# Yamaha Scooters for Christmas



## jkibbe (Nov 30, 2007)

Hi,
We are new here but know how helpful other campers can be.
We have a 25 foot Coachmen Concord.  For Christmas Santa Claus is bringing us Yamaha, Vino 125 scooters!

We are wondering how people carry them.  One manufacturer told us not to put both on the back that it would cause too much bouncing.  This was on one of those mesh racks that fit right into the trailer hitch.

They weight about 225 pounds each.

Any suggestions would be great.

Happy Trails!
Jan and Mark
Beep-Beep!


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## Kirk (Nov 30, 2007)

Re: Yamaha Scooters for Christmas

The problem with mounting the bikes on the bumper of the trailer is that it does not add just the weight of the bike, but also the weight of the mounting rack and a great deal more, based upon this calculation.


For Rear Lifts

Measure the distance from the center of rear axle to the center of the weight(Lift).
Divide that number by the RVâ€™s wheelbase.
Multiply the result by 100 to get percent.
That percent of the load is added to the load and becomes the total weight added to the rear axle.
That same percent of the load is subtracted from the hitch weight and unloads the hitch by that amount.

two 225 lb bikes and a  Lift 100 lb=550 lb
Center axle to rear 120â€ wheelbase 240â€
120 divide by 240=0.50 X 100= 50%  550 X 1.5 = 825#
Weight is 825 lb added to rear axle
Your hitchl will be 275 lbs lighter.


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## benwd (Dec 1, 2007)

Re: Yamaha Scooters for Christmas

I'm having trouble with the last part of the discription of where the load ends up.--- ie,'That same percent of the load is subtracted from the hitch weight and unloads the hitch by that amount.'----


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## TexasClodhopper (Dec 1, 2007)

Re: Yamaha Scooters for Christmas



Correct me if I'm wrong in this simplified explanation. 

The weight of the bikes (including the rack to hold them) is multiplied by the lever effect with the rear axle being the fulcrum/pivot (since that is touching the ground), but the place we are calculating the weight for is the hitch. 

The weight in Kirk's example is half-again the wheelbase behind the rear axle. That's where the "1.5" multiplier comes in. (Getting the percentage confuses the explanation.) 

Wouldn't you have to know how far the HITCH is from the rear axle to know the weight at that point? 

The lever multiplier (just like a wheelbarrow handle has a multiplier that works FOR you) works against the maximum weight you can carry on the rear hitch. (If you put the bike rack far enough behind you, at some point you could lift your front wheels off the ground!)


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## benwd (Dec 1, 2007)

Re: Yamaha Scooters for Christmas

The fulcrum appears straight forward. An example would be the length from the rear axle to the center of the load over the hitch being equal to the length from the rear axle to the front anxle.

In that case with a 100 pound load the weight over the hitch would be 100 pounds, the weight lifting up on the front axle would be 100 pounds, and the weight pushing down on the rear axle is 200 pounds. In this case the sum of the load and the lift on the front axle.

I think the statement 'unloads the hitch by that amount' appears to be a typo and should say 'unloads the front axle by that amount'.????????

That is, with whatever dimensions and weight, the added weight to the rear axle is the load weight plus the lifting force on the front axle.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2007)

Re: Yamaha Scooters for Christmas

DAMN ,, that was way over my head     :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh:


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## *scooter* (Dec 4, 2007)

Re: Yamaha Scooters for Christmas

I dunno !


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