It's hard to UPS when you dont know where you are going. Just take it easy and you will be fine. HAVE fUN!

 

We haven't towed it yet, but we bought a pop-up camper trailer for the bike. After several long distance trips, we're looking forward to not having to unpack the bike at every stop to have what we need at hand.

 

THAT would be cool.

 

I pull a n-line trailer and it pulls easily. It tracks behind the bike better than two wheeled trailers. As my non-trailer pulling friends noticed on our road trip during Sturgis this past August.

We are going to build some for next year so they can try them too.

 

I have a lead on a new MiniSport from a local dealer. It is all Aluminum and has the torsion suspension. Weighs less than 200 lb. I can easily pick the back corner up. Anyone seen one of these guys? Do you think the height would be a problem? Everything is above the axle. I have seen a few that have a lower center of gravity. Use would be for light stuff. Tent, chairs and sleeping bag and pads for two.
Jeff

 

I picked up my Uni-Go at the factory, a little north of Cincinnati, in September. Had the hitch and wiring installed and then headed back to NJ. The Uni-Go is a one-wheeled trailer, that leans with the motorcycle. It weighs 70 pounds empty, and will hold 110 pounds of gear. The trailer can be un-hitched from the motorcycle and wheeled into your hotel room. It was just what I needed for my camping gear.

 

Do it right, pack it right....have a ball! You and your dad will spend lots of good times together. I wish my sons could join me like that. You're never to old to bond a bit more with ole dad.

 

That's the setup I have and I like it a lot, but I'm all about service over pretty.

To those considering pulling a trailer: You can back them up just like any other vehicle/trailer combination, but I've done things in my life that are more fun. Just remember to pull into a spot where you can go our forward. It's really not that difficult. The biggest challenge for me is when the law of gravity comes into play stopping on an incline. I really avoid that whenever I can. It's like coming to a hill when driving in snow, a running start and not stopping is the best way to go about it.

To the safety conscious, pulling a trailer is much safer than a bike piled 6 feet high with gear IMO. What's safe about a top heavy bike? As far as HD's non-blessing, that was written by lawyers to keep them out of trouble. It has nothing to do with reality.

I didn't go with a swivel hitch. The way I look at it, the regular hitch will move around on the ball to around 90 degrees, and if I'm that far over it won't matter much anyway.

 

I've never towed a trailor with my bike, so this may be simplistic

Do these motorcycle trailors have electric brakes??

If they don't, then I would imagine the trailor would have a tendancy to push you around when stopping

 

A few years back I was a riding a Kawasaki Nomad and bought a Piggybacker trailer that I towed a few thousand miles with it. It's not as big as it looks in this pic. <G>


Pros: Plenty of room to bring anything you want, I was able to pack for a 30 day work related trip, bring along all the camping gear you need, folding chairs, everything. Adds stability to the bike, I credit the trailer with a save on slick roads (snow). I hit snow in Gallup, NM (in June) on I-40. When I went to take the exit the front wheel slipped and the bars turned suddenly like there was no traction. I started to go down but felt like the back end of the bike pushed it back up (the trailer). I can't really explain it, but I have never felt anything like it before or since.

Cons: You tend to bring along crap you don't need. Affects gas mileage, and range, especially at Interstate Highway speeds. The Nomad is a 120 miles per tank bike at best, with the trailer that dropped to 100 or less. The spun aluminum tank you see in the pics held an additional 4 gallons, bringing the range to almost 200 miles + reserve. You have to be aware that the trailer tracks wider than the bike. I hit a few curbs with the trailer wheels, no big deal, just a little jostling of the trailer. It's also easy to forget and run a trailer wheel off the road or over the white line. Instead of running in the wheel track in the lane, you need to run down the center of the lane.

We moved to Texas and I didn't use the trailer for a couple of years and sold it. I'm planning to build another one, this one will be much smaller, based on the Thule 8 cu ft cartopper and will be as low and narrow as possible. I would love to have a Bushtec, Aluma or other factory built trailer, but they are too expensive for the amount of use I would give them.

I know people who do big trips every year and pull a trailer behind their bikes for every mile of it. They typically take the backroads and slow down a little, camping along the way. One guy put over 100K on a 1500 Gold Wing, pulling a trailer for 90% of those miles.

Delphi has a good motorcycle trailer forum, as does the GL1800 gold wing forum.