Best way to tow a scooter on a ducato van
Hi
We are about to be the proud owners of a Ducato Van motorhome and would like some advice on towing a scooter. We have looked at a tow bar and towing one from the rear but we are really interested in one of these platform style fixed trailers which hooks off the back of the van. Any comments, suggestions or observations would be brill
Many thanks
Kev and Carol
Comments
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The weight of the tow bar, if you go down that route, will have to be considered in how it affects your payload. If you were towing a car, clearly you could compensate by using the vehicle for some items. Not so easy with a scooter.
As to the hook on type, you would have to consider if it would overload the rear axle, as well as possibly exceed your payload.
On our. MH the tow bar option would be 67kg, the motor bike rack alone 57kg, plus of course the bike / scooter itself.
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As already pointed out the issues that need resolving are payload, and probably more critically the impact on the rear axles loading.
Whilst the payload is a simple sum the addition to the rear axle loading issue will be greater than the scooter plus carriers added weight.
Here the scooter etc is cantilevered beyond the vehicle effectively on a lever arm pivoting about the front axle. So the weight that gets added to the rear axle is the kit weight multiplied by its distance to the front axle, divided by the wheel base.
With the long overhangs frequently encountered on MHs this can significantly magnify the rear axle loading, way above the actual weight added. It similarly reduces the front axle load, but that is not always a bonus.
It can be doable in certain cases, but needs a bit of homework to know if your equipment falls into that option.
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H carol and kev - I'm not familiar with your motorhome but this is how we carry ours, very safe and stable.
The bike has been positioned on the trailer so that there is a minimum of hitch weight, the trailer folds up when not in use and takes up very little space.
John
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funnily enough, I though there was a thread about caravans having no payload...?
ill bet some get to the point where the towcar (support vehicle
) is being overloaded as there's nowhere else to put things.some probably don't even realise the tow car has a maximum weight and will certainly never have weighed it full, especially those with several large children and all the extra associated stuff.
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Thanks you have all been great in helping us make a decision on what to do.
Many thanks
Kev and Carol
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K & C
We use a purpose built trailer, which takes either our motorbike or scooter.
Picture shows us with scooter on a recent trip to Scotland, resting at Shap summit....
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Apart from the "fun factor", why would you tow a motorbike on a trailer when you have a demountable?
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Once demounted, you have your pickup available as transport so, as I wrote, you obviously take the bike "for fun".
NB. I've just realised your enquiry was about a Ducato van, not the rig in your avatar.
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