Joined
·
97 Posts
I bought the Metris mainly for hauling my motorcycles to the track. I looked at the other small to mid sized vans, and none of them could haul two motorcycles. The Metris is able to do it easily with room to spare for tools, gear, and the other stuff needed for a race/track day.
So what do you need to make it happen? At a minimum, you will need a ramp tie down straps. The ramp doesn't have to be arched since the Metris is so low to the ground. The motorcycle can be rolled in by just pushing it. Or you can roll it in under power. Since I am short and recovering from an arm injury, I start the bike and let off the clutch to roll it in. Either way, it's less stressful than loading a motorcycle on a pickup truck. BTW, I just saw someone drop their bike of their ramp at the track. I used to always worry about doing that.
If you have a partition, you can put a bike in the middle of the van; without the partition, you will have to load the motorcycle behind one of the seats. If loading in two bikes, both will go directly behind the seats. The front tire of each bike will line-up in the middle of the seats. That should give ample clearance on both sides of the motorcycles.
For the perfect Metris Motorcycle Hauler (MMH, which I'm going to trademark), sliding doors on both sides, cargo protection panels, rubber floor mat, a partition, wheel chocks, and additional tie-down points are needed. The left side sliding door makes life easier when you want to down the bikes and just loading the van. It is well worth the extra cost on the cargo version. The partition is kind of a must. The partition will be used for two reasons: contain the smells and prevent crap from flying at you and the passenger. You will appreciate the partition when you have to slam on the brakes and you don't feel or see a 400+ lbs motorcycle press into your seat. The wheel chocks makes it really easy to load the motorcycles. Just roll them in the van on the chocks and tie them down. They also help to keep the front tire steady when driving. The additional tie-down points are a must. I added two to the bottom of my partition so I can tie down my canyon dancers. Eventually, will add either L-tracks or Pitbull restraints to the plywood. If you don't add tie down points and loading two motorcycles, the straps will be going across the other motorcycle. My van doesn't have the protection panels at the top, yet. I worry about the bike moving and hitting the side of the van, which will create a dent viewable on the outside. The panels will prevent that from happening. And lastly, the rubber floor mat will give you sure footing while loading the bikes in the wet and the dry. It will also keep fluids from leaking on your plywood floor.
Gas mileage is excellent with either one or two motorcycles in the back. With one in the back and all of my crap, I average 25.8 mpg for a 250 mile trip, one-way, to VIR. With two, I averaged slightly above 22 mpg. Both times I was averaging around 65 mph.
Ride quality feels the same. I actually think the van handles better when weighted. It feels planted. The rear of the van will drop a bit. But it's nothing to get worried about.
You will have to get creative with loading the other items you bring along. With my sportbikes loaded, which are about 8 feet long, there's about a foot of space behind the rear tires (pictures below). There's also space between the motorcycles and at the front of bikes. I put rails on the roof to load my top box. But I haven't needed it yet.
You can haul with the passenger van. But you will have to take out those heavy arse seats, and you might risk making the rear of the van smell like fuel/oil/tire. I really wanted the passenger van because it was the best bang for the buck. But I knew the interior was going to be ruined with motorcycles going in and out all the time.
Hopefully this helps those looking to get a small-sized or mid-sized van for carrying your motorcycles. As of 2016, the Metris is the only small to mid size van that can haul a motorcycle without moving front seats, or having a front wheel protrude between the driver and passenger seat, or having the bike sit diagonally.
So what do you need to make it happen? At a minimum, you will need a ramp tie down straps. The ramp doesn't have to be arched since the Metris is so low to the ground. The motorcycle can be rolled in by just pushing it. Or you can roll it in under power. Since I am short and recovering from an arm injury, I start the bike and let off the clutch to roll it in. Either way, it's less stressful than loading a motorcycle on a pickup truck. BTW, I just saw someone drop their bike of their ramp at the track. I used to always worry about doing that.
If you have a partition, you can put a bike in the middle of the van; without the partition, you will have to load the motorcycle behind one of the seats. If loading in two bikes, both will go directly behind the seats. The front tire of each bike will line-up in the middle of the seats. That should give ample clearance on both sides of the motorcycles.
For the perfect Metris Motorcycle Hauler (MMH, which I'm going to trademark), sliding doors on both sides, cargo protection panels, rubber floor mat, a partition, wheel chocks, and additional tie-down points are needed. The left side sliding door makes life easier when you want to down the bikes and just loading the van. It is well worth the extra cost on the cargo version. The partition is kind of a must. The partition will be used for two reasons: contain the smells and prevent crap from flying at you and the passenger. You will appreciate the partition when you have to slam on the brakes and you don't feel or see a 400+ lbs motorcycle press into your seat. The wheel chocks makes it really easy to load the motorcycles. Just roll them in the van on the chocks and tie them down. They also help to keep the front tire steady when driving. The additional tie-down points are a must. I added two to the bottom of my partition so I can tie down my canyon dancers. Eventually, will add either L-tracks or Pitbull restraints to the plywood. If you don't add tie down points and loading two motorcycles, the straps will be going across the other motorcycle. My van doesn't have the protection panels at the top, yet. I worry about the bike moving and hitting the side of the van, which will create a dent viewable on the outside. The panels will prevent that from happening. And lastly, the rubber floor mat will give you sure footing while loading the bikes in the wet and the dry. It will also keep fluids from leaking on your plywood floor.
Gas mileage is excellent with either one or two motorcycles in the back. With one in the back and all of my crap, I average 25.8 mpg for a 250 mile trip, one-way, to VIR. With two, I averaged slightly above 22 mpg. Both times I was averaging around 65 mph.
Ride quality feels the same. I actually think the van handles better when weighted. It feels planted. The rear of the van will drop a bit. But it's nothing to get worried about.
You will have to get creative with loading the other items you bring along. With my sportbikes loaded, which are about 8 feet long, there's about a foot of space behind the rear tires (pictures below). There's also space between the motorcycles and at the front of bikes. I put rails on the roof to load my top box. But I haven't needed it yet.
You can haul with the passenger van. But you will have to take out those heavy arse seats, and you might risk making the rear of the van smell like fuel/oil/tire. I really wanted the passenger van because it was the best bang for the buck. But I knew the interior was going to be ruined with motorcycles going in and out all the time.
Hopefully this helps those looking to get a small-sized or mid-sized van for carrying your motorcycles. As of 2016, the Metris is the only small to mid size van that can haul a motorcycle without moving front seats, or having a front wheel protrude between the driver and passenger seat, or having the bike sit diagonally.
