Noob from TN looking at Momentums

[stimpee]

Greetings!

I am a noob to the forum. We have been RVers since 2002, with a travel trailer, then a Class A from 2005 onward (still own it, ready to sell), and have been using a small 26' travel trailer the last 12 months since the kids are grown enough that they don't go with us all the time anymore.

I do motorcycle track days pretty regularly, and we also want to travel with 2 dogs (one large), so we are looking at bigger fifth wheel toy haulers. We have looked at various brands, but after spending the past week at Gulf Shores State Park in AL, and seeing that Grand Design trailers outnumbered every other brand probably 10:1, we decided to take a look on the way home today.

We are really liking the 349M, but will probably still poke around a bit before locking things down.

I recently bought a 2020 Ford F450, so I should be GTG on the tow vehicle!

Steve

[Cannon07]

Welcome from Georgia. We haul a Harley Tri-Glide in our 351MR. It's been great with no problems after 4 trips since purchased late June.

[bertschb]

I recently bought a 2020 Ford F450, so I should be GTG on the tow vehicle!

Welcome to the forum Steve! You are one of the few that bought the correct truck up front. Good job!

[xrated]

Hello Steve, and welcome to the forum. As a former Instructor with Sportbike Tracktime, I just wanted to say hello and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. We have the Momentum 394, which is no longer made, but basically the same trailer as the Momentum 395.....only without the 1/2 bath in the garage area. That setup leaves more room for all the toys, equipment, paddock stuff, etc. Like I said, holler at me if you have any questions.....and welcome to the Grand Design forum

[stimpee]

Hello Steve, and welcome to the forum. As a former Instructor with Sportbike Tracktime, I just wanted to say hello and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. We have the Momentum 394, which is no longer made, but basically the same trailer as the Momentum 395.....only without the 1/2 bath in the garage area. That setup leaves more room for all the toys, equipment, paddock stuff, etc. Like I said, holler at me if you have any questions.....and welcome to the Grand Design forum

Thanks! My son and I both started coaching for STT in the southern region this summer. We love the organization and we both have been enjoying the experience of helping other riders learn and have fun.

My wife and I are currently struggling with the decision of what TH is right for us. We looked at the 395M and the 349M yesterday. The 395 has great living space but my wife is concerned about storage. The GD trailers appear really nice. But the placement of the 1/2 bath and W/D hookups sucks up garage space.

We are really attracted to the Keystone Fuzion layouts. The 419 is tops with storage and we prefer the E/W bedroom layout for closet and w/d hookups. The 429 is a contender but need to see it again.

I am just struggling with whether the GD is really that much better for long term. Because right now we prefer the fuzion layouts.

We really don't want to make the wrong choice!

[jjbbrewer]

Wow - another noob here with some commonality with xrated and stimpee!

First, I bought a 2020 F450 in October and I'm picking up a 2021 349M on Wednesday. This is almost an identical setup to what stimpee is planning, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Second, I'm also a roadracer. I've been racing since '89 and I currently (primarily) use my older toy hauler to do MRA races here in Colorado. I have a '08 Ducati 1098R and a '13 Ducati 1199R Panigale. I have a few class championships to my name and I currently serve on the MRA board of directors as a rider rep & school instructor.

Small world!

I'm planning on using my 349M for more racing (of course), some vacationing with my wife, and for work. (My job is doing trail & route inventories for the Bureau of Land Management and various state agencies (Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho) using my KTM 520 dirt bike)

I'm going to subscribe to this "noob" thread so I don't miss any responses you guys have!

[stimpee]

Hopefully we can get some good inputs!

I am of the "the older I get, the faster I was" crowd at this point. I mashed up all of my joints and extremities 25+ years ago racing. So, now I keep the pace down to try to minimize future pain. That is my excuse for being slow!

The 349M is really nice, and there are a lot of things we love about it. The kitchen space, the open island, the big pantry, and the new range and residential fridge are nice. We also kind of like the fact that it is a 2-axle trailer and only 38 feet long. Easier to handle in every respect. I am a LITTLE worried about the garage space since once you put in the half bath and a W/D it chews into the space pretty well. Should still be fine for 2-3 bikes though. Normally I will probably only have two, but sometimes if both of my sons go with me we could have 3-4 to stuff in there. I also want to keep a nice tool chest/rollaway, and other track items. My wife and I also want a grill/griddle combo, and some kayaks, but more often that would be when we go away without the kids, and then I would at most have a bike, maybe 2 if I planned to hit a track day somewhere.

