Bike storage INSIDE a camper van/motor home solutions?!

nicknick

Anyone have a camper with an ingenious design to store bikes inside?
I bought a Fiat Ducato LWB motorhome with a couple of electrical faults for not a lot of money (which I’ve fixed) with the intention to sell and make some £. But decided to use it. Anyway, there’s no way I’m putting my bikes on the outside, that’s mental. Looking for ideas for space saving solutions to store 2 road bikes as neatly as possible. There is no ‘boot’ space as the sofa/bed goes up to the back door. For future resale I’d like to not make too many changes and make it too bike specific

PhilipPirrip

I've only got a SWB camper so bike(s) have to go outside although I looked at various potential ideas for storing inside.

As you're wanting a bed/sofa across the back the idea of a garage across the back or down one side are probably out. You could create a horizontal space under the bed where you could store the bikes with the wheels off, accessible from the back or by lifting up the bed base.

Just try not to cram too much in. Being stuck in the camper on really wet days unable to move for bikes was not a pleasant experience.

cougie

Buy two Bromptons ?

nicknick

PhilipPirrip wrote:

As you're wanting a bed/sofa across the back the idea of a garage across the back or down one side are probably out. You could create a horizontal space under the bed where you could store the bikes with the wheels off, accessible from the back or by lifting up the bed base.

It’s already a fully converted van so that’s where the bed is. There is the space under the back seat accessed through the back doors but it’s only as deep as the sofa, so used for Jerry cans etc. Wheels off the bikes become small, and the bike sizes are already small, so storing this way somewhere may be the best idea...

Bromptons eh... not thought of that idea for some reason :roll:

mercia_man

I have a Hyundai i800 pop-up roof camper van, similar size and side kitchen layout as a VW California. My carbon road bike is stored in a Planet X padded bag upright behind the rear bench seat across the van in the boot area when I'm driving and in the evening. At night, with the seat folded to make the bed, the bike fits between the driver's and passenger's front swiveling seats, protected in its bag. When my wife accompanies me, her Bike Friday performance folder fits underneath the bench seat. An Airnimal is similar to a Bike Friday. Both have similar performance to a regular bike and are streets ahead of a city folder like a Brompton for speed and handling. A Ritchey Breakaway is another possible option, although that needs dismantling rather than simply folding.

carbonclem

Mine stays 'inside' with me in my 1968 Volkswagen. You simple move the bike to a different position everytime you want to drive, sleep, cook, get dressed etc etc. Simple!

slowbike

Got the same base van - already converted though ... it has a fixed bed at the rear.

We've put a bike carrier on the back as trying to put 2 bikes inside means lifting the bed. We did do that for the first trip away as we didn't have a carrier. Had to put the bikes outside each night though.

The only time I've bothered with bikes inside is for Ride London - first one where I was soloing - parked up in Clapham Common - put my bike in the front - wheels on - ready to go. Second one was 3 of us going - so one bike inside - parked outside a friends house - put the bikes in his shed - no room for 3 bikes inside with 3 adults!

Going away we now take 3 bikes - the 3rd is a toddler bike - so that goes inside for travelling. We put them all out in a drive away awning once we're on site (if it's going to be wet) - or just outside and locked up if it's dry.

animal72

I use two Thule roof racks (that clamp the forks) bolted to a couple of cut-down bits of roof bar. You can get two bikes very close together. Roof bar on the floor and strap the seats down to anything convenient... They don't need to be tight.

pinno

Duct tape.