How can I Full time with 1K lb motorcycle and Jeep toad

[FL420]

We full time with a bike and a toad. I did a lot of research before choosing what coach to buy to fit our desired and/or existing cars and bikes. I wasn't willing to give up a bike. I wanted an Indian or a Harley. I wanted my AWD Subaru Baja. My DW wanted her automatic transmission Kia Soul.
I knew very little at first about RV gross weights, carrying capacities, front and rear axle limits, receiver limits, hitch limits, frame, suspension and braking considerations, etc. We had to make a lot of compromises to come up with something that would work for us within the constraints we encountered with the coach we bought.
Like FIRE UP we bought a VersaHaul VH-55 RO which has a 500# carrying/tongue weight limit usable with a CLASS III or IV receiver and it has a Class III 2" receiver with a towing limit of 3000#. VersaHaul sells a model with a 600# weight limit but the same 3000# tow limit.
The 3000# towing limit and AWD precluded using my Subara Baja so DW got to keep her beloved 3000# Kia Soul. The 500# tongue weight limit disqualified all the Indians and Harleys so I had to keep my 500# Kawasaki 750cc Vulcan. Over the last 3 years they have proved to be excellent choices.
I did have to make one mod to keep the bike from rocking and fatigue stressing the single 2" receiver and hitch. I ordered two 1 1/4" twelve inch long receiver tubes with hitch pins and clips and two six foot long pieces of 1 1/4" square tubing. Amazon Prime got them to me fast and free.
Gary Rudner, the designer and fabricator of the American Car Dolly, welded the two receivers to the bottoms of the coach's frame rails. We inserted the tubing through the receivers and extended them up under the VersaHaul rails where they supported each end of the bike carrier preventing the rocking. We then marked and drilled holes for the hitch pins in the receivers and tubing.
When we hooked up the brand new car dolly I bought from him it became apparent that the wiring on the 7 pin connector on the dolly wasn't long enough to reach the connector on the coach because of the width of the bike carrier. Gary disappeared into his shop and 15 minutes later appeared with a professional looking wiring harness he had just fabricated that was not only long enough but he added a pigtail with a flat 4 wire connector for those times when I wanted to tow the dolly with the Kia. He charged me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for all the welding, drilling and wiring materials and fabrication.
I became a real fan of Gary, his tow dolly design, his fabrication skills and his dedication to quality and customer satisfaction.

http://versahaul.com/vhsportro.php

https://americandolly.com/

[MCRV Passion]

My bad typo somehow “ford”
ended up there ——. It’s the Cummins 360hp

[winniman]

The OP has a 26ft class A gasser. I don't think solutions for 40 DP are what he was looking for. I could be wrong.

[ledzepdad]

Originally Posted by grindstone01

I had a Kawasaki Drifter based on the Indian design and found that the oversized fenders were not good for loading ramps and wheel chocks. I went with a smaller bike, VTX1300 and carry it on a swivel wheel. (doesn't help with the jeep though). Sometimes you have to make choices when RV'ing, like do you really need 2 toys? Being retired, we just wait for a nice day to play on the m/c.
Another option, can you mount the swivel wheel to the jeep rear hitch?


Swivelwheel Carrier / Hauler Transportation Systems

They are not really toys. The GF said if we only have the motorcycle she is stuck in the RV. So we need to bring something that she can drive. The Indian will never go but the vehicle for her can change with no problem.
Yes you can mount the swivel wheel to the jeep but I doubt that would be 50 state legal

[ledzepdad]

Originally Posted by winniman

The OP has a 26ft class A gasser. I don't think solutions for 40 DP are what he was looking for. I could be wrong.

Actually I have the Isuzu Turbo diesel engine. And you are correct my little Class A cannot handle what a 40' DP can

[ledzepdad]

Originally Posted by FL420

We full time with a bike and a toad. I did a lot of research before choosing what coach to buy to fit our desired and/or existing cars and bikes. I wasn't willing to give up a bike. I wanted an Indian or a Harley. I wanted my AWD Subaru Baja. My DW wanted her automatic transmission Kia Soul.
I knew very little at first about RV gross weights, carrying capacities, front and rear axle limits, receiver limits, hitch limits, frame, suspension and braking considerations, etc. We had to make a lot of compromises to come up with something that would work for us within the constraints we encountered with the coach we bought.
Like FIRE UP we bought a VersaHaul VH-55 RO which has a 500# carrying/tongue weight limit usable with a CLASS III or IV receiver and it has a Class III 2" receiver with a towing limit of 3000#. VersaHaul sells a model with a 600# weight limit but the same 3000# tow limit.
The 3000# towing limit and AWD precluded using my Subara Baja so DW got to keep her beloved 3000# Kia Soul. The 500# tongue weight limit disqualified all the Indians and Harleys so I had to keep my 500# Kawasaki 750cc Vulcan. Over the last 3 years they have proved to be excellent choices.
I did have to make one mod to keep the bike from rocking and fatigue stressing the single 2" receiver and hitch. I ordered two 1 1/4" twelve inch long receiver tubes with hitch pins and clips and two six foot long pieces of 1 1/4" square tubing. Amazon Prime got them to me fast and free.
Gary Rudner, the designer and fabricator of the American Car Dolly, welded the two receivers to the bottoms of the coach's frame rails. We inserted the tubing through the receivers and extended them up under the VersaHaul rails where they supported each end of the bike carrier preventing the rocking. We then marked and drilled holes for the hitch pins in the receivers and tubing.
When we hooked up the brand new car dolly I bought from him it became apparent that the wiring on the 7 pin connector on the dolly wasn't long enough to reach the connector on the coach because of the width of the bike carrier. Gary disappeared into his shop and 15 minutes later appeared with a professional looking wiring harness he had just fabricated that was not only long enough but he added a pigtail with a flat 4 wire connector for those times when I wanted to tow the dolly with the Kia. He charged me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for all the welding, drilling and wiring materials and fabrication.
I became a real fan of Gary, his tow dolly design, his fabrication skills and his dedication to quality and customer satisfaction.

