I'm considering buying an Ifor Williams BV84 (8' x 4' x 5' high) box trailer for transporting trials bikes.

Has anybody got experience of using this size trailer? Is it possible to fit three full size trials bikes in?

Cheers

Scott

It will be tight if its possible, the bikes have to be put in diagonally. 3 bikes put in in this way fit in a 10ft by 4 ft reasonably easily. Suggest you mark out a rectangle an the ground and try it.

Make sure your driving license covers over 750kg, you need it for this trailer even if you don't load it over 750kg

Edited October 1, 201411 yr by dadof2

I have a 7'x4' box trailer and have carried 3 bikes many times with no issues, I would advise you to put 2 old tyres between the bikes to prevent any chance of rubbing,

when carrying 3 bikes I carry the middle bike facing the rear and have bolted 5 eyelets around the trailer for secure mounting points, 1 in the middle front of the trailer and 2 more on each side, the forward facing bikes have the front wheels diagonally into the corners.

Steve,

Thanks for the advice, seems like it is going to be possible. Three bikes wont be the norm, our two boys are just young so it'll be one bike plus a couple of Osets for a few years.

I just have a normal licence, obtained in 1998. However the extract below, taken from https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car suggests you can tow a trailer greater than 750kg provided the car plus trailer weighs less than 3,500kg. That's how I interpret it any way. We have a Mondeo estate with a max loaded weight of 2,275kg hence if I work on (3,500-2,275) 1,225kg as max trailer weight I can't go wrong (or am I missing something?). Mondeo maximum train weight is 4,075kg i.e. greater than 3,500kg so that should be ok. Empty trailer weighs 570kg giving 655kg of load capacity - more than enough for three bikes (even if one is my Dad's 350 Royal Enfield!).

Licences held from 1 January 1997

If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary category B (car) licence, you can:

• drive a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes or 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM
• tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined weight of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg

I would be inclined to print a copy off the government website and keep it with you / your trailer. I know of 2 cases where drivers with post 1997 licences have been stopped and warned for towing a trailer (about 8ft by 3 ft ifor williams) plated at over 750 kg with a car. The actual weights of the trailers and loads was well under 750 kg. Neither driver was prosecuted but were warned they would be if caught again. One of the drivers was made to wait at the roadside until his mother arrived to drive the car and trailer. It seems some police officers may have a different opinion to the governments own website.

You say your Mondeo has a max gross weight of 2275 kg. The lightest of the bv84 trailers has a plated weight of 1400 kg.

2275 + 1400 = 3675 which is 175 kg over what your licence permits. You will therefore be illegal.

The weights that count for license purposes are the plated max gross, known as the GTM (gross train mass) not the actual weight. GTM is the sum of the MAM of the towing vehicle and the MAM of the trailer. These are authorised masses not actual masses which will generally be lower.

I think Ifor Williams may be prepared to de rate the trailer for you and change the plate.

The law on this is peculiar because it mixes up mass and weight which are not the same. Mass is constant whereas weight varies with gravity. Ever since some "clever fu--er" in the civil service decided to use mass instead of weight I have wondered what a court would make of it if the defence brought in a professor of physics and asked the prosecution to explain how the mass of the vehicle was determined. Do Ifor Williams weigh them and calculate the plated mass, or do they just weigh them and call that the mass?

Edited October 3, 201411 yr by dadof2