4. Motorcycle Trailers - The box interior

It's time to look at the interior of the box trailer. My idea is that I will be able to take two bikes of my choice to vintage rallies and, once the bikes are out of the trailer, I want to be able to live in the trailer while I am there. This means I'm going to need some basic amenities, but first it's time for a clean up. So I removed the internal partitioning and all of the old wiring and sockets, stripping it back to a bare interior. That done, I then gave the whole interior a good scrub with a strong detergent and water, followed by two coats of white vinyl silk emulsion paint.

Next it was time for the design. Using a 3D drawing package I planned the interior with a "chequer-plate" floor and the first vertical 350mm of the front wall. Next was space for a portable toilet in the front left corner and a small work surface in the right front corner. This work surface to contain a sink and a small gas hob. This area to be backed by a stainless steel splash back.

Although not shown on this drawing, I also had the idea to add some top cupboards on the front wall. The idea was to make the cupboards out of thin plywood and then get some small cupboard doors from a caravan scrap yard.

So here was the result. Chequer-plate floor and front plate, Work surface in place with a sink and hand pumped tap and a small camping gas hob.

The toilet fitted neatly in the corner with a shower curtain and rail, to create a private area and the top cupboards in place with their doors along with a small cutlery draw, under the work surface, that I picked up from the scrap yard at the same time.

What you can't see is that inside the left cupboard is a 12v motorcycle battery, charged from the car. This provides me with enough power to light the LED strips down each side of the roof and a small shorter strip over the work surface area.

The water and waste pipes run through the front wall and join to a twin caravan water/waste connector mounted on the front "A" frame. This enables me to put a water barrel and waste hopper outside the trailer.

It was now time to try two bikes in the trailer and ensure that my measurements were correct and that they fit. As you can see from the photo, the BSA was not finished at this point but it still allowed me to check the fit.

You can see here how critical the measurements were. The BSA headlamp has to just fit under the work surface, so that the door will shut at the back.

The next stage was the addition of an old camping bed that I had, a small camping table and a small pedal bin and I was ready for the first rally.

Well everything worked OK for the first rally but two things really needed attention. Firstly the bed was really uncomfortable and secondly I didn't like the idea of my bikes being outside whilst I was asleep, even though they were chained up.

So this set me thinking about solutions. Firstly, the bikes. Got to get the priorities right. With my previous two converted caravans I had put my bike inside the awning at night (Out of sight-out of mind). Now trailers don't come with awnings, but I had an idea. If I got a "Pop-up" gazebo with side curtains, I could place it up against the back of the trailer to extend the living space and provide me with an awning for the bikes.

So it was back to the drawing board. I designed a replacement back curtain with a central aperture the size of the trailer rear door. Around the edge of this aperture, on the back, was heavy duty Velcro with more Velcro straps around the sides and top to fasten it to the gazebo frame and eyes in the bottom edge for rubber ties and tent pegs.

I then had to fix the other half of the heavy duty Velcro around the outside edge of the door frame on the trailer and the job was done.





Here it is in place and, as you can see, plenty of room for two bikes in the evening (chained to the trailer of course) and comfortable living room during the day.







As you can see, whilst I was having the back curtain made, I also splashed out on a fitted ground sheet, just to finish off the job nicely.







Well there we are, the first rally with two bikes and an awning and a nice sunny weekend. Who could ask for more.

The next blog, it's time to tackle the sleeping accommodation.

You can contact me on hopcroftscoot@gmail.com

Copyright 01.06.18 all rights reserved.

My Other Blogs:
1961 BSA A10 Super Rocket Motorcycle:
http://60sclassicmotorbikes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/before.html

1961 Ariel Arrow Super Sport Motorcycle :
http://60sclassicmotorbikes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/1961-aerial-golden-arrow-restoration.html

Miniature Land Rover Defender:
http://miniaturelandrover.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/1-miniature-land-rover-defender-idea.html?view=timeslide

1971 VW Karmann Ghia Convertible Car:
http://karmannghiarestoration.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/1-karmann-ghia-retoration-project.htm