Challenge: fit two bicycles on a motorcycle - your input appreciated
 

So yes, you read correctly, carry two bicycles on a motorcycle. Seems crazy but there has to be a way
I want to get rid of my car and the only reason I really still have it is to take dates out and carry bikes. I use the bus and bicycle 95% of the time but for my business need to occasionally pick up a bike that is too far away to bike to

I'm thinking of somehow utilizing these built onto a welded support frame on either side of the bike:
http://dsp.imageg.net/graphics/produ...67849p275w.jpg


Any ideas? Maybe even pictures of it done?

:confused:

Just trying to get a good idea of your situation:

Are these complete bikes?

Can you partly disassemble them and take them in several trips?

What kind of motorcycle?

flatbed motorcycle trailer. problem fixed.

I know I've seen a rack on the back of the motorcycle, similar to the ones used for every major road race. Unfortunately, I don't actually know the guy who had it, nor do I have pictures.

This sounds like a cool engineering project. I think you could rig something up with the Thule holder. That's basically how the guy I've seen had it.

I have seen video of a guy who carries a single mtn bike on a special mount on a BMW GS1100 (big bike). It was off to the rear on the right side and was pretty amazing to see... but I think once you get two out there it would be too much weight and windage in totally the wrong place. I do not see a viable way to carry two unless you go to a motorcycle trailer.

Well Googled the link - this is the bike:

http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle...keCarrier.html

I've considered this idea before since I also live in the Bay Area, own a motorcycle but no car. One possible solution is to mount a bike tray on either side. You could use the passenger peg mounts for a bracket to mount the front of the tray and another bracket up by the luggage rack for the rear of the tray. The bike tray would angle up from the passenger peg towards the rear fender. You could either bungee the front wheels to the bike frames, or build a couple of fork mounts up on the luggage rack. All of this would be easier on some motorcycles and harder than others (easier on a KLR650, harder on a Ducati 1098).

Right off the bat, you're going to make it a lot easier on yourself if you're dealing with either a 'standard' motorcycle (Triumph Bonneville - current or vintage, most 70's and early 80's street bikes, possibly a Ducati Monster - at least the earlier varients), or something in the dual sport style (Kawasaki KL650, BMW R11GS, Triumph Tiger). You're not so limited by design parameters as these bikes aren't so styled. There's room to maneuver in fudging something on the motorcycle chassis.

Forget a modern sport bike (aka crotch rockets for those of you who don't ride). The bodywork and styling will get in the way, and for the most part they're too carefully balanced to start adding un-aerodynamic attachments like a bicycle. Cruisers are a tossup - a lot easier to hook up than a sportbike, but the styling conventions in the modern ones are going to get in the way of attempting to design a mount.

I can visualize something along the line of, say, a Yakima roof mount (the v-tray to put the wheels in) mounted at an upward angle off the rear frame in place of where you'd put hard panniers or saddlebags. While I can see this going down the road at a moderate speed (while the rider prays for no crosswinds), I'd have wonderances about mounting, dismounting, and starting out.

I was thinking about this just last weekend and came up with a solution. Trailer hitch, small trailer and two thule bicycle racks. Build the trailer wide enough to fit two bikes, zap on a couple of used Thule racks you can probably find on Craig's List and BAM, two bikes on a bike. Thought of this as I was bungeeing a Raleigh Twenty to my Goldwing.

Have you found any motorcycle trailer hitches?

or for that matter, seen any motorcycles with a trailer?
Seems like theres something dangerous about it because no one seems to do it

My goldwing has a trailer hitch. I've seen plenty of motorcycles with trialers; there are one wheeled and two wheeled trailers. I've even heard tales of guys with Goldwings trailering their track bikes to the race tracks. No problems trailering with a motorcycle.

http://www.texelent.com/images/backview.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...**/Camera2.jpg

http://www.sbt.fi/

Interesting
Goldwings are some pretty beefy bikes though

What about putting a trailer hitch on a non Goldwing?
Would a 250 be able to actually pull a trailer? (Im looking at a Honda Nighthawk, seems the best deal at 80mpg)

Nighthawks are great bikes! My first bike was a 1983 Honda 450 Nighthawk and it handled all highway riding, even two up without hesitation. I took it on a road trip and covered 5000km in 5 days with no worries.

I wouldn't suggest starting off on something smaller than a 400cc bike though, the gas mileage will not be significantly less (in practice) and you will have the extra horsepower available when you need it. The weight difference between the 250 and 450 will be minimal and, since the aerodynamic profile is almost identical, they will require similar energy rates to maintain constant speeds.

Anyway, I don't think that a motorcycle would have a hard time pulling a trailer with two bicycles, the only problem I could see would be availability.

This company makes one for the 250 and 535 Yamaha Viragos. http://www.dauntlessmotors.com/hitch-pages/yamaha.htm

and a Kawi ZZR250 and ZR550 http://www.dauntlessmotors.com/hitch...akihitches.htm

I'm sure google can find you more.

Ha!, Just found this article! http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-hitch/

Looks like I'm not so smart after all! :D

Well I didn't even think about using a standard bike carrier

I actually already own one of these and think its great:
http://www.performancebike.com/produ...-NCL-ANGLE.jpg

What do you think about welding on a 2" receiver hitch and attaching the above carrier?
Having bikes on it would obviously make your signature much wider. You would just have to keep this in mind and remember NOT to lane split :p
Beauty of it though is that it folds up vertical when not in use (or it can be taken off)




EDIT: Having a hitch would also seem to require the bike to have some sort of mounting location low to the ground. Something the newest Nighthawks and a lot of other non touring type bikes don't have

My major concern would be the ability to corner the motorcycle. You could bottom out the bicycle wheel if you need to lean the bike over hard. Could be a real problem in emergency situations. I've tought about that option as well but I think the trailer would be a bit safer, more visble anyway. either way, you'd have to ride int he centre of the lane, so it's still a trade off. I'd also be concerned about the forces the wind would put on the weld if you mounted the bicycles to the trailer hitch. You could get a fair bit of torsional loads, throw in some buffeting from passing transports and you could snap something. I hate to be dragging something along the highway off one side of my bike.

The motorcycle is Richardo Kuhn's and he is a member here.

He has some photos here of his set up and there is this thread on a motorcycling site with details of his set up and a couple other users set ups.

2 bicycles shouldn't be a problem:
http://automaticmotorcycless.com/wp-...cle-Towing.jpg
http://thereifixedit.files.wordpress...4856087598.jpg
http://www.dirtygirlmotorracing.com/...Circa-1926.gif
http://www.watsonian-squire.com/wpimages/wp4fada99b.png