rickbyb

2012 Dodge Caravan

ksisler

We've transported our large Santana (25" captain, 23" stoker) in our 2007 Town n Country, but it was a tight fit with the 26 x 1 3/4" Marathon Plus tires on it, front/rear racks, etc.. Other than length, the seats and captain's bars also mandated that we lay it down and slide it in and then stand it up with care. Not that hard if two people work it, one leaning in a side door and one out back. Good thing that we don't need to transport it very often or I would get a carrier for on top of the roof rack.

IbisTouche

We usually have either one of our Ibis Touche or our Comotion Speedster in our Toyota 1999 Sportsvan. There is just room enough but we have to take the tandem wheels of and tie the rear derailleur up to do it.

uspspro

The 1985 Cressida Wagon we use to haul our tandem is almost back in commission with it's Lexus V8 swap (Engine, auto transmission, engine computer and gauge cluster all from a 1995 LS400).

Here it is with NO exhaust system.

https://youtu.be/bUS4mJfllkw

Needs a driveshaft, exhaust system and a few other things before it's back on the road. As mentioned previously, fits our Calfee (on it's side) with only the front wheel removed!

Ritterview

Tandem vehicle content on this thread:

Need suggestion for vehicle to carry tandem

Standalone 

Toyota Previa-- especially with one of the center row buckets removed. We're on our second one. Got the first for a dollar! Sold it for $650, at 250k miles, bought another that had 150k on it. Great cars!

Ritterview

The 2014 Ford Transit debuted at the LA Auto Show. There are apparently two wheelbase lengths, so the stretch version ought to accommodate a tandem. Up to 30 mpg (my Honda Odyssey gets 20).

uaz04

Toyota Avensis Verso! We did not want a van or mini-van, but we did want to be able to travel with the tandem inside. We made a short list of possible vehicles, with the Mazda 5 high on that list, but in the end only the Toyota worked perfectly. Of the 7 seats, we removed the 2 in the rear and one from the mid-center section, so the stoker bars slide neatly between for support. The rear wheel does not intrude on our space up front, and even my very high seatpost fits easily inside. Toyota does not make this model any longer [and probably never sold it in the States], sadly.

cbike

Has anybody considered using a folding trailer to haul a tandem (or bicycles in general)?

I have a 4x8 folding trailer with removable sides that I use for all sorts of things. It folds nicely up and gets winched upright against the wall with a hand winch. So it's a sweet and easy 1 person setup.

I'm pondering to use two fork mounts to haul a tandem and a regular bike with it. The biggest issue is that the fork mounts have to be about 6 inches off the plywood because of front racks on both bicycles. Also I'd like to be able to fold the trailer with the fork mounts attached. I was thinking of adding some sort of metal pedestal on the front edge so it doesn't interfere with the fold. Not totally sure how to do it yet though.

Carbonello

I usually put the tandem on the Yakima roof rack on my '05 Subaru Legacy GT wagon for local trips. But for Cycle Oregon in September, it will go inside. I remove both wheels and lay it in. Passenger seat was moved forward some.

Ritterview

Ford now lists the 2014 Transit Connect on their U.S. website.




An article in the NY Daily News.

It looks like the Transit Connect will fit a tandem, and if so it will be the among the most compact packages to do so. It is in between in size a Mazda 5 and a conventional minivan.

JanMM

Traded in the MPV on a new Mazda 5 a month ago. Already miss the ease of rolling the Screamer or long wheelbase V3 right down the middle.
Probably possible to fit our tandem inside somehow but works pretty well to load it on the roof - already had a Thule version of the Tandem Topper.
The V3 does fit inside with a little effort. Very easy to put the short wheelbase V-Rex in the back with two rear rows of seats down.

regomatic

We carried 2 tandems and 4 people to GTR. Removed front wheels from both, rear pedals from ours, arranged ours rear first and the other front first and slid them in together between the middle seats.

photogravity

This has probably been covered before, but I can't seem to find it after a quick search. My wife and I just purchased a Sprinter and we want to secure it in the van sitting upright with both wheels and fenders in place. What is out there that can hold a wheel or wheels and still keep the tandem from toppling over?

Chris_W

Since the thread title only says "vehicles" and not "automobiles", then let me suggest that trains are sometimes a great way to transport your tandem.

My wife and I get all around Europe by bike and train; we've never owned a car - we have a basement full of bikes instead. The easiest trains to take a tandem on are those in which the bike storage area is designed to take bikes standing upright on the floor, rather than being hung vertically.

In Switzerland, the best trains to choose are those marked as "IC" (Inter City), which are normally double-decker trains with a massive and easily accessible bike storage area, where a tandem can easily fit fully assembled without getting in any passengers' way. IR and ICN trains (the other long distance Swiss trains) are not so tandem-friendly (vertical bike storage area only). Long distance trains that come to or from outside the country (denoted TGV - France, ICE - Germany, CIS - Italy, RJ - Austria) normally have very special bicycle rules or don't take bikes at all. The local/regional trains are really variable, with the more modern ones typically having the most generous bike storage areas, but there is a lot of variability. One tandem bike needs two regular bike tickets/passes.

