[darisb]

My wife and I are buying her father's 03 RC51. We live in Southern California and the bike is located 900 miles away in Southern Oregon. We are going up Oregon for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will be buying the bike while we are up there. I may be able to pick up a Zeiman heavy duty hitch carrier cheap and local. We are taking my wife's 05 Chevy Tahoe Z71 4wd w/factory tow package. Any thoughts on whether or not the Zeiman would be a good solution to get the RC home? The alternative would be a one-way U-Haul rental for $160 or fly up there next spring and ride it home.

Thanks in advance,
Daris

 

[Old Guys Rule]

Too many nice weather riding days here in SoCal between now and Spring. Go get that bike over Thanksgiving and trailer it back (U-haul trailer or otherwise). Then make plans for Santiago Canyon, Ortega Highway, Palos Verdes, etc. I just got back from a trip out to Lake Mojave and back over the weekend.

 

[darisb]

That was the conclusion that I came to. I found the carrier in picture below on Craigslist for $75. It's rated for 600 lbs, and that is also the tongue weight rating on my wife's Tahoe. The guys I bought it from used it for a couple years to transport his Superhawk on the back of his RV. A one way rental on a U-haul trailer was $160. I'm going to take off the lower faring, load it on the hitch carrier, stick a couple of magnetic trailer lights in the rail next to the tires and head for home. The bike on the carrier is our '96 Bandit. It's about 20 lbs lighter than the RC51.

 

[njracer]

That was the conclusion that I came to. I found the carrier in picture below on Craigslist for $75. It's rated for 600 lbs, and that is also the tongue weight rating on my wife's Tahoe. The guys I bought it from used it for a couple years to transport his Superhawk on the back of his RV. A one way rental on a U-haul trailer was $160. I'm going to take off the lower faring, load it on the hitch carrier, stick a couple of magnetic trailer lights in the rail next to the tires and head for home. The bike on the carrier is our '96 Bandit. It's about 20 lbs lighter than the RC51.

No way in hell would I trust that with a big FAT RC51 on it. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[darisb]

I hear what you are saying. According to the Honda manual the weight of the RC51 is 439/489 lbs (dry/curb). That leaves us with 100 lbs to spare. The weight on the bike in the picture is 451/? lbs (dry/curb), which is slightly heavier than the RC51. I just need to get it out of the area where we are likely to run into snow and rain, and I can unload it and ride it home.

 

[marco427]

I don't think that you're taking much of a risk with that rig. Get the RC home and start having fun.

 

[scott1050]

I don't know but don't think I would trust it, but if you need to use it to get out of snow then I would take it off as soon as possible. Just my two cents

 

[darisb]

We made it back from Southern Oregon with the RC51. The hitch hauler worked perfectly. We did 900 miles and one panic stop in East L.A. in a single day. We did a 14 hour straight run, averaging 70 to 75 the whole way. I ended up putting a borrowed set of magnetic trailer lights under the bike, because the right turn signal on the Tahoe was blocked by the bike. We checked it frequently and the bike didn't move an inch. I would much rather use the Kendon, but in this case the hitch hauler worked perfectly. Here is a picture of the bike about a third of the way into the trip. Mount Shasta is in the background, but the sun was in the wrong place.

 

[CORRELL1000]

i knew you wouldnt have any problems! i use a hitch hauler all the time. but if you haul in the rain road grime covers the bike..lol