My bus has a hitch. In that hitch sits an inexpensive motorcycle holder. It's a thin metal plank that holds the bike while you drive. The bike sits perpindicular to the bus, so it only extends the overall length by two or three feet.
To put the bike-holder together, you screw in a few screws and then insert a 2" square piece of metal into the hitch, keeping it in place with a big pin. When I drive the bus, I can't see the motorcycle or the carrier at all. It's out of view of my mirrors, and well below the images I get from my backup camera.
To get the bike on the carrier, you need to wrestle it up a ramp and jam it over a 4" tire holder. The bike is tiny by motorcycle standards, but it still weighs 360 pounds.
Once you get the bike where it belongs, you need to strap it firmly in place. So you buy some straps. They latch onto some metal loops on the motorcycle holder, and then you affix them to any solid metal part of the bike that seems like it will hold.
The pros tell me that two straps will suffice. I have 9. Anything to escape the mental image of the bike being dragged across an interstate while dangling from a lone, tired strap.
Each strap has a slightly different ratchet mechanism. Crank this, squeeze that, and it's taut. Then, start driving and hope you did it right.
"Check your straps" is the biggest pearl I've received from other RV folk. So I stop repeatedly to tug on them, always grateful the bike is still there. Less than a week in, I've gone from terrified to mildly concerned as I bound down the highway and wince at every bump. Soon enough, I expect to almost forget the bike's back there.
But I'll still check my straps.
To get the bike on the carrier, you need to wrestle it up a ramp and jam it over a 4" tire holder. The bike is tiny by motorcycle standards, but it still weighs 360 pounds.
Once you get the bike where it belongs, you need to strap it firmly in place. So you buy some straps. They latch onto some metal loops on the motorcycle holder, and then you affix them to any solid metal part of the bike that seems like it will hold.
The pros tell me that two straps will suffice. I have 9. Anything to escape the mental image of the bike being dragged across an interstate while dangling from a lone, tired strap.
Each strap has a slightly different ratchet mechanism. Crank this, squeeze that, and it's taut. Then, start driving and hope you did it right.
"Check your straps" is the biggest pearl I've received from other RV folk. So I stop repeatedly to tug on them, always grateful the bike is still there. Less than a week in, I've gone from terrified to mildly concerned as I bound down the highway and wince at every bump. Soon enough, I expect to almost forget the bike's back there.
But I'll still check my straps.
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