Motorcycle Carrier

[JerryKelly]

Looking at alternatives for carrying a 500# motorcycle on the back of my MH and continue to tow my '07 Suburban. My MH is a 43' DP.

So far, I have only found Cruiserlifts.

The alternative would be to use a carrier behind the Suburban like Versalift.

Any ideas or words of wisdom are appreciated.

[JerryKelly]

Looking at alternatives for carrying a 500# motorcycle on the back of my MH and continue to tow my '07 Suburban. My MH is a 43' DP.

So far, I have only found Cruiserlifts.

The alternative would be to use a carrier behind the Suburban like Versalift.

Any ideas or words of wisdom are appreciated.

[Kyle241]

Jerry,

Have you looked at http://www.overbiltlifts.com/? Someone noted that www.blueox.com partner'ed or purchased overbilt but I am not certain. They might just be a reseller. I've noticed there are some differences in the lifts and how they attach so you are going to have determine which you feel is the best for your application.

Kyle

[rebelsbeach]

When you go to the Blue Ox site, there is a link to a formula Blue Ox uses to calculate the effect of the weight of the lift and motorcycle on the back of your coach.
It requires you to measure the wheelbase and some other distances from the wheels to the rear most point of the existing coach receiver.

I would also HIGHLY recommend calling and speaking to Blue Ox's technical staff.

Overbilt was acquired by Blue Ox, but they still call that one lift the Overbilt lift.

[JerryKelly]

Thanks for the responses. I am leaning toward a hitch mounted carrier on my suburban, which may provide more flexibility. My hitch tounge weight is rated for 600 #'s. Most carriers plus the bike will be just under 600#'s. I need to confirm that this arrangement will work.

My number 1 choice of MH mounted carrier is Cruiser Lift, since I can tow 6000 wheels down.

[Road Pilot]

Overbilt(and their licensee Blue OX) installs a new three point hitch (3 receivers, 1 mounted in the center and two at the sides) on the back of the coach instead of a single point hitch.

They do this because a standard hitch may be rated to handle 1,000 pounds of toungue weight but that's a weight that is applied straight down on the hitch. If you had a motorcyle with a center of gravity lateral to the hitch such that a vertical force downward caused a twisting action on the hitch, it would possibly break. By the way the same force happens when you use a single hitch with a significant drop hitch.

Replacing the MH hitch with two receivers approx. 3' apart solves the twisting problem. On the back of the new motorcycle lift is a centrally mounted new receiver that's used for attaching your tow vehicle.

When we aren't bringing along the motorcyle I drop the lift and just use the center receiver for my tow bar.

I know Blue OX is pretty active selling these lifts. Spoke with their guy at Laconia Bike week reently. He just goes from rally to rally.

[rebelsbeach]

Dick, when you had the lift installed, did you calculate the weights as done on the Blue Ox site?
Blue Ox had me measure the wheelbase and several distances like from the drive axle to the tip of the receiver and then the tag to the tip of the hitch...

My coach figured to have only 600 pounds left on the rear, so I did not go with a lift.

[JerryKelly]

I checked out Blue Ox today and found out that I can not tow the Suburban (max 5000#'s). I am looking at Cruiser Lift which will allow me tow up to 6000#'s. If I wanted to use a Versa lift on the rear of the Suburban, I was told that I would need to change the hitch to 10,000#'s since you lose 1/3 tonge weight for every 12" of extension. The Versa lift is approx. 18"s. Further, I was warned that adding 500#'s to the rear of the Suburban while towing it 4 wheels down could cause the rear of the Suburban to sway more than usual, although I have never had a sway problem. i do not want a trailer for the car and bike.

Any comments or good advice?

[rebelsbeach]

Race City Products is yet another option...

[JerryKelly]

I looked into this option with Cruiserlift. Their dolly could not handle the size of the Suburban (width of front end). Otherwise, it is a perfect soloution. My preference is to mount a carrier on the Suburban, but concerned about sway. I hope I can find someone at GM to discuss.

[BillArf]

I carry a 700# FatBoy on the back of my Class A. I have the Overbilt, Inc. bike lift. Overbilt, Inc. is in NY and about 20 mins from me. Anyway, very nice bike lift and costs less then others.

[KTM Camper]

Bill:
Nice setup you have there. Have you weighed your rig, specifically your rear axle with that Fatboy & lift attached? I could be wrong but I would bet you have exceeded your rear GAWR.

I'm looking to do something like this on my National 20,500# GVWR / 13,500# rear GAWR and can't even come close to meeting the rating.

[rebelsbeach]

KTM Camper is onto something...After weighing my rig at Newmar, I found I only have 600 pounds left on the rear of the coach...And I HAVE A K3 chassis!
I don't carry anything special in the basement and there aren't even any compartments rearward of the center of the coach so I would highly recommend you getting the coach weighed on all four corners and calling Blue Ox.
Their website has a calculation table you can use to figure the weights and the capacity.

BE SAFE!

[BillArf]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by KTM Camper:
Bill:
Nice setup you have there. Have you weighed your rig, specifically your rear axle with that Fatboy & lift attached? I could be wrong but I would bet you have exceeded your rear GAWR.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, I have had that set-up a couple of years now. Yes, been weighed a couple of times and no issues. I'm very careful not to add additional weight though. FORTUNATELY, 8-) I am a single guy and travel light in regard to stuff inside the RV. I also run with black, gray and water storage tanks pretty much empty. YES, I could very easily overload the rig. Again, no issues and I am extremely pleased with the set-up. Over 12,000 miles on with the lift and no problems..