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Date:         Sun, 4 Jun 2006 09:31:33 -0700
Reply-To:     Mike Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike Elliott <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Motor Scooter hung off backside?
In-Reply-To:  <2008fb6d0606031740r267aa053n6830379b3b47e351@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

On 6/3/2006 5:40 PM David Bohannan wrote: > Harbor Freight is your friend: > http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42708 > David, I reckon you are right.

<Begin thinking out loud>

I have a receiver mounted to the front of Mellow Yellow to carry a bike rack with our two bicycles. It's plenty sturdy for that, but I don't think a 160 lb (dry) scooter is the smartest thing to mount there.

On the rear, I /could/ mount some heavy-duty receiver to carry a scooter, but then I'd have that darn scooter in the way when I wanted to open the back.

So, we're thinking that a small trailer, like those Harbor Freight ones, is our solution. The trailers come in two general lengths: 48'' and 96''. 96'' is more than we want to deal with. However, the scooters we're looking at are about 65 - 70 '' length overall, so the shorter trailer might be awkward. It could be lengthened, as described by Greg Potts on his Westrailer project, by welding on some mattress frames. But I am welding-challenged.

Setting that detail aside for the moment, I don't know much about trailers, but I bet that you don't want to add the extra length to the rear of the trailer, as it will cause the tongue to want to go up. The load probably wants to be roughly centered over the trailer axle, with a forward bias so that the tongue has a few dozen lbs of downward pressure. By adding 10'' to the front of the trailer, and 10'' to the rear, the trailer would be long enough for the scooter, but this would reduce the clearance between the trailer and MW's rear. Sharp turns might be messy.

<end thinking out loud>

'73

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") KG6RCR


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