Yes the cargo area is way too short I work with a company who purchased eight of them they're designed for European style in metropolis work duty they cannot hold up to the heavy duty work of construction towing occasionally you're not going to have any problems but if you're buying a used one the maintenance is quite heavy and people have used it as for try to market it as a working vehicle again it works just great florists stuff like that but heavy duty construction where you're hauling five six seven hundred lb of tools or more they wear down and they wear out fast they're essentially the same thing as a Scion xB they just have a taller roof line. Various minivans could handy. But having a bike in there without secure anchors and having to remove components that just sucks... be don't know what your budget is but the Mercedes minivans are by far the best not only can they handle an 8 foot sheet of plywood you can also put over 20 sheets in them that's how much weight they will handle? but it comes with a Mercedes-Benz price tag as well. finding a jack-of-all-trades vehicle to fit in the garage is not an easy solution.... Again you don't ever want to get in a wreck, a fast stop etc.. . 400lb motorcycle in tool boxes IT WILL kill you. Tie downs/ ratchet straps...Don't do nothing in a accident. Don't know what your racing or track Day schedule is but perhaps going your local Facebook or Craigslist and find somebody that has small enclosed trailers for rent you can probably rent one for five years for half the price of what a new one would cost you can sleep in that you don't have to store it at your house either. I rent trailers for just about everything have for well over two decades far cheaper than dropping coin on one for myself....
Agree with this 100%, don't ignore the safety aspect of it. Hauling anything inside the van requires it be secured for worst-case scenario. My driver's ed teacher in high school relayed some stats on moving objects inside a car when you come to a sudden unplanned stop, including a case where a driver was killed by a box of kleenex that came off the back window ledge/deck in his car.
I have seen someone who used a Transit Connect to haul two minimoto bikes but those are much smaller and thinner than a sportbike. That said, I agree with @Rz. I think the Transit Connect is a poor choice for the reasons already mentioned and others left unsaid. But, to the OP, if that's what you want, get one until you decide you don't want it anymore. Someone on here once said: buy more space and power than you think you need right now. Personally, I like the separation of personal space and cargo space.
This sounded so weird I had to Google it, and it sounds like it's a myth..... https://mythresults.com/episode36
Everyone's driver's Ed teacher told that exact same story about the Kleenex box. Turns out, it wasn't true and just an urban legend. Doesn't mean poorly packed motorcycles and associated bits won't kill you, but a Kleenex box definitely won't. Edit: didn't read the whole thread.
I had a 2015 TC and loved it. I put 260k miles on it and it was virtually trouble free. It was about 7' long inside so I think a race bike would fit but my dirt bike would not. Now I'm using an extended chevy express as my boys are starting to ride and I needed more room. The first gen which is 2010-1013 are pretty much total crap. Second gen is FAR better reliability and creature comfort wise.
I have a 2015 cargo I use for my MTBing and camping. It's longer than the new ones I see, so you would need to make sure they still have that as an option. It's almost 7' from the back door, to the back of the seats with the seats all the way back. I've got a single bike trailer I use to tow bikes around. I get 28-30 as my daily driver, and 25-27 towing a 4x6 trailer with 50ish tires on the trailer, and 40ish inside the van. It's got 95k on it, and it's been a great vehicle for me. What Spooner said, the front of it is comfortable. I've driven it from SC to CT in a day with no problems.
Ehh, they are basically a High rood station wagon version of a Escort or Focus…. Fine for delivering small parts, office supplies and the such around town. Not so much for hauling around motorcycles and all that’s needed to race across states to a racetrack. JMO A regular Mini van will do Much more work than one of them and come much closer to being a race hauler.
Junk. Complete junk. Trans are shit. Engines have no power to haul anything. Coolant pump problems and more. Steer clear. You’re better off getting a clapped out ‘98 E350 than one of those.
I beg to differ. I have a 17" TC XLC . I posted back then in the tread I started when looking for something to replace my GMC Safari . I hauled a steel bed 12 ft dump trailed loaded with Alpaca shit 120 miles @ 70mph. Not something I would do on a regular basis, but there would be no problem towing a small enclosed trailer anywhere around the country.
Don't have any first hand experience with either of those, but someone that I know is using the Metris to haul his bike/sleep in it.
Smallest Transit is still 1.5 feet longer and 8 inches taller than the Metris, which may not fit in a garage. MB made the Metris to basically match all external minivan dimensions, it fills a very specific niche.
I appreciate all the feedback. I does sound like the transit isnt a great choice. Like I mentioned earlier, the problem with the bigger vans is that I need them to fit in the garage. Looks like there is a class of vans larger than the Connect, but smaller than the full size, I will do some research on their external dimensions and the garage dimensions.
High mileage Honda Odyssey? Just make sure the timing belt is changed every 100k and gas/oil and drive for 300k+ miles!
I've been dreaming of Moto-Van setups for a couple of years. Pickup and 6x12 was the way to go forever because most of my racing was day trips. With S. Florida racing dying a slow death, we now have the prospect of traveling further / spending more nights, the van is an attractive option. I have access to a 33' motorhome which is awesome, but it's a project taking it on trips, and most of the time I'm solo anyway. 2020 season with Kaleb, we had our whole 2 bike setup in a Ram Promaster 2500 high roof- and that was with a little bed up front that they could sleep in without unloading anything. During long drives I mentally work on the layout of my proposed Moto-Van. At one point I had a sheet that had the measurements of all of the various vans (Promaster, sprinter, Long wheelbase sprinter, etc.) and my plan was to make some scale drawings, and make little scale beds, toolboxes, bikes, etc and sort of slide them around to figure out different layouts- like I've seen architects and interior designers do with bedrooms and furniture. One of these days....
