Motorbike rack

Dear Members, Hope you are all getting ready for the Festive Season!  I wondered if anyone has fitted a Motorbike rack to the back of a Nuevo II 2008, to hold a light weight 125cc Motorbike that weights about 110kg. Will the Motorhome take this weight?
Kind regards to all. Thanks for any help Nigel

nigelhewitt wrote:Will the Motorhome take this weight?

It depends on what else you carry. Obviously the weight of the motorbike + rack + rack fixings and wiring is going to have to be accommodated within both your existing User Payload and rear axle load limits.

I don't know your van's User Payload, but at a guess the bike and associated fixings will probably take around a quarter (guessed User Payload 600kg, guessed bike load 150kg), so the question is, can you be sure that everything else that you carry will fit in the remaining weight allowance and not exceed the rear axle load limit?

Generally the only way to know is to go to a public weighbridge when fully loaded (e.g. next time you go away) and see how much - if any - leeway you have. This is something you need to get right, as VOSA do not let people off these days - if you're over it will be points on your licence and a fine.

Don't you also have to consider the distance from the axle to the rack into the payload equation?

dandywarhol wrote:Don't you also have to consider the distance from the axle to the rack into the payload equation?

TBH I'd only looked at it from a van conversion point of view, where the rack is not far enough behind the back axle to make a material difference, but on a coachbuilt it could be a long way further back, in which case there would be a leverage effect to account for as well. Not sure exactly how you calculate that, but there's probably an online site somewhere that calculates it for you...

From experience I would say your van would carry the bike.

I've used Dave cooper racks over the tears, they do the job well. They would probably give you some advice if you speak to them.

http://www.davecooper.co.uk/bike_racks.asp

There's no problem with the hardware,  Dave Cooper makes good stuff. I hang a trials bike from the back of my Bongo without a problem,  although I used a strap attached to the back ladder to triagulate the fixing and absorb the bounce.

Its more axle the payload I'm on about with a coachbuilt. More roadside checks targeting leisure vehicles these days I'm told.

How high would the rack have to be? My concern would be lifting the motorbike onto it.

candapack wrote:How high would the rack have to be? My concern would be lifting the motorbike onto it.

Unless of course it's a towball mounted rack, which it probably is - ooops! 

Thanks for all the info guys. Lots to think about, will need to get to a weigh bridge.
Regards to all Nigel

Nigel, if you want to calculate the extra load on your rear axle due to the motorbike and rack you could always use this principle:
"For a body in equilibrium the sum of the clockwise moments about a point is equal to the sum of the anti-clockwise moments about the same point."

Or you could use SvTech's LDA program at http://www.svtech.co.uk/lda/vehicle_select.htm (but you will need to know the current actual axle loads, which you could guess if you only need the additional loading effect).

G

Thanks Gram

I will have a look at that site. Thanks very much for the info.

Have a good weekend.

Regards Nigel