Not exactly Barth improvements, but improvements to our camping lifestyle, so I thought I'd pass them along.....

Until recently, we have been satisfied with our bicycles as local transportation when camping. But we wanted to expand our range a little, so we thought about bringing our mopeds along too. I didn't want to hang them off the Barth due to weight & arm and I preferred not to have the hassles of towing a trailer I couldn't see, not to mention the issue of backing-up a trailer in the blind. Decided to try a double-hitch setup with a single swiveling wheel, eliminating the jack-knife scenarios. Utilizing my always vulnerable, design-as-I-build concepts, here's the results:



Framing is 2" x 1/8" square tubing, simply boxed into 72" width by 50" length - one tube added down the longitudinal centerline, with two extra angle-iron stringers added for rigidity. Bed is 3/4" treated plywood. Since the bed will be subject to uploads from the tiedown anchors, the floor was attached to the frame with elevator bolts having flat 1-1/2" heads. Hitch framing was just more 2" tubing with two
1-7/8" ball couplers welded on. Swivel wheel assemblies are available from:
http://www.doublehitch.com/?gc...XF-50CFcNx5QodZRcupA





Since I load/unload by myself, I fab'd up a couple of wood pockets, designed to lightly pinch the front tire enough to support the mopeds upright while I attached the tiedowns - they also help with stability while traveling. Leaving the kickstands up allows me to snug down against the bike's suspension by about 50 lbs for a little flex, and a couple small wood runners serve as cleats to keep rear tires in place.
For the bicycles, I bolted a standard step bumper receiver to the bed and used our regular bike carrier.

Some LED lighting & paint made it good-to-go







Tire is LR-D (900lbs cap - I'm at about 200 lbs) and wheel is rated 70mph (I stay at about 58mph), so I think I've got enough over-kill. (Just in case - spare wheel/tire mounted under bed

Took our maiden voyage this past weekend - no surprises. I just need to remember that I've added to the coach's overhang, so I need to turn corners closer in and not stick the trailer out into opposing traffic

The bicycles still give us our exercise and our usual 5-mile travel radius, but now we can also launch the 49cc, 2-stroke Hardly-Davidsons from the mothership and extend our local travel range out to 25 miles or so.......sure has added to our activity options

As long as I was in the Rube Goldberg mood, I also wanted to make our water activities more convenient. We carry a Sea Eagle 330 inflatable kayak on board. Getting a campsite several blocks or further from the water meant we had to carry the kayak, paddles, seats, vests, etc. While not heavy, (about 60 lbs), it was bulky and cumbersome to carry, and we found ourselves making excuses not to use it - a loss of upper body excercise activities and a loss of some sight-seeing fun.....

The answer was a few pieces of 1-1/2" PVC pipe & fittings, a 1/2" steel rod for an axle, some bungees and a pair of wheels from McMaster-Carr ('bout 50 bucks in all). The whole rickshaw fits neatly in the front upper bunk and takes less than a minute to assemble, making the trip to water's edge an easy stroll. A longer distance simply means a bungee to the back of the bicycle....longer still is just a bungee-to-moped.






Let the road trip season begin !!

Lee: Just a fantastic job Happy biking........

A tinkerer after my own heart, & an innovative solution to a problem. I do wonder about something, though. Castering single-wheel trailers were popular in the 1930s along with 4-wheel trailers built on Model "T" Ford chassis'. The Model "T" trailers faded from sight for obvious reasons, but I wonder about the one-wheelers. I'll be interested to hear about the long-term success of this project.

Golly, Lee, that's nifty.

The canoe dolly is quite like one I made for beach-launching my Laser. (14' racing sailboat) But I had to use wider wheels, since it was a little heavier and the sand was soft.

Rusty, did you sail Lasers at USNA?

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:
I do wonder about something, though. Castering single-wheel trailers were popular in the 1930s along with 4-wheel trailers built on Model "T" Ford chassis'. The Model "T" trailers faded from sight for obvious reasons, but I wonder about the one-wheelers.

I remember seeing a lot in the late '40s and '50s.

Every year at Quartzsite I see one-wheelers sold and used for hauling motorcycles or quads. Some of them actually have two wheels on the same axle caster assembly. And, more and more folks are dragging golf carts and solar-powered motorcycles along, many on two-wheelers fixed to the bumper with two castering wheels.

