My bike tow

[Hotfoot]

This design came about from a friend at work who has a VW camper van and wanted to go on vacation and bring his Harley. The VW van would not pull a trailer very well thru the mountains when it's loaded and with two adults.

He asked me to come up with a way to take his bike with them. so I designed my UnderTow for motorcycles.

I used the dimensions of a Harley fat boy front tire and went from there.

My friend had to install new shocks and a 2" reciever on the back of the VW to take the tounge weight of the Harley. But he said it towed easy and it worked great.

They kept the VW parked and rode around on the Harley.

David

..or, he could...

[Eugenius76]

That is kicka$$. Did you do your own powdercoating? I see an oven and a sandblaster in your shop, but you said in the first post that you had the parts back from the powdercoat? Or were you just talking like O.C.C.? I was just wondering because I am wanting an oven and gun and wondering what kind you have. Thanks

[david myers]

Tow

Eugenius76,

I have my own powder coat system that I bought at HF. I am limited by the size of my oven. If you look at the pictures I did all the smaller stuff and had to send the 2 larger parts out to be coated.

The system that I bought from HF works very well and I have used it for a few years now.

The oven I found was being thrown out by the curb and I picked it up and stripped the top burners off and removed all the the controls except for the oven (bake and Broil) and interior light.

The powder coat system from HF cost less than $50.00 on sale and I by my powder from store.columbiacoatings.com

The only other thing you need is the oven to pre-heat and then bake 400-450 deg f for 20 min.

It's more work than painting but it is a lot more durable than paint.

David

[Eugenius76]

Thanks for the info and the website, it will come in handy!

[SpyGuy]

Because no one else has said it, "Nice rack!"

I would not only sell them on ebay, but would get a patent on it pretty darn quick before someone else steals your idea and does it.

The Vespa with the VW Bus sidecar is pretty cool, too.

[FormerTankSarge]

Great job and good idea!

[FabPeddler]

great job

great job David,,,

I don't think I could relax with one of my Harleys back there,,, lol
It might be ok,,, but I don't think I would be,,,

I did enjoy the thread and all the pics,,,,

[whateg0]

Nice job! I just have one question...

What's with the extra bend and brace? I have done stuff like this, and I know why I have done it, but I'm curious about your reason.



Dave

[usmcpop]

I wouldn't worry about a patent - there's already a very similar one being sold:

http://undertakermts.com/mod.php?mod=siteinfo&id=10

[david myers]

Bike Tow

whateg0,

The extra bend was for a smooth transition to angle down to the winch and add extra bracing (over kill) to distribute the load (pull from the winch) as close as possible to the main pivot point on the tow.

There are many things I would do differently on the next one too eliminate a lot of weight (it's at 39lbs. now) plus a simpler winch connection.

Thanks for the inputs.

David

[vicegrip]

Very Cool !

There are many things I would do differently on the next one too eliminate a lot of weight (it's at 39lbs. now) plus a simpler winch connection.

Thanks for the inputs.

David

Great Job.
Know what ya mean about sequals.

VG

[Goodhand]

Nice job on design and fab. I've looked at several of these tows, but plan to build one like yours. Thanks for posting.

BTW... any particular reason why you made a light bar, rather than just tapping into existing wiring for rear lights?

[whateg0]

Light bar allows for towing different bikes.

Dave