Swan neck tow ball motorbike carrier

[Caddyshack]

Hi, I have a trials bike carrier that I can use on my Range Rover (ff2013) I use a tow ball converter to use the bolt on carrier. I would like to use something a little bigger for bikes up to about 130kg...anyone have any recommendations? It must work with a tow ball swan neck as I have the electric deploying type. I can use a converter but most I have seen slot in to the (Square) hole where a detachable swan neck would go Which won’t work.

[Caddyshack]

I would love to use one like this but as you can see it needs a square hole. I could weld something up but would not want anything to break or mess up the nose weight etc so prefer off the shelf tried and tested.

[TooLateForAName]

Whats the nose weight limit on the existing tow bar?

I've just been looking at pedal bike carriers/towbar for our car and the typical nose weight limit seems to be around 80kg.

edit:
https://www.ownerinfo.landrover.com/document/LK/20...

says max weight of towbar mounted accessories 67kg

Edited by TooLateForAName on Thursday 25th June 23:27

[BobSaunders]

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Typical towing with a trailer will push the weight onto wheels and toe bar. With a tow bar carrier it places it all on the tow bar.

Too much and it will damage the tow bar. You also need to take into account carrier and bike in your sums.

I’m sure someone will argue that in their experience of loading a Harley that this has never happened. Looked into it and a typical dry weight EXC exceeded the downward pressure, with carrier.

Your tow bar will have a loading weight, but you might have to look it up based on manufacturer.

If you want to go heavy, then you will need to have a new tow bar mount fitted. Not too expensive.

Police will pull and fine as applicable (if they can be bothered). Insurance would/will not cover.

Edited by BobSaunders on Friday 26th June 07:31

Edited by BobSaunders on Friday 26th June 07:36

[Caddyshack]

I am beginning to think I may just bite the bullet and buy a bike trailer and keep it in a garage of a buy to let I have round the corner as they are a pain to store, even the fold up ones take up a lot of room.

I have a feeling that 90kg is the load weight now that I think about it so have probably been pushing my luck if that is correct.

[BobSaunders]

Have a look at motolug collapsing trailers. They pop up on eBay on occasion and hold their value quite well.

[srob]

BobSaunders said:

Have a look at motolug collapsing trailers. They pop up on eBay on occasion and hold their value quite well.

This. We have a single bike Motolug and it's an ace bit of kit!

[Alex@POD]

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

[BobSaunders]

Alex@POD said:

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

No. Nose weight means front wheels of car lift off the ground. Towball loading weight means towball snaps off.

[BobSaunders]

BobSaunders said:

Alex@POD said:

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

No. Nose weight means front wheels of car lift off the ground. Towball loading weight means towball snaps off.

To quote myself, snapping off is the probable extreme... it will fatigue the tow bar mounts and bolts.. you would have effectively what? 130kg which when you go over a bump bounces up and down with some force would create a lot more downward force than 130kg.. so at some point everything is going to flex and bend, or break.

Typical caravan you can roll around by hand from the tow bar coupling as there is no real weight on the front (it all over the wheels).

[HughiusMaximus]

I ran a bike carrier in the USA with no issues.

Carried a Suzuki GSXR 750 to different track days in loads of different states covering thousands of miles and it was a great solution.

Key point is the tongue weight (downward weight) your hitch can support - that said a friend is an automotive engineer dealing with fasteners and he said as tow hitch is a safety critical part the real tolerance of the part will be at least 50% higher than the communicated limit.
Take that advice at your own risk!

Another consideration is the weight of the car being used to tow - too light a car and the extra weight on the back will make the front go very light.

I was using a Ford Explorer which is a bit of a tank, it was well able to handle the extra weight on the back.

I'll see if I can dig out some pictures when I get home later on.

I bought a second hand motolug since I got back, and that is probably a more straight forward option to use in the UK.
I imagine the authorities here would look dimly on a bike bolted to the back of a car, whereas in the US it didnt get a second glance!

