Hitches and towing weight

[Unreal1]

Wondering if anyone has any experience towing a dirt bike with their GTI?

I'm looking to buy an old XR250r which weighs around 250lbs. Unfortunately I don't have my tow limits in my owner's manual, "weren't available at the time of printing".

I would like to use a hitch receiver and carrier:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Mast...gclid=CJWeoICc7dACFZaCswodw6wLAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

http://www.autoanything.com/towing/...185352788216&gclid=CNqGvJWc7dACFd5MDQodxPAGHA

Would the GTI be able to handle this without issue?

 

[Unreal1]

Meant to post this in general, can a mod please move it?

 

[0bLiViOuS]

I think it should. While I'm not sure it towing is recommended, I don't think it'd have a problem. I'll send rid my 2016 has towing limits in the owners manual

 

[O2VW1.8T]

I've kinda done it, But the problem im scared of is the 1" to 2" adapter for the bike hauler it ended up angling it back and it was pretty low to the ground. I have a yz250fx I drove around my drive way haha but it seems like it should work

 

[takemorepills]

No way man, I wouldn't do it.

I used one of those hitch-mount motorcycle carriers to bring home my DRZ400 when I bought it. It seemed very sketchy to me, it was wobbling around and bouncing, I felt extremely uncomfortable with it on my truck like that, and I have a Class IV hitch on a FS truck with tow package. I checked the the hitch for the GTI, WAY WAY WAY too flimsy, a 250# motorcycle will certainly punish that, and it may bounce the bike so much it might even strike the rear hatch of your car.

I'd rather see you pull a small utility trailer with your car. It would be much safer, and you might even find t has enough extra room to keep extra gear and supplies for your dirtbike.
I bought ramps to put my motorcycle in the bed of my truck. I only transported my DRZ once with that hitch carrier, that was enough for me.

 

[nafF]

I don't know if it helps but for the ROW GTI there are following numbers for towing in the Papers:
Max. support load: 80kg --> that would certainly be too low for your bike!
Max. towing load for steep hills with 8% incline : 1800 kg
Max. towing load for steep hills with 12% incline: 1600 kg

I'm not sure if i translated it correctly out of my german papers but it should give you a rough idea what the car is designed to tow.

Regards,
Tobi

 

[Unreal1]

No way man, I wouldn't do it.

I used one of those hitch-mount motorcycle carriers to bring home my DRZ400 when I bought it. It seemed very sketchy to me, it was wobbling around and bouncing, I felt extremely uncomfortable with it on my truck like that, and I have a Class IV hitch on a FS truck with tow package. I checked the the hitch for the GTI, WAY WAY WAY too flimsy, a 250# motorcycle will certainly punish that, and it may bounce the bike so much it might even strike the rear hatch of your car.

I'd rather see you pull a small utility trailer with your car. It would be much safer, and you might even find t has enough extra room to keep extra gear and supplies for your dirtbike.
I bought ramps to put my motorcycle in the bed of my truck. I only transported my DRZ once with that hitch carrier, that was enough for me.

Ugh, that's extremely disappointing to hear, but I definitely needed that advice. I don't know what I was thinking to begin with.

At the price of a trailer I may as well just get a cheap pickup and avoid putting any unnecessary strain on my GTI altogether. So guess I'll hold off until I can swing both, wouldn't have done much riding in the winter anyway.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[takemorepills]

Ugh, that's extremely disappointing to hear, but I definitely needed that advice. I don't know what I was thinking to begin with.

At the price of a trailer I may as well just get a cheap pickup and avoid putting any unnecessary strain on my GTI altogether. So guess I'll hold off until I can swing both, wouldn't have done much riding in the winter anyway.

Thanks for the heads up.

I drove my GTI on a dirt road once, I thought I was going to destroy it. Corollas and Elantras had no trouble on this car-camping road, but I damn near gave up in the GTI. Most places I take my dirt bike, while the roads are fine for trucks, SUVs and Subarus, I wouldn't want to drive my GTI on them. So there's that, too.