Payload on a motorcycle: This is how much weight can be on the bike

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Payload on a motorcycle: This is how much weight can be on the bike
Klaus H. Daams

counselor

Driving experience & Driving tips

Payload on a motorcycle: This is how much weight can be on the bike

Payload on the motorcycle
So much weight is allowed on the bike

Anyone who goes on a long tour by motorcycle has a lot to take with them. With a pillion passenger and full travel equipment, the gross vehicle weight limit of many machines is quickly reached or exceeded.


Uli Baumann

05/28/2021

When asked about the payload, the first thing you should do is look at the vehicle registration document (registration certificate, part I). The curb weight of the vehicle is entered under number G – empty means with 90 percent fuel in the tank (DIN curb weight). A specification from-to refers to different equipment variants. The remaining fuel should be added to the empty weight. The rule of thumb here is: one liter of gasoline weighs around 0.75 kilograms. Additional equipment such as luggage systems or additional headlights must also be added.

Some exceptions here are electric motorcycles. In some models, under number G, there is the empty weight without battery, the mass of which cannot be neglected.

Determine weight yourself

The actual weight can also be determined with bathroom scales. First, put the scales (make sure that the load capacity is sufficiently high) under the front wheel, then under the rear wheel of the balanced, fully fueled and fully equipped machine. To adjust the level, you can put a board under the other wheel. Both weights are added. Alternatively, many shipping companies or municipalities also have large scales that can be driven on with the complete vehicle. Inquiries do not cost anything.

Note the permissible total weight

The second important information can be found under number F.1: The permissible total weight is entered here. What is here is not a guideline, but the absolute limit. The actually possible payload then results from the difference between the permissible total weight and the actual vehicle weight.

The numbers games go further: if you want to know what luggage you are actually allowed to take with you, you now have to subtract the weight of the passengers from this payload. Of course, the weight in full driver equipment applies, which easily adds 10 kilograms to the body weight.

Calculation example


Payload on a motorcycle: This is how much weight can be on the bike


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Take, for example, a BMW R 1200 R LC. According to the bill, it weighs 231 kilograms. There are also just under 2 liters of fuel (1.5 kilograms) and both suitcases (together 8 kilograms) for the trip. We add a driver weighing 90 kilograms and a pillion passenger weighing 60 kilograms, plus 10 kilograms of clothes each. We are already at 410.5 kilograms in total. With a permissible total weight of 450 kilograms, there are effectively 39.5 kilograms left for the luggage. And that with a large BMW. Other bikes offer much less reserves, as an overview of more than 300 models from ADAC shows (see download).

PDF

Motorcycles and their payload 0.36 MByte

Driving with luggage

Read here how luggage often worsens the handling characteristics of the machine, how to pack properly and which measures on the machine make driving safer.

opinion poll

Luggage on the motorcycle only…

Voted 915 times

…in leather. Preferably black.

…in the suitcase. In vehicle color.

…in a duffel bag made of tarpaulin.

…in backpack. I always travel light.

…in a light textile bag. It is not so obvious.

Conclusion

Depending on the motorcycle, the subject of payload is a tricky one. If you go on the big tour, you should do the math beforehand.

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