[Krikkit]

HughiusMaximus said:

I bought a second hand motolug since I got back, and that is probably a more straight forward option to use in the UK.
I imagine the authorities here would look dimly on a bike bolted to the back of a car, whereas in the US it didnt get a second glance!

I think this is a key point - if you get pulled by the Police or DVSA while out and about you'll be in for a right reaming.

Those collapsible trailers look ace.

[TooLateForAName]

BobSaunders said:

Alex@POD said:

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

No. Nose weight means front wheels of car lift off the ground. Towball loading weight means towball snaps off.

Thanks for that - I was wondering the same thing. So when looking at towbars is a higher or lower nose weight limit better?

[OverSteery]

TooLateForAName said:

BobSaunders said:

Alex@POD said:

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

No. Nose weight means front wheels of car lift off the ground. Towball loading weight means towball snaps off.

Thanks for that - I was wondering the same thing. So when looking at towbars is a higher or lower nose weight limit better?

Typically these are properties of the car. The tow bar itself is unlikely to fail, the issue is the strength of the cars rear body and the effect on the suspension of all that load applied to the rear of the body.



the example of "front wheels of car lift off the ground" is getting a bit silly. things will be horribly dangerous long long before that becomes an issue.

[Alex@POD]

OverSteery said:

Typically these are properties of the car. The tow bar itself is unlikely to fail, the issue is the strength of the cars rear body and the effect on the suspension of all that load applied to the rear of the body.



the example of "front wheels of car lift off the ground" is getting a bit silly. things will be horribly dangerous long long before that becomes an issue.

It's a good illustration though, as the maximum towbar weight for that manufacturer is one thing, but depending on the vehicle fitted it might have different effects. I'm thinking off the back of a Defender 90, there is no overhang so little adverse effect, but on a LWB transit (the ones with a huge overhang) it won't take much weight to affect the balance and unload the front wheels.

In practice though, the nose weight is the maximum weight you should put on the towbar before the handling is affected, isn't it? If so, if this is from a trailer or just a load on the towbar shouldn't vary much.

In any case, a friend of mine aslo has a Motolug trailer and it's really quite good.

[Caddyshack]

I have a full fat Rangie so I don’t think the wheels will lift with even a Harley on the back lol...it has self levelling suspension and trailer stability management too plus trailer zoom on the camera etc...at the max tow limit I think it is technically needing an hgv licence...that said I know nose weight is a whole other thing.


I was with my dad yrs ago and he showed me a shop front that he had been straight through, he was driving a Mk1 rangie with a boat far too big on the back, he brakes hard for a down hill roundabout, the wheels came off the ground and he went straight on and in to the shop.

[Caddyshack]

Thanks all, I am going to buy a motolug and just pack it away when not needed....perfect recommendation...thanks.

[HughiusMaximus]

Good call, they are a quality bit of kit.

[BobSaunders]

TooLateForAName said:

BobSaunders said:

Alex@POD said:

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

No. Nose weight means front wheels of car lift off the ground. Towball loading weight means towball snaps off.

Thanks for that - I was wondering the same thing. So when looking at towbars is a higher or lower nose weight limit better?

Higher is better.

[BobSaunders]

OverSteery said:

TooLateForAName said:

BobSaunders said:

Alex@POD said:

BobSaunders said:

It’s not the nose weight you also have to worry about but also the towball loading weight (the downward pressure).

Isn't that the same thing? Genuine question, that's always what I picture when I read about nose weight.

No. Nose weight means front wheels of car lift off the ground. Towball loading weight means towball snaps off.

Thanks for that - I was wondering the same thing. So when looking at towbars is a higher or lower nose weight limit better?

Typically these are properties of the car. The tow bar itself is unlikely to fail, the issue is the strength of the cars rear body and the effect on the suspension of all that load applied to the rear of the body.

Or it depends on how the tow bar is bolted on. The below is rated for 85 kilos tow ball loading weight. Easy to see why.