We have been full timing for over a year now but are forever struggling with where to put our two bikes. They don't fit nicely in the bay, they don't easily go into the coach, they rust or get stolen if just left outside in the open. We just dropped some dough on two brand new Treks and would like to keep them safe and dry. Should I make some sort of canvas covered temporary bike garage out of PVC that I can tear down when we move?
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I would put a bike carrier on the rear hitch and chain and cover the bikes. You could use a trailer break-away switch to operate an alarm if they are messed with.
I carry a folding bicycle in the spare tire compartment.
JC
I only use mine in Yuma during the 6-7 months that we are there....the rest of the time it is in a storage unit. I don't want the hassle of hauling it with us when we travel.
My wife's foldup goes in the bay unless she wants to ride, which is way too seldom. My mountain bike, which I ride every day gets a tarp and bungees and has its special place in front of the bus. When we move, I pop off the front wheel and turn the bars sideways and she slips into a bay. Fulltiming and having interests can be a challenge some times, but we live through them. You should see our entertainment system.... :)
Think you have a problem Scott my wife got a new CatTrike recumbent bike for her birthday try and find a place for that damn thing lol but at least now I don't have to put up with the scooters anymore
good luck
We still haven't figured this one out.. and why don't own bikes yet. A future research project is finding full size foldable bikes that we might be able to fit in a bay, or even in the back of the MINI.
We used to travel with bikes in our former trailer/truck combo. But it was a PITA. One set got stolen, another the lock completed rusted out and we couldn't separate them. So we gave up. No storing them outside.
- Cherie
Linear recumbent LWB, USS Ford Windstar, third seat discarded. Some would call it a mini van, I called it a shed! JIm
Check out bikes by Montague. I have a "Hummer" model that folds up very nicely. Found it on clearance at Sam's Club a few years ago.
Glenn
Scott - You think you have challenges :)
Try 6 bikes. We love to bike so we definitely will be bringing them. This is one of many things we are trying to come up with a solution for.
We are thinking folding bikes - At least 2 to 3 of them. And then having a 4-bike carrier that connects to either the towbar behind the bus, roof of the TOAD or behind the toad for travel. As far as storage while we are parked - it may be just locking them together and covering with a tarp.
The bikes are a "must have" for us. I'd love to see what you end up with for a solution.
-The Turtles.
We carry two "mountain bikes" in the bay with the front wheels removed. I built mounting brackets that hold them in place with a couple of bungees. They are always there and quick enough to set up when you want to take off for a ride. They really take a minimum of space on one side of the bay for the convenience of having them whenever we want them. Lots of time it is much easier to get around (especially in crowds of people) with a bicycle rather than a car. If you want pictures of how we store them I will post some.
HTH YMMV
Melbo
One reason I chose a forty-foot bus instead of something smaller is to have sufficient space inside to store my bikes. I'll keep only four of my present fleet of bikes (I had seven at one time!), but they will stay inside - outside storage is out of the question. I plan on having two bikes (the heaviest ones) on their wheels and two hanging from ceiling hooks, and each pair of bikes would alternate fore/aft. This avoids pedals and handlebars fighting for space or scraping frames, but each bike would be fairly easily accessible. This will take a space six feet long and about three feet wide, and I'll devote the area behind the driver's seat to them.
For me, bicycles are a vitally important part of my life - I rode across country some years ago, and I plan on doing more long rides in the future, even if/when the bus will be my primary home. It's worth me devoting space to their safe storage inside: this is what makes bus conversions so interesting, as each one reflects the owner's priorities.
John
Hmmm. You guys have me thinking. I must say a recumbent bike is insane and I'll never have one as long as we are full timing. I have an idea and I'm going to experiment tomorrow...
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Insanity = Any of various conditions characterized by impairment of an individual's normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors, such as infection or head trauma. Also called emotional illness, mental disease, mental disorder.
Buses would meet this criteria recumbent's do not ;D JIm
Quote from: Scott Bennett on September 01, 2012, 08:11:19 PM
Hmmm. You guys have me thinking. I must say a recumbent bike is insane and I'll never have one as long as we are full timing. I have an idea and I'm going to experiment tomorrow...
Okay Scott, the suspense is killing me. What have you come up with? :)
A flop. I thought I could merely remove the front wheel via the quick release lever, and back the bike into a luggage bay, then slide the front fork into a mounted quick release skewer that's mounted to the floor of the luggage bay. Cool idea until I realized that the back tire hits the utility chase hump before the front fork and handlebars clear the baggage door opening. Grr. So back to the drawing board. The goal for us is to have a dry, secure way of storing them neatly. Not crammed flat into a luggage bay. We have expensive Trek bikes and I intend to take care of them. I recently traded in my old Trek which at the time I purchased it cost more than my car. Now I'm considering a hitch rack with a locking feature. Then maybe I could get a prefabbed slip cover out of heavy canvas....
