When we bought our 2024 Forest River Vengeance Rogue Armored 373BS13, I looked at that 13-foot garage and thought we had storage figured out.
Thirteen feet.
In the back of a forty-five-foot fifth wheel.
How could we possibly run out of room?
If you have spent much time RVing, you already know the answer.
Quite easily.
This was our first fifth wheel and our first toy hauler. We chose it because motorcycles have long been part of how we travel. The RV gets us there and gives us a comfortable home base. The motorcycle—or now our side-by-side—takes us down the roads and trails where we really begin exploring.
That combination has given us some wonderful adventures. It has also taught us that having a garage and knowing how to use that garage are two very different things.
Storage isn’t simply about making everything fit.
It is about making everything fit safely, while still leaving enough living space to enjoy the reason you bought the RV in the first place.
The Garage Looked Huge Until We Started Using It
Over the past couple of years, we have traveled more than 20,000 miles with our fifth wheel and motorcycles. Most of those miles have included our 2020 Harley-Davidson Tri-Glide Ultra. We’ve also hauled our 2022 Road King, and on one trip our son’s 2019 Street Glide joined the adventure.
Now we have another consideration: our 2026 Polaris Xpedition XP 5 NorthStar.
Different toy. Different dimensions. Different gear.
Same 13-foot garage.
That’s when you discover that RV storage isn’t something you solve once and forget about. It changes as your travels change.
For this conversation, I’ll concentrate mostly on motorcycles because that’s where our experience lies. But much of what we’ve learned applies equally well to ATVs and UTVs.
Before we start figuring out where the helmets, jackets, tools and tie-down straps are going, however, there is something far more important.
Before Storage Comes Weight
I cannot talk about loading a toy hauler without talking about weight.
There is an old lesson that applies rather well here:
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
A truck may have plenty of power to pull a trailer down the highway and still not have enough payload capacity to safely carry the weight being placed on it.
Those are two different things.
Our 373BS13 has a published GVWR of 16,950 pounds and a substantial pin weight before we start adding our belongings. Add a fifth-wheel hitch, passengers, equipment and everything else carried in the truck, and those numbers begin changing quickly.
That is why payload, axle ratings, tire ratings and actual loaded weights matter every bit as much as the big towing-capacity number in the brochure.
And toy haulers add another wrinkle.
That big garage isn’t simply extra storage space. What we put back there affects how the entire trailer carries its weight.
A Toy Hauler Is a Giant Teeter-Totter
One of the more interesting things we’ve learned is just how much the contents of the garage can affect pin weight.
Think of the trailer as a very large teeter-totter.
Our bedroom and much of our storage are toward the front. The garage extends behind the trailer axles. Put a motorcycle, side-by-side or other substantial load in the garage and that weight changes the balance of the trailer.
Take the toy out, load the front compartments, fill the closets and carry a large amount of fresh water, and the balance changes again.
That doesn’t mean everyone should start moving heavy objects to the very back of the garage trying to engineer their own counterweight. Loading a trailer correctly is more complicated than that, and every RV and tow vehicle combination is different.
It does mean we should know what our rig actually weighs.
We have rearranged our belongings several times. We have also eliminated quite a few things that traveled thousands of miles with us without ever being used.
Funny how difficult something can be to leave behind the first time—and how easy it becomes after you’ve hauled it halfway across the country three times without touching it.
A CAT Scale or another certified truck scale can take much of the guessing out of the equation. Knowing the actual steer-axle, drive-axle and trailer-axle weights of your loaded combination is far more useful than assuming everything is fine because the truck pulls it comfortably.
Power gets you moving.
Proper loading helps get you there safely.
Then Comes All the Stuff
Suppose the motorcycle is safely secured in the garage.
We’re done, right?
Not even close.
Where are the helmets?
Leather jackets?
Chaps?
Boots?
Gloves?
Rain gear?
Cooling vests?
Cold-weather clothing?
Tools?
Covers?
Spare equipment?
And where did we put all those straps?
If you travel with motorcycles long enough, I believe tie-down straps begin reproducing when nobody is looking.
We carry equipment for more than one kind of weather because a beautiful seventy-degree afternoon can become a cold ride home once the sun disappears behind the mountains.
For cooler weather we may have leather jackets, full gloves, chaps, boots and insulated layers. Hot weather brings out the cooling vests, sleeveless leather vests and lighter gloves. Rain adds another layer of gear.
Then there are the things the motorcycle itself needs.
We keep basic tools with the bikes, including what we need for minor adjustments and tire pressure. Some tools need to be metric. We also carry items we don’t necessarily want to hunt for while traveling.
A favorite pair of riding gloves is easy to replace—until you’re in a small town on Sunday afternoon and discover the nearest motorcycle shop is two hours away.
Ask me how RV travel teaches you to think differently about the word “backup.”
The Motorcycle Can Be Storage Too
One of the easiest storage areas to overlook is the motorcycle itself.
Saddlebags and other motorcycle storage can hold items that naturally belong with the bike. Tools, covers and certain pieces of riding equipment don’t necessarily need to occupy valuable RV cabinets.
We have also learned to look at unused RV spaces differently.
The washer and dryer, for example, aren’t doing laundry while we’re traveling down the highway. Depending on what we’re carrying and how it is protected, that otherwise empty space can temporarily hold soft riding gear or other lightweight items on a travel day. Naturally, everything needs to come back out before anyone pushes the Start button!
That may sound obvious.
Then again, RVing has taught me never to underestimate the usefulness of an obvious reminder.
Foldable and modular furniture also earns its keep in a toy hauler. Our garage isn’t simply a garage once we’re parked. It becomes additional living space.
