Toy Hauler Loading, Towing and other $hit that can go wrong.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

Are you even sure you can get the Strat in there with that table in the way? Is it removable?...

That ramp is a pussy ramp...

And I missed something along the way, like what is the point of all of this? Why do you need the toy hauler? Are you trying to get your bike home from somewhere or taking all of this on a vacation somewhere?

Assuming the first question is not a joke, yes, it is removable. Be hell to have to park on top of it.
As far as I am concerned, "Pussy" = "Excellent choice", expecially when it comes to motorcycle ramps (and sex prospects...)

Re the latter: There is no point to it, just as there is little point to much of anything I do, other than to distract myself from the general pointlessness of everything. Just exploring new (and more expensive) ways of wasting time. Done the tent thing and could do it again, want to try this to see how it compares hassle wise. Also, would like to skip the "riding all day just to get to the good stuff" portion of touring, especially with the wife along. She gets antsy after about 60 minutes on the back and could never tolerate a 10-hour riding day. (The Suburban is a pretty cushy ride in comparison.) I've given serious consideration to just taking the Geezer, and I won't rule it out until I've seen the unit (and the tie-downs) in person. The drawback is that two upping on the Geezer is a large step down from two upping on the Strat. A very large step down.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by blaine

The ramp looks like you can ride in,no problem.I think I would back it out running.That ramp looks low enough not to cause any problems riding in, or backing out with the Strat.
:cool:

Good. I'm starting to feel a little better about this already. Now I need to make sure the tie-down situation is properly handled..

[mrlmd1]

I thought you were talking about a "real" toy hauler, with a totally separate garage/compartment in the back, not a combo living space/garage. I don't think you are going to like that thing you picked out very much and I don't think there's much room in there for all of you. You'll never get the Strat in there sideways and I don't see any places in there to strap a bike down. Either of them won't be very stable jumping along the road if you can't strap them down to something solid.
It's just as easy to get a hitch mount bike hauler with a ramp to put the GZ up on like I suggested to busyweb earlier, and sleep in the back of the Suburban if you can put the seats flat down, like I can in mine. :poke2:

[alanmcorcoran]

Yes, it does not have a separate garage area and that is a negative, but it is nonetheless "real". There is 10 feet to fit an 8 foot motorcycle. I'm not Evel Knievel but it should be doable. Not sure where the sideways idea came from, but it probably would not fit sideways.

The tradeoff is size and weight. I don't have a big, powerful towing vehicle and I'm not prepared (yet) anyway to be towing a long, heavy load. I was going to try exactly what you suggest (with the hitch mount bike hauler), but to me, this looks like a more interesting alternative. Re the living space - I can assure you that, compared to my REI 2 Plus Dome tent, the living space in this kicks ass. For example, you can sit down in it. And you can stand up in it. And there's walls and shit. Hopefully it won't blow away if the wind kicks up, but I've seen a few off the side of the freeway when it gets gusty.

Seeing as it will cost me under $500 to try this out for 5 days, (as opposed to buying one for $17-18K), I'm treating it strictly as a learning experience. I'd never own one - I've got no place to park it.

[mrlmd1]

That's pretty cheap, better than most hotel rooms, more than some motel rooms, but for camping out it's good. You would probably just be taking some local trips on the bike to explore the local surroundings, with the toy hauler as home base to come back to everyday, so why do you need to take the Strat just for tooling around. On the other hand, if you want to ride alone on the highway for a while while she drives the Suburban pulling the trailer, then take the big bike. So many choices, too much to think about.
That ramp though is absolutely nothing to worry about, it's more like a sloping driveway than a steep ramp. Ride it up under power, let gravity take it down with the assistance of the front brake while you sit on it. No problem either way.

