Carrying a Honda Reflex around on my Georgetown 370XL

jimsaxman · 08-01-2013, 03:11 PM

I bought this Honda Reflex to avoid towing our car. For some reason I'm deathly afraid of this process, particularly the avoidance of backing up. At any rate, I'm having a devil of a time finding a carrier that will carry this fat little beast (30" width). I bought a cheap ramped hitch mount that didn't work at all. Wouldn't go up ther ramp (no way), too close to the vehicle. A mess. Other motorcycle lift carriers seem too heavy to work with my gas vehicle that has a 141" distance from rear axle to existing receiver. Any suggestion from anyone who has some familiarity with this issue will be greatly appreciated.

lindy · 08-01-2013, 05:51 PM

What cheap ramp hitch did you buy? I have a ramp type hitch that goes into the receiver on the back of my MH. It can be found at "billybob1.com" The only time I had an issue loading my bike was when the grass was wet.

jimsaxman · 08-01-2013, 06:03 PM

Thanks for the reply. The ramp I bought was on Amazon. Chinese make. The ramp had no attachment to the main frame so when we tried to wheel it up, it fell off. Every time. Also the height of the hitch was too high for this carrier. It made the ramp about a 45 degree angle. Not even close to doable for me. Now my wife has me looking at hydralic lifts: Sportlift, Blue Ox, Cruiserlift. But even these talk about diesels rather than gas class A's. It appears the lift is going to cost more than the scooter. Thanks for your input.

VinceU · 08-01-2013, 07:28 PM

Suggest you look at the weld to frame style. Seems most Georgetowns with Ford chassis only have 4K tow allowance. Your bike plus carrier are over the tonque weight. With the frame style you can pick your height and style.

jimsaxman · 08-02-2013, 12:56 AM

Absolutely, unfortunately I'm learning as I go. What I'm learning is that welding to the frame (as is the case with Georgetown 370XL) makes a difference. The last 3 ft. of the chassis are an add on extension. So I presume even a 3-receiver weld will be problematic. I was looking as the Blue Ox Sportlift III hydralic lift, but I suspect that may be too much. I sure want to avoid towing something behind me.

lindy · 08-02-2013, 05:41 AM

Before considering ANY type of hyd lift system go to the Blue Ox site and use the formula they have there to compute the total weight that will be added to the rear axle of your unit once the lift and bike are in place. You'll be surprised at how much weight is put on the rear axle by these hyd lift units due to the distance from the rear axle to the lift.

jimsaxman · 08-02-2013, 12:01 PM

Thank you, Lindy, for that. I have done the calculation and its none too good. The welded last 3-4 ft. of our chassis has really reeked havoc with our towing capacity. It seems that any lift won't work with my 350 lb tongue wt. capacity. Towing is the only option. Now the question is car or scooter? Being able to backup is my concern at this point. There is a small travel trailer (6' x 4') that hitch mounts with a single wheel in the back. Does anyone think I can backup with that?

VinceU · 08-02-2013, 06:34 PM

Frame mounted tow brackets are independent of the tow bracket fitted now. You should talk to a tow shop. Backing 37-38 ft MH to a 6' toad can get ugly. There's a coach next to me with a ramp fitted that is huge, easily can haul a large M/C, no hydraulics though.

VinceU · 08-02-2013, 06:40 PM

A bracket can reach past the 3 ft frame mod, your problem will be limited by the GVWR, esp. the rear axle rating, not the hitch nos.

jimsaxman · 08-02-2013, 08:01 PM

Okay. Now I am confused. What you say makes sense, but the companies that sell these lifts say no to the hydralic lift for my kind of rig. Both Blue Ox and Faster Motion. They want to sell me a cheaper product so I have to believe they take this extension business seriously. What I'm looking at is a Swivel Wheel 46 Transport System. They show a video of this thing backing up, making turns, no problem. Anybody have experience with this.

VinceU · 08-02-2013, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimsaxman

Okay. Now I am confused. What you say makes sense, but the companies that sell these lifts say no to the hydralic lift for my kind of rig. Both Blue Ox and Faster Motion. They want to sell me a cheaper product so I have to believe they take this extension business seriously. What I'm looking at is a Swivel Wheel 46 Transport System. They show a video of this thing backing up, making turns, no problem. Anybody have experience with this.

Much better solution, puts half the weight on the extra tire, can now meet the hitch rating. Noted some DP have 10K to 15K hitch ratings, compared to our 4000 lb rating. I was talking about an enormous amount of weight being added, with the previous setup you were talking. The hitch wouldn't take it but your frame could. Problem is you would be weight maxed out for the entire rig. I use a toad, there is NO backing up! I've even gotten into parking lots couldn't get out, must remove the toad then maneuver out.

jimsaxman · 08-02-2013, 10:41 PM

Thanks for that comment. I was getting dizzy trying to deal with this. Did you see the video of this thing? Ultimately, when I get more money and am too old to wheel around this scooter (soon enough, I suspect), I will buy a Smart car and tow it 4 down (its rear wheel drive). But for now, I'm going to try to avoid the backing up problem. We're RV newbies and the way we drive--missing turns, not being able to see the pitfalls of negotiating gas stations, restaurants, etc.--we'd be unhooking that car 3 times a day.

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