To make life easier when taking a tandem on the train, it's always good to have at least one set of couplers in the frame so that you can split the bike in two and hang it vertically on two conventional bike hooks (which is much easier to do if the couplers are in front of the captain's seat tube and cranks rather than behind - so don't buy a Santana). Even if you get to the platform at the last second, and so you don't have time to split the bike into two, or the train arrives and is a different type to what you expect, then you can normally hop on with the complete tandem and break it in half in a couple of minutes once you are on the train to put it on two regular bike hooks. Expect lots of confused looks from other passengers when changing trains and so carrying a tandem that is split in two around the train station.

Maybe I should start a new thread entitled "list of trains that can easily take fully-assembled tandems." However, it's good to expose the car-focused people who are reading this thread to other ideas.

Ritterview

It is more usual to have a fork mount, as it makes the tandem shorter, and the fork is a easy and secure mounting mechanism. For fork mount there is the Saris Traps Triple Tracks. These do not need anchoring, but generally stay where you put them if on a flat surface. It is nice with the Saris that you can easily place or remove the rack from the back of your car.

davidfrench

We need the Nissan NV350 in the US!
https://www.autoevolution.com/news-g-...tos/63221.html

Tarantulae

We used a suburban to carry our santana arriva. We had to angle it as the seats were too high to fit straight up, and then lay it down with the stoker bars against the side. Also had to turn the front wheel sideways to get the doors to close. This is with the back seats folded down.

jberenyi

My 1999 Suburban with the third seat out and other seats down fits it real nice. I have a Burley Duet with 700c wheels and they all stayed on the frame.

cbike

Anyone managed to get two tandems and four people inside a reasonably sized vehicle? My wife got the idea that it might be possible with the Honda Odyssey when the only the narrow third row seat is up and only the seat on the same side of the 2nd row is installed. I'm not sure if you can pack two tandems close enough to each other without major modifications (i.e. turning handle bars). The other question is if the Kids really would like to ride back there like this.

PS: Tandem for me includes fenders, front and rear rack. Just in case it's to simple.

Paul J

Has anyone tried a tandem in the new Honda CRv? On long trips we have taken the wheels and saddles (stoker bar come off with captain's saddle) and it fits laying down in our TSX with the seats folded down. I think we could do the same with the new CRv or maybe we could create a way to attach front and rear at te dropouts and slide it in. I measured the Crv and it is 68 inched from the back of the front seats to inside the lip of the rear hatch. Thoughts?

Ritterview

I've measured a bunch of crossovers for fitting a tandem, the goal being that the tandem is upright down the center, attached to a fork mount at the rear, with the rear wheel poking in between the two front seats. This requires a middle row center aisle, such as with two captain's seats. There is generally a console between the two front seats in a crossover which forms a barrier to the rear wheel short of the needed length. The solution must be to modify the console with a slot to allow the frontward passage of the tandem's rear wheel. The length needed for my Large/Medium Calfee is 86 inches.

I've collected some pics in a set here, when I visited the San Jose Auto show with tape measure, and a cardboard representation of the front of a tandem.

This is a Honda CRV interior. If it is 68 inches from the back of the front seats, the rear tandem wheel would be near the dashboard. A tandem might be shoehorned in a CRV, but it is not the crossover to choose for the purposes of tandem transport.

Paul J

Thanks Ritterview, we were thinking with both wheels off which I think it would if on it's side with everything attached but wheels though if I were to stand it up in a mount connecting at the dropouts I'm not sure if the handle bars would extend too far beyond the wheel-base measurement. I was thinking of getting some type of "runner" that I could set the bike on and then slide it into the vehicle laying on it's side, but I think we will need to do a little more measuring and vehicle consideration. Our problem is hauling the tandem is a fairly small part of the use of the car. Thanks I'll keep you posted.

brons2

Anyone tried a Kia Rondo? I'm about to buy my first (used) tandem after many tens of thousands of miles on single bikes. I have gotten 20 8 foot 2x4s in my Rondo by folding down both the back seats and the passenger seat, and positioning them diagonally. I'm pretty sure it will work this way with the tandem but I need to be able to carry the stoker also (my new wife) so I was hoping it might go straight in. Definitely got a little sticker shock pricing out the Yakima solution for tandems not to mention the effects on aerodynamics and gas mileage.

Paul J

We got the CR-V as it was a good vehicle for us with or without fitting the tandem. It is a little short but does fit our bike with the wheels off as I was expecting but laying down with the handle bars toward the back the derailleur comes just up a little between the seats. Do great but better the our car fit. We only need to take the wheels off and it slides right in.