Most of you know by now that we travel with two Lectric XP 1.0 (first generation) E-Bikes. Because they are electric bikes, we really wanted a way to carry them that was out of the weather, meaning that we didn’t want to use a bike rack. Sure, we could put them on a rack and then cover them, but because security is always on our minds, we also wanted a way to keep them a little more secure and out of sight, out of mind. In a recent video, a viewer saw us unloading our bikes from the bed of our truck and asked about the brackets we made to allow us to haul them this way. We thought others might have the same question, so this blog post will show our solution to this in our previous rig (2012 Ram 3500 long bed with BakFlip tonneau cover). We are still seeking out a solution for our current truck (2024 Ram 5500 with flatbed). Let us know in the comments if you have any ideas!
First, is a little disclaimer. This is something that worked for us, but just barely! The bikes fit this way under the bed cover with absolutely no room to spare, so if there is anything at all different about your set-up, this may not work for you!
Now, on to the explanation and photos…
Each bike requires two different brackets: A large one that the bike rests on when folded and laying on its side, and a small one that fits between the two halves when folded to keep them from banging together too much in transit. For each, we will let the photos do most of the talking, and just give a very basic description. If you have additional questions, feel free to leave them in the comments or email us at alaskanramtraveladventures.com
We will start with the large bracket. This bracket hooks onto the seat post and has a rubber coated part that inserts into the frame hole near the rear axle, and locks into place with a keeper pin. We have some soft seat belt material attached around the areas that come into contact with the paint on the bike to minimize scuffing. There is also a PVC pipe with a pool noodle inserted inside, where the handlebars ride. They have to be removed from the bike in order for it all to fit under the bed cover.
The small bracket has wood and seatbelt material on one side and two sections of PVC pipe on the other side acting as a spacer to maintain distance between the folded ends of the bike. The PVC pipe spacers have rubber tips and one of the rubber tips goes into a hole on the opposite side of the frame as the large bracket, and the other PVC spacer just rests up against the frame. When the bike is folded, the seat belt material comes into contact with the frame on the other side to hold the two sides apart.
Here are pictures of the whole set up when folded and ready for transport. You can see from the photos that it is about 21 inches tall when folded. We hope this is helpful! We have hauled the bikes over 30,000 miles this way and they are still in quite good shape with very few scuffs and marks. Below, you will find links to a couple of videos in which we load and/or unload the bikes from the bed of the truck.
We enjoyed riding the bikes at Mammoth Cave National Park
and also in Door County Wisconsin!
Until next time!