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Scott -
I think you're on to the right idea, just needs a little tweaking. Some thoughts:
1. Same idea, just turn the bikes around, putting the forks under the utility chase? Would they fit that way?
2. Turn the bikes 90o, one facing forward, one facing backwards? (This is the way I used to carry my Peugeot bike when on long, multi-day charters. Held w/ a bungee and/or my suitcase to keep it from toppling over.)
3. Back to the original idea, but pull the rear wheel, too. Hang the wheels from small hooks in the roof of the bay. May take a little longer to prep for riding, but a possible compromise?
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
pedals and handle bars two big sticking points. build horizontal shelf in bay with slot for pedal and slot for handle bar/cables with just enough clearance to clear tunnel.(might have to remove pedal on one side. use storage below for regular stuff. and or fold up pedals and turn handle bars 90 deg. I did shelf thing for smaller bikes. Bob
If you use folding pedals such as found on some folding bikes, and if you can swivel the handlebar/stem around, you can save space. Folding pedals aren't the highest quality (they're not SPD-compatible!), but they can be useful, especially if they accept toeclips and straps. Current threadless stem/headset systems make it easy to temporarily rotate stems around, but you may need to slightly lengthen the brake and derailleur cables to prevent kinking them. Quick-release seatpost binders allow you to remove seatposts to save vertical space, but mark the seatpost so you know exactly where to reinstall it. As long as you don't have full fenders and pannier racks (which some of my bikes have), it's usually not difficult to make most bikes fit in quite small spaces.
Good luck, John
How tall is the bay on your bus (inches)? JIm
The handlebars are too high to clear the hump...so forward doesn't work either. Neither does sliding the bikes in sideways as in one faces the front of the bus and one faces the rear since they are too long for the width of the luggage bay. I'm thinking of cutting a slot into the floor of the bay...for the tire....going to look at this again...and post some photos... Jim, I'll measure and let you know..
33 inch height luggage bay
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Ok, so here are pics of my frustrating attempts to make this work in a civilized fashion. The bike looks like it fits sideways but it's jammed in there. Not something I want to do with two bikes every day after we ride. (https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F12%2F09%2F04%2Fujyry6ab.jpg&hash=9fd7c60a4ef61ed551ab47374ec868d82c476062)(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F12%2F09%2F04%2Fne9anazu.jpg&hash=11c00c57ccfd01e7c1fe97c8a46059d7259f20e4)(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F12%2F09%2F04%2Fahurumu2.jpg&hash=fb3c44334006fc47110c440edec69f8a0d749c47)(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F12%2F09%2F04%2Fganu2e9e.jpg&hash=4c6c216f7e4a0f747a2a8e5cbe4b82bfe6c780c6)
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Could you build shelves so you can lay them down in that bay?
RJ, I might have to remove both wheels...not a super time consuming process, but a pain...since the rear has the cog/derailleurs. The bike has to be shifted to high gear to move the chain to the outermost cog, then the direct pull brake has to be released...and then the quick release lever loosened. Then the tire comes out with a pit of finesse since the chain is wrapped around it. Also, ends up greasing me up way too much. Then I have to have a way to suspend the frame since it will damage the derailleurs to rest the frame on them. :-\
Laying down it would still have to be jammed in there sideways...unless I layed them down widthwise like the first photo but laying down...that's a possibility...may have to do that...was hoping for something cleaner....but I may have to Len....
Scott, buy yourself a recumbent trike and tow 3 down with a tow bar lol
To me it looks like it fit in the last picture with just the front wheel off. Fortunately, I don't have to deal with that tunnel in my bays.
As PP said, it looks like it fits in your last picture. If you need a tad more clearance, you could deflate the rear tire a bit. A shelf could also work with cutouts for the limps as Bob mentioned. If you put the shelf on slides, it would be easy to load/unload.
Measure the height from the bottom of your fork to the top of your headset. It looks just short enough to slide under the mechanical tunnel. If it is, carry an Allen Wrench for the handlebar stem (gooseneck). Pull it out and let it hang by the cables. Or, just spin the handlebars 90 degrees and leave them on. Nothing is going to be easier or cheaper. It takes only a minute to do this, and you only need to do it when you leave with the bus and when you arrive with the bus. There are lock holes on your baggage bay doors to attach a bike lock when you are away from the bikes. Assuming you have an awning, that also keeps the bikes dry.
Good luck!
Glenn
I know they are insane, but a recumbent with USS and a seat that folds would slip right in there, slicker than ?? JIm
Scott -
Your last pic matches my idea #2. One bike facing forward, one facing back. I know that works because that's what I used to do.
Will probably mean rearranging other stuff, or perhaps maybe re-evaluating what "stuff" you really need to have aboard?
