Dualsport Motorcycle Carrier for a Minnie Winnie 22M

[Eagle5]

In preparation to carry my Suzuki DR350SL on the back of my Minnie Winnie 22M, I have procured the following:

1. VersaHaul Dirt Bike Hitch Carrier With Ramp, #VH-55 (comes with one VH-070 HD Anti-Tilt Lock Bracket)
2. VersaHaul Anti-Tilt Lock Bracket Heavy Duty VH-070 HD (one additional bracket; two total required)
3. VersaHaul Motorcycle Carrier Taillight Kit
4. CURT 58140 Trailer Side RV Blade 7-Way Trailer Connector
5. Two (2) Motormic Trailer Hitch Lock Pin Sets with Safety Clip & Lock
6. Roadmaster (048-10) Hi-Low Hitch

My bike weighs about 315 pounds, and I can easily run it up the ramp myself. Please see additional comments above the photos.

I ordered the taillight kit, because the bike partially obscures the Winnebago's taillights. I purchased four 2" long Stainless Steel Screws to secure the red lenses directly into the VersaHaul steel frame. The stock 1½" screws can easily strip-out of the sheet metal of the light base housing.

In addition to the four straps securing the bike to the carrier, I uses two additional straps (the black straps) running horizontally from the outboard tie-points to the bumper mounting brackets. I also run two more straps from on high near the bike's centerline down to those same bumper mounting brackets, but I only tighten these two moderately (so as not to unbalance the primary bike straps). I believe these four additional straps help dampen extreme road vibrations, but they are not required.

The Roadmaster 10" Hi-Low Hitch gives me an extra 4" of clearance above the projected departure angle. Roadmaster also makes 6" and 8" versions, but I like having a little extra clearance beyond the departure angle. Depending upon a potential road dip's non-uniformity, the extra clearance could prevent a bottoming-out of the carrier.
I color-coded the two locking pins and their associated keys with Red and White Krylon Fusion Paint.
When tightening the three 9/16" bolts on the bottoms of the VH-070 Brackets, do so gradually, alternating amongst the three bolts.

While the VersaHaul carrier and the Winnebago hitch are both rated at 500 pounds of tongue weight, the Roadmaster is rated at just 400 pounds. The total weight of my bike and the carrier is about 315 + 87 = 402 pounds. I believe the Roadmaster can take a full 500 pounds of vertical tongue weight, because it does not need to contend with the leverage-load of a towed weight. Considering that the Roadmaster's 2" tube (that which inserts into the Winnebago's receiver) is solid steel (NOT a box-frame) I believe 500 vertical pounds in this application is absolutely not a problem.

The bike is very easy to monitor in the Winnebago rear-view camera.
Oh ya, the video is ALWAYS reversed. Talk about a goofy caption!

 

[Quo Vadis]

Thank you so much. Very informative.
Ash

 

[Steinbach]

Very helpful, as we are looking at a 31K and a Royal Enfield Meteor 350 combination. Any additional thought/advice welcome!
Best regards!

 

[Eagle5]

Hi BDRV,
The only thing you might need is the addition of rear suspension air bags, just in case the additional weight on the back of a 33 foot long motorhome causes it to squat too much. Remember that both of our motorhomes have the same E-450 GVWR (14,500 pounds.) I guess you can just try it out and see if the motorhome ride height is still OK.
Welcome to the forum.
Eagle5

 

[Steinbach]

Thank you!
The spec sheet says auxiliary suspension included. Would that be the airbag type or coil spring?

 

[Eagle5]

Hi Berni & Donna,
Mine just has the huge leaf springs, so I guess you should be able to see either a helper-leaf or added coils. For 2022, it appears you can no longer order the 22M with the E-450 frame. I guess that is because Ford added an extra half-ton of capacity to the E-350 frame, so the need for it is greatly lessened.
Thanks, Eagle5

 

[Steinbach]

Thank you for the update. Hard to find a unit to look at here in Ohio. I sent a question about the springs to Lichtsinn RV. Happy trails!

 

[Skylake]

Motorcycle Carrier

Very well done and well thought out. Nice bike too. I carry a Piaggio Liberty 150 on my '19 Navion with a HD Black Widow carrier. Because it's a heavy duty carrier, the ramp is 72" which gives it a more shallow ramp angle. The carrier weighs about 100 lbs and the bike is 275 lbs, so its not a problem on my Navion.

I use four tie downs (one on each corner). I cross the two front tie downs on the handlebars so that the left handlebar strap connects to the carrier on the right side of the bike and vice versa. That allows the straps to have more of a horizontal vector (as opposed to an almost vertical component) and therefore a bit more stability. It's easy to do with the scooter because the "step-through" frame on the bike allows access. I also attach a 12" entension loops to the four attaching straps to make it a little easier to secure and avoid marring the bike (see pic). In addition, I wrap the front and rear wheels to the carrier with 2" velcro straps to reduce fore and aft movement.