Carrying Adult size bikes in / on a Caravan

[Craigyoung]

Hi , this is all getting a bit heated now this is what we have on the back of ours ,
"This version of the Thule Elite G2 is the short and recommended for caravans and motorhomes with a vertical wall between 50 and 80cm. With a maximum loading weight of 60kg, theThule Elite G2 Short can carry E-bikes as well."

Like as previously said on one of my posts earlier ours towed well and no bother with them on the back of the ours , but it's up to the individual to try it with their own , but our van had the fittings for that , not all do,

Craig

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

As none of the myriad ideas seems to suit, why not:
Sell the expensive / big / cumbersome / awkward / new bikes you have already got.
Absorb the small loss you will incur.
Buy two lightweight / easy to store / easy to assemble / come with a bag / cheap as chips / fit in the car, fold up bikes?.
Purchase two swr cables with locks, and either attach to caravan, or nearest lamp post when in the pub.
Remove lights / panniers / sat nav / water holder / pump etc. prior to leaving the bikes unattended.
Hope this helps in your decision making process.

 

[KeefySher]

I was going to ask about lifting e bikes as you get older, particularly onto a caravan rear wall mounted carrier that Swift fit the frame for, then found this:

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/gb/motorhome-accessories/bike-racks/thule-lift-v16-_-thule lift v16 12v
Thule have continued their philosophy, of adapt, improvise, overcome or continuous improvement in modern speak. Modular standard components advanced to meet changing needs.

Perhaps a forward looking caravan assembler could work with Thule to produce an internal system that can secure bikes. Seems a logical progression, and saves toys being thrown from prams

Craigyoung, how high is the Elite G2 from the ground on the rear of your caravan? Could an older person beyond retirement lift an e bike onto it easily?

 

[Smidsy]

Hi, i havent read all 6 pages of replies so this might have been suggested already, you can get a bike carrier that fixes to the car toe bar mount, it will take the weight of 2 ebikes no problem, the only thing to be aware of is that if you jack knife the caravan while reversing it can cause serious damage, I did this and the bikes wheel spindle punched a hole through the boot lid and destroyed the bike carrier.

 

[Raywood]

Hi , this is all getting a bit heated now this is what we have on the back of ours ,
"This version of the Thule Elite G2 is the short and recommended for caravans and motorhomes with a vertical wall between 50 and 80cm. With a maximum loading weight of 60kg, theThule Elite G2 Short can carry E-bikes as well."

Like as previously said on one of my posts earlier ours towed well and no bother with them on the back of the ours , but it's up to the individual to try it with their own , but our van had the fittings for that , not all do,

Craig

Craig, my problem with these is you can never be sure if the extra weight at the back will cause stability problems as pointed out by the prof. Many people do manage though so maybe the theory makes it look worse than it is.
The weight of the bikes can also be a factor in that they have to be deducted from the MTPLM, and even with lightweight bikes and the bracket you make a big hole in the allowance as many are very tight. Unless you can get the MTPLM uprated I think most people would struggle to keep within the legal weights without this.

 

[Raywood]

71 this week so a bike is probably out these days.
As far as the length is concerned at 5.6m for the body I think it is shorter or as short as any with two fixed beds and a rear toilet and certainly it would be difficult to get it seriously shorter.

 

[Craigyoung]

Keefysher ,
Hi, i haven't got the van on the drive at the minute , its at the yard but I think roughly about 5 foot high from the ground and and a few inches from the top of the roof , even just putting a normal mountain bike about that height and securing it is difficult so I would not fancy an older person trying to put a heavy e bike up on a rack that high , put it this way when I am securing them and putting the locks on and straps I need to stand on a hop up (step)to reach !

 

[Dustydog]

Other Clive was correct. Change the car.
The new models with purpose built bike racks are completely different construction to the OP model.
How about hire bikes at your destinations.
Courier the bikes to your destinations
The safest place is the car roof but I appreciate not possible.

 

[otherclive]

71 this week so a bike is probably out these days.
As far as the length is concerned at 5.6m for the body I think it is shorter or as short as any with two fixed beds and a rear toilet and certainly it would be difficult to get it seriously shorter.

I am amazed at two posts now that indicate that either a pensioner cannot lift a bike onto a rack, and now at the young age of 71 it's too old to ride a bike. Face those demons and get biking and if you really can't face up to a conventional bike I believe you can get electrically powered bikes now.

 

[JTQ]

71 this week so a bike is probably out these days.
.

It would be nice to be that again and even now I am far from giving up on my bikes.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

sorry posted in wrong topic.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi, i havent read all 6 pages of replies so this might have been suggested already, you can get a bike carrier that fixes to the car toe bar mount, it will take the weight of 2 ebikes no problem, the only thing to be aware of is that if you jack knife the caravan while reversing it can cause serious damage, I did this and the bikes wheel spindle punched a hole through the boot lid and destroyed the bike carrier.

