rv travel with my Valk

[ricoman]

My wife and I are beginning to explore rv opportunities and I'm trying to come up with pros and cons for a trailer and for a motor home.
It's just two of us and a 43 lb. lap dog.
Have looked at toy hauler 5th wheels-some get pricey and it seems like you'd need 37' or better to get decent living quarters and be able to leave the bike inside. Also would take a one ton to pull (some trailers may get by with a 3/4 ton). But you'd have a truck to use for other transportation and it would replace my old Cherokee.
Another option is a class c motor home and pull my enclosed trailer with the bike in it. This leaves us with a single purpose vehicle-more to insure and a lot of time we'd be watching it sit.
A trailer of 29' or so is all we'd need but I can't think of what I could pull it with that would let me bring the bike. Even considered an ambulance as a tow vehicle-the bike would fit inside and the diesel power would handle a trailer. My 5' boss of the house told me (rather firmly) she would not be interested in trapsing around the country in an ambulance) sometimes I just don't get her! She muttered "adventure my butt." Case closed.
Bottom line-am looking for ideas to have self contained travelling and include the bike.
Anyone have experience and/or ideas that would work? Cost is definitely an factor.
We are in no rush, will be renting a 31' motor home in a couple weeks to get our feet wet.

[bvergeer]

I took a walk through a Keystone Outback Loft a few weeks back. I was sold on it. The concept is simple and brilliant. Since it's a pull-behind it should be a little cheaper than a comparable 5th wheel and you can use a truck or SUV to haul. It is a rear toy-hauler but there is a pop top over the "garage" that doubles as a very large sitting area or large bedroom.

http://keystone-outback.com/index.php?page=loft

Good luck in your quest.

Bob

[sandy]

Here's an option. Can be mounted behind a motorhome or travel trailer. I have friends with one behind a 35' 5th wheel. http://www.cruiserlift.com/swivelwheel.html

[fudgie]

We took a class C with a V-nose trailer to Sturgis 02. RV was nice but the trailer was a PITA. Mine never will be back in a trailer again, if I'm in control. Between bikes falling over and a blow out on I-90 that rips the fender off, to much hassle. Go for a tow hauler. You can cover the bikes. Shy away from the Ambulance unless you get one with very low miles. Speaking from expierience, they get beat on. 'Nothing parties like a rental!' we say at work. We try and get rid of ours at 100,000. And they are the ones that 'need' to be rid of. No one gets rid of a good truck. We buy them for $125,000 and get $5,000 on trade in.

[f-Stop]

Here's my son & I with our 33' Keystone-Fuzion.  We were staying near Concan, TX  on the Rio Frio all last week & over the 4th...rode a little bit of the "Twisted Sisters" through the Texas Hill Country, floated on the river and drank one or two beers. - my son drank root beers!



We just got this toyhauler and really like it.  My 3/4 ton Dodge pulls it just fine - actually better than my old travel trailer which was smaller and lighter.  The cargo area is 12ft. which gives us plenty of room for the Valk (it's close to 10 ft!), but the big selling point for my wife was the full size shower!  It is also totally self contained with a generator and fueling station. 

[Stude]

 36' Class A motor home with a 5'X8' "V"nose works great been doing it for the past 5 years.
Wife wants to upgrade the motor home to a 40' pusher with a bike lift on the back. Mine will
be for sale soon if your looking for a class A

[Jess from VA]

I don't know if this would be sat for you, but I have spent time looking at the tall Dodge Sprinter for spartan one-man hauling of a Valk insterstate.  The bike will drive up a ramp and fit in the back with shield and all, and the older 5 cylinder diesel gets great mileage (vs the newer v6 turbo diesel).  I would plan to camp in the Sprinter with bike in or out (alone), but I think you could get a small living trailer to tow behind the Sprinter,  just don't know how big or how much weight the Sprinter could tow. 

[ricoman]

really good responses-thanks all.
Gotta lotta new ideas to consider and all make some sense to me.
Now time to empty the cahnge bottle and see what we come up with!

[Bob E.]

It's not legal in PA where I live, but in Ohio, I have seen trucks pulling two trailers...a, RV/Camper type trailer, with an enclosed utility type trailer in the back.  That setup has to be fun to try and back up.

My parents bought a 35ft Jayco Eagle camper trailer a couple years ago that they tow with their Dodge Ram 2500 diesel without problems.  It weighs over 10,000# loaded.  They bought it for them and for mine and my brother's families to use.  In fact, my brother has it now for a 2-week vacation, and I'll be taking it for a week the day after he gets back.  It's really nice (too nice?), but personally, for my needs, I think it is too big. It definitely takes the outdoors and "roughing it" out of "camping".  In fact, it's not really camping any more.

I really wish they had gone with a toy hauler.  I like the looks of that Keystone-Fusion posted below.  But they said that the toy haulers were so much more expensive for anything in that same size.  For me though, I think I would have taken something smaller and less "outfitted" to have the ability to take my bike or ATV's along.