Transporting a Bike

Need something to get my trail bike (suzuki drz400e) to the trails.
Thinking of getting a mitsubishi express van. Would the bike fit ok?
Any other ideas/vehicles. A ute is out(unfortunately) as i need to
carry other stuff.

Thanks

 

yeah, the bike should fit fine, a van is the weapon of choice for
transporting a single bike. see the following for instructions...

http://users.bigpond.net.au/cdriver/wr200/loading_a_bike.mpeg

Charlie

 

On 19/11/03 1:11 PM, in article

An ute with a trailer.

Hammo

 

Get the long-wheelbase model, with the bulged roof. I've got one, and my
YZ426, which has bars mounted on 1" extended risers, narrowly skirts the
roof lining when it's being wheeled in and out, when the suspension is fully
extended. The short-wheelbase ones, with the flat roof, aren't tall enough.
To get the bike in and out of one of them, you have to keep the forks
compressed when you're moving the bike along the rear compartment. Pain in
the anal.

You could always load the bike tail first, so the bars are the last thing to
go in and the first thing to come out, but then you can't idle it up the
ramp, and heaving 120kg of dirtbike up an incline is hard work on
arm-pump-swollen arms.

A mate got rid of his SWB Express precisely because of that; he'd had enough
of his bars gouging big gashes in the roof trim, destroying the resale
value.

Like what? Fuel cans, tools, tents and bags with riding gear won't jump out
of a ute, and a big sheet of plastic strapped down with ockies, or the
leftover lengths of tie-down, keeps everything dry if you pass through a
shower enroute to the trails.

I say this because all sanely-priced vans are absolute slugs (the newer
ones, with EFI and 2.4L engines, or older ones with the bigger diesels, cost
disproportionately more). They have big frontal areas, weigh some 1200kg
empty, and only have little 2.0L carburetted motors to push them along.
Loaded up, mine will struggle to pull 100kph up any sort of moderate
incline, and that's with the foot to the floor, which gives it the fuel
economy of an aircraft carrier. A beaten-up old XD Falcon ute will do the
job with much less drama, but it will cost more (why do utes hold their
value so well?). On the other hand, a van'll have more ground clearance than
a ute, which means less chance of leaving your diff on a rock somewhere
along the 4WD track that leads up to the forest clearing from which you plan
to start the ride, and if you're camping, you can just unfurl your sleeping
bag in the back once you've got the bike out. Can't do that with a ute;
dropbears.

Get something that's been converted to LPG (cuts fuel costs, improves your
chances come resale time) and has had an engine rebuild not too long ago.
Vans get thrashed and neglected, so their motors wear out quickly.

One final note, if the first Express you test-drive crunches 2nd gear
horribly on downshifts, don't worry about it; it's a feature, not a bug.
Just wait until you've slowed down to 20 before dropping it out of 3rd.

 

I got my 7x5 box tailer modified with bike rails and tie down points.
Perfect. And I don't have to go and buy a POS van.

 

Something comfortable for the rest of the month like a wagon, and a
trailer would be better if a Ute is out.

What about a Ute with a canopy?? removable for when you need the ute,
and secureish when you dont.

 

"She's a witch---she turned me into an ute!
Errr---I got better..."


Postman Pat