on it behind the Jeep when we are on vacation.

I love my Moto-Jack-Rack.

Hey, that's pretty trick!

i have the cheap aluminum one from discount ramps.

it gets the job done, and i have no complaints

So I've been trying the AMC 400 I bought. Works good on the ol' Dodge pick 'em up truck. And no, I generally don't have to worry about bottoming out with my bike back there - the Dodge has tall legs.



Lots of clearance between the bars and the window in the canopy - unless, of course, you screw up while tying the bike down.



This I don't like - and it can be a lot worse than this when you really reef 'er down. I don't think hours of bouncing down a logging road with the tire compressed nearly to the rim is good for things. So far I've just been wrapping the front in rags and taping it down, but I'll either get some cheapo welding done there and a little angle plate, or go really cheap and drill the front of the rack and put in a piece of wood cut at an angle.



I can't help it, but I have nightmares where I'm happily driving down the highway for a couple of hours with the bike dragging behind me, attached to the rack only by the wheels. I'm looking at those footpegs and thinking a turnbuckle arrangement between the footpegs and the tiedown rings would be cheap insurance.



And here's the main fly in the ointment with an otherwise very useful carrier at a very cheap price - the ramp angle.

Taller people might not notice it. And people driving vehicles that are a lot lower might not notice it. But a 5'9" guy like me can't control the bike when running it up the ramp - arms just ain't long enough, bad leverage, etc. Bringing it off was perhaps even worse - once that back wheel heads back down that rear ramp, it is a cast iron bitch to bring it down under control. It nearly took a dive off the ramp - hell of a way to mark up your bike. And of course the front break is on the bar you can't reach... which means I've been driving around looking for a handy dirt bank or ditch to get the wheels in because I'm usually alone and don't have somebody to give me a hand.

Anyways, I'll have to figure out how to make a much longer rack, and then we'll see if things happen under more control.

For normal height people or those driving normal height vehicles, loading and unloading should not be much of an issue.



All in all, me likey.

It's really something new! I would try to do that when I need to hitch my motorcycle to my car! Checking the images, don't need to have a trailer for it and it seems amazing!

Just picked up a E150 and a Bike Carrier, sold my street bike to pay for it being all I used it for was work and I miss it a bit too much. Don't know if I can go without riding everyday..

Does anyone have any exp with these racks fitting with spare tires that are mounted on the back of vehicles, Like an FJ cruiser. I like the price of AMC 400. Just concerned about clearance. Also the FJ sits high off the ground. Will I be able to load the bike on the ramp by myself? Im 5'9 not too tall!

macfast wrote:

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

MacFast, I see one flaw with your design. Knowing myself, I would get all the way to the trails and remember that the front wheel was back in my garage at home.

whitea42 wrote:

macfast wrote:

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

MacFast, I see one flaw with your design. Knowing myself, I would get all the way to the trails and remember that the front wheel was back in my garage at home.
:baldy:

+1 hehe...have done that with my mountain bike once or twice

I posted some gripes about the amc-400 on another thread. I think if I were to do it again I'd go with the smc-600r. Longer ramp, straps stay off the plastic, don't have to lift the whole bike up to get it out of the wells and it doesn't gouge the front tire.

As for that last issue I think I'm going to just cut a slot through some PVC and duck tape it on the edge the tire sits on.

https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t7649-few-gripes-about-my-carrier