My bride enjoys sitting back there playing cards or working on a puzzle that may stay out for several days. I have taught real estate classes while we’re traveling. Other RVers turn their garages into offices, bedrooms, patios, workshops or combinations of all four.
That is why the “perfect” toy-hauler storage system doesn’t exist.
The perfect system is the one that works for how you actually use your RV.
How Much Work Does It Take to Go Riding?
This may be the most overlooked question of all.
Imagine waking up to a beautiful morning. The sun is out. The temperature is perfect. There is a road you’ve never ridden disappearing into the hills beyond the campground.
Then you remember what you have to do before getting the motorcycle out.
Move the chairs.
Fold the table.
Take down the bed.
Move six storage tubs.
Find the straps.
Move everything outside.
Unload the motorcycle.
Now you’re tired and haven’t gone anywhere.
The harder it is to reach the toy, the easier it becomes to say, “Maybe tomorrow.”
We started this adventure because we wanted to ride.
That means our storage system has to serve the adventure instead of becoming an obstacle to it.
Sometimes things still need to be rearranged. That’s part of owning a toy hauler. But we’ve tried to create a system where the things we use regularly are accessible and the motorcycle can be unloaded without dismantling half of our home.
The same thinking will follow us as we adapt the garage for the Polaris.
Tie It Down Like It Matters
Loading and unloading our motorcycles is a two-person operation.
I drive.
My bride directs.
We’ve done it enough times that each of us knows what the other is doing. She helps with the initial positioning of the tie-down straps, and I generally secure the motorcycle the same way each time because that system has worked well for us.
We only change the arrangement when we’re carrying something different that requires another setup.
Long before the fifth wheel entered our lives, I learned something about securing a load from a C-130 flight engineer named Gunny Majewski. Those lessons stayed with me.
For roughly fifteen years we traveled around the country with our Hummer, accumulating thousands of off-road miles along the way. We once transported that Hummer on a car-hauler trailer, and through all those years we never had a load-related problem.
The principle hasn’t changed.
Secure the load as though somebody’s safety depends on it—because it does.
We use quality tie-down equipment and inspect it. Straps wear. Hardware gets damaged. Anchor points deserve attention too.
A motorcycle or UTV isn’t something you want moving around inside the garage when you hit the brakes.
What About Covers and Weather?
Weather creates another storage decision.
If we’re riding regularly, putting a full motorcycle cover on and taking it off every day can become more trouble than it’s worth. A seat cover may be all we need during a brief stop.
If the motorcycle will sit for several days, a full cover provides more protection from rain, sun, tree debris and whatever else the campground decides to drop from the sky.
And don’t assume every campsite will have room for an extra tent, canopy, trailer or motorcycle parking area. A little research before making a reservation can save a lot of improvising after arrival.
We’ve learned that lesson more than once: a campsite can technically accommodate a forty-five-foot fifth wheel and still leave very little useful space once the truck, patio, motorcycle and everything else enter the picture.
Around the Campfire
Do I need a toy hauler to RV with a motorcycle?
No. There are several ways RVers transport motorcycles and OHVs depending on the RV, tow vehicle and equipment involved. A toy hauler simply combines the living space and garage into one unit, which was attractive to us.
Can I tow another trailer behind my fifth wheel?
That depends on where you’re traveling, your equipment and applicable state laws. Rules for recreational double towing vary, and traveling across state lines can complicate matters. Check the laws for the states on your route rather than assuming what is legal at home will be legal everywhere else.
What’s the most important number when matching a truck to a fifth wheel?
There isn’t just one. Tow rating matters, but so do payload, axle ratings, tire capacities, hitch weight and the actual loaded weight of the combination. With a large fifth-wheel toy hauler, payload and rear-axle loading deserve particular attention.
Should I travel with a full fresh-water tank?
We generally avoid carrying more water than necessary when we know water will be available near our destination. Water weighs roughly 8.3 pounds per gallon, so a 100-gallon tank represents more than 800 pounds when full. Where that tank sits relative to the axles also matters.
What is the most important storage lesson we’ve learned?
Accessibility.
If something you use constantly is buried behind everything you rarely use, you’ll eventually become frustrated. If getting the motorcycle out becomes a major project, you’ll ride less.
And riding is why we brought it.
Final Thoughts
When we first looked at that 13-foot garage, I saw an enormous empty room.
Today I see something entirely different.
I see a garage, living room, card table, puzzle room, classroom, motorcycle bay, workshop and, occasionally, the place where we put something because neither of us has figured out where else it belongs.
That may be the most accurate description of RV storage I can give you.
There is no universal answer.
Your motorcycle may be different from ours. Your ATV or UTV certainly may be. Your truck, trailer, family, hobbies and idea of a perfect travel day may bear little resemblance to ours.
That’s okay.
We have systematically changed our setup as we’ve traveled. We’ve removed things. We’ve moved things. We’ve discovered better places for things. We’ve probably carried a few things for 5,000 miles just to finally admit we didn’t need them.
And we’re about to learn some of those lessons all over again as the Polaris becomes part of our travels.
There may indeed be a better mousetrap waiting for us somewhere.
Until we find it, we’ll keep adjusting.
Because the motorcycles, the side-by-side and the fifth wheel all have something in common. None of them were purchased simply to sit in the garage.
They were purchased to take us somewhere.
And if rearranging a few helmets, moving a toolbox and wrestling with another tie-down strap are part of the price of admission, I think we’ll manage.
After all, we’re not trying to get there first. We’re trying to enjoy getting there.
The Cooper Shortcut Camping Journey Trio 😊 PlusOne!
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