| Versahaul

https://americandolly.com/
Attachment 263822Attachment 263823

Both the RV and the Motorcycle are bought and paid for so I will not change that, so the only variable is the vehicle for my GF. The swivelift looks promising. It can handle the weight of the motorcycle plus tow a vehicle on all 4's
https://www.cruiserlifts.com/collect...ndem-tow-dolly

[grindstone01]

Originally Posted by ledzepdad

Both the RV and the Motorcycle are bought and paid for so I will not change that, so the only variable is the vehicle for my GF. The swivelift looks promising. It can handle the weight of the motorcycle plus tow a vehicle on all 4's
https://www.cruiserlifts.com/collect...ndem-tow-dolly

Sounds like you have boxed yourself in. Looks like your only choice is to have GF drive the "vehicle" and either tow the MC behind the RV or vehicle. You will have limited CG's that allow that many vehicles/trailer on one site.

[Ivylog]

Originally Posted by Alan_Hepburn

I'm confused: generally speaking the GAWR is the maximum capacity of the axle - how do you get a "maximum capacity" that is considerably higher then the GAWR?

I just quoted what I found for an NPR. You overloaded by 25%.

[Mudfrog]

Originally Posted by Dark Sky

The challenge is the combined weight of your Wrangler and bike. My 2 door Wrangler scales around 4300 lb, so that plus your Indian has you over 5k lbs, quite possibly exceeding your towing limit before any allowance for a trailer. If it were me (and I did full-time with a 5th wheel toy hauler) I would move to a bus that can tow at least 7.5k lbs which would then let me use an enclosed trailer that will fit the Jeep, the bike and a lot of other handy things for a full timer. I have a friend that does this with his 4 door Wrangler plus a dirt bike plus a smoker, a huge gas grill, an inflatable pontoon boat, chainsaw, and who-knows-what-else. When empty or partially empty there's your shop! Also doubles as a guest bedroom.

Let's see:
aia4300 Jeep weight
aia1000 Motorcycle weight
+a2000(minimum) Trailer weight

= 7300 lbs

Sure doesn't leave much capacity for carrying "a lot of other handy things".

[tderonne]

Originally Posted by winniman

The OP has a 26ft class A gasser. I don't think solutions for 40 DP are what he was looking for. I could be wrong.

Exactly.

Some details. His profile says he has a Navette. They were made in 1995. The NPR chassis of the day had a 3.9 liter 4 cylinder diesel that made 135 horsepower. The GVWR was 14,500 pounds, and the GCWR was 18,000 pounds.

A Navette might not weigh 14,500 loaded up, but it'd have to be awfully light to tow much more than the 3500 difference between the 18,000 GCWR and the 14,500 GVWR.

A little info:
https://tincantourists.com/wiki-back...php?id=navette

[Dark Sky]

Originally Posted by Mudfrog

Let's see:
aia4300 Jeep weight
aia1000 Motorcycle weight
+a2000(minimum) Trailer weight

= 7300 lbs

Sure doesn't leave much capacity for carrying "a lot of other handy things".

Yes, my friend who is doing this has a towing capacity of 10k. To the OP, it really looks like you're stuck. The Swivelwheel options won't get around your GCWR limit. Time for a different bus or GF could drive separately?

[Dennis4809]

Two drivers!

[tomden2]

I have 2 set ups. I tow a 2018 Chevy 4X4 Silverado, with a Suzuki 650 cc, adventure bike in the bed. No problems. I also have a swivel wheel trailer that I can either tow behind my RV or the truck. I put my 2016 Indian Chief on it. I guess I could actually tow the swivel wheel behind the truck, attached to the RV, and take both bikes. The only difference between me and you is that I have a 38'9" Jayco Seneca to do the towing. As others have said, it comes down to what you want.

[HarleyHaulin]

You could look into a Thor Outlaw toy hauler, with a garage and tow capacity for your toad.