More bicycle storage ideas

[Royal Tar]

Needing a place to securely transport our bicycles during our 1st “big” trip, i decided the dinette area was the best place for this modification. This is for 2 adult size bicycles.

I removed the table, legs, and leg receptacles in the floor, and put the cushions aside.

Cut some scrap pieces of wood, and inserted an eyebolt using fender washers and nylock nuts.

Slipped both of the wood pieces into the leg receptacles, and for good measure secured both with 2 wood screws.

Flipped both bikes upside down and ratchet strapped them to the eyebolts.

As for the cushions I placed them business side toward the dinette window, just in case the ratchet straps failed.

We did lose the use of our dinette but we had the jackknife sofa available to use.

We travelled from NC to NE and the bicycles never moved from their “dinette bicycle rack” during the trip.

Hope you all like the idea, any ? PM me.

[Jay2504]

That looks like a good solution for carrying bikes. How easy would it be to convert back to a dinette once you were at your destination? Then the bikes could be locked up outside. Jay?

[Royal Tar]

It took me less than a 1/2 hour to have the dinette fully functional. Thanks for the feedback.

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

That’s a good solution, hard to tell by the pics, but do you have any triangulation in the straps for stopping horizontal movement (tilting side to side)? You prob won’t see much movement, but I’d hate to get where I was going only to find the window busted out.

[Royal Tar]

In addition to the straps I did have a bungee cord on each bike that I hooked up to the opposite tie down in the floor to prevent swaying. It did cross my mind about the bikes getting loose and breaking the window, that’s why I used all of the seat cushions to create a barrier between the bikes and the window. We travelled over 600 miles mostly on interstate 81/84 and the bikes never budged. Hope I answered your question, and thanks for the feedback. Feel free to call, the numbers in the original post.

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

Originally Posted by Royal Tar

In addition to the straps I did have a bungee cord on each bike that I hooked up to the opposite tie down in the floor to prevent swaying. It did cross my mind about the bikes getting loose and breaking the window, that’s why I used all of the seat cushions to create a barrier between the bikes and the window. We travelled over 600 miles mostly on interstate 81/84 and the bikes never budged. Hope I answered your question, and thanks for the feedback. Feel free to call, the numbers in the original post.

Good deal. I think you are good for many trouble free miles.

[16WhiteColly]

Great idea!

[DaveT]

What was the gap between the floor and the tank underneath? Must have been at least a couple of inches so those boards with an eye bolt would go between them.

[Royal Tar]

I would estimate about 4” of space between the floor and the underpinning. I used wood scraps from HD/Lowes. They measured approximately 2” wide and 1-1/2” tall. I cut them about an inch larger than the existing hole and rounded over the edges to help facilitate installation.

Glad you like the idea, hope this helps you and others.

[DocBrown]

Cool idea.

You have quick release wheels. I'd consider using a couple of 2x4s with fork mounts on the floor or across the seats. You'd be able to put them and out in a fraction of the time. And no straps needed to secure them. I do this in the bed of my truck. In fact I'm thinking about selling my hitch rack because it's just as easy to put them in and out like this as it is with the rack.

[spoon059]

We've got 2 adult bikes, 2 24" wheel kids bikes and a trailer for the toddler. I ended up putting a Softopper on my truck and storing the bikes in the bed. That works while I've got a travel trailer. I'm leaning towards a toyhauler for my 5th wheel, which will give my girls their own bedroom AND give me a place to store bikes while scooting down the road.

[DaveT]

Originally Posted by Royal Tar

I would estimate about 4” of space between the floor and the underpinning. I used wood scraps from HD/Lowes. They measured approximately 2” wide and 1-1/2” tall. I cut them about an inch larger than the existing hole and rounded over the edges to help facilitate installation.

Glad you like the idea, hope this helps you and others.

This is good info. I may want to re-position the table post holders and knowing I I'm not likely to drive a screw into the top of a water tank is helpful :-) thanks