The struggle is real though. If I get the 349M, I think it would be a long-term purchase, and I would consider upgrading axles, getting the disk brakes, etc. Then the price starts to rack up. I guess I could always add that stuff later. We still prefer the layout and some of the details of the Fuzion 373/419 (11 and 15ft garages and 2 and 3 axles respectively). The 1/2 bath is not in the garage, and as mentioned we prefer the east/west bed layout with W/D in the bedroom. All I can say is ugh....

[xrated]

Wow - another noob here with some commonality with xrated and stimpee!

First, I bought a 2020 F450 in October and I'm picking up a 2021 349M on Wednesday. This is almost an identical setup to what stimpee is planning, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Second, I'm also a roadracer. I've been racing since '89 and I currently (primarily) use my older toy hauler to do MRA races here in Colorado. I have a '08 Ducati 1098R and a '13 Ducati 1199R Panigale. I have a few class championships to my name and I currently serve on the MRA board of directors as a rider rep & school instructor.

Small world!

I'm planning on using my 349M for more racing (of course), some vacationing with my wife, and for work. (My job is doing trail & route inventories for the Bureau of Land Management and various state agencies (Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho) using my KTM 520 dirt bike)

I'm going to subscribe to this "noob" thread so I don't miss any responses you guys have!

Another "Welcome aboard" to you jjbbrewer...and congrats on the new G.D. I never did do any of the racing vs. trackdays. I didn't get started on the track until I was 51 years old (2005) even though I've been riding since 1971! LOL, I guess I was just a late bloomer when it came to motorcycle track events.

[xrated]

Hopefully we can get some good inputs!

I am of the "the older I get, the faster I was" crowd at this point. I mashed up all of my joints and extremities 25+ years ago racing. So, now I keep the pace down to try to minimize future pain. That is my excuse for being slow!

The 349M is really nice, and there are a lot of things we love about it. The kitchen space, the open island, the big pantry, and the new range and residential fridge are nice. We also kind of like the fact that it is a 2-axle trailer and only 38 feet long. Easier to handle in every respect. I am a LITTLE worried about the garage space since once you put in the half bath and a W/D it chews into the space pretty well. Should still be fine for 2-3 bikes though. Normally I will probably only have two, but sometimes if both of my sons go with me we could have 3-4 to stuff in there. I also want to keep a nice tool chest/rollaway, and other track items. My wife and I also want a grill/griddle combo, and some kayaks, but more often that would be when we go away without the kids, and then I would at most have a bike, maybe 2 if I planned to hit a track day somewhere.

The struggle is real though. If I get the 349M, I think it would be a long-term purchase, and I would consider upgrading axles, getting the disk brakes, etc. Then the price starts to rack up. I guess I could always add that stuff later. We still prefer the layout and some of the details of the Fuzion 373/419 (11 and 15ft garages and 2 and 3 axles respectively). The 1/2 bath is not in the garage, and as mentioned we prefer the east/west bed layout with W/D in the bedroom. All I can say is ugh....

Steve, my wife and I both were instructors in the STT Southern Region. We are both three days older than dirt but sure enjoyed our track time for sure. She retired from coaching in 2016 and I retired from it in 2017. I'm guessing, but I've got over 10,000 miles at Barber, by itself...and not counting the other tracks we went to with STT.

Once thing that I took into consideration when we bought our T.H., the triple axle trailers will have a lot more payload or Cargo Carrying Capacity than the tandem axle T.H.s I've heard of guys loading them up to the point that they were over the GVWR of the trailer.....maybe a SXS and a couple of bikes....or a SXS and a Quad...plus all the gear, equipment, tools, two 30 gallon fuel tanks full, etc. It's just something to consider, depending on how you are going to use it and what all you are going to load it up with.

[stimpee]

Thanks for the thoughts. I am having those same concerns about the 2 axle vs 3. The thought of a smaller and lighter trailer has some attraction. But the 3 axle units seems to have 1000-1500lbs additional CCC (or more) which is a lot. It is amazing how stuff adds up, and the ability to haul 4+ bikes and gear longer distances to hit some other tracks would certainly be of interest. I would also like to be able to haul a bigger street bike with me when we travel, in addition to a track bike or two.

It will probably be like everything else. I started looking at 3/4 ton pickups and considering bigger trailers. Then I bought an F450 and here we are...