Hello Smidsy.
The idea is fine provided you have a tow ball with a healthy load limit,
You have to allow for the weight of the bikes and bracket as part of the towbars limit, and that will reduce the amount of nose weight the caravan is allowed to apply to teh tow ball by the same amount.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Coming up 75, and here's one of my bikes, but can't lift it onto the van!

 

[ProfJohnL]

I think you have been given a wide variety of ideas on how you might possibly manage to transport your bikes, Bearing in mind the wealth of experiences you have tapped into here I think its increasingly likely there is no practical solution to will meet your demands.

You will have to either spend money on a car or new bikes, or possibly modifying your caravan (which will most likely devalue it)

Its up to you. :dry:

 

[Craigyoung]

Coming up 75, and here's one of my bikes, but can't lift it onto the van!

Stick a tow bar on back off caravan then get a bike trailer !!! :lol: :lol:

 

[Raywood]

For the motorbike a Knaus Deseo looks the best bet. I have seen them and they are surprisingly well thought out, but pricey. It would work for the OPs problem but might be over the top for that.

 

[Harby]

Hi we went round in circles on the same subject when swapping from our Swift that had the Thule bike carrier on the back to a new Bailey which doesn't (Bailey's research apparently says it's not safe). Anyway, our solution was to swap the car for one we could put bikes on the roof with the Thule system, which is great. I know this isn't what you want to do, but....

Having spent a lot of time researching this (and being very strongly warned by our caravan dealer that A-frame bike carriers are likely to put your bike through your boot), my biggest worry turned out to be the weight of our 4 bikes (2 adult, 2 little children-who-will-grow-up-and-get-bigger-bikes) and the impact on the caravan's overall weight. Roof mounting was, for us, the way forward and my husband can pop all 4 bikes on the car rook (Audi Q7) in 16 minutes (though he claims he'd have been quicker if he'd known I was timing him).

You worry about putting the bikes inside the caravan, have you seen the VeloSock (available on Amazon) which might be helpful to prevent little dings as you're putting the bikes in and out? Just please check on your caravan weights first... we ended up weighing everything down to cutlery in ours after a very informative visit to the weighbridge......

 

[Darranna]

Hi we went round in circles on the same subject when swapping from our Swift that had the Thule bike carrier on the back to a new Bailey which doesn't (Bailey's research apparently says it's not safe). Anyway, our solution was to swap the car for one we could put bikes on the roof with the Thule system, which is great. I know this isn't what you want to do, but....

Having spent a lot of time researching this (and being very strongly warned by our caravan dealer that A-frame bike carriers are likely to put your bike through your boot), my biggest worry turned out to be the weight of our 4 bikes (2 adult, 2 little children-who-will-grow-up-and-get-bigger-bikes) and the impact on the caravan's overall weight. Roof mounting was, for us, the way forward and my husband can pop all 4 bikes on the car rook (Audi Q7) in 16 minutes (though he claims he'd have been quicker if he'd known I was timing him).

You worry about putting the bikes inside the caravan, have you seen the VeloSock (available on Amazon) which might be helpful to prevent little dings as you're putting the bikes in and out? Just please check on your caravan weights first... we ended up weighing everything down to cutlery in ours after a very informative visit to the weighbridge......

Hello Harby and thank you for taking the time to reply.

Having tried a couple of different things recently we have concluded that we have little option other than to carry the bikes inside the van. Like you mentioned it would have been better to put them on the car but this is not possible with my car as no-one produces a rack system for it (can't blame them it was only sold in very low numbers). So until I am in a position to change the car (a couple of years) we will have to compromise.

I couple of things I wasn't aware of, 1 was that folding bike pedals are available, so we have ordered one pair to see what there like and also the VeloSock we will hold off on that one and see if we actually need it, although the reality is my wife could make something to suffice, she's a dab hand with a sewing machine.
To keep the bikes in the van we have ordered a rack system that the front wheels go through. We had first thought that removing the front wheels and fitting a fork bracket would have been the best option, but it doesn't work for us. Our next van in a few years will likely be a Bailey Unicorn Cadiz, so we will have to find a solution via the next car. As thats all a few years away, who knows maybe someone will come up with a better solution in the future.

 

[Martin24]

So pleased you have found a sensible solution to your problems.

 

[Craigyoung]

Me too , another thing that we normally do when we take the kids bikes into the caravan we usually wrap a duvet around them so that in transportation if they do have to move they don't knock anything or chip anything where they are stored.
Craig