DaveKaye

I can squeeze the bike in if I put it in back wheel first then over the back of the passenger seat. I have to drop the bars mind. The other issue is that unless I drain all the petrol out tiny amounts come out of the top of the filler breather, this is because the bike is laid slightly on it side to get it in the van. It's just not practical.

Thank you for all your replies, some interesting and varied comments. The towbar was retrofit fit to my van and its the towbar manufactures that specify the max ball weight. Its a small van, too small for the bike to fit inside without a proper struggle. I love the dave cooper carrier, just to point out my concern is not with the rack, its superb and does a great job. I think its a case of what your happy with, for me I know for sure that the nose weight will be exceeded and although its strong enough to take the additional weight it opens up a can of worms for the insurance companies to wriggle out of if I ever needed to claim and I don't want that. So Ive decided to look for a trailer. Please keep your comments coming though.

I understand what you mean and perhaps I do worry but when you have 5.5k worth of bike on the back of your van I think it's important to consider all the factors. I may have overlooked the speedbump but my point is that the maximum nose weight allowed must have nearly doubled. If the rack or tow bar had failed then who would be at fault because the tow bar manufactures wouldent have accepted liability.

I've got a concern regarding Tow bar nose weights. I've a tow bar fitted to my van. When shopping around I found most tow bar manufactures advised max nose weight of 70kg. My beta weights 65kg approx. The Dave Cooper tack fits nice and tight on the tow bar. The other day I got caught out with a speed bump with the bike on the back. I can't imagine how much the nose weight increased by when going over the bump. After stopping to check 1 of the tie downs had come very loose but also noticed the the tow bar had slightly dropped. I took it to get checked and It had moved only a few millimetre and had to re-tighten the fixings.