I have a 09 Ultra SE. I am thinking of getting a trailer. the one that i am looking at weights 225 lbs and has a tongue weight of 17 lbs. It has 24 cubic feet of storage. I am wondering peoples thoughts as to pulling it and how my bike will handle the weight. thanks for any insight.

 

I pulled a Leesure-Lite camper (220 lb. + all my gear & riding 2 up) with my 04 Ultra from Ohio to Alaska and back with no problems. 10K+ miles. You shouldn't have any problem with a SE. Just try to anticipate your braking with the extra weight pushing you.

 

We have a little over 80K with our Aluma. You'll learn to adjust your ride with the trailer.

 

FireBike, i say you in Deadwood this summer, followed you down the street. great bike and nice trailer.
My bigger concern is about handling with that much weight on the back. do you have to worry about wobble or tracking?? thanks

 

another question i have for you that use a trailer. What is the best way to load the trailer? is there a specific weight that i should not go over as far as tongue weight? what about loading more weight on the front versus the back? thanks for any help.

 

We have a Bushtec Turbo 2 have been towing it for 4 years. Bushtec recomends that you put the heavy things in the front of the trailer. Bushtec web site will give you the info about max weight and answer most of your questions. Of course that is about thier trailer. Have put about 15,000 plus miles on the trailer the more you use it the more you don't notice it back there.

 

As you can see, we also have a Turbo II. We've put about 6k miles on it over the last year and a half. Adding a PCV and a custom map designed by Jamie at Fuel Moto was the biggest help I could have done for pulling it. The '07's gear ratios are tall, so it needs all the help it can get.
Which ever trailer you decide to buy, remember that weight, suspension, wheel diameter, and the hitch type all play a part in your safety and the sensations you'll feel when pulling it.
Our Bushtec is about 165 lbs empty, and we typically add about 80 or so pounds more of goodies to it. You can definitely feel that weight when accelerating or decelerating, but you learn to adjust and drive mellower and safer because of it.
I'll agree with Moe... once you're moving, you don't know it's back there, but that's a Bushtec for you. They are an awesome trailer, and ours has definitely changed our touring life for the better.

 

One other thing about tongue weight... it works just like it does with a truck pulling a trailer, too little tongue weight and the trailer can fishtail quite easily. Beware of a company that touts low tongue weight because of that. Bushtec recommends about 15% of the trailer weight should be your tongue weight, therefore a loaded trailer that weighs ~200 lbs should have 25+ pounds of tongue weight.
I don't know what Moe uses as his guide, but if I'm at 25-30 pounds of tongue weight, I'm all set to rock and roll.