There are companies that transport motorcycles, so that's an idea. Also, car rental companies rent pickups and full size vans, and don't usually charge mileage. A couple years ago I rented a F-150 from Enterprise with unlimited mileage.
Hi guys……thinking of buying a NC700 but, the bike is located 400 miles from home!
Would ride bike home but getting to the seller is the problem!
Rental vans for a day plus mileage adds up in cost
Car has no hitch to rent trailer
Does anybody happen to know if the front wheel was removed, could the bike fit into a rented Chrysler / Dodge mini van
…….any other ideas to pick up the bike by myself……thanks Steve
There are companies that transport motorcycles, so that's an idea. Also, car rental companies rent pickups and full size vans, and don't usually charge mileage. A couple years ago I rented a F-150 from Enterprise with unlimited mileage.
ditto on pickup rental. I have a small hitch for a little car i own(bug). I bought one of those harbor freight cycle wheel chalks, (the kind that flips up and holds the front wheel). I then welded/bolted it to a receiver so i can use it anytime i need to haul or rescue a bike. I travelled 4 hours over into Oregon once to pick up a custom bobber that i had bought. I was cool to pull up to the guys place in a bug and see his reaction! I pulled the hitch out of the back of the bug and pinned the receiver to the hitch, he helped me wheel the bike up onto the hitch and strap the front wheel and bike down to the hitch/bug. I pulled the master link and remove dteh chain for the 4 hour drive home and drove off! It amazed me to see the amount of people that passed me on the interstate that all slowed down to see it and take pictures! haha.
I still have it and can dig it out and take a couple of pictures of it if you'd like to see the set up... :{)
Fiat Justicia et Peret Mundus = Do the Right thing, Come what May!
If you unbolted the handlebars I think you could stuff it in the back of the minivan. It would not be vertical though. Bring boxes or cushions for support to lean it over. I think renting a pickup truck would be easier.
If you have the van and want to save some money, then I might try it. Lay down some cardboard to catch any leaks and also protect the plastic interior on the sides of the van.
JT
I put a DR200 in the back of a Town and County on several occasions. You wont be able to load it through the rear hatch. The opening is much smaller than it looks. You'll have to enter and exit through the sliding door. Even with the DR, I had to loosen the handle bar and tilt the bars down. I kept the front wheel on though.
Those vans are amazingly versatile, but I doubt it can handle this application.
"Roads are just a suggestion, like pants."
If you remove the front wheel, how would you lift 400+lbs into the minivan?....you can rent an open trailer and if your minivan has a real rear bumper, they have adapters with a hitch which hook onto the bumper so you can pull the open trailer.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
A pick-up, ramp, and straps would definitely be the easiest option, it seems. I wouldn't want to risk getting there with an enclosed van and it not working out.
Last time I bought a bike that far from home I rented the pick-up and open bike trailer from U-haul with unlimited mileage - got there and back in the same day. Cost was very reasonable for the one day rental. Worth it when you factor it in on the price of the bike..
I’m supposed to respect my elders, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one now ..
I can put a Ruckus scooter in a Dodge minivan straight up. I can put a Kawasaki KLX140L in if I lean in over to get it through the rear opening, which as was mentioned before, the opening is much smaller than it looks. Those machines were small, and weighed 170 and 210 pounds, respectively. There is no way I would try to load the almost 500 pound NC. Whether the NC will fit through the opening without the handle bars, I don’t know, but that would probably be the least of your problems.
The van handling the weight is no problem. I’ve put 1500 pounds of concrete blocks or bagged concrete mix in one before. The problem is the size of the hatch.