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
You guys are constantly cracking me up...the recumbent bikes are awesome to ride, but not practical for my style of riding. They have a HUGE turning radius and are much longer than a normal bike. Measure one sometime. I used to ride one...so it wouldn't fit in the bay without breaking it down. Here's the deal really, we ride every day...just did a quick 18 miler yesterday. We just wanted a quick, safe way to put the bikes in and out of our "garage"/aka luggage bay that was easy and quick. If it's too hard, we just won't do it or we won't bother riding if we're just on the edge of not wanting to go out. Deflating the tires/removing handlebar stems which require a certain amount of torque to reinstall them is just too much effort for an everyday deal. Sometimes we go out twice in a day. In the last photo, the bike is literally jammed in there. Doesn't quite make it. :( I'm thinking we'll get a hitch rack for the rear of the bus with a waterproof canvas slip cover for the bikes. Pull the cover, pull the bike, and go....when we return set the bikes back in the hitch rack, drop the slip cover over the top and we're done. I can't think of any other simple solution. The sliding tray/drawer idea sounds cool, but again, the bikes are still too big to do that...flat or upright. And there isn't enough room for the width of two bikes one on top of the other to slide under that center utility chase. Checked that too. Hanging them above the driver's/passengers seat would be awesome since we have a 9 inch roof raise, but we stuck a full-size bunk bed up there. So no go there. As for cliff, I'm not sure our bus has the tow rating to tow a recumbent ;)
Take the tunnel cover off lot of wasted space in there I bet you can raise it ,the price my wife's trike cost I told her too buy a used Harley,
You bike people spend way to much money for something without a starter lol then water is a little cheaper than gasoline in today's market
good luck
I only spent $40 for mine, used. ;D
A few thoughts:
Here's a prefab option:
http://www.sportworks.com/products/transit_racks/luggage_bay_rack/ (http://www.sportworks.com/products/transit_racks/luggage_bay_rack/)
It's designed for MCI, but you'd obviously need to see if it would fit in your 9. Or, use the design to build your own.
In addition to your proposed rear rack, you could also consider a front (transit-style) rack.
For the folks without a bicycle (or considering an upgrade):
Folding bicycles generally fold up into a space about the size of a brief case. Storage shouldn't be much of an issue. They're designed to fold quickly and painlessly; commuters routinely take them on the train.
For a full size bicycle, if one is feeling flush, full size bicycles can be purchased with S&S couplers to make (dis-)assembly reasonably quick. (Quick is relative though - it's not as quick as with a folding bicycle). Most competent frame makers will build with S&S couplers for a price. There are also a number of frames (Surly Trucker Deluxe and Panasonic OSD come to mind) that come with couplers and could be built up by any competent bicycle mechanic.
We have 8 kids, 8 bikes
no solution yet but i want to do like the city bus and front mount them if i can.
Jbnewman, now that's what I'm talking about! Sweet stuff! A couple other guys had already suggested a shelf that slides for two bikes! I had no idea their concept was already invented! Cliff, I was thinking the exact same thing. I'm pulling it tomorrow to see...
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If I had a valuable bike and wasn't able to keep it 'inside' the bus anywhere, I'd consider building something like this:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.transportcafe.co.uk%2Fimagecover2%2Fcoach_double_decker_uk3.jpg&hash=fdfed1f06f7da5557e763f62ab08a98a7ac9f1de)
You see those boxes frequently here, especially for carrying skis. They are counted as 'luggage' rather than being a permanent part of the vehicle, so get around the maximum length laws. You'll notice that the whole box swings out of the way to allow access to the engine etc.
As it happens I'm quite a keen cyclist myself and have a fairly nice bike, but fortunately storage isn't a problem for me - one consequence of having a mid-engined bus is that I have a very big and very tall rear bay.
Jeremy
Very cool Jeremy... europe knows how to make some big buses. Mercy. That box looks super useful. Another idea I'm having is building a box similar to that onto my tow dolly. The tongue arm is long and there's a tremendous amount of wasted length/space on the bar that doesn't even come close to getting touched even when jackknifed. Just a thought...in other news, we've biked 100 miles in the last week...
Quote from: Dlsnow on September 04, 2012, 07:55:28 PM
We have 8 kids, 8 bikes
no solution yet but i want to do like the city bus and front mount them if i can.
5 kids + 2 adults (riding a recumbent tandem :P )
Draftmaster http://www.atoc.com/ (http://www.atoc.com/)
BTW, I've crossed the US (more than once) on a recumbent, riding a wedgie (regular bike) those kinds of distances is insane.
Our solution was to install a 2" receiver on the front of the bus and buy a Kuat NV 2 bike rack. They also sell an add-on so you can carry 4 bikes. It is expensive, but a very nice rack, very solid and comes with a built-in cable lock. The hitch has an included lock and tightener so the rack does not rattle or shake at all. We are now having a local auto upholsterer build a bike bag that will enclose the entire rack and 2 bikes. You can see pics of the rack on the bus at the blog www.mightybus.wordpress.com (http://www.mightybus.wordpress.com)
One draw back is the bike partially block the high beam headlights, but we almost never drive at night.