Hitch Carrier

[matt4426]

I have the ultimate MX hauler (full ramp version). Works great. The key to any hitch hauler is using an anti-rattle hitch pin setup. It pulls the ball mount against the receiver and gets rid of the sway.

 

[AZ7000']

I have the ultimate MX hauler (full ramp version). Works great. The key to any hitch hauler is using an anti-rattle hitch pin setup. It pulls the ball mount against the receiver and gets rid of the sway.

IMHO I like the play in the attachment to the hitch. Locking out the sway will just leads to stress on the next weakest part. I think the 2” steel bar going into a 2” steel hole is about the toughest part of the set up. Again, In my opinion transferring the rocking of 250#+ to the thin mounting plate could be a failure point. I usually defer to the engineers.
Not flaming anyone, just a different view.

 

[matt4426]

IMHO I like the play in the attachment to the hitch. Locking out the sway will just leads to stress on the next weakest part. I think the 2” steel bar going into a 2” steel hole is about the toughest part of the set up. Again, In my opinion transferring the rocking of 250#+ to the thin mounting plate could be a failure point. I usually defer to the engineers.

That's all fine until your motorcycle falls off your hitch hauler because the whole contraption was flopping around like a fish out of water. I am an engineer btw.

 

[m in sc]

A properly made one wont move that much. dampening the movement is ideal if you can. But if is secured/tied down it correctly it will never 'fall off' regardless of how much it moves around.

I've actually seen testing done at the NATC with motorcycles in the back of the NSTT built at my old place of employment, Indigen Armor. (before it was sold to Navistar). One of my roles was to integrate how to carry a motorcycle (was actually a KTM) in the back OR on a rail in combat situations over desert terrain. I'm being 100% serious. I've seen this tested on a military level.... you guys worry way, way too much. There is still unreleased video of the NSTT doing 75 mph through the desert fully loaded for a full hour that the public will probably never see. Just tie it down correctly and you'll never have an issue. I was an engineer there.. and the quality manager. The trail on a rail is nothing to worry about. .02

 

[AZ7000']

I’m not an engineer but have chased 10’s of thousands of miles in Baja watching them bounce all over on dirt roads, even double haulers… 15 years or so on my rigs, never seen one fail that wasn’t ripped off by something.
The beauty is we can all strap it on to our personal comfort level.

 

[kbro]

View attachment 1102
Just took mine on a 400 mile trip with the harbor freight ramp. Honestly very impressed with the build quality for something H.F. Bike did not move and only shaked a tiny bit on severe bumps or potholes (I could monitor with my back up camera.). I added some cheap trailer lights to the bottom since it blocks my right truck light a bit. The only negative is that it's obviously made for a slightly longer motorcycle as the rear wheel doesn't drop into the slot, but it wasn't really a problem. I ended up using 4 ratchet straps as I just usually overdo it on things like this.

With the bike weight at 265 lbs it sits about 16" at center behind the truck. Add the rack weight and using a handy online leverage calculator, I estimate there is about 400lbs at the hitch, so make sure your vehicle can support that. (this Silverado is rated for over 900 lbs tounge weight so easily handled it.).

I also use this anti rattle device works great:

https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Anti-Rattle/Malone/MPG908.html

Thumbs up for the great price! Oh and don't bother looking for HF coupons they apparently don't do that anymore. Best bet might be to wait for like labor day and see if they do a 20% off everything like they did on July 4th

"The only negative is that it's obviously made for a slightly longer motorcycle as the rear wheel doesn't drop into the slot".
I bought one of these yesterday and discovered the same thing. Did you think about altering the carrier to accommodate the rear wheel a bit better?

 

[Msfitoy]

IMHO I like the play in the attachment to the hitch. Locking out the sway will just leads to stress on the next weakest part. I think the 2” steel bar going into a 2” steel hole is about the toughest part of the set up. Again, In my opinion transferring the rocking of 250#+ to the thin mounting plate could be a failure point. I usually defer to the engineers.
Not flaming anyone, just a different view.

I would think the bike's free swinging weight slamming to a stop as it rocks back/forth feeding all that energy into the hitch's weld wouldn't be a good thing...think of a jack hammer...

 

[kbro]

The Harbor Freight HAUL-MASTER 400 lb. Receiver-Mount Aluminum Motorcycle Carrier worked just fine to transport my newly purchased 2021 Trail 125 from Cookeville, Tennessee to Atlanta, GA yesterday. I bought the carrier on my way up to Tennessee and was able to put it together in the the seller's carport. It was an easy, straightforward assembly and installation on my vehicle was easy for one person. I quickly noticed that the wheel base of the Trail 125 was too short for the rear tire to fit into the wheel well of the rack. This concerned me a little, but I was able to use the tie down points on the rack to secure the bike to my satisfaction. After about 20 miles, I stopped and checked my straps and nothing had changed.

This was a trip that included steep grades and winding roads. I also incurred torrential rain, severe thunderstorms with 50 mph wind gusts and downed trees over 80% of the trip back to GA. A trip that should have taken 3.5 hours hours ended up taking 5 hours. The Haul Master motorcycle carrier handled all of this like a champ. For the money, you can't beat it. My only complaint is that the rear wheel well on the carrier isn't usable for bikes with shorter wheelbases.

​

 

[AZ7000']

I would think the bike's free swinging weight slamming to a stop as it rocks back/forth feeding all that energy into the hitch's weld wouldn't be a good thing...think of a jack hammer...

And I see value in flex, and engineers!
Cool we can all fashion it as we like, I’m thousands of miles in, many on Baja roads and haven’t felt the need to fix the design yet.
Enjoy!

 

[m in sc]

a strap from the corner of the rack to the hitch chain loop will dampen it just fine. Movement is designed in on receiver hitches... that's why there aren't set or lock screws on the receiver.

