My experience using a hitch mounted motorcycle rack
TL;DR, This is a great solution for smaller bikes under about ~400 pounds. Anything heavier gets a bit sketchy and a trailer is a better solution if you can make it happen
So I needed to move my 95 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 somewhere and was looking for a solution. Trailer rental availability in my area is unreliable, and I dont really have space to store a trailer at my house if I bought one. And I'll probably only use this a handful of times anyway so I dont want a trailer sitting around that I barely use.
But then I remembered a recent Simon Fordman video I watched and decided to look into a hitch mounted rack. I ended up with this 600 pound rated unit from harbor freight for about $250.
The only real requirement is a 2 inch square hitch that has enough tounge weight capacity to handle the bike plus the 90ish pound rack itself. Setup was fairly simple with an impact wrench. The whole assembled unit can be lifted up and moved around by a single person if they are strong enough, but 2 people would be ideal
This rack doesn't include any lights in the box, which seems like an odd oversight. Maybe my Vulcan is bigger than what they expect the typical use case bike to be, but it seems like most vehicle tail lights would be blocked by a motorcycle. They also dont include a license plate mount, which again seems like a basic requirement.
I had some extra trailer lights lying around and wired them in. I thought the extended strap tie down bars would act like a wheelie bar and stop the lights from scraping. But i hit a rough parking lot and immediately slammed a light on the ground and broke it. I'm getting some oval shaped lights that wont hang down below the rack to fix this problem. But I'm assuming on most trucks/suvs this wont be as big of an issue since my wagon is much lower to the ground. For reference, this is a 1978 Pontiac Catalina.
Another issue that I ran into is the rear end sagging. I'm assuming this issue is specific to anything that isnt a full size truck with a strong payload capacity and stiff springs. My wagon has helper air bags in the coils to level the ride when towing. I had them maxed out and the steering still felt a little light. So if you have something like a midsize SUV or small pickup, thats something to consider.
Another problem with lower vehicles is the amount of rear overhang. The tie down bars are probably 2 or 3 feet out past the hitch. If you live in a hilly area or have a steep driveway, you are going to bottom out for sure. I live in the flat and boring midwest so this isnt a problem for me.
One benefit of a lower vehicle compared to a full size truck is loading the bike was much easier. My Vulcan weighs 500 pounds, and I was almost able to just push it up by hand myself. I ended up running the bike up under its own power, and I always had a good grasp on the handle bars. Getting this Vulcan on this rack on a truck would be very dangerous as a 1 man job though. I would be worried about the ramp getting loose and flying out from under the bike, or the wheel slipping going up the steeper ramp. Espescially with no texture to give any grip to the surface. Lighter bikes would be easier to manage for sure.
I used the 2 patterned straps as the main tie downs, while the orange straps were stabilizers to help keep the bike upright. Most people I've seen have just used 2 straps, so maybe this tipping over thing is only a problem with heavier bikes
From what I can see, my Vulcan is about as big as you would want to go with this rack. Theres a few more inches of rack behind the wheel for a longer bike, but the bike is already hanging a few inches past the right side of the car. The rack does include a stabilizing pad you bolt down on the rack and the hitch to help keep the movement down, but there is still quite a bit of twisting motion happening. I dont know exactly where the center of gravity is on my bike, but it just seems like this setup creates so much more twisting force than a typical trailer. I'm going to look into some way of tying in to the frame of the car to try and cut down on that even more.
The main part that has me questioning the integrity of this whole setup is how far the bike is from the hitch. The main rack the bike sits on is a good 20 inches from the hitch. This isnt like a normal trailer where all the tounge weight is right on the ball by the hitch. The bike is cantilevered way out behind the hitch and is surely putting a ton of pressure on it. This is definitely a problem with a bigger bike like my vulcan, something lighter like a dirt bike would be more managable. My 500 pound bike is well below the rated 600 pound capacity of the rack, and the whole setup is right around the 600 pound tounge weight rating of my hitch. But it all just seems a bit sketchy.
In the end, I would be hesitant to drive across the country with this setup. But for a shorter occasional trip, it definitely gets the job done.