Rear Wall Mounted E-bikes?

[Ben_1987]

I've posted this before but on my first camper (fwc ranger) I used lolo bar hooks mounted to unistrut which was then mounted to plus/riv nuts into the camper frame. Felt solid enough for reg bikes but I would personally draw the line short of carrying any heavier ebikes. I ran a cam strap to the roof rack for a while when testing it out... I would just use my front hitch if I wanted to carry heavier bikes if the back hitch isnt available. We use a swingout rockymount rack now that we have a camper thats short enough to access the hitch (fwc hawk).

If you dont want to use a front hitch rack, I did see these recently: https://squareonecreations.com/collections/sideride-bike-mounts . You might be able to fab something up if you can figuure out clearance of the bars. It might still be a bear to lift a heavy ebike up but maybe easier than a vertical oriented fork axle mount and it would certainly be sturdy.

 

[goinoregon]

any thoughts on removing the battery when placing bikes in rack? that usually takes some weight off.
greg

 

[CPT Davenport]

Thanks for adding another option Ben. I will kick that one around.

any thoughts on removing the battery when placing bikes in rack? that usually takes some weight off.
greg

Good thought but the battery is only around 8 pounds. Every little bit helps though!


We went in over the weekend to the bike shop as I had put down $1k deposit on two Levos SL bikes. After speaking with my buddy we decided to wait it out for the Gen 4 Levo full power. Rumor has it that it will be quite a bit lighter among other awesome features. No word on exactly when it will be released but could be as soon as 6 months. For the crazy price they ask for these ebikes ( I can get a new KTM for the same price!) I think it will be worth the weight for the most current model. The shop will keep my deposit and put me first in line when the gen 4 is released. This will also give me time to find or fabricate the most efficient and user friendly rack system. Road my analog bike last night and man, it is still a blast!

TBC

 

[wicked1]

I built my ebikes.. Converted my and my wifes old 2000 era bikes. Used BBSHD motors, and the HV motor controller kit. I get 5000 watts. Can do 50mph. Can go up any mountain. They're amazing. (I don't drive around at 50mph.. It's terrifying. But I can do it).
Part of the customization is battery packs (light for mountain biking, or a big one for hundreds of miles of roads).
The bikes have been life changing. We love them. We can go SO much further down those rough forest roads, than even my 'built' 4x4 will get us.


I built a custom rack to hold stuff, on the back of my camper.. And that is where I put the bikes. we travel w/ 3 of them. I have to take off pedals of 2 of them, and twist the handlebars of all of them. That part is not exactly ideal. But it works.

A standard rear hitch mount wouldn't work for me, because the flatbed campers have a big butt that sticks out from the back. I really like the idea of the front hitch bike mounts, but I don't have a front hitch receiver on my ARB bumper. And do have a winch in the location some people install a hitch mount....

Anyway, photo of my storage rack attached.

 

[PaulT]

Did you mean 500 rather than 5000 watts?

Otherwise, do you carry the battery in a trailer instead of frame mounted?

Paul

 

[wicked1]

Did you mean 500 rather than 5000 watts?

5000. Technically, 4800 watts.
72v battery. 60A speed controller.
Smallest battery I use is 8ah, largest is 30ah.
The 8ah is actually pretty small, and I can fit anywhere (Backpack, triangle bag, rear rack, are my options).. And it will last me a full day of mountain biking (though I pedal a lot on those days). Sometimes i use two in parallel.. one in the frame triangle, one on a rear rack. The 30ah only fits on the rear rack.

It's basically a motorcycle which looks like a bike. I can choose to ride it like a motorcycle or a bike. I usually go w/ bike.... But there are times at the end of the day after a long tiring ride, it's fun to just let loose and ride it like a dirt bike.
I usually use pedal assist, w/ a small fraction of the power.. 100-250 watts. But then I have the throttle set up for full power, when I want it.

We just got back from beach camping, and actually needed the power there. Some areas of really soft sand, the only option was to power though it.. We wouldn't have made it on pedal power. (we have relatively wide 2.5" tires, but not fat tire bikes)

 

[Gussie]

I recently incorporated an e-bike into my camping flow. I'm surprised at what a game changer it's been. Not just for recreation, but also for the added convenience of making a ten mile trip to a store for supplies without the obligatory breaking of camp...

I tried a front mount, since I have a front hitch on my Tacoma. But the way the bike mount sits fairly high made me nervous - at best it was distracting, at worst it really obstructed my view. So I reluctantly went to the rear hitch, knowing that it would block the door access to the camper. But the tilt-down makes it alot easier than I imagined. The bike rack will hold two bikes, even though I only use one. It's pretty secure, I don't really worry about it back there - I wish I could somehow see out my rear camera at will, though...

 

[Lighthawk]

A standard rear hitch mount wouldn't work for me, because the flatbed campers have a big butt that sticks out from the back.

I'm facing the same quandry when we get our Bundutec Odyssey flatbed camper later this year. I guess it depends upon how far you can extend the hitch to clear the bikes, or do something lifted like you have built. Our e-bikes are heavy at 50+ lbs.

 

[CPT Davenport]

I recently incorporated an e-bike into my camping flow. I'm surprised at what a game changer it's been. Not just for recreation, but also for the added convenience of making a ten mile trip to a store for supplies without the obligatory breaking of camp...
I tried a front mount, since I have a front hitch on my Tacoma. But the way the bike mount sits fairly high made me nervous - at best it was distracting, at worst it really obstructed my view. So I reluctantly went to the rear hitch, knowing that it would block the door access to the camper. But the tilt-down makes it alot easier than I imagined. The bike rack will hold two bikes, even though I only use one. It's pretty secure, I don't really worry about it back there - I wish I could somehow see out my rear camera at will, though...

ebikeTaco.jpg

Good point on the camera issue, I rely heavily on mine! I'm still hoping to be struck with some genius idea to make my wall mount system work with the heavier bikes. I too am not a fan of the front mount. Perhaps the gen 4 Levo with offer enough weight savings to allow me to use a modified version of my existing set up.

 

[Ben_1987]

Hmm. Since you seem pretty set on still using the rear wall mount, if you can pull half the weight off the fork mount through a bottom tire mount similar to what you originally proposed, that would put you closer towards the weight you had from your non-ebike. You could fasten something like this to a bottom track (or two) tapped into the camper frame: https://freedomcoast.net/collections/bike-racks/products/freedom-coast-rack (very spendy). That would let you sit the heavy bikes back tire in the mount at a desired height, while you fastened the axle.

The front hitch bike rack I didn't find too distracting. I had a local fab place add a hitch to my brush guard. If I faced both bikes the same direction using the 1up rack style trays and dropped the seats, our view wasn't too obstructed for the driver (photo below).

 

[Ben_1987]

All that being said, a swing out rack is by far my favorite way to carry bikes with a camper, but I understand your predicament.

 

[Vic Harder]

We have front and rear hitches, and have tried the front mount with our 27" MTB (non electric) to avoid having to drop the bikes to get in the camper... ugh, the wind resistance and noise at highway speeds are not nice, and the lack of visibility when on slow speed roads is not fun either. Back mount for me! We do use the front mount once at camp when we don't plan on moving around much. We move the bike rack to the front and lock them up there.

 

[Dipodomys]

Swing-out rear racks are definitely my preference.