Mopeds, scooters and carriers

Hi All
We are thinking of buying a small motorbike or moped to carry on the back of our Nuevo.
I think my BMW GS 1150 is too big!
Mandy my wife has a full car license but no bike license 
I have a full car and bike license.
Mandy has to be able to use it and wants auto no clutch.
We want to be able to ride with pillion.
We need to buy a carrier and tow bar for the Nuevo.
All suggestions and recommendations very welcome 
Kind regards
Frank

Hi Frank

Before you get too far into this I suggest you check very carefully the maximum loading for your van's rear axle. It may well be different on the Mercedes chassis, but on our almost identical van there was nowhere near enough to carry even a Honda 125. The leverage generated by the overhang hugely exacerbated the problem, so a complex calculation was necessary to determine the actual load on the rear axle. (And corresponding reduction on the front axle, possible resulting in dangerously light steering.)

It would have been possible to get it uprated by SVTech but they demanded Air Rides and uprated rear tyres before they would consider it. In the end we spent only a little more money on an electronic A-Frame to tow a small car, and have not regretted the decision.

Just a note of caution from our experience.

Dave

At 3200kg MTPLM, the manual says you have only 63kg (31kg Auto) available for personal effects, options and accessories after deducting the "standard" user loads. Towbar and carrier will use up this before the bike is loaded.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:At 3200kg MTPLM, the manual says you have only 63kg (31kg Auto) available for personal effects, options and accessories after deducting the "standard" user loads. Towbar and carrier will use up this before the bike is loaded.

Wow, that is incredibly (ridiculously) low! Given that a towbar would add 20+ kilos by itself, doesn't that pretty much rule out towing a trailer as well, as you don't have enough load allowance to accommodate a "typical" trailer's drawbar weight?

In practice it will be a higher load available. Those figures are AS interpretation of "normal" user additional loads. Provided you reduce what you carry inside, more will be available for towbar loading, but it does look very tight, but load from towbar, carrier and bike will load rear axle by about load x 120% due to leverage.

http://www.auto-sleepers.com/media/2014/12/Devon-2009-handbook.pdf

Agreed - all the manufacturers seem to publish "worst case" (within reason) figures. When I checked my unloaded Celex on a weighbridge it was significantly under the weight given in the owner's manual.

But... apocryphally, VOSA are known to target vans that look a bit low at the back. I guess when you think about it, that makes sense - it is after all their job to catch people out rather than to be nice to them!

Agreed.

ps VOSA replaced in April 2014 by DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency)

I've also thought long and hard about this Frank. I've even bought a Honda Lead 100cc scooter (my Buell and Guzzi being a bit too big!), which is an ideal size scoot for two and weighs less than 100KG.
However I'm also of the opinion even this small scooter is too heavy to hang off the back of the van.
This trailer seems to be the ideal solution, they're quite common on the continent.
Al.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHOW_I-clrU&feature=related

Hi Frank,
 we have an 07 Nuevo fitted with the 3ltr engine, we bought it to tow various trailers, hovercraft, motorbikes ect. I've now sold the hovercraft, and my wife has sold her Honda 400F, but we still take my Honda monkey bike to shows. It is a lot smaller than the 400, and looks silly on the bike trailer.........so,
I made a steel carrier that fits over the tow bar, and rests on the tow bar frame, this works a treat, and is big enough to carry my Tiger Cub, when is put back together.
Before I put any weight on the carrier, I fitted air suspension to compensate for the extra load, this also works extremely well.
I will try to upload some photos, but this might take me some time!
Mike.
PS. Tow bar was expertly fitted by PWS in Bournmouth.
PPS. the van drives and handles perfectly with the bike on the carrier, you wouldn't even know it was there! We have a "live" camera on the rear of the van, which is very useful.

Al, the perfect bike trailer. Two tow balls, two rotating wheels - making reversing a doddle. I want one. One problem is the cost about £2500. I shall be working on her indoors. Just the ticket for my Yamaha Dragstar or possibly a Honda SH 300cc scooter. 
Pete

We've been struggling with the same problem for ages and now seem to have the perfect solution.
We ride a Harley-Davidson Streetglide Special (weighing 300kg) and have towed all over Europe using a large trailer. Now the loading and unloading of the bike has become difficult (weight, size, etc) so we've bought a Vespa scooter (unheard of in Harley circles !) and 'side to side' trailer from CMF Engineering of Ross-on-Wye (www.cmf-engineering.com). It requires a towbar of course, but it's short, easy to move around and altogether a super bit of kit.
The Vespa's a 300cc but it's still 'twist & go' (no clutch or gears) and takes the two of us (and I'm not small) in comfort and keeps up with traffic.
I admit the rotating wheels look interesting but I'm not sure they meet EU Type Approval - speak to Phil at CMF and he'll give you all the info.
 
Best of luck

Don

Don, the trailer outfit looks good. Do you have any issues reversing it? Can you see the sides of trailer in your wing mirrors or if you have one, your reversing camera? I do have an Erde motorcycle trailer which is good, but I have only towed and reversed it using our car. I have towed a caravan for 20 years and got use to reversing it, sometimes reverting to the motormover,  but the shorter length of a trailer catches me out sometimes!

Pete

Masai Warrior wrote:Al, the perfect bike trailer. Two tow balls, two rotating wheels - making reversing a doddle. I want one. One problem is the cost about £2500. I shall be working on her indoors. Just the ticket for my Yamaha Dragstar or possibly a Honda SH 300cc scooter. 
Pete

An old friend of mine decided to take up camping but the idea of a larger car to take all the equipment for a family of 5 was out of the question and the old mini would have to do. He made a box trailer with a tow ball either corner at the front, made out of ERF steering ball joints and the 2 rear wheels made out of  Vespa front forks. It was absolutely brilliant and worked a treat back in 1964, though I think it would probably have needed some modifications to comply with todays regulations......

Pete, the trailer is a pleasure to tow. We've a 2.2 Peugeot (remapped to 130 bhp) and you can hardly tell the trailer's there.
We towed a caravan for years too and found it easy to reverse. When we switched to towing the Harley on a big Phoenix trailer I could see the top of the bike's windscreen through the rear window of the Nuevo so it was still easy to reverse.
I can't see the CMF trailer or the Vespa now so reversing needs care and a gentle touch but it's still pretty easy. Carefully watch through the rear mirrors and, if the trailer appears, make small, slow adjustments.
Phil at CMF said several of his customers who find it difficult to reverse just unhitch the trailer and bike, move it into position (it's really easy to move around), then reverse the van as normal.
Slow and steady are the watchwords.

Don

Don, thanks very much for your comments regarding reversing, and the hand moving of the trailer. I must admit I do like the look of the CMF trailer especially with the handlebar securing bar. The lockable box also looks like a useful addition. By having the motorbike/scooter crossways, as you suggest, you can see any fine movements of the trailer in your wing mirrors while reversing, and correct. This isn't so easy with the Erde trailer I have. I will do a bit more research and may well sell my Erde in favour of the CMF version. I also like the choice of side loading. 

Thanks for that.

Pete