Just ordered a hitch mount motorcycle carrier to carry my dual sport, a DRZ400. The DRZ is my go anywhere machine for jeep and ATV trails, or just grocery runs. Also have a trailer to carry my heavier bikes for more dedicated motorcycle-centric pursuits. I’ve been using the trailer to haul sport bikes to places like Colorado to ride the mountain twisties, or a couple of dual sports to places like Utah and Idaho for dedicated offroad adventures. Anyone else here do the same?
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Greetings!
About 10 years ago I built myself an on/off road gas/electric hybrid mobility scooter that I carry on a hitch rack with a ramp. By it being a mobility scooter, it’s legal everywhere without any licensing. It’s great off road & on trails, and with electric I can use it indoors too. So it’s a great and fun off road capable, long distance, grocery getter as well as stuck/broke transportation.
With a trailer for my gear, I can camp far more remotely than I could ever get with my van. I enjoy tent camping near fishing holes that would be too far for me to hike with all my gear.
Now, I broke my knee, so it’s in use every day, and boy am I glad to have it.
Cheers!
"Always avoid expensive solutions to cheap problems." ~ OffGrid
Shows that with some ingenuity and smarts there’s always a way to be more independent.
Greetings!
I always try to satisfy the forever nagging voice in my head which says repeatedly: “What if no help is available?”. On the up side, the resulting planning has saved me many times.
Cheers!
"Beat Murphy's Law with a KISS! (Keep It Stupidly Simple)" ~ Van_Dweller
I haven’t received my motorcycle carrier yet, and heading out for a 5-day trip to southern Utah tomorrow. So there’s a bicycle hitch carrier on the van now - at least I’ll have a bicycle.
Greetings!
Anything is better than nothing! Enjoy your trip!
Cheers!
"If you prepare for the worst, every thing else is easier." ~ Off Grid
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Thanks. The MC carrier should be delivered next month. I guess there’s a demand for them right now.
I would love to and have looked at those but my bike weighs in at around 450 so that might be too heavy for those carriers. 
They make carriers for bikes that weigh 600 pounds. Only limitation is the tongue weight for your vehicle/hitch.
Mine is a 300 pound bike on a 400 pound capacity carrier on a 600 pound capacity (tongue weight) trailer hitch.
Here’s mine. Almost as if it isn’t on there. Didn’t change the ride height more than half an inch or so, and the van drives the same. (E350 1-ton van.)
The bike blocks the tail lights, so installed LED tail lights on the carrier that connect to the trailer wiring.
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Ah, good to know. My tongue weight is 800 or thereabouts so I’d be good to go. My van lights are up higher so that’s a bonus I guess.
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Hey-o!
I don’t at the moment, but I’m hoping to in the future. In an ideal world, I’d like a 2015 (or newer) Indian Scout Bobber. But in a cheaper world, I’ve even thought about just strapping one of these on the back of the Shuttle…
(Not an influencer link)
There’s some guy in the neighborhood that rides one of these around and it’s awesome.
That minibike looks fun. Be great to putt around on.
I plan on doing the same this winter 2020-2021. I’ll be putting my KLR650 on the back of my van, and I plan to ride throughout the Southwestern US. I might do the Arizona and New Mexico Back Country Discovery Routes this winter, then do some of the other ones next winter. I live in Wisconsin and love the summers here, but I need to become a van-dwelling snowbird in the winters because I can’t stand the long winters in Wisconsin anymore. Do you have any recommendation on which hitch mount carrier I should get?
Greetings & Welcome!
@Michael_Gustavson: I live in Wisconsin and love the summers here, but I need to become a van-dwelling snowbird in the winters because I can’t stand the long winters in Wisconsin anymore.
Boy, do I ever hear that! Do to obligations I have been doing S. Miami in the summer, and Minneapolis & Duluth in the winter for the last several years. Thank heavens for my great heating & cooling choices that make it possible. I do enjoy the ice fishing & sailing though, and with my heated jump suit, it isn’t too bad…
Cheers!
"The less you have that CAN go wrong, the less you have that WILL go wrong!" ~Murphy
Michael, for a KLR I’d get a steel carrier that can handle 600 pounds. Make sure your trailer hitch and van frame can handle the weight - it’s kind of a long “lever arm” that significantly lengthens the rear with more overhang.
I’ve done some BDR riding. Did the Idaho BDR a few years ago and it was fantastic, and have done portions of UT and Colorado. Even though I live in New Mexico I’ve only done the southern half of the NM BDR - crashed and injured myself halfway through, so need to finish that one. Might do AZ next year if it’s possible.
I would not try the NM BDR in winter - too much snow in the higher elevations, and if it isn’t snow it’s mud. New Mexico is a high elevation state. Here in Albuquerque the elevation is 5300 ft and Santa Fe is over 7000.
Good luck with your travels.
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