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I have a bunch of dirt bikes in my garage and a big old Ford ¾
ton truck to transport them with. The trouble is that with the big
33-inch tires and my short busted up old legs, loading up a bike
in the back of the truck is a real chore. If there's no one there
to help me, then I have to back it up to the slanted driveway just
right, get a milk crate situated just so and place the loading
ramp exactly right.
Click
on pictures for larger image. Click larger image for an even
larger image.
The carrier comes in a huge box with the parts well
wrapped in bubble wrap. Welds and paint are first class. |
Assembly is simple, but the instructions are minimal with
no illustrations. First step is to bolt the upright
section to the receiver base plate. Two bolts do the job
nicely. |
Next the U-channel section is bolted to the base plate.
Four half-inch bolts with quality lock nuts are used. |
The entire assembly can now be easily slid into your
2-inch receiver. |
Then, if
everything goes right, I'll get a good run at the truck with the
bike, the ramp won't slip off the tail gate, the crate won't shoot
out into the street and the bike will get up in the ramp without
me splitting my pants.
If it
doesn't go right, I'll end up wedged under the truck, with my lips
wrapped around a leaf spring and the bike stuck under the rear end
differential. Not a pretty picture.
And consider
this: the big old truck rides like … well … a big old truck.
Not exactly fun for a long trip.
So when I
want to take the bike a few hundred miles or so to a race, I get
my Dodge Caravan and remove all the seats to make room for it.
Then, to get the bike to fit inside, I have to slide the fork
tubes up in the triple clamps as far as they can go, then let the
air out of the front tire to get it to squat down a bit more in
the front. I also have to rotate the bars down and loosen the
levers.
Now comes
the fun part: getting the bike inside the van without ripping the
headliner or poking a hole in a side window. Some kinda fun.
Also, you
have to consider that every bike I've ever seen will leak gas from
somewhere when it's jiggled around a lot. This means you're going
to be inhaling some high-octane fumes during your trip to the
track.
All this, in
the most roundabout way possible, brings us to this carrier.
When we received the product release on it, I was perilously close
to firing up my MIG welder and fabricating something - anything -
that would carry the bike on the back of the van. But I wasn't
quite sure how to start and what would work.
A loading ramp comes with this carrier and all it takes
is a short run to get the bike up. |
Once the bike is level on the U-channel, move it around
until the footpeg contacts the upright. |
This prevents the bike from moving forward. |
Slide the curved bar over the upright, press down on the
saddle to compress the suspension and lock the bar into
place with the pin. |
That's it! Take it away. |
Fortunately,
this carrier prevented me from creating something really weird,
heavy and ugly.
Designed by
Tripp Higginbotham, it's a compact unit weighing only 35 pounds. The welds
all look good, bolts are high quality stuff and the ramp (which is
the heart of the carrier) is rigid and strongly made.
Assembly was
straightforward, but the instructions that come with this carrier are weak and a less than stellar mechanic might get confused.
A simple line drawing of the assembled unit would help.
Note: On-line instructions will be available
very soon !
Clicking the pictures to the right will give you excellent photos
to assembly the carrier in the interim.
The concept
behind this carrier is unique, yet simple: First of all the bike
loads in less than 30 seconds or less and needs no tie downs what
so ever by using only the bike's suspension system for securing
the bike to the carrier. The carrier itself slides into a
universal class 3, 2-inch receiver hitch attached to the vehicle.
As the
makers claim: "The vehicle you drive is the only limitation
for weight, as the carrier will handle any off road bike out there
with plenty to spare. The biggest off road bike I know of is the
big Honda 650 4 stroke at about 350 lbs. You can spin doughnuts,
run it through whoop de doos, slam on the brakes, or floor the
acceleration. The bike is NOT coming off that carrier. The bike
cannot move forward on the carrier because the foot peg is in
contact with the Vertical Pressure Arm. It cannot move backward,
up and down, or side to side, because the Vertical Pressure Arm
has the bike pinned in against its own suspension."
We followed
the instructions loading our KDX 200 on the carrier: In loading
the bike, start about 10 feet out, walk the bike briskly (not
run), the momentum of the bike will carry it gently up onto the
U-channel rack. Lower the Vertical Pressure Arm, compress the
suspension with your arm, pin the Vertical Pressure in place
(holding the bike against its own suspension), stow the ramp in
the channel between the two tires and go.
As
advertised, the bike stayed on the rack as we drove around some
local bumpy dirt roads. Still, when the van rocked from side to
side on one very bumpy road, I could see some flex and the bike
would rock a bit.
I figured
this could be eliminated by using some simple bike tie-downs, so I
ran one around each wheel and the rack, then hooked the other end
to the van. Just to play it safe, I hooked a third tie down to the
foot peg that was resting against the upright section.
We added a pair of tie-downs to our rig and it reduced the
wiggling on the carrier to almost nothing. A third
tie-down was added to the peg where it touched the
upright, just because we're paranoid. |
My next trip
down that bumpy road was a lot better, with very little rocking or
twisting evident. At that point, I felt confident enough to say I
would take the bike on a long trip without any worry.
What else?
Well, I'm going to slip a section of foam tubing over the Pressure
Arm, just to make it easier on the saddle cover.
Other than
that, this motorcycle carrier is exactly what many people are looking for.
Highly recommended. This baby will get some serious use.
Information:
- Accessories.
There is a two tail light assembly (12-volt) available as an
option that includes taillights, brake lights and directional
signals wired in a pigtail with universal connector.
- This
carrier includes a ramp that stows in the channel between the
bike's tires, an acrylic patch on the Vertical Pressure Arm to
protect against the foot peg contact, a 5/8" bolt receiver
pin assembly that eliminates any loose play in the
receiver/stinger couple and pre drilled holes in the channel
for fast license plate transfer if desired.
- Retail
Price: Retail at $349.00, competitive with other class 3 hitch
carriers out there now. This price includes shipping &
handling anywhere in the contiguous 48 states.
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