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We have a neighbor down here in Lauderdale who has just bought a new to him 06 45xl Country Coach. He is looking for someone with experience to install a slide in type lift for his Harley. He has the lift from his previous 40'er, but can't find anyone who can install it on this new one. Any thoughts? Personally, I use a trailer and don't think thelift on the rear of a 45 is a good idea. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
George,
Before he goes ahead and does the installation I would strongly urge that he talk to Prevost engineers.
Our frames are cantilevered at the rear to support the engine cradle. I know they have some additional strength beyond that needed to carry the engine, but the lift in essence creates a longer lever arm, to which some additional weight is added. That lengthening of the arm and adding the weight of the Harley under static conditions may not amount to any damaging stresses, but I can see certain road conditions such as transitioning from an old road surface up to a newly paver surface in a construction zone increasing the "Gs" dramatically.
I think Jeff may have some knowledge regarding this also.
Short Answer: Don't even try to put an Overbilt-type lift on a 45.
Longer Answer: (If you actually know something about this or are technically minded, please don't read this) Art Boice, the guy who designed and built the original lift put one on our Angola, which was a 40-ft XL. What he did was remove the center rear bumper and weld an 'H' frame across the really big engine beam dealies. He then built up a mount for the lift, then attached it. I had a Valkyrie, which is a pretty heavy bike and a tow pack to pull the Saturn. It was a great deal and worked very nicely. After the Valkyrie did its acrobatics, running into a State cruiser in Maine a number of years ago, my interest in bikes waned, and so too, did the lift thing.
I asked Frank Konigseder, Jr., at Liberty about the possibility of putting one on our XLV camper and he said something like, "We see a lot of them come in here with rivets pulling off the rear cap from the lift." He then said a bunch of stuff that I didn't understand about how the Series 60 is mounted differently on the frame of an XLV than an XL. He also said, "If you are determined to put a lift on a bus, make sure it's a 40-ft XL, perfect for the application."
This came up on the prevost-stuff board awhile back and I got scoffed at for making the above remarks.
So, people should do what they want to do with their buses. It worked on the XL, but knowledgeable people looking at the very same problem came to the same conclusion that I did: The frame is different on the XLV 45 than the 40-fit XL; furthermore, there is a different engine mounting system.
When a guy hangs an 850-pound bike about 10-15 feet behind the drive axle, there is a lot of leverage there and a guy would want to make darn sure that the lift is not going to wreck a very important part of the camper.
My 2 cents worth.
I see Jon was bored and writes faster than I do. What he said.
He's more of a Vespa kinda guy anyway.