And so it begins...

[bmxdannyo]

I am thinking of also getting a trials bike, or maybe something like this:

for putting around while traveling - to run errands and such. Of course, that, being as light as it is, could probably be hauled on a bumper or something, but I would just as soon have it inside the garage too. In my experience motorcycles hauled outside in the weather get beaten up without a purpose - I drop my bike on rocks and trees and such all the time, but I am having fun doing that (usually), having the bike getting beaten up while transporting it seems pointless. Not to mention having it sit out where someone can mess with it when I stop somewhere.

Where did you find this?!?! very interested!

 

[Code Monkey]

Where did you find this?!?! very interested!

http://www.motopeds.com/

I found it in a discussion about such bikes on a motorcycle forum. Maybe it was ThumperTalk, I don't recall.

You buy the parts, build it yourself, and get it licensed your self. The risk that you can get it licensed and running is all on you.

There are a number of motorized bicycle setups out there, but this one seemed like it would fit into my lifestyle more than the others. It isn't really a motorized bicycle as much as it is a hybrid somewhere between a motorized bicycle and a moped. A little research indicates that in most locales it would legally be a moped, not a motorized bicycle. In WA state you probably could not ride it on 'public' bicycle trails even with the engine off, and you could not ride it on a 'restricted access' highway and it is not supposed to exceed 2.5 HP or 30 MPH. Your laws may vary.

It is fairly heavy for a motorized bicycle, over 100 pounds where others weigh much less, but also are just bicycles with a small engine somewhere on them. This is more of a moped - a motorcycle with pedals.

Still, a 100 pound motorcycle is very light - most motorcycles weigh well over 200 pounds. Mine weighs 280 ready to ride. Even trials bikes are rarely lighter than 200 pounds.

But, if you got a nice quiet silencer on it (I kind of doubt the one shown is quiet) then it would be good for putting around a campground, going down to a store to get some groceries or just to carry along as emergency transportation.

There are some vids on youtube.

 

[bmxdannyo]

http://www.motopeds.com/

I found it in a discussion about such bikes on a motorcycle forum. Maybe it was ThumperTalk, I don't recall.

You buy the parts, build it yourself, and get it licensed your self. The risk that you can get it licensed and running is all on you.

There are a number of motorized bicycle setups out there, but this one seemed like it would fit into my lifestyle more than the others. It isn't really a motorized bicycle as much as it is a hybrid somewhere between a motorized bicycle and a moped. A little research indicates that in most locales it would legally be a moped, not a motorized bicycle. In WA state you probably could not ride it on 'public' bicycle trails even with the engine off, and you could not ride it on a 'restricted access' highway and it is not supposed to exceed 2.5 HP or 30 MPH. Your laws may vary.

It is fairly heavy for a motorized bicycle, over 100 pounds where others weigh much less, but also are just bicycles with a small engine somewhere on them. This is more of a moped - a motorcycle with pedals.

Still, a 100 pound motorcycle is very light - most motorcycles weigh well over 200 pounds. Mine weighs 280 ready to ride. Even trials bikes are rarely lighter than 200 pounds.

But, if you got a nice quiet silencer on it (I kind of doubt the one shown is quiet) then it would be good for putting around a campground, going down to a store to get some groceries or just to carry along as emergency transportation.

There are some vids on youtube.

yeah, i ride motocross, and ive been training for mtn bike races recently. This seemed like a really fun medium when your going way out in the middle of no where. Thanks for the info!

 

[Code Monkey]

yeah, i ride motocross, and ive been training for mtn bike races recently. This seemed like a really fun medium when your going way out in the middle of no where. Thanks for the info!

Well, if you know motorcycles then you can probably see the pros and cons of this thing. You can bump the displacement up to about 125cc with the same engine, but then it wouldn't be a legal moped.

As you know, weight is the great Satan off-road, so this would be nice in some kinds of riding, and if the engine broke or you ran out of gas, you can still pedal (although pedaling a 100 pound bicycle is probably not all that much fun).

But if you are into downhill MTB riding, this would maybe be nice for getting back to the top of the hill.

 

[bmxdannyo]

Well, if you know motorcycles then you can probably see the pros and cons of this thing. You can bump the displacement up to about 125cc with the same engine, but then it wouldn't be a legal moped.

As you know, weight is the great Satan off-road, so this would be nice in some kinds of riding, and if the engine broke or you ran out of gas, you can still pedal (although pedaling a 100 pound bicycle is probably not all that much fun).

