ideas for storing bikes inside camper?

[OregonIan]

Hi all,

I have an older Hawk shell, and would like to figure out how to store 3 mountain bikes inside (for those times when we might hike during day, and don't want to leave expensive bikes outside). i was thinking of installing fork mounts, with two biked having front fork forward, and one with front fork backward toward rear door.

wondering if anyone has done this, or has any ideas about how to?

Thanks in advance! Ian

 

[Kolockum]

I have done it with two bikes and it is a pain. Trying to get the handle bars through the door is the worse part. Although if you are careful you can leave the front tire on.

I crammed our sleeping bags (stored in pillow cases) between the bikes to keep them from moving around. Depending on how often we were going to use them I might remove the pedals on one and/or the handle bars.

 

[camper rich]

I did that with my old Ranger II shell. I could only fit 2 bikes because I had a cabinet mounted on the drivers side. I also had the shell filled with camping gear packed around the bikes. As I recall, I had to spin the handle bars to be parallel with the frame. I didn't install a mount on the floor but only mounted one for the bike up on the ledge. The Hawk should have more space, plus a wider door than my Ranger. The floor is different in my new Grandby. The floor in my Ranger was 3/4 plywood. I think the new floor is thinner with support boards so you would want to tie any mount into one of those. I also remove the pedals.

 

[fuzzymarindave]

If you don't plan on driving with the bikes in the Hawk shell then no need to secure them with a fork mount. Newer mountain bikes are quite long wheelbase and I did not even try to put them in there. I did fit two mountain bikes in the back seat area of the truck (F250 supercab) when we had to park the truck at a trailhead while on a multi day backpack trip. When we returned from backpacking the bikes went back onto the bike rack off the rear hitch.