Hell All,
Ok here goes nothing.
I’m going to try to keep this straightforward, but I’m inspired by Rob Macfarlane to provide as much information and detail as possible so it’s going to be a long read and if you’re impatient or don’t care much you can scroll down to the bottom you’ll get the TL:DR Cliff Notes version.
1st some history.
We did the Great Loop on a Nova Embassy 44’ in 2016. It’s a cheaper version of a Jefferson or Californian and there aren’t many out there, but it was just perfect for us to do the loop and learn about boating. Everyone said don’t bring a motorcycle because you can’t get it on and off and won’t use it and it’ll be wasted effort.
Well I’m stubborn German/Irish and called BS, don’t tell me what I can’t do.
I rigged a carrier on the hardtop and we did the loop with a Piaggio BV 250. It was awesome. Gave us 50+ mile range at any marina to explore. Easily did 70mph on a highway if necessary with 2 up and we drove all over Canada, the US, and the Bahamas, with lots of jealous looks from our travel mates. We would pull up to any dock that didn’t have stairs and unload the bike in less than 15 min easy. So the idea that you can’t get a motorcycle on a boat and use it easily was thoroughly debunked.
Fast forward to today.
After seeing Stick and CJ Higginbotham‘s Selene 43, Trilogy, I wanted a Selene. Fit, finish, construction, features, it had it all and I was sold. Unfortunately the price tag of a bigger 43-49+ was out of range. We found a Selene 40’ (Archer) Ocean Trawler in Eliot, ME that had been slightly neglected and I fell in love with it. Unfortunately it had no place to carry a motorcycle as the Hardtop over the master aft cabin carried the dinghy. On our maiden journey bringing her down to NJ, we tried to deploy the dinghy from the hardtop at anchor and even with 3 people working it was very difficult. So this large negative presented a great opportunity for killing 2 birds with one stone and creating large improvements.
An aft davit system that allows for easy deployment of the dinghy was in order. It also allowed for a larger dinghy. A further win. I elected for the Dinghy Butler ironically produced in Eliot ME, where we purchased Wahini’s Bight. Had I known at the time of purchase I would have had Dick Shulman install one when we took possession of the boat. Dick Shulman is 82 and not sure how much longer he’ll be making these so if interested act now.
I installed the Dinghy Butler in NJ and it has been a dream to use making our dinghy easily accessible but also out of the way and safely up. We’re not going offshore with 10’ following seas but the dinghy is a good 4-5’ off the waterline.
So the problem of deploying the dinghy easily and freeing up space on the Sundeck as we call it was solved. Now on to the issue why you’ve all been waiting for.
The Piaggio BV 250 is now a BV 300 and the length wouldn’t allow us to get up and down the stairs to the sundeck. So I needed to find something else to fit.
it had to fit the following criteria:
- Light weight - under 400lbs
- Short enough to not block the stairs to the sundeck
- Able to carry 2 people + supplies
- Powerful enough to ride at highway speeds
- Reasonably good manufacturer, not a piece of imported junk that would break with the first use.
Such an animal exists and it’s actually a relative of the Piaggio, the Vespa 300 GTS ie. It fit the bill perfectly and we found one in Sarasota, Florida in excellent condition with low miles and some interesting features that I will discuss later.
Now for me the fun began. How to get this beast up on the Sundeck and secured for travel. Recently I have been following the discussion about the boom and crane capacities but haven’t had time to add to thread.
- I was very confident that the Vespa weighing in at 350lbs would be very safely handled by the crane/boom.
- I also knew that the Vespa’s and Piaggio’s have steel bars as part of the frame that allows for easy lifting.
- I had experience with designing, obtaining, and using lifting straps and connectors from my prior efforts on CrazyLove lifting the Piaggio BV 250 onto the hardtop.
- I had experience with creating a stable mounting system for carrying the bike securely.
I just needed permission from my wife to do the one thing she hates more than anything else. Put holes in the boat.
Luckily for me she wanted the motorcycle to use on our travels more than I did so getting permission to proceed was not difficult at all.
I’ll proceed in order that things were accomplished.
