cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Motorcycle mount on back of 5er

Fisher_Bill
Explorer
Explorer
I did some reading before I bolted a Reese receiver hitch to my back bumper for a bike rack and found a youtube clip of a guy who rebuilt the bumper because the 4 bikes that were carried on the back simply peeled the square bumper right off the welded supports from the frame.

Continuing on I learned that some of those bumpers are really not rated for much and if the sewer hose is stored inside they can start to rust the bumper out.

I've been carrying two bikes on the back of mine but I want to get a dual sport motorcycle and find someone to weld up a strong platform to the end of the trailer framing as well as a receiver mount to further extend the bicycles.

Has anyone done this and could you post pictures for ideas I can show a local welder?

Any input for pros and cons welcome, I have to chuckle when they rate those receivers for 500#'s, I want a Kawasaki KLR 650 and they weigh about 450#'s plus bags and gear and I want to be sure it's going to carry the load plus...

Thanks for any pictures and input.

Bill
2006 Chevy 3500 Dually 6.6 Duramax Diesel & Allison Transmission
2010 Northshore 28RK by Dutchmen
Our first fifth wheel!!!
40 REPLIES 40

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Explorer III
Travel Ram wrote:
I too went with the front m/c rack on my Ram 3500. Traded out tow hooks for 2/2" receivers, had a welder make up the rack. Very solid and removeable. Works super for my t/c and 5th wheel, 1000's of miles of use.
On the road now but do have more pic's if interested. Sending this from iPad....missing my laptop, hope pic shows. Safe travels Brian



IMHO this is a BAD idea as it does not allow for proper air flow.
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"

"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600

2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable

2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD

justme
Explorer
Explorer
Travel Ram wrote:
I too went with the front m/c rack on my Ram 3500. Traded out tow hooks for 2/2" receivers, had a welder make up the rack. Very solid and removeable. Works super for my t/c and 5th wheel, 1000's of miles of use.
On the road now but do have more pic's if interested. Sending this from iPad....missing my laptop, hope pic shows. Safe travels Brian



The engineers that design trucks for work go to great lengths to optimize things like cooling. Seems like this set up would make those engineers cringe 🙂

MFL
Nomad II
Nomad II
Hey Travel Ram, that is a nice set up for carrying your bike! Looks like a fun, do it all bike too. My CRF is off road only, but works great for single track forest riding. I haul several bikes, when going to a destination to camp and ride, so I double tow.

Jerry

Travel_Ram
Explorer
Explorer
I too went with the front m/c rack on my Ram 3500. Traded out tow hooks for 2/2" receivers, had a welder make up the rack. Very solid and removeable. Works super for my t/c and 5th wheel, 1000's of miles of use.
On the road now but do have more pic's if interested. Sending this from iPad....missing my laptop, hope pic shows. Safe travels Brian

Bipeflier
Explorer
Explorer
I finally opted for a front receiver hitch on my 1 ton Duramax to haul my WR250R Yamaha. It weighs about 280 lbs. I bought an aluminum single channel carrier that pins into the hitch rated for 500 lbs..

I can keep an eye on the bike and straps plus it doesn't unload the trailer hitch weight.
2010 Cruiser CF30SK Patriot
2016 3500 Duramax
1950 Right Hand Seat GPS (she tells me where to go)

4x4ord
Explorer III
Explorer III
fj12ryder wrote:
Personally I think having only 10 percent hitch weight is going to give you very squirrelly handling and serious problems with sway. Most hitch weights are over 2 and 1/2 times what you're proposing.


It's kind of too bad that my trailer is designed with a light pin of 17% to begin with. If it had been designed with a pin weight of 25% then adding the lift and bike would have reduced it to 18% and all would have been great. As it is I might have to either add a third axle or move my existing axles back a bit.
2023 F350 SRW Platinum short box 4x4.
B&W Companion
2008 Citation Platinum XL 34.5

fj12ryder
Explorer II
Explorer II
Personally I think having only 10 percent hitch weight is going to give you very squirrelly handling and serious problems with sway. Most hitch weights are over 2 and 1/2 times what you're proposing.
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

4x4ord
Explorer III
Explorer III
fj12ryder wrote:
Not only could be interesting, could be pretty expensive if the hitch or carrier gives up while traveling. 🙂


You're right it would be expensive if the hitch or carrier were to give out while traveling ... but that is not going to happen. My concern is the way the truck will handle after removing nine hundred pounds from the hitch. I wrestle with it because although it seems logical to me that with 10% of the trailer weight on the pin the truck/trailer combo should handle fine, yet I have heard stories of people who put boxes on the back of their fiver and found it adversely affected the truck's handling characteristics.
2023 F350 SRW Platinum short box 4x4.
B&W Companion
2008 Citation Platinum XL 34.5

fj12ryder
Explorer II
Explorer II
Not only could be interesting, could be pretty expensive if the hitch or carrier gives up while traveling. 🙂
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

4x4ord
Explorer III
Explorer III
Fisher Bill wrote:
The Bike I ended up with is a 2011 Kawasaki KLR so a little more dirt than street but I plan on having a welder friend look over my frame to see what might be the best option for enforcing the mount.

The bike is 432 lbs. wet so not too weight much compared to the other bikes I was looking over.

Keeping an eye on this thread and hoping to see some good results.

Bill


I was considering a KLR a few years ago. It's going to be interesting to see whether or not my trailer can handle the 180 lb hitch I'm building plus the 250 lb carrier plus the 850 lb bike. Maybe buying a 432 lb bike for camping is something I will be looking into.
2023 F350 SRW Platinum short box 4x4.
B&W Companion
2008 Citation Platinum XL 34.5

Fisher_Bill
Explorer
Explorer
The Bike I ended up with is a 2011 Kawasaki KLR so a little more dirt than street but I plan on having a welder friend look over my frame to see what might be the best option for enforcing the mount.

The bike is 432 lbs. wet so not too weight much compared to the other bikes I was looking over.

Keeping an eye on this thread and hoping to see some good results.

Bill
2006 Chevy 3500 Dually 6.6 Duramax Diesel & Allison Transmission
2010 Northshore 28RK by Dutchmen
Our first fifth wheel!!!

rjsurfer
Explorer
Explorer
Fisher Bill wrote:
Yes I do have a front hitch but again I'll be close to maxing it out for it's rated for 500# so I now have another idea.

I saw this setup before and they had two quads on the back of the larger model but this might be the safest solution I've found so far;



I think this might be what I need but I've yet to buy the bike, I do like the middle range over the skinny bikes and I think I'm leaning toward BMW F650 GS or the Suzuki V-strom 650 ABS.

Any opinions on these two bikes?

Thanks as always,

Bill

Moderator edit to re-size picture to forum limit of 640px maximum width.



Would not hesitate a second to get another Vstrom 650. Best bike for the money, great cruiser and will work for light off road riding.

Super reliable and great bang for the buck and you could almost get two of them for the price of one BMW.

Ron w.
03 Dodge 2500 SRW,SB,EC
2018 Keystone 25RES
DRZ-400SM
DL-650

4x4ord
Explorer III
Explorer III
How are you making out with your project?
2023 F350 SRW Platinum short box 4x4.
B&W Companion
2008 Citation Platinum XL 34.5

attuco
Explorer
Explorer
I've been carrying either a DRZ or a DL650 on the back of my last two 5ers both AF. I use a 2 receiver hitch setup so the bike is pretty stable . I put a battery box on the pin box with four 6 volt batteries to counterbalance the weight on the rear.The system hasn't given me problems in over 10 years.