Tow bar & Dave Cooper bike rack

[trapezeartist]

3 hours ago, DaveKaye said:

I can squeeze the bike in if I put it in back wheel first then over the back of the passenger seat. I have to drop the bars mind. The other issue is that unless I drain all the petrol out tiny amounts come out of the top of the filler breather, this is because the bike is laid slightly on it side to get it in the van. It's just not practical.

Blimey. Minivan? One of those Jap things used by florists?

[rcgods]

I had a rack on my car for about 5 minutes. I put the bike on and didn't like the way it was sitting and had to be strapped. Took it back off sold it and bought a trailer. Bought a nice light single bike trailer which could stand on its end in the garage so took up very little room. It was a sod to reverse as it went where it felt like it but I felt a lot better with the bike on that than on the rack.

Edited December 18, 2018 by rcgods

[turbofurball]

16 hours ago, trapezeartist said:

As I carry my bike inside a van-like car, I don't need extra straps. If the bike falls over, it can't go far, and it certainly can't end up sliding down the road.

If your car hits something stationary the bike continues at the same speed - large objects like that generally get thrown through the windscreen, often after crushing people in the front seats, and can then hit other cars / people.  From a safety point of view, it's better to be well strapped to the back of a car than inside.  Same goes for vans without a bulkhead.

If a bike is well strapped down inside a car or van the tiedown points are the next most likely point of faiure, so beefy fixings with spreader plates on the other side are in order.

As for nose weight affecting braking - it does, but remember that you're lifting a ~100kg bike rather than pulling a ton or more of something heavy; that's why there's a tighter speed limit for towing on the motorway.  If you're maintaining a sensible stopping distance that weight won't make a large difference - again, unless it is the cause of an accident (or a significant contributing factor) the insurance company won't care about the bike and rack any more than they would a trailer.

From my point of view, when I had a car with a suitable hitch a rack was fantastic.  Now I have a van big enough to take two road bikes, with chocks bolted to the floor etc, it's transformed my biking experiences and this year and we've been able to do loads of things that were previously not on the cards - worth the expense if you can stretch to it

[ChrisCH]

18 hours ago, DaveKaye said:

Thank you for all your replies, some interesting and varied comments. The towbar was retrofit fit to my van and its the towbar manufactures that specify the max ball weight. Its a small van, too small for the bike to fit inside without a proper struggle. I love the dave cooper carrier, just to point out my concern is not with the rack, its superb and does a great job. I think its a case of what your happy with, for me I know for sure that the nose weight will be exceeded and although its strong enough to take the additional weight it opens up a can of worms for the insurance companies to wriggle out of if I ever needed to claim and I don't want that. So Ive decided to look for a trailer. Please keep your comments coming though.

If the towbar gives a maximum weight that is the maximum even if the vehicle is OK for more- it is the lowest figure in either case.  I think you are making the right decision to get a trailer.

Have a look at the Dave Cooper folding trailer.  http://www.davecooper.co.uk/trailers/trailers-for-bikes That is a good item if you are short for space.  Dave does some other basic trailers at a reasonable cost as well.  I would strongly advise you to avoid the mistake of buying a secondhand trailer off eBay or similar.  Very few people sell up for any reason other than the trailer is worn out.  By the time you have replaced the wheel bearings, tyres and lights you will have spent more than a new item. 

The other option is a goods trailer and the extra faff of strapping the bike into the cargo box.  In my opinion it's worth getting a wheel bracket for the front wheel if you go that route, they are easy to fabricate or you can buy one ready made for purpose built trailers like the Franc.  Most small goods trailers will store stood up on the tailgate to take up less space.

Don't forget your [legal] speed will be reduced when towing and you cannot use the outside lane on a motorway.  Your van insurance should cover towing at no extra cost, just double check (some insurance companies consider a towbar as a "modification" and you need to tell them you have one fitted).

[trapezeartist]

8 hours ago, turbofurball said:

If your car hits something stationary the bike continues at the same speed - large objects like that generally get thrown through the windscreen, often after crushing people in the front seats, and can then hit other cars / people.  From a safety point of view, it's better to be well strapped to the back of a car than inside.  Same goes for vans without a bulkhead.

I take your point. I've worked in vehicle safety too (claim to fame: I've crashed more Deloreans than anyone else in the world) and the prospect of anything heavy flying about inside a crashing car is scary. However, we all have to pick our risks otherwise we would spend all our lives in bed and then worry about whether the ceiling will fall on us. We're motorcyclists: we can't be that risk-averse!

[turbofurball]

Classic trials is about the most risk averse motorsport there is

It's good that you appreciate the risks, many many people don't - even now some things happen that surprise me in regards to things failing!

Type Approval for DeLorean is before my time, but I can imagine that was interesting - these days all the preliminary testing is simulated on computers, but it seems to have led to more testing happening rather than less!

[trapezeartist]

I was in at the beginning of National Type Approval, but we never got very far with Type Approval of the Delorean before the company turned up it's toes. All the work was development and self-cert for the US market. (And some interesting preliminary stuff on passive restraints.)

Edited December 19, 2018 by trapezeartist

[turbofurball]

Interesting stuff!  Were you doing data acquisition at that time?

[trapezeartist]

Not in any way that you would recognise today.

[turbofurball]

Mmm, at the moment we get upwards of a hundred channels of data at 20,000 samples a second and the dummies all have their own internal systems so you can chop a limb off and still know what happened to it ... it's nice to be on the cutting edge, but the early days of data capture look more inventive!

Footage of TRL in the '60s looks like a lot of fun, too