I am in the process of doing the same thing. Decided car is too much hassle and expense for a weekend warrior. Lots of good advice here from others. I have a lot of motorcycle experience and have given up large bore cruiser riding. I chose the xt250 because is light (under 300 lbs), low maintenance (air cooled so no radiator), a low seat height of 31.9 inches (much easier for a new or returning rider) and I have some buddys at home that like to go trail riding in the mountains around the beautiful area we live when we are not RVing.
If I did not trail ride at home, I would definitely go with a scooter in the 250 cc range.
I'm with you on having a lighter bike, but I'm 5'10", I can get away with it. I'll cross this bridge in about a year when I retire. I use to race off-road in the Calif desert. I know the Mojave desert like the back of my hand. I had a 450EXC KTM up until about 4yrs ago. I'm likely going to end up getting a Honda CRF250L dual sport. I like the size and weight of that bike. You can't take a passenger on it, the bike and seat are too small for that, but my wife is too timid to ride passenger on a motorcycle anyway, plus I prefer riding light, with my buddies. The CRF250L is pretty peppy, and although not appropriate for open highway, it's good for country roads, around town, through the mountains, nice on fire roads and single track trails. I actually just reserved a CRF250L to rent in Maui next week, as we're taking the back road to Hana. My buddy reserved the new CRF450L, which I will be trying out.
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2018 Vista 32YE, Roadmaster Swaybars, front & rear
Honda CRV toad, BlueOx/Alpha bar, Haibike Xduro 6.0
S&W Shield
You might want to look at the Zero electric motorcycles - they make one that has an easily removed battery so the weight on the hitch rack ends up somewhere around 200 lbs. Capable of freeway speeds, very little maintenance needed, recharge at the campsite if you have hookups. Range varies. I'm thinking of trading in my DRZ400 on an electric.
The Zero looks like a sweet machine... and I would love to have one. But the low end on those is around 9 grand... before taxes. And while not the only consideration, with $9k, one could spend a lot of money on a high end toad hitch setup and have a few thousand remaining in their pocket.
Does anyone know the tongue weight limits of a 1999 Itasca SunFlyer 33B, or if there is a label somewhere on the rig that gives that information. I will only use my MH to go to vintage motocross races up and down the west coast. I've been towing a 6x12 cargo trailer behind my pickup to haul bikes and gear, but now that I'm getting older (74) and want a little more comfort at the track, using the MH looks much better. I cut back to a single bike to race in the over-70 class, so it's fairly light (about 240 lbs). The bike carrier would probably weigh about 100 lbs, so looking at minimum capacity of 350 lbs. Any recommendations for a carrier or problems anyone may have encountered?
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1999 Itasca SunFlyer 33ft
US Navy - Submarines (Retired)
US Foreign Service (Retired)
We use a Versa-Haul hitch mounted rack. It’s really well built and all steel. I believe it weighs between 50-75 lbs. You can get them in 350 and 600 lbs capacity. I’d be a little leery of aluminum ones. I’ve had a couple of friends that had them and after awhile they developed cracks.
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Ron and Cindy
2021 Minnie Winnie 22M
2020 Travato 59K
Does anyone know the tongue weight limits of a 1999 Itasca SunFlyer 33B..... I cut back to a single bike to race in the over-70 class, so it's fairly light (about 240 lbs). The bike carrier would probably weigh about 100 lbs, so looking at minimum capacity of 350 lbs. Any recommendations for a carrier or problems anyone may have encountered?
You should be fine at 350lbs. I think even the cheapest class III hitches are rated at 350lbs, but I would think the Sunflyer would be good for 500lbs. There should be numbers stamped into the hitch, have you looked all around? If You can't find anything, email Nicholas at Winnebago and ask him. Email address is [email protected]. He'll know.
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2018 Vista 32YE, Roadmaster Swaybars, front & rear
Honda CRV toad, BlueOx/Alpha bar, Haibike Xduro 6.0
S&W Shield
We use a Versa-Haul hitch mounted rack. It’s really well built and all steel. I believe it weighs between 50-75 lbs. You can get them in 350 and 600 lbs capacity. I’d be a little leery of aluminum ones. I’ve had a couple of friends that had them and after awhile they developed cracks.
I glanced at the Versa-Haul carriers and they were quite expensive, but I think they were for big bikes....Harley, Gold Wing, etc. I'll go back and check them out again in case they have smaller ones. Heck, it's Father's Day weekend, so maybe a sale on them!
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1999 Itasca SunFlyer 33ft
US Navy - Submarines (Retired)
US Foreign Service (Retired)
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