Carrying a motor scooter on the back

[IanE]

Just wondered if anyone has done it/looked into it? You see plenty of motorhomes with what looks like a platform attached to the rear, but we haven't seen a VW T5 doing it? Clearly there'd be difficulties getting the tailgate open with the scooter/small motorbike in place! Just seems a lovely lazy alternative to push bikes. We do have one electric bike which is great but lacks range - acknowledging that the Kalkhoff does very well!

Cheers

Ian

 

[danny13]

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=2728#p24259 albeit just a monkey bike

 

[IanE]

Cheers Danny - wow! Don't think I fancy lashing a scooter to the bottom of our VW bike rack!

 

[danny13]

It was on a dave cooper motor bike rack which goes on the towbar. The towbar has a nose weight limit of about 110kg so could have almost put 2 monkey bikes on the back! The bike rack was filled with camping bits in a fiamma bag

 

[IanE]

Oh right - thanks for that Danny!

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

7 year thread revival
Just seen the Piaggio One electric scooter advertised. £2000. Looks good and with a weight of just 49Kg I assume I could carry it on my Thule Velospace XT3 which has a Max Load capacity of 60Kg.
Thoughts?

 

[66tim99]

7 year thread revival
Just seen the Piaggio One electric scooter advertised. £2000. Looks good and with a weight of just 49Kg I assume I could carry it on my Thule Velospace XT3 which has a Max Load capacity of 60Kg.
Thoughts?

View attachment 86048

Great idea. How would you charge it when away from home? Could you use the EHU on sites?

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Great idea. How would you charge it when away from home? Could you use the EHU on sites?

Yes, would need to rely on campsite hookup I think. I have an additional cable with a T off to a 3-pin socket so could easily charge it outside the van.
The Piaggio One only has a range of 35 miles, but they do a version called the One+ that has double the range. Not sure of the weight of that one?

 

[andyinluton]

Yes, would need to rely on campsite hookup I think. I have an additional cable with a T off to a 3-pin socket so could easily charge it outside the van.
The Piaggio One only has a range of 35 miles, but they do a version called the One+ that has double the range. Not sure of the weight of that one?

35 miles is enough to pop out to a shop / takeaway / park near the beach for 99.9% of our trips. Looks worthy of further investigation.

Its £2500 for the slowest one, the battery is removable so weight in transit could be quite a bit less.

 

[66tim99]

This suggests the One weighs 187 lbs = 84kgs?
https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/20...first-look-3-electric-scooters-14-fast-facts/

 

[B J G]

For access to rear via tailgate I'd favour a sideload trailer. Clearance may need checking with tailgate upswing.
No weight issue with Scooter giving a wider product range to select from.

.http://www.cmftrailers.co.uk/side-load-trailers.html

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

This suggests the One weighs 187 lbs = 84kgs?
https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/20...first-look-3-electric-scooters-14-fast-facts/

Mmmmm! Need to check, the site below says 49Kg ?

 

[Ozzy Pete]

For access to rear via tailgate I'd favour a sideload trailer. Clearance ma need checking with tailgate upswing.
No weight issue with Scooter giving a wider product range to select from.

.http://www.cmftrailers.co.uk/side-load-trailers.html

I would sooner have a trailer than put extra strain on the rear suspension. If you got a box trailer although expensive you could carry all your extra stuff in there.
You would hardly know you were towing it.

 

[B J G]

I would sooner have a trailer than put extra strain on the rear suspension. If you got a box trailer although expensive you could carry all your extra stuff in there.
You would hardly know you were towing it.

Lost me there as it is a trailer that I suggested.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Lost me there as it is a trailer that I suggested.

And that’s what I said I would sooner use.. don’t be So twitchy.....

 

[OGII]

Interesting review here https://www.wired.co.uk/article/piaggio-one-review

One thing is sure, the more options that come to market the better the costs/choices will be. I'm not following the e motorbike market closely but it appears slower than the car market to offer sensible/low cost choices.

The Piaggio 1 seems a bit low seat wise.

 

[andyinluton]

That article suggests that there is an EV grant available that brings it down from £2500 to £2011

 

[WelshGas]

How about towing a motorcycle/scooter as Motorhomes tow a car?

 

[sidepod]

Extra strain on the suspension

What? 85kg? Do you refuse to carry passengers in the rear for the same reason?

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

OK, i’ve checked the weight. Here’s a reply from a supplier:

Hi Mike

The Piaggio 1 and 1 Active weigh in at 85kg and 94kg respectively. The battery is 10kg for the 1 or 15kg for the Active. If the weight rules are strict for your carrier then you are looking at 15 or 20kg over your limit with the battery removed. We supply a lot of scooters for motorhome use, 60kg sounds very low compared to most, but the VW is a smaller vehicle than some I guess.

Hope this helps.
Kind Regards,
Ron Daley Scooters

 

[sidepod]

I carry my Grom on the back of the bus. 90kg. Been across Europe several times. Barely notice it weight wise.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Interesting @sidepod .
I don’t think the weight of a Piaggio 1 is a problem for the Cali’ but Thule has a max load of 60Kg for the XT3 rack.

 

[sidepod]

This has been covered to death. (Search function!) There is a rack on the market (Fiamma I think) that is rated to 600kg.

I made mine based on that design.

 

[B J G]

This has been covered to death. (Search function!) There is a rack on the market (Fiamma I think) that is rated to 600kg.

I made mine based on that design.

Just a cautionary note

What are the requirements to fit a type approved tow bar?

If you wish to tow anything with a car, which was first used on or after the 1 August 1998 the car must be fitted with a type approved tow bar.