Is there anyway to add a motercycle compartment to a volkswagen van?

I'm planning a cross country trip in the future with a '73 Volkswagen van. It runs well but I wouldn't want to take it on rough roads so I was thinking about taking my bike with me on the road. It's a 2003 Honda rebel, 250cc. I was wondering if there was anything I could add to my van so I could take my bike with me. Anything helps, thanks.

You could always tow a small bike trailer behind the van but a '73 VW van is not exactly pumping out a lot of extra power. It's not a vehicle I would personally tow with.

Whether you could do anything inside the back of the van depends on what you have in there currently.

Nope, sorry, not unless you were willing to mount a tow hitch and get a trailer or unless you could roll it inside and strap it down, which of course would make it hard, if not impossible to sleep in your van without taking it out every night. I actually did that once with a Honda 250 in my 1960's shortbed Ford van (actually shorter than a VW bus), and made a ramp for loading, but that might not work in your case since you have to side load it. Carrying the MC inside was certainly a PITA. Trailering with an under-powered bus in't practical, nor is mounting a carrier on the back because it would overload the rear suspension and make the front too light. Bottom line, leave the motorcycle home or sell it and get a decent mountain bike - maybe an electric one that you could either put on a roof carrier or the back end. I also owned a bus (two in fact) and with upgraded suspension and larger wheels / tires. There weren't a lot of places I couldn't can't go that didn't require 4wd. I traveled all over the southwest in mine and on some fairly primitive dirt roads.

Add a compartment? If your van physically has the room to fit a Honda Rebel inside, the only mods required would be a front wheel chock, some tie down points welded in to strap it to, a ramp, and perhaps a fire extinguisher.

Your Rebel is seven feet three inches long. Rip everything out off the back cargo and you still can't stuff the Rebel inside.

You *could* weld a motorcycle rack to the back of your van, depending on your welding skill. It would stick 10 inches both sides of the van. Passing anything too close and the motorcycle, rack, and parts of your van would be on the ground.

You could get a trailer hitch welded onto your van. You can get a lightweight motorcycle trailer, and the bike, with under 500 pounds gross.

Or you could try to buy a street legal Honda Mini Trail 50 …

A 73 VW van barely has the power to get out of its own way. It's rear engined, so you couldn't load a motorcycle from the rear. You'd have to figure out how to load it from the side opening. Note: motorcycle, not "motercycle".

Not cheaply on VW Van and expect to have much interior room. Side doors and slight angle loading into center will work with center seats removed. Did a hardtailed chopper into 1962 van that way. For offroad playing-- maybe a 125cc single dual sport would fit easier - have side up folding bed platform toward left side, have tiedown anchor points on right side with passenger seat removed so can have front end snug against front panel. Honda Ruckus 50cc with offroad fat tire and skid plate or the 125cc Ruckus that would fit direct crossways in van body just behind front seats leaving back available for cargo and folding bed frame. VW Bus rear engine gives good traction- but loading from rear means low profile loads, larger loads need side loading and body width means shorter bikes than say a Ford E250 cargo box van.

If you can weld you can alter the rear VW bumper to accept front tire of 250 Honda. Remove 250 motorcycle chain, strap front tire to altered rear bumper. Might be a real good idea to temporarily disable use of reverse in VW van!