The motorcycle carrier mounted to the sundeck
Harbor Freight actually makes a decent steel motorcycle carrier. It can be modified for our purposes and holds up very well with a little preventative maintenance.
I threw away the carrier hitch and the loading ramp as I mounted it flat to the surface on 2 pieces of starboard to get it slightly off the surface for water flow.
I drilled 4 holes through the very nice tie-down arms for the through bolt attaching points. On CrazyLove I had glassed in mounting blocks to the hardtop but here I knew I would have to through bolt it down to the Sundeck / Master stateroom roof.
Once the holes were properly laid out and made on the carrier it was positioned on the Sundeck and markings made for through holes.
Here’s the point of no return. Putting (4) 3/8” holes into your boat over your bedroom where any failures and leaks will cause untold misery.
Holes were drilled and then enlarged to 3” diameter preserving the inner fiberglass skin and filled with thickened epoxy for crush protection of the deck sandwich when tightening down the through bolts.
G10 was epoxied to the underside of the Sundeck skin to provide backing plates for spreading the forces transmitted by the through bolts to the decking. (Please, please use proper breathing equipment when cutting or grinding G10 as it will actually kill you in a quite horrific manner).
Many long discussions over docktails with Stick Higginbotham have been held regarding the advantages of Butyl Tape for sealing any penetrations on a boat. For those not familiar with Rodd Collin’s, AKA MaineSail, https://marinehowto.com he is a wealth of knowledge and expertise and extensive discussions with documentation about Butyl Tape can be found there among many other topics.
The penetrations on the surface were countersunk slightly to provide sufficient space for the Butyl tape (Bed It).
316 Stainless Steel bolts from McMaster Carr were carefully placed through the carrier arms and the starboard.
Butyl Tape (Bed It) was applied around the bolts with excess placed where the countersinks are.
The bolts were carefully placed through the penetration holes and then tightened down using Red thread lock and Nylock nuts (another Stick Higginbotham lesson about the advantages of Nylocks vs split washers).
Care was taken to slowly and steadily tighten the nuts while expressing the excess Butyl tape. Basically one tightens lightly and then stops and waits for the excess Butyl tape to slowly express. Wash, rinse, repeat until tight enough and no more Butyl tape comes out.
Gabi was more than kind enough to paint the entire thing with Navy grey rustproofing paint.
Lifting Harness
Lifting straps in many different widths and lengths are commonly found online. These straps have breaking strengths in the thousands of pounds. I use E-rigging.com
A large 316 SS spring clip was attached to the end of new Dyneema line recently installed on the crane when I refurbished it.
When we purchased the scooter the seller included something I’d never heard about before. Called Canyon Dancers, it cleverly goes on the handlebars and then allows for the front of the motorcycle to be secured down to a surface. Well I figured that if it was strong enough to hold it down it would also be strong enough to lift it and it has made setting up the bike for lifting incredibly easier. I have no documentation regarding weight capacity on the Canyon Dancers but it works really well and I’m comfortable with it in combination with the rear straps that take the bulk of the load.
In the picture there are 2 yellow lines attached to the side of the bike. These are simple guiding lines to allow us to control the swing of the bike on the crane arm as we move it over the back of the boat onto the dock.
Stainless steel ratcheting tie down straps are used to secure the motorcycle to the carrier. We ratchet them down which compresses the shocks somewhat but we feel it is necessary to hold it down securely. This is also done while still attached to the crane boom in case we slip so that the bike cannot come crashing over. Same for loading. The Spring clip is not removed until the bike is secured with straps at 4 points.
A simple motorcycle cover is secured on the bike when not in use and this helps prevent most salt spray from coming down on the bike. The bottom of the bike should be rinsed off after long transits in heavy seas in salt water
Gabi and I can unload the motorcycle to a dock in about ten minutes. Same in reverse for loading and securing for travel.
The attached picture will show the setup better than I can describe it.
‘That’s about all that I can think of right now.
TL:DR You can very predictably mount a motorcycle on a Selene. The perfect one for us is a Vespa 300 GTS ie.