[burkbuilds]

Alan, with your level of riding experience this should be pretty easy for you. I recently rented a U-Haul truck in Chattanooga with a 24" wide ramp and drove my Vulcan up the ramp, tied it down in the front corner using some ratcheting tie down straps, load the truck, drove it to Atlanta, unloaded the truck, returned it to the Atlanta U-Haul dealer and backed it down that 24" wide, fairly steep ramp and into the parking lot without a hitch. You have a lot more experience riding than I do and the ramp on that RV thing looks to be about 7+feet wide and fairly close to the ground to start with. No sweat, you should have no problems. Have a great trip!

[alanmcorcoran]

Thanks BB. You may have confused me with the other Alan (re experience). My "real" motorcycle experience is a little more than two years (and two bikes.) Previous to buying the Geezer in June '08, my two wheel experience was limited to bicycles (quite a bit) and mopeds (many years previous.) Two years on I have about 4500 miles on the Geezer and over 11,000 on the Strat (bought the Strat Jan '09.) Certainly more than a newb, but I still consider myself a relatively inexperienced rider. I did increase my skill and confidence a lot on my recent 2000 mile plus outing. With the Stratoliner, it's important to remain aware of one's limitations as its weight and handling are very unforgiving. It is especially tricky when operating at slow speeds, sharp inclines or slippery surfaces. (Two of which were responsible for my two minor drops early on...) I thought the Toy Hauler might be an unholy combination of all three, but I have to admit - looking at the closeups of the ramp it's equipped with, it only looks a little more challenging than pulling into my real garage.

I have some U-Haul experience and if you are talking about that aluminum plank that pulls out from under the truck bed, I'd never back the Strat down one of them. One slip in concentration and I could see (parts of) myself crushed between some shiny Art Deco chrome and the parking lot.

I'll be sure to file a report on how things go. Unless I do something really stupid.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

Seeing as it will cost me under $500 to try this out for 5 days, (as opposed to buying one for $17-18K), I'm treating it strictly as a learning experience. I'd never own one - I've got no place to park it.

That is a pretty cheap experiment/learning experience and you can park anywhere you want except at home. Sure beats buying a toy hauler to find out it just isn't what you want. If it really works well for you and the wifey then you could rent for years before approaching the actual cost of ownership and maintenance.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

... so why do you need to take the Strat just for tooling around....

'Cause I'll be tooling around with her on the back of it.

I should say though, the Strat is quite appropriate for general tooling around. I'm not comfortable with it on dirt or loose gravel and I get a little clenchy when I have to negotiate steep, sharp hairpins, but, despite its size and weight, it actually handles pretty good in twisties - even with two people on it. I'm still pretty early on in my cornering skill development but I can comfortably go 10-15 miles an hour over the "signage" and suspect, if I master a little more of the Keith Code stuff, I could do better. Loading it and unloading it seem to be one area of potential aggravation - if the trailer is facing even a tiny bit downhill I'm screwed. It is extremely difficult to back the thing up even slightly uphill. But I think I've set my sights sufficiently low, so that, as long as I don't wrap it (and us) around the grille of a semi, I'll consider the trip a success.

I definitely do not intend to ride the thing alongside on the freeway. One thing I've kind of come around to - anything more than an hour of freeway is more than I really care to do. I only do more out of necessity, not for enjoyment. Right now I get the most fun out of the sweepers, climbing esses, scenic routes, etc. Barrelling along at 85 in a straight line for three or four hours may be character building, but I'd rather not if its an option.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

That is a pretty cheap experiment/learning experience and you can park anywhere you want except at home. Sure beats buying a toy hauler to find out it just isn't what you want. If it really works well for you and the wifey then you could rent for years before approaching the actual cost of ownership and maintenance.

Yes, for many things, especially special purpose vehicles (RV's, JetSki's, Segways), I've found renting, even if it's a tad pricey, makes a lot more sense than owning. We've rented a number of different rigs from El Monte RV over the last 25 years and never regretted it. In the past, I figured I was working too much to ever get regular use out of one (plus the parking issue.) They are very expensive to purchase, require a lot of maintenance and depreciate like crazy. One of my business associates has purchased about a half dozen different RV's over the years, (the later ones in the six figure variety) and he has at least two or three horror stories to go with each one.