Topic: Bike hauler.?

[754]

This could be handy...might be hard on fuel..

[70CB750]

Good use of a schoolbus 

[754]

Around here that is a COOLbus......

[RAFster122s]

Seen a school bus converted to cargo with the rear door and a pair of wide ramps affixed to the rear along with a pair of other ramps, must have been a two stage affair for ease of entry.
Is that a pallet crane on the back like a flatbed trucks will sometimes have (the blue thing)?

If they swap out the gearing on the axle it could be an efficient, well more efficient, highway machine at the expense of the start up torque.
They are geared for low-end normally and not highway use...
At least with this one you have a crush zone between you and the object in front of you if you were to impact them...

David

[754]

It just looked like a folding crane, no pallet fork.. Looks like it can all fold up tight to cabin.
 He said it had been used to lift cars..I assume salvage?.. There was 1/2 dozen buses there and a few military trucks lime 1 ton and maybe 3 ton... It was only about 15 miles south of Canadian. Border on 97

[scottly]

David, what happened with the city bus you were going to convert into a bike hauler?
Scott

[RAFster122s]

It is available if you would like to buy it Scott.

I injured my shoulder in Dec/Jan and nearly lost the use of the left arm for any lifting and severe range of motion loss. Developed a good sized spur on my collar bone that is digging a hole in the rotator cuff. I couldn't trust that I was going to not drop a customer's bike so I had to abandon my business adventure and the business died quietly. The liability was too great to risk dropping someone's bike. The little business adventure cost me about $10K with bus and commercial insurance to cover the business that first year...
Was a nasty winter that year and this past one was too, but later than the previous year.

I acquired a Freightliner City Transit Bus, 24-26 passenger with handicap lift and was going to attach a reinforced set of ramps to the lift and lift a bike to roll into the bus. Plan was to offer long haul (coast-to-coast) motorcycle moving with 6-7 bikes capacity with plenty of space, so no abrasions or scratching. Lots of movers pack them in like sardines and while you won't have scratches in the paint, not so sure it won't have some abrasions on exhaust or lower areas of the bike the way they pack them in tightly.
My medium transit bus has the Cummins turbo diesel BT6 motor with Allison transmission and it runs well. But, it has an oil leak or two that need some attention before too long.
I was going to change the city gearing to that of more suitable for highway speeds. Researched the axle and all that... Was a doable proposition but the winter time was the big ? mark for the business, operating in the winter could be a business killer with lower volume as well as higher risk of accident due to weather.
I guess the guy upstairs said no to my plan, didn't get his seal of approval...
Arm/shoulder is a lot stronger now and near complete range of motion but some ranges are very limited because the spur makes itself known. Too much heavy lifting and it starts talking to me loudly. Surgery to fix it is 30k without discounts or insurance...

Anyone want to make ACME Motorcycle Moving a reality?  Got a cool logo for you and everything...  stylized roadrunner, a. la. Roadrunner and Coyote inspired name...THE source of coyote's gadgets to try and bag the Roadrunner > ACME

David

[70CB750]

I would think the bus frame is too weak for this kind of things, but I could be wrong.

[trueblue]

I would think the bus frame is too weak for this kind of things, but I could be wrong.

Remember, people are heavy.  It is quite surprising what a bus full of people weigh.

[Mydlyfkryzis]

Str bus usually holds 40 adults and 20 standees.  So 60 people @ 200 lbs would be 12000 lbs. 

[madmtnmotors]

I always thought these were pretty cool, even if they are the epitome' of excess:




Seen them on display at Daytona bike week more than once.

[70CB750]

That is cool, Wilbur!

[RAFster122s]

My bus is an MB19 with extended wheelbase to make it the 24 passenger. It has a gross weight limit of 19,000 pounds.
behind the driver's position and partition to the back wall is 20 feet and it is about 6'7" feet high x little over 8 feet wide cargo area.
Bus requiring about 10ft of clearance vertically and around 28 feet long as it is a flat nosed bus, so the aero isn't quite as good as later models. Mine was built in 96.

[madmtnmotors]

My bus is an MB19 with extended wheelbase to make it the 24 passenger. It has a gross weight limit of 19,000 pounds.
behind the driver's position and partition to the back wall is 20 feet and it is about 6'7" feet high x little over 8 feet wide cargo area.
Bus requiring about 10ft of clearance vertically and around 28 feet long as it is a flat nosed bus, so the aero isn't quite as good as later models. Mine was built in 96.

That sounds like a good candidate for an RV/Toy Hauler! Got picts, or a link to a thread with picts?

[754]

Here is an independent the works bike hauler..Sweet..

[754]

Few more. It has air lift,  so that is how it sits parked..

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Ducati Corse commissioned this Toyota Tundra track truck back in 2009.  It was featured at SEMA and IMS.  The ramp/lift makes loading/off-loading EASY.

http://www.trucktrend.com/truck-reviews/163-0912-2009-toyota-tundra/