But if you are into downhill MTB riding, this would maybe be nice for getting back to the top of the hill.

exactly, downhill is more along the lines of what I was thinking. The street legality is not such a priority to me luckily. More of just getting back to the top of the mountain/very large hills haha

 

[That One Guy]

Something to think about- Our ramp to load our YZ's into the back of our pickups is 8 ft long, and once you get halfway up it, you need someone else to hold it up so it doesn't tip over. Add another third to the length, and loading it will become much more difficult than it already will be, because of all that space in the middle (probably the better part of 6 feet) that your feet won't be touching anything. Unless you want to be going fast enough to keep your balance on something leading to an 8 foot long platform.

 

[Code Monkey]

Is this enough

to get the general idea of the truck config?

 

[Code Monkey]

Something to think about- Our ramp to load our YZ's into the back of our pickups is 8 ft long, and once you get halfway up it, you need someone else to hold it up so it doesn't tip over. Add another third to the length, and loading it will become much more difficult than it already will be, because of all that space in the middle (probably the better part of 6 feet) that your feet won't be touching anything. Unless you want to be going fast enough to keep your balance on something leading to an 8 foot long platform.

Yeah, I've loaded bikes on narrow ramps before. Even on a standard 2WD truck it is hard.

My intention is not to roll the bike up and down a ramp on the bikes wheels, but rather to attach the bike to a platform using the clamps I mentioned earlier in the thread. The platform will have rollers or small wheels on it along the length of the platform.

Once the bike is securely attached to the platform, the platform will be winched up the ramp (which will be reinforced and have sides on it) into the 'garage' until the platform tips into the 'garage' and becomes level. At that point the bike and the platform can either be winched or pushed all the way into the 'garage' and then the platform will be secured to the floor of the 'garage'.

Unloading the bike will mean I pull the platform out letting the winch wind out until it is almost to the point where it will tip down the ramp, and then as it tips down the ramp let the winch lower the bike down the ramp.

This way no human really has to push the bike or do that much to hold it steady loading or unloading. This is something that might give you the general idea, but not exactly what I am thinking of doing:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul6MCfwKoPo"]YouTube - Rampage Lift Demo[/ame]

Here is a different system but similar:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k46_44asrN4[/ame]

 

[dirty Bakers]

Maybe you could start with a u-haul platform, maybe just the floor and go up from there. Have you thought about a lift gate?

 

[Code Monkey]

Imagine something like this:

Only taller and covering the full width. Something like this:

Only taller.

Because the frame in the front of the truck is about 6 to 8" lower than at the rear of the truck, the flat bed in the front will be 'sunken' down to a lower level than the rest of the bed so as to use the minimum height and to help match the camper overcab overhang to be higher than the 'garage'.

I figure the camper will have to be about 1.5 to 2 feet higher at its base than the front of the bed so that the overhang will clear the garage (depending on the height of the garage). To do that, I think that space would have its own frame to make a box that TruckVault drawers will go in and be accessible from the rear or the side - not sure yet which (side or rear).

 

[Code Monkey]

Maybe you could start with a u-haul platform, maybe just the floor and go up from there. Have you thought about a lift gate?

I thought about a lift gate, but I want to load the bikes from the side.

In my experience (with steel lift gates), lift gates are big, heavy and noisy when going over rough terrain. Dirt bikes weigh less than 300 pounds, snow bikes less than 400 pounds. A lift gate is overkill for that kind of weight - although a lift gate would make loading real easy.

Also, the configuration is wrong - they are wide and I need them to be long. I don't know of a lift gate that sticks out seven feet from the bed you are loading onto. That is the length of a dirt bike.

 

[Code Monkey]

Not a very good pic, but you can barely make out how much off the frame the current bed is.

You can also see how much the frame rises to go over the rear axle.

 

[Code Monkey]

It just occurred to me that outside the frame rails the bed could extend down - instead of a step down, it could be a ramp down instead of sticking out at the same level of the top of the frame. I was planning on putting a tool box there, but this would maybe be better because the ramp could extend out the same length (6 to 8 feet), but the high end would be much lower (2 to 3 feet instead of 3 to 4 feet).

Then once the platform is inside the garage it could be clamped down and maybe and extension on the end could support each end. If I limit myself to only loading from one side then I would only have to waste space with the ramp on one side. The current bed (8 feet wide) extends approx 32" from the frame. So I could have a ramp down one foot in about 30" inches. With the current tires that would mean the edge of the bed would be 15" off the ground. With 33" tires it would 19" inches off the ground. Of course, there would still be another foot up to go, but this would mean that an 8 foot ramp would only have to gain 20" of height, not 34". That is about 50% less of a slope.

 

[Code Monkey]

Here you go:

http://www.motopeds.com/video/

 

[That One Guy]

Oh! Now I understand! That's a great idea. Hopefully yours isn't as complicated as that Rampage.