onetracker
Well-Known Member
I figure if I give my phone to Matt; I will just borrow yours, right?
Building my cycling/camping trailer....
- Thread starter Matt_
- Start date
Don't you have a cool trailer? Or did you sell it?
If it was just me I would so build a roof top tent trailer with a baller outdoor kitchen/toy hauler.
knobbyhead
Next off the Island.
Outdoor kitchen would be awesome.
one piece crank
Well-Known Member
I sold my Dad's fully enclosed, fiberglass motorcycle trailer a couple years back. I think that's what you remember. It was begging for a camper build, but I like to camp where I can't pull a trailer. I am very intrigued by RTT's, especially fast-n-lite deployment, but don't want to give up my whole roof rack for a RTCondo.
I'm interested to see the structural rigidity of Matt's project when done.
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I am interested in these as well...specifically a hard clamshell type...but still cost prohibitive for me when I have an amazing tent at the ready...but...I...want...one...
@Matt_ which brand/model did you go with for this build?
Matt_
I Get Jokes
Mocked up the fork mounts tonight to find the best way to mesh the bikes together. Definitely happy I went with 5' wide vs 4'.
Figure if I can get 5 bikes of roughly the same size to fit, then mixing others in will be simpler (learned this about the velocirax as well). Smaller/shorter travel bike on the lower row, and longer travel bikes like my Slash will have more than enough clearance on one of the elevated mounts.
I might add one more bike alongside the RTT using a standard roof rack.... TBD
Yakima Skyrise HD Med.I really wanted an iKamper Skycamp 3.0, but holy hell 💰💰💰
Figure if I can get 5 bikes of roughly the same size to fit, then mixing others in will be simpler (learned this about the velocirax as well). Smaller/shorter travel bike on the lower row, and longer travel bikes like my Slash will have more than enough clearance on one of the elevated mounts.
I might add one more bike alongside the RTT using a standard roof rack.... TBD
Yakima Skyrise HD Med.I really wanted an iKamper Skycamp 3.0, but holy hell 💰💰💰
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Matt_
I Get Jokes
I was going to do something a little fancier for the bike mounts, t-slot channel or something..... But now that the tent is here, and I am trying to do this somewhat cost effective I decided to go with the lumber install. Some tee nuts to keep the bottom flush on the metal grate, and four cap screws coming up from the bottom through a piece of angle aluminum.
Put on the first of two gloss enamel coats just now. Will finish it up tomorrow then go fully into tent setup.
Put on the first of two gloss enamel coats just now. Will finish it up tomorrow then go fully into tent setup.
I love ❤️ pallets too!
I never saw wood Rust but OK?
Looks great so far. Whens the due date again?
Matt_
I Get Jokes
@Matt_ what are your plans for bike security? It looks like you could do some sort of bar that goes through both walls and all the rear wheels and/or frames.
Speaking from experience, what you have with the wood & nut inserts is similar to what I have and it works until it doesn't. Everything lines up until I swap in a different bike, change handlebar positioning, etc and all of a sudden I'm drilling more holes. You may have more clearance than I do in the back of a car w/ two bikes but having the ability to move things around really helps.
I ended up with some 8020 t-slot stuff in my one car and it's nice to be able to loosen two screws and move the mount around as needed.
Speaking from experience, what you have with the wood & nut inserts is similar to what I have and it works until it doesn't. Everything lines up until I swap in a different bike, change handlebar positioning, etc and all of a sudden I'm drilling more holes. You may have more clearance than I do in the back of a car w/ two bikes but having the ability to move things around really helps.
I ended up with some 8020 t-slot stuff in my one car and it's nice to be able to loosen two screws and move the mount around as needed.
Matt_
I Get Jokes
I was originally thinking of a bar that goes through the frames but that wont work now with how high I had to elevate the two bikes to achieve adequate bar/stem clearance. Thats not really shown in my pictures because I decided to go higher than the original mockup.
I generally never leave my bikes exposed/unattended for long. Not even a fan of going into a restaurant after a ride. But i'm planning on a few things:
1) I always have my long cable with heavy duty outdoor combo lock, that will go through all frames.
2) The rack attachment bolts will either require two people to remove or multiple steps, cant just unscrew from the bottom.
3) Planning on make a solid way to lock the rear gate up, making accessing the fork mounts and the bikes themselves difficult.
4) With the gate up and the tent installed, it won't be easy to remove the bikes even if the cable lock is cut.
5) I'm probably going to replace the outer two TA mounts with the Rockymounts version that clamp and lock on the axle.
6) I like the idea of a bar that goes through the rear wheels.... I'll take a look at that
Yup, 100%. I have similar experience and previously built a rack like this for the back of my pickup years ago. The way I have these bikes spaced, offset, and elevated, I should have pretty good flexibility with bringing a host of different sized bikes. I'm also planning on a 6th location which will likely be a 1up mounted alongside the tent. This is needed for my family of 6 anyway, and can be used for that one oddball (like a gravel bike with really wide/flared gravel bars). Having to twist a bar also isn't a big problem for me, I currently need to do that when carrying more than 4 bikes on my velocirax since they're closely spaced.
That said, this likely isn't the final iteration either. I'll likely end up with a better and adjustable t-slot setup like I originally wanted. I'm just more excited about getting to the tent now and having the bike rack "functional" 🙃
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Cole
Well-Known Member
I know this has been done before, and I know bikes are built for abuse. I just feel like this is going to bounce the $hit out of them. Light trailer light cargo. (My research is based off a cooler of beer on my trailer and a bunch of the exploding, vs making the same trip in with it in the back of my truck with no issues)
Matt_
I Get Jokes
If you've ever sat in the back of a 2500 series suburban you'd know the trailer is going to be a smoother ride than the rack hanging a few feet off the hitch 😂
Trailer weighs less. Each bump will move it more than the truck. The truck has stiff springs to deal with load, but the trailer is so light it will deflect more
Matt_
I Get Jokes
I'm also a nerdy engineer, and can over analyze this stuff. Simple fact is if my bike can't handle a litte trailer ride, I'm not sending it down a rocky trail at the speeds I like riding with my body weight on top. [/Paralysis By Analysis]
onetracker
Well-Known Member
You can always use some shock cord to keep the bikes firm to the trailer so the trailer can do the bouncing and not the bikes as well.
Matt_
I Get Jokes
Rigid fork mounts and rear tire tie downs do that. The sprung weight of each bike is well under 2lb and can easily handle a rough trailer ride. The fork and shock will experience fractions of an inch of travel.
This is not an issue worth discussing 😂