Today I was at a local shop to drop a friend to pick up his bike from repair.
While we were admiring a hitch carrier on one of the mechanics trucks, another one asked if were were in the market.


$150

MTX Sport Motorcycle Carrier

Was a good day!

 

Steal!
Is it made of steel or aluminum?

 

First of all... Good ****ing luck hauling a road bike on that thing!! lol. That image is hilarious!!

I had one custom built by a an old dude down the road. My biggest concern with the ones like you linked are the ground clearance. Not bad on the highway, but you'll trash in in 2 seconds on a gravel road or any moderate dips / inclines. The one I had made has an elbow on it to gain some clearance. No problems yet, even off-road!

Thankfully the tongue weight on my Rav4 is rated for 350 lbs. We're under 300 wet with our bikes so it works just dandy.

I'd love to see someone try and put an R1 on that one you linked to though. That's too funny.

 

Rack is made of steel, helps to have 2 people move it. My Xterra & me new Tacoma has plenty of height to clear.

My friend & I went in half. He has a Royal Enfield 500cc single & my KLX. Weight won't be a problem!

 

Yeah, I think you'd need to watch the rated tongue rate on the hitch of the vehicle you're using. A lot I've run into have a max hitch tongue weight of only about 100lbs. The Mazda B2200 pickup I owned (with a hitch on the bumper) has a max tow weight of 2,000lbs, but a maximum tongue weight of only 100lbs. If you're hauling with a truck, you'll probably be ok, but if you haul with a car, you might have an issue with exceeding the tongue weight. Think of the weight of the bike AND the weight of the carrier combined when thinking about tongue weight.

 

Generally speaking the tongue weight is 10% of your tow capacity (in a best case scenario). Tongue weight is NOT something you want to push the limits on in anything but a truck. Sub-frame damage on a unibody car is essentially a write off.

 

I think a lot of cars are rated for only about 1,000Lbs towing capacity, which means a tongue weight of probably only 100Lbs, which is probably about what the rack itself weighs without a bike. Again, if it's mounted to a vehicle that's rated sufficiently for the tongue weight (rack + bike), then it should be fine, but putting it on a car (that's rated to tow 1,000lbs) is probably asking for trouble.

I'd say even in a truck that you want to be pretty wary of the tongue weight - the frame may be able to take it, but too much weight in the rear and the front will steer oddly (very lightly) and braking power may suffer.

 

I've used an inexpensive hitch hauler for a while. Not bad.

Seen a guy using the Ultimate MX Hauler the other day. Nice!!! I'd like one.

Crank it Up!

 

Harbor Freight and Cycle Gear both have racks in that price range. As said before, hitch weight ratings will probably limit any hitch rack use to pickup trucks, and in that case it may be just as easy to push the lightweight KLX up a ramp and secure it in the truck bed. I've carried bigger and heavier bikes that way. In the bed there are no worries about dragging the rack over humps and the bike can be strapped down much more securely.

 

Yeah, I had a cheap ($92 shipped) carrier from Amazon for a few years I used for another bike. Worked great, and used it 3 days a week to travel to where I ride most of the time, 1 1/2 hours away from home. I just bought a 5X8 enclosed trailer for the KLX. Much easier. Bike stays in it, and just drop it on the ball, and drive away. The best part is, after a long day of hard riding, I pull in my driveway, and walk in the house. No more unloading bike, removing carrier, etc. Plus, my bike is safer when I do multiple day group rides and bike is out in a motel parking lot overnight. The hitch carriers are great for what they are and cheap. Gets the job done for sure. Even though it's easy to load up, it's kind of a lot to do when your tired and beat. To bad you weren't close. I'd sell it for $40 bucks.