Transportation to track for someone lives in an apartment | GTAMotorcycle.com

Transportation to track for someone lives in an apartment

S

Star72

Member
Hello folks,

After riding to a few track days I'm thinking of alternatives. I live in an apartment with only one parking space so options are limited. I think of 2:

Replace my current daily driver with a pickup truck and load the bike onto the bed each time I go to a track day. This means no more track days in car. I don't know how much I would miss car lapping now that I ride. I've enjoyed driving a small car around. I don't know how much I would hate daily driving a truck for everything. I've also seen lots of people recommending against transporting motorcycles in truck bed.

Get any car that can fit a tow hitch and rent a motorcycle trailer from U-haul each time. Trailer seems to be the way to go for most people. My biggest concern is the lack of additional parking. I don't know where I can park the trailer with the bike loaded the night before track day.

Any opinions on pros and cons or other options are welcome.

Cheers.

EDIT: another option would be getting something like an S1000XR that can do a bit of everything. What are your thoughts on this?
 
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Option 3.
Make a track friend and give them some gas money to tow your bike.

I would do van instead of truck. Trucks have gotten damned tall (would the bike in the truck bed clear the ceiling in your garage?)
 
boyoboy said:
Maybe Im incorrect, but don't pro6 and riders choice offer bike transportation to the track (for a fee) ?
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I think Riders Choice does the same

OP - rent a Van for the day
 
Option 4: Buy a small van and use that. If the bike needs to stay in the van, no big deal.

Option 5: Move.
 
They do. Only that I live in Kitchener. I'd still need to get the bike to their shop the day before, which sounds like more trouble than riding to the track.
 
You can get a motorcycle into a minivan, or a Ford Transit Connect, or a Ram ProMaster City, and those vehicles do fine as daily drivers. Minivan is the best choice if you also need to carry passengers.
 
Enterprise and others rent transit type moving vans now.
Would be ideal for your situation.
 
GreyGhost said:
Option 3.
Make a track friend and give them some gas money to tow your bike.



^this
theres a thread under the forum heading RIDES/HOOKUPS where some kw guys are active and long running under a "C U next trackday thread"
seems they do rides and td's. Maybe you can befriend them. shrug.
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I was in a similar situation. I went the van rental route for a season. It gets very expensive going that route.
I ended up getting a truck and renting trailers from uhaul.

What is your current daily driver and what's the tow capacity?
 
I currently drive an Audi RS3. I can't find a hitch for it. There are hitches available for the A3 but not S3 or RS3. I wonder if the exhausts are in the way.

I got the car back when I thought I'd never get a motorcycle and wanted something that I drive to both Sobeys and track days.
 
Yeah I think I went to a few track days with them. They are cools guys and they made my days much easier by lending me their chairs and letting me sit under their canopies.
Most of them are towing with the single bike trailer from U-haul tho.
 
Option 6: keep your small car and get a fold-up trailer. It will all fit nicely into a single car spot. Check out the T1180 4'x8' folding trailer here: http://salterboat.com/trailers/ --this is the same trailer I have. It's fantastic. I bought a wheel chock from Princess Auto and bolt it to an expanded metal surface (Metal Supermarket sells this, about $100 for enough to surface 4'x8' trailer bed) that's permanently bolted to the frame.
It's just 4 bolts along the axle/bed, a couple bolts near the hitch, 4 bolts to remove the wheel chock and the whole thing folds and stands up on casters. Takes me about 15 minutes to assemble/disassemble and I can get my car back into the spot.

20180926_095144.jpg
 
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Star72 said:
I currently drive an Audi RS3. I can't find a hitch for it. There are hitches available for the A3 but not S3 or RS3. I wonder if the exhausts are in the way.

I got the car back when I thought I'd never get a motorcycle and wanted something that I drive to both Sobeys and track days.
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Ah, well that sucks.
If you're only going to do a handful of track days then I'd suggest renting a truck from Enterprise and load it in the back. Enterprise is good because they have unlimited KMs.
 
I bought the bike in June and did 4 track days in September alone. I got into motorcycling because the ongoing costs are lower comparing to getting tires and brakes for a bloated car that has sound deafening and AC. The cost of renting the truck would probably defeat it.

I’ll looking into the fold up trailer someone else mentioned above
 
Neat! I think I’ve also seen fold up trailers that come with chocks.

Im a little worried about theft by leaving it in the apartment garage tho. We had a few break ins a few months ago.
 
Star72 said:
Neat! I think I’ve also seen fold up trailers that come with chocks.

Im a little worried about theft by leaving it in the apartment garage tho. We had a few break ins a few months ago.
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It's the motorcycle you should be worried about when it comes to theft. Condo/Apartment buildings are notoriously targeted for that kind of stuff.
In any case, to help with your original question, I was in the same situation and ended up getting a stinger trailer. They're not cheap, but given the specifics of what I/we needed it for, it was the only viable option... It folds up on itself, relatively compact, and can fit in my condo locker.
 
I advocate for renting a storage space. I keep a rental garage for storage year round, 2 car garage that costs me $300/m. So get a storage space, spend a few hundred bucks on a bike trailer and keep your track bike there, along with anything else you need to store.
 
JTR said:
I advocate for renting a storage space. I keep a rental garage for storage year round, 2 car garage that costs me $300/m. So get a storage space, spend a few hundred bucks on a bike trailer and keep your track bike there, along with anything else you need to store.
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That's an awesome price. I need a temporary storage unit in newmarket and I am paying $200 every four weeks (not every month) for 10'x10'.
 
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