Who really needs a pickup truck?

Me, I do I guess. I went to VA to buy a car this weekend, but I also helped a buddy bring his ‘zuki Katana home. I couldn’t get my hands on a truck, and really didn’t need one I suppose. Here are the pics of my buddy’s bike loaded in the minivan. It ended up being WAAAY harder than we thought. I asked him to look up the specs so we’d know how tall it is, then I’d measure the opening for the rear of the van. His measurements showed the bike was only about 2” too tall. I figured we just remove the windshield to gain more than those 2”. Well, I don’t know what kind of smurf bike he had measurements for, but his bike was way taller! We had to lift the rear tire up on the bumper of the van, then lift the front end of the bike up, rotate the whole bike 45° (much harder than I would have thought), and carry it in the van before we could make it upright again. There’s more to the story but I won’t bore you. I got home at 2 am last night. In the last 72 hours I've slept about 9 hours, I'm too old for this haha.

I thought we decided this was the answer.

I'd rather drive the vagina-mobile around than that thing. I doubt I could have got the bike in there, and if I did those tires would have rubbed.

You has other options.

My '85 C-30 Dooley is a big pig that drinks gas at a 9 mpg clip and fills narrow lanes from stripe to stripe, but I wouldn't be without her.

Still, a rather impressive example of minivan utility.

DrBoost wrote: I'd rather drive the vagina-mobile around than that thing. I doubt I could have got the bike in there, and if I did those tires would have rubbed.

I will find pics to prove how wrong you are

remember the old crap ute in Mad Max for a start

And I thought getting my GS500F in the back of a Suburban was tough.

I got two bikes in the back of an Aerostar once. Not to brag or anything.

Schwinn or Huffy?

Oh, and the one thing that is almost safe to rent from U-Haul is little trailers. Bike would have fit fine.

cwh wrote: Schwinn or Huffy?

Walked into that one.

Honda Hawk GT and a CB360 - only had to take off mirrors. I have a picture somewhere...

cwh wrote: Oh, and the one thing that is almost safe to rent from U-Haul is little trailers. Bike would have fit fine.

Yeah, but I was also towing the car I bought the same day. 944 on a dolly, bike in the minivan, towing over the mountains and I averaged 21 mpg! I'm impressed.

We put a Honda Goldwing in the back of the Mighty Dak, had to drop the tailgate to get it to fit.

DrBoost wrote:

cwh wrote: Oh, and the one thing that is almost safe to rent from U-Haul is little trailers. Bike would have fit fine.

Yeah, but I was also towing the car I bought the same day. 944 on a dolly, bike in the minivan, towing over the mountains and I averaged 21 mpg! I'm impressed.

Ok that is impressive

MadScientistMatt wrote: And I thought getting my GS500F in the back of a Suburban was tough.

Yeah, I was really wanting a 'burb, a truck or at least a van.

wow. i am impressed with minivans.

its official.

i like

hmmmm.....town and country with Sto-n-go I see.

Nope...don't see the wife letting me use hers to carry my bike

Worth the investment. Stands up on the side of your garage.

HF Folding Trailer

93EXCivic wrote: I thought we decided this was the answer.

I have always imagined that El Caminos would make great bike haulers because of their low deck height. And before that statement is misinterpreted, I understand that the lime green ute is not an El Camino.

if only minivans were manual, a bit cooler looking, etc i would probably own one. utility, haul-ability, versatility, and not bad mpg all in one.

i thought my buddies ram 2500 turbo diesel was doing good at 18 MPG towing a trailer. maybe not apples to apples but for a minivan that 21 mpg is gooooood.

What do those mudflaps say about unicorns?

i don't know much about them Japanese bikes, but isn't there a coilover shock on the back that you can crank down to gain some headroom?

93EXCivic wrote: I thought we decided this was the answer.

DW gave thumbs up to utes during the Bathurst broadcast, now that speaks volumes

aussiesmg wrote:

Quads and dirtbikes are a different story. Lighter and shorter than a crotch-rocket.
I actually want a truck again. But, not to get off-topic an into a discussion with a bunch of nut-jobs again, but I'd never own one of those utes.

I think it was GRTechGuy that said his wife would never let him do that. Well, my wife didn't really LET me haha. She knew I was getting the car and the bike didn't really come up till it was too late haha. Honestly, I didn't want to put the bike IN the van either, but we ran out of choices. I was very surprised to get 21 mpg with two full (one was over full) grown adults, 500 lbs of bike, 3,000 lbs of car and trailer and miles of mountains to contend with.