Bicycles mounted on motorcycle picture thread

One fact is worth 10,000 useless opinions !

I've tested it both ways extensively and have arrived at the following conclusions.

Ride with both wheels off the bike and the bottom bracket sitting on the tray. CG is lowered considerably, balance point is moved forward , and cross winds plus low speed, high speed, any speed handling and balance are noticably improved. This is important to me as I live in the mountains and spend 90% of my time negotiating the twisties.

Another advantages of two wheels attached up front is the additional side by side stability provided to the entire setup and the lighter weight directly on the bike rack as the wheels rest on the pannier racks. In addition, the tray length can be shortened considerably resulting in far less hanging off the back of the bike. See 3 pics below.

But don't take my word for it, simply try it both ways and decide for yourself... Tom




Original setup ... Top heavy, too much overhang, and twitchy in strong cross winds.




Current setup ... Handles all conditions well ... Roller skis and poles optional

my next project is to figure out a bike on bike solution that will allow me to still have my case top on. I saw one in this string that looked it what I would need to do.

Thing is, for my needs I dont need to go on the freeway or really travel more than 10 miles or so with the bike on it.

I would think having two wheels for the trailer would make a huge difference.

I'm sure you are correct. My original idea was a play on the unigo set up.

I just had an idea for a solution and I hope to find a welder who can do it for me. Take a standard Thule roof rack and have it go over the back seat tangent with the bike. Now granted this design would not be good for long distant freeway riding but it would give me the 10 miles of city driving I need to get to some organized rides and it would even allow me to still have my top case on the back. I would also need it to be easily removed as I need to open the seat to fill up with gas.

I am recently particularly interested in this topic. Can you guys give some up close shots of how you attached your brackets? I'm interested in mounting a mountain bike on the bike with the front wheel removed if possible. Thanks.

Got the rack at Walmart ($39) and just strapped it to the top case. Made a wheel rack and was good to go

This is my 08 Wee with home-mounted Thule rack. Took this shot on my return home from racing the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, CO.


The rack is removable via quick-release Thule "feet" mounted to my Pelican case side bags. This setup is very solid. It easily accommodates 29ers and is stable even in burly cross winds. The extra weight in the rear end lends itself to deceleration wobble in the front end, but I've never felt it was unmanageable. Longest trip I've taken with this setup was about 275 miles.

You are obviously a person of exceptional taste. From my perspective, that's about as nice a 3 bike setup as a guy can have.

? Are you confused about why someone would want to carry a bicycle on a moto? I do it because I don't own a car - the GS is all I've got, so its got to be versatile. If I want to go mountain biking somewhere besides the state park down the street, I've got to pack up and travel about 20 miles - not so easy on a 45lb DH rig.

Nice! What frame is that?

It's a Redline Monocog Flight 29er. Snapped the frame a month after the race at Heil Ranch near Lyons, CO.

@leeinmemphis here are some details of my setup. I designed the rig to meet the particlars of my needs and motorcycle setup, so it may not be the best choice for everyone.

Things I really like about the Rahbany Rack:

• Very stable three point mounting system.
• Minimal modifications needed on the bike, namely: small hole cut into the rubber carrier pad.
• Can be installed/uninstalled on the Vstrom in under two minutes.
• Clean setup with minimally obvious ghetto parts.
• Much less expensive than commercial versions.

Caveats:

• Setup assumes side-loading side cases.
• Fairly Vstrom specific though I bet it would work with many ADV bikes.
• Handling characteristics of the motorcycle change with these kinds of rigs, so be prepared!

The bike without the rack looks pretty standard. I never remove the side cases. They have saved my bike in three separate wrecks and have proven to be worthy fixtures on the bike.


The Thule mounts are bolted to the tops of the Pelican cases with rubber gaskets in place to preserve waterproof characteristics.


Detail of the Thule mount.


The rack itself is all standard gear: Rocky Mounts Pitchfork mounted to a Thule crossbar (shortened to suit) and Thule mounts.


The only modification to the bike itself was to cut a hole in the rubber pad seen here exposing a hole in just the perfect spot on the bike carrier.


The Pitchfork's standard thumbscrew fastener works perfectly with the added hockey puck (hole drilled through center of puck) used as a spacer / dampener.


Rubber ski straps securely fasten the front tire to the bike.


The Rahbany Rack accommodates 29er with ease and leaves enough room for my gear and me up front.

You can see this rig puts more weight off the back end of the bike than is probably ideal, but I much prefer this setup as it leaves the cockpit unobstructed. I have taken this rig on 300+ mile journeys in rather stiff Colorado side winds and have never been sketched out by the handling. It does require some attention, especially negotiationing the canyon twisties, but overall I'm very stoked with this setup.

Cheers,

Dave Rahbany

The KLR is the redneck pickup truck of motorcycles. That's why I fashioned my bike rack out of old warped 2x4s I found in the garage!

This was my first and only prototype. It snapped when I jumped down a ditch with the bike on the back.

And here's a friend dirt tracking an Xr1200 while wearing a bicycle on his back.




Edit... He's wearing 2 bicycle frames on his back. A friend and I split up all the wheels, affixing them to our motorcycles while he took frames.

There are infinitely easier and better ways to get mountain bikes to the bike trails, we were not heading in that direction.

I finally got around to designing my bike on bike setup.
I took some tips and ideas from many others in this thread, and I am satisfied with my design after a 20 mile shake down run with back roads twistes, some rough pavement and a speed test of 60mph.

The rack seemed stable, with a little bit of flex in the system, which is expected. I think it would be a little more balanced once I have my riding gear and hydration fluids in the opposite side case.

The only other option that I might try for longer rides to the trail head is making a foam block to mount the bottom bracket right to the Yakima rail...which should move some of the weight closer to the center of the bike by eliminating the rear tire. I will also have to devise a solution for mounting the rear tire on the passenger seat (maybe along with the front tire to take more weight off the rack)

See below for my process and end results:


needed longer bolts for the front clamp to make it around the passenger peg


test with the bike on to check clearances, i will need to rotate the handlebars


fabrication of bracket to hold rear of Yakima rack and front wheel


testing the clearances and location of holes for the yakima rack. i realized i will have to use the top case the anchor the bike and keep it from swinging around


all loaded up and ready to mount the front wheel


testing with the other bike just to be sure it works


all loaded up and ready for the test.



The test went well and none of the bolts or straps came loose. I think i will have to get used to the movement of the bicycle whenever the moto hits a bump. It seems to be stable at speed and in turns, I have not had any cross wind experience, but im sure it will be ok.

A Super V on a Wee Awesome!

Best mount system i've seen!!

Thanks for the comments!!

The Cannondale Super V-500 was my first real MTN bike and I loved it. Than I got the Giant Reign and realized how outdated that suspension is! Which reminds me, the Wee has some outdated suspension as well.

Anyway here are a few more pictures of the rack setup:


close up of the mount to the Givi rack


Front and rear mounting technique


Rack painted, bolts trimmed, ready for a 100 mile shake down run


Road out to Motorcycle Pedia museum in Newburgh, NY and back home.

The rack preformed great. Nothing came loose, it had minimal flex and movement in the system. And the best part was all the looks from other motorists.

I say it worked out well for what I want it to do.

Nice setup on your bike on bike rack. I have looked at doing the same thing with the same style Yakima mount on my bike.

Also, thanks for posting the pic and name of Motorcycle Pedia Museum. When I get back up to NY state sometime, I'll have to check them out.