Years ago, in some states, a trailer without a pivot hitch did not require a license. How is that now?

That's a great looking carrier. Harbor Freight sells a motorcycle chock http://www.harborfreight.com/m...eel-chock-96349.html
that will allow you to easily tie down your scooters. You just roll into the chock until the back flips up and it will hold even big Harleys straight up while you tie them down. They put this chock on sale for $29.99.

quote:

but I wonder about the one-wheelers. I'll be interested to hear about the long-term success of this project.

Yeah Olroy, I'm a tad suspicious myself.....

When I was a lad in the '50's, my parents' first camping set-up was a Sears Allstate single wheel trailer carrying an army surplus tent, Coleman gas
stove, etc. Back then, shimmy was controlled (allegedly controlled with counter-balanced springs and other mouse trap arrangements.....hit a bump at 45mph and you had the puckata-puckata run away shopping cart on your hands.......

I'm a little more confident with this unit. The geometry of the trailing link looks right, it has load-adjustable coil suspension and the pivot is dampened with poly friction pads......I played with it at 70+mph on maiden trip, ran it over the rumble strips and otherwise tried to make it misbehave, but had no surprises......

Like you say, time will tell. In the meantime, I guess I gotta find a Pressure-Pro monitor that displays an odd-number of tires (or maybe just monitor my spare )

quote:

Years ago, in some states, a trailer without a pivot hitch did not require a license. How is that now?

Not in MD Tags are $26/yr, AFTER I had to give them $50 for title creation, PLUS 6% sales tax (which THEY valued at $1k - go figure

Sidebar: Crossing Chesapeake Bay Bridge at Annapolis is usually $2.50 for Barth....That
stinkin' little single tire made it $9.50 !!

Sure glad I'm filthy rich.......

Man thats nice. We too have been toying with the idea of adding mopeds. Good job.

Lee,
That is a handy addition to the Barth and now you got me thinking about one.... I am curious about your wheel assembly. Your pics shows a spring but the ones from the Double hitch are integrated rubber with a 750 lb capacity. Is the spring model the same capacity? Any advantage with the spring over rubber. Thanks

Hi Ray,

That's because my wheel assembly came from a different source, & probably not readily available.
I also had mine on-hand before learning of Double Hitch's design.

I suggested the Double-Hitch site only because I've seen them, consider it to be superior design, and sold at a lower price. With Double Hitch, you do need to purchase some additional off-the-shelf parts from Northern Tools, but I think the final assembly ends up being much sturdier than what I have.

If I was starting over, I'd go w/ Double Hitch....Hindsight - it's a wonderful thing

Great post. Thanks. Been looking at this for a couple of years (I'm slow) to put on the back of our Tracker. It appears that here in AZ it is not considered a trailer but part of the vehicle so no license needed. Believe that is also true in MN.

Problem with motor homes is you can only have one toad. This would allow me to legally carry a couple of mopeds along on the non-trailer.

quote:

not considered a trailer but part of the vehicle

I think that may be true in several states Gary....We see a zillion outta-state RV's around DC, and
I've seen dozens of double hitch trailers carrying heavy iron-cycles, golf carts, etc.
Most of them are the double wheel swivel type, with a tire at both rear corners - even saw a four wheeler
double hitch carrying one of those little egg-shaped cars. Concept seems to be more popular with fifth-wheel units rather than rear-hitch RV trailers or motorhomes.

Recent things learned: With one main swivel wheel and two landing gear jacks with small swivel wheels, pushing it around by hand is a little like herding cats....casualities so far are one large clay flower pot & chipped paint on a carport post.....Guess I gotta work on the technique.

Lee; How about attaching a long handle to the single wheel so you can pull it like a kids wagon? PS where did you find the cover for your spare tire?

BINGO John - Ya figured it out for me!.....Think I'll tack a short 3/4" plumbing nipple to the side of the wheel's suspension arm. Then I can just pull/steer it around with a Mooney/Beech towbar...Thanks!

Re: spare tire cover - It's a common Camping World item....comes in various sizes & a couple colors.
They usually have them on deep discount in their fall sale flyers. I buy a few at a time and just replace it every spring - the lazy man's way of keeping it looking good......

PS: Just came back from good ole Three Oaks MI....(FWIW: Nothing's changed.....