Message Forums

at the moment i use a bike rack that i have fitted feet with rubbers on it.the tubes the width of the centre isle go through the U fixings for the roof rack.this rack is placed over the axle and the bike fixed to it.the awning is put at one side and the poles the other side.this way the bike can go nowhere ether forward or back and is not able to go from side to side. 

During a recent "emergency" - we had to put ours inside the caravan to transport them home (swapped towing vehicle mid-holiday - and the bike racks didn't fit the new vehicle - Doh!) 

We strapped our bikes to the bed frame of our fixed bed. Obviously we removed the mattress first - and stood it in the bathroom at the back - then cable tied the bikes to the metal bed frame - worked a treat!

Trish

We also covered the bed in a couple of old sheets then put the bikes on and secured them down, we got them back from France without a problem.  Not ideal but it worked for us.

Hi

We have been carrying 3 adult bikes inside our van, since it was new 2 years ago.  Our van has a side-dinette/bunk bed.

We stand the bikes side by side, with their handlebars loosened to make them flat.  Weightwise, they are over the axle and two of the bikes have lightweight alu frames.  Then we pad the caravan furniture with deckchair cushions, taking care that the pedals can't contact anywhere that they shouldn't and fasten the bikes together and to the metal frame of our bunk bed with loads of bungee straps.

So far, we haven't suffered a single scratch on the caravan, although the bike frames have suffered slightly.  Also, it is quite a faff for us to lay the bikes in the back of the car to take them up to the caravan storage to load them - and it would be rubbish on a long trip where you wanted to make stopovers and use the van en-route.  Hence, Mr U-M has just ordered 3 Thule 591 bike carriers to fit on top of our S-Max instead.

We will have to sacrifice the roofbox and carry that stuff(deckchairs, groundsheets etc) in the van instead - and hopefully it won't be too much trouble lifting the bikes up/down from the somewhat tall S-Max!  Mr U-M did get talking to another S-Max owning chappie who had the carriers on his roof - and he swore that it wasn't too difficult.

Mrs U-M.

My ds and dd have been asking to take their bikes with them when we go away.  When we used to stay in a Static caravan we just put them on the back of the car but since we have been towing we haven't been able to take them.  We have thought about taking them but haven't because we are worried about the weight of them and just where we should put them in the 'van.

My son is on an adult sized bike because he is so big for his age and dd is 7 so is on the bigger childs bike so both are quite heavy.  On our new 'van we are getting a motor mover fitted and it's the GT60 model so is heavier again.  I'd have to weigh everything to see if we can take them this year.

If you put bikes at the front or rear of the 'van do you then have to put the equal weight of them at the opposite end?

Jeannie

Jeaninie i suggest you go on Bailey's site and click on the Stablity studies at the top this Will answer you question with a big EEEEKKKKK OH NO!!!

But in theary you should be able to balance the weight out sort off.

If not the way i load my wagon sometimes to balance the weigh is to put everything down the middle of the trailer in a straight line.

but look at baileys site it is good

Niall

Cheers Niall

I will take a look at the Bailey site  that's no hardship is it

I feel mean not taking their bikes but i'm not sure whether i want to take bikes when they could do so much damage to my new caravan .

Off to spend a couple of hours browsing the Bailey website, See you all later lol

Jeannie

Try a bit of lateral thinking. How about a couple of cheap folding bikes together with bags to put them in.

http://sunlova.com/SearchProduct.aspx