Winnebago furnace vents through back

[lrug]

Hi, we recently purchased a 2007 Winnebago Voyage Class A Motorhome. The heat pump and furnace vent through the back, right near the license plate. We have a pair of e bikes that we have on trailer hitch bike rack. When the bikes are on the back, the license plate is blocked, so we know we have to move that. A new problem we just discovered, we cover our bikes when we travel-bikes are too expensive to just leave uncovered. Now we can't use the coach heat when we are traveling or just overnighting because the heat will ignite the bike cover. We know this because we almost burnt the coach up, caught it just before it really got going. I don't even think we can keep the bikes on the rack if we have the heat on. Anyone else run into this problem and what fixes have you found? We can't be the only ones.

[MrMark52]

You actually likely have 2 problem - what you stated which is the exhausted air, and blocking of the intake combustion air vent.

Can you raise the bikes higher? Or can you put the front wheels to the vent side of the coach, then bunny cord them turned to allow forced exhaust clearance? (Would have to look at the manual, but would think you would need 12” of exhaust clearance, and probably 3” or more for intake combustion air - but the two air streams need to be separated as much as possible.
Maybe a combination of both ideas could work.

Edit to add: Or maybe possibly mounting bikes to the carrier at an angle.

[lrug]

We have thought about getting the hitch extension that rises the mount, didn't know if that would give us enough to clear or if the heat would still be too much, as heat rises.

[lrug]

After actually looking at the motorhome, we would have to raise the bike rack at least 2 feet from the hitch to clear the vent. The bike rack does tip, but that is just for aid in mounting and dismounting, not traveling.

[bglatzel]

Can’t help with the furnace exhaust problem. But, your unit should have the motoraid heating ties into your hot water heater. Should be a switch somewhere on the dash, maybe by the heater and radio controls labeled hi and low, this controls the blower for the motoraid heating, which uses engine heat when you’re driving to heat the hot water heater, which in turn provides heat for the coach when traveling.

[Ray,IN]

I was camped beside an old Airstream MH carrying 2 E-bikes on a front-mounted carrier. I asked the guy about overloading the front axle, engine cooling, and vision ahead; he said he's not had any problems since mounting them in front.
Airstreams was a gas engine model.