5. Motorcycle Trailers - Bed Time

As I mentioned on my previous blog, the sleeping accommodation in my motorcycle box trailer could definitely do with some improvement. Up to this point I had been using an old camp bed, which was very uncomfortable (you could feel the springs through the mattress) and too short (my feet stuck over the end. Also the pillows would tend to drop over the end, and onto the toilet, during the night. Also once packed away and folded, I had to hang it on hooks, on the wall, directly above the bike on that side, when the bikes were loaded. Despite strapping it in place, I was always worried that the bed may jump the hooks, when the trailer went over a bump and leave it hanging on the strap. So it was time for a more permanent and more comfortable solution.

I needed a bed that would fold away, was long enough and that I could hang high on the wall, when not in use, so that a bike could fit underneath it. This required a design in two parts as, in order for the bed to be long enough, it had to reach under the overhead area that was occupied by the roller shutter. If I made the bed in one piece, then I would not be able to push it high up the wall to store it as it would hit the roller shutter.

So taking the biggest part of the bed first, two vertical runners were made, using Unistrut. Plates were welded to the Unistrut for fixing it to the trailer wall and 5mm thick strips of steel were slid inside the runners. The bed was to be fixed to the sliding strips of steel and the bottom section of the sliding steel strip would form the back legs for the bed.













 The next job was to weld the bed hinge plates to the sliding steel strips, which stuck out between the two sides of the Unistrut

 Now the frame could be made for the bed itself and bolted to the two hinge plates. Steel plates were then made, that the bed frame could hook over at the top, when folded away. You will note the holes in the steel frame to try and save as much weight as possible. The front legs were then fitted to the frame. These were made of angle-iron and pivot at the top to fold away.

I then made the wooden base out of 12mm plywood and cut holes in that too, again to save weight.

It was now time to turn my attention to the foot extension on the bed. This could not push up the wall, like the main bed, due to the roller shutter overhead. So a folding frame was made that simply hinges up and fastens to the wall. An additional leg was also added to this extension for stability. At this point I measured the main bed frame and ordered a 50mm thick, vinyl covered pad for the main bed. This particular material can breath allowing cool air to pass through it. I already had a pad suitable for the foot extension. I know it's a different colour but, as it's under the bedding, I didn't feel that it mattered.

Now to stop the pillows falling off the end of the bed, I made a headboard out of 12mm ply and hinged it to the wooden bottom base, so that it could fold under the mattress when packed away. As a final touch, I added a hinged "U" section of aluminium to hold the headboard vertical when in use.





Well there it is. It works and it's comfortable, long enough and folds away beautiful.

As you may be aware, I'm now packing quite a lot of equipment including a gazebo, side curtains, a ground sheet and (as you can see from the photo above) a carpet. The problem of where to put all this stuff when the bikes are in the trailer is the next thing to be solved. Up to this point I've been hanging them from the ceiling bars with ratchet straps. But that's not ideal. It's difficult to load and I don't like all of that weight hanging over my bikes. So the next blog is the storage solution.

You can contact me on hopcroftscoot@gmail.com

Copyright 03.07.18 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