 

[Msfitoy]

And I see value in flex, and engineers!
Cool we can all fashion it as we like, I’m thousands of miles in, many on Baja roads and haven’t felt the need to fix the design yet.
Enjoy!

Rock N Roll!

 

[FRAC]

"The only negative is that it's obviously made for a slightly longer motorcycle as the rear wheel doesn't drop into the slot".
I bought one of these yesterday and discovered the same thing. Did you think about altering the carrier to accommodate the rear wheel a bit better?

I didn't butmay have a look at that again. It rea!ly wasn't much of an issue tho.

 

[op46]

Got the Harbor Freight one. Been used twice. One from shop to house after electrical failure in spark circuitry (my fault I think induced during OPMID install was thought to be loose connector to coil?) Other trip was by friend that bought one of my two CT125s and took it back to Lawton Oklahoma from north Alabama. He said it made the trip just fine. Only problem I notice was loose fitment in 2" receiver on Toyota 4Runners (he has one, I got two and they are all loose) compared to my Toyota Tundra 2" receiver. In the 4Runner there is some what in the aviation world would be called roll up and down at the wing tips. The anti-wobble clamps don't quite touch the receiver enough to dampen so a strap from the ends of the ramps to the chain loops help. The CT125 doesn't quite fit being short in length so you have to decide which wheel you want to drop in the hole created when you pull a pin after mounting. I decided on getting the front wheel in the clamp was priority and left rear on ramp pins. Four ratchet straps took all movement out of bike on ramp and two more dampened the roll of the ends somewhat. The picture
shows the bike loaded left to right cause I assembled the rack wrong. It has since been corrected and the correct alignment is to load from right side, and dismount from left side with front wheel facing to the left/drivers side when mounted. Ramp attaches to both sides to allow this one direction mount and dismount.
Replaced the CT with a 2022 Honda CB500X. Now got a bike in the middle size range to complement the Harley and the CT for all possible riding conditions or desires. It replaced my Suzuki DR650 which I gave to my grandson and have sorely missed since. Getting two old for much off road so thought the 500 would be a nice change and I never had an adventure bike before. Maybe should have waited a year cause I just read that Honda is possibly coming out with a 2023 dual sport of this 500 engine along the CRF300L Rally design. Guess I can always trade up to it if its real and I like better than the CB.

 

[Timmy6216]

Well I bit the bullet, and I went and picked up that Harbor Freight unit. So far I think it's okay. After reading through this, I learned that it unloads from the opposite side it gets loaded on which makes a fair amount of sense and a little bit easier. ,

I have not dedicated it that I'm taking this bike on adventures everywhere, but I live far enough away from a DMV to take my motorcycle test for my license (i have a permit)that there's too much open Highway and the trail is not the right weapon.... so I'm going to haul it there and then unload it take the test get the license and then load it back up.

 

[AZ7000']

Well I bit the bullet, and I went and picked up that Harbor Freight unit. So far I think it's okay. After reading through this, I learned that it unloads from the opposite side it gets loaded on which makes a fair amount of sense and a little bit easier. ,

I have not dedicated it that I'm taking this bike on adventures everywhere, but I live far enough away from a DMV to take my motorcycle test for my license (i have a permit)that there's too much open Highway and the trail is not the right weapon.... so I'm going to haul it there and then unload it take the test get the license and then load it back up.

Yep, OK and meets the need, keep us in the loop, I'm at least 4 years and thousands of road and dirt miles in and meets my need also. There is always a more expensive one and a better one, not always the same thing

 

[Kev250R]

This is mine. It's 20+ years old (I've had it for the past 12) and was made by a company called Zieman (they used to build some good quality trailers here in So.Cal.). It's steel, weighs about 80 pounds and hauls bikes great! I added the LED light strip since most of the time whatever bike I'm hauling blocks the tailights. The LED strip also has amber turn strips as well plus since I sometimes use this same HH on my front reciever, I leave the strip unplugged and no one can see it.

 

[Andrew27]

I bought a VersaHaul carrier. There was so much bounce and sway that one of my tie-downs came lose, and it fell off the back. I dragged it down the road for a good half mile. Everything across the top of the handlebars was destroyed, including the headlight. Before you blame me for a faulty tie-down, that probably is partially my fault. I'll take some of that blame. I do have new tie-downs now. It cost $2,100 to repair. No insurance, because I didn't have collision. I really only ride it on dirt, Forest Service roads. So I ended up paying for all of the repairs. I've just been sick over it. I only had 86 miles on it. I've also ordered a new carrier from MotoTote.

 

[Msfitoy]

I bought a VersaHaul carrier. There was so much bounce and sway that one of my tie-downs came lose, and it fell off the back. I dragged it down the road for a good half mile. Everything across the top of the handlebars was destroyed, including the headlight. Before you blame me for a faulty tie-down, that probably is partially my fault. I'll take some of that blame. I do have new tie-downs now. It cost $2,100 to repair. No insurance, because I didn't have collision. I really only ride it on dirt, Forest Service roads. So I ended up paying for all of the repairs. I've just been sick over it. I only had 86 miles on it. I've also ordered a new carrier from MotoTote.View attachment 3383

OMG...the Horror of this pic...did you tightened the straps enough to compress the struts? I have a Mototote as well...

 

[Andrew27]

I had the struts compressed about 2/3 of the way down. A guy pulled up next to us at a stop light, and yelled, "You're dragging your motorcycle!" I said "Yeah, right." Then I looked in the rear view mirror, and didn't see my beloved Honda 125.

 

[SneakyDingo]

If we ever cross paths, I'm buying you a beer. Even some of the fancy imported stuff. That's a lot of pain in that one photo.