Transporting pushbikes by motorbike

I don’t really want a car but I also want to be able to take my mtb to places that are too far away to ride to on a downhill bike. So, anyone ever transported push bikes by motorcycle?

Ideally I’d like to avoid using a trailer so I was wondering if there are any rack systems available. I’ve also wondered if it would be possible to attach the front of the pushbike to the back of the motorbike with the back wheel in contact with the ground, effectively turning the mtb itself into a trailer. Using a separate wheel and tire seems like a good idea and I’m not planning on going much above 50mph.

Anyone got any experiences they would like to share?

Have a read

2X2 Vs. Johnny Rack, the Battle For Motorcycle Bicycle Rack Supremacy

I remeber at my first race, a NEMBA at Bingley in ’97 seeing someone turn up on a Fireblade with a Zaskar on the back, with a 2-wheels off style rack.

So yeah, its possible

good old GS, does it all and some 🙂

What m/c have you?

My Triumph (Sprint GT) was long enough and had a stable enough in-built rack that something like that first picture would’ve been possible.

Or if you just take off both wheels it’d bungee to the rear seat (and rack) fine – probably something with panniers as you’d then have the width too.

About a page down:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/allen-millyard-part-1-2008.html

Not sure I’d get into the towing lark, more likely to get pulled plus bike tyres will quickly knacker at m/c speeds.

get one of the front wheel off type Thule (or similar) carriers (you can get some that work for any type of front wheel fitting) and make up some brackets to hold it to the back of your bike on the box/seat fittings like in the links above.

http://forums.mtbr.com/nicolai/nicolais-your-car-591008.html

Scroll down for some pictures of a GS with a couple of bikes on

There was somebody with this set-up at the Fetish DH at Inners a few weeks ago, but I think they had an XC bike on the back of it.

If you do sort it, I would think that kit would be your next problem. I have a motorbike and I don’t like spending much time in motorbike kit when not on the bike, it’s heavy and hot, and I laid down some cash for the good stuff. Plus you will need to carry two helmets.

The guy seemed to be with some mates, and was able to deal with a costume change that way. Sounds like way too much hassle for the potential benefits to me.

Cornering looked a bit dodgy too…

I’m thinking about using something like a BMW GS, Triumph Tiger, KTM Adventure, Honda Transalp, something like that.

I take your point about the gear though. Not so much of a problem when I’m heading for uplift days since there is normally somewhere store the gear. For trail riding I guess there is always the option to stash it and hope it doesn’t get stolen. Or just don’t bother the jacket, boots etc. The bike should still have room for some decent storage though.

Looking at the picture on pinkbike I wonder if it would be possible to just strap it to the pannier rack. Something to think about anyway.

Thanks for the info!

BW

Having had both a Tiger 1050 and then the Sprint GT, I think the Tiger would be too short.

And panniers would let you carry all the MTB gear too.

I’ve always just taken the wheels out and bungeed everything in a pile on the rack (BMW R1100RT).

Mind you, one time the LBS told me it was illegal to carry a bicycle on a motorbike – anyone know if that’s fact?

One of Santa Cruz’s designers has a tidy wee rack for his SV650…

I thought about doing it for a while but eventually thinking about the faff with 2 sets of riding kit (and the need to store it at the other end) not to mention getting back into motorbike kit when tired and maybe wet and cold and tired, then riding home, put me off.

Bikes on bikes

more pics

I loaded up a bike on my KTM 950…. Wheels off and layed it over the panniers… Worked fine.

Here is a tidy solution.

Round here (Western Australia) quite a few people fit tow bars to motorcycles so they can tour with trailers. See here for a company that makes motorbike specific tow bars & trailers linky

Once you have a towbar fitted, its relatively easy to fit a standard tow ball attached bike rack like those made by Thule and others. You have to mount the bike vertically rather than horizontally though (ie hang it by the seat tube rather than the top tube , or it’ll stick out too far on the sides. There’s a guy who regularly turns up at my local trail centre with this arrangement.

Have no idea about the legality of fitting a tow bar to a motorbike in the UK, but its allowed here…

I have checked as best I can and towing a bicycle on its own wheel with a motorbike would seem to be legal. I have spoken to a chap that makes and sells single wheel motorcycle trailers about it. You don’t need to mark the “trailer” ie your bicycle with the weight. I would think it wise to use another wheel with no cassette on it and a heavily treaded but not knobbly tyre.

It would be the simplest and easiest solution – you just need a mount fro thr front wheel dropoouts on the back of the bike somewhere.

I would go for a mega scooter – storage space on the bike for helmets and kit.

this is a guy in the states with a tandem behind a goldwing!
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Image1[/url] by TandemJeremy[/url], on Flickr