I think some of you need to check your math. A bagger/electroglide is 8'6" long. So how do you get three of them in a 14' trailer???

Bwana

 

Stuff one way up in the V-nose, then stagger the other two side by side over the axles, and then get a Hobbit to crawl in and tie 'em down.

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Thanks for your response.

I'm familiar with all the ins and outs of construction and towing as I used to race dirt open wheel cars and have pulled everything from 20's up to 53's. Thats why I was charged with gathering all the info. He is wanting the smallest trailer possible to get 3 bikes in. If it were only to be used to haul bikes and gear, I would opt for at least a 16', maybe even a 20'. He is buying the trailer primarily for his business and only will haul bikes 2 or 3 times a year and doesn't want to pull around one too big on a regular basis for his work but would like for it to be able to haul 3 bikes on the occasional trip. It's his money, so I will try to find him what he is looking for.




The only time mine sees a trailer is if I break down on the side of the road.

 

A trailer is like a garage, never big enough. I have a 7x14 and wish it was bigger....and I only haul one.

 

Good to know you have the experience-- So many do not and it can end in disaster. I hope I didn't offend, it was not my intent. I was just doing a brain dump on trailer selection tips.


If this be the only qualifier, then a 7x14 should work with some minor effort.
Keep in mind that most 7x14's are actually a 12' box with a 2' or 3' v-added on. The 14' length is the inside measurement from the point of the nose to the door.

All pondering aside, you could gather all 3 bikes together at one place and park them as silly close as you can get, and them measure the combined footprint. This would answer, definitively, the smallest trailer possible question.
Try swapping them end to front as well. It is a no-brainer to figure that you can get two baggers very close together and minimize interference if they are not both facing the same way.

Other considerations - If you have a bagger with no bag rails, then you can remove the bags for transport and stow them on the floor or something. This will gain precious room between the bike in the v-nose and the two sitting behind.


More rambling thoughts -- -- Hope your shopping goes well.



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Not to step on anyone's toes here, but the above statement is not true in my experience. I just spent the last two months looking for an enclosed trailer. After looking in three different states (dealers) and online all over the place, every place that I inquired does not measure the trailer the way stated above. A 7 x 14 is the size of the square floor with the V-nose being extra. Usually the V-nose is an extra 24 inches and on some only 18 inches. So a 7 x 14 = 14 foot plus nose, 7 x 16 = 16 foot plus nose. This way of measuring may not be true for all manufactures, but it was the way every trailer I looked at measured out. One dealer I was at carry 9 different manufactures. From Well Cargo down to your basic "Lowes" brand and they were all measure the same. Make sure you double check this before you buy if you buy online. Take a tape measure with you if you buy locally.

I bought a 7 x 12 V-nose with tandem torsion axles and I only plan on carrying 2 bikes max. Storage and parking space also played into my choice of size. My opinion base on everything I looked at and measured, a 7 x14 is the smallest I would go with to carry 3 bikes. Of course a larger trailer would even make it easier.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

 

Mr. Cujo,

You stated the following:

"E-Track is nice for hauling cargo, but mostly useless for hauling bikes. D-ring tie-downs on the floor or on the bottom of the wall are what you want - You can never have too many."

Sounds like you have done some trailering. I was wondering why you feel this way about the E-track? Are you referring to the wall only, floor only, or both?

I ordered my trailer to my specs with the inside unfinished. I am going to deck out the interior to my own liking. The only thing I had install on the inside were D-rings. I was thinking of adding E-track on the floor. Now you have me curious.

 

Vonzoog,

Yes I have done some trailering in my years. OTR, local, and hauling my own construction gear for years. Big trucks, little trucks, wreckers, rescue trucks, and just about anything else that has a motor and tranny. I have well over a million miles with a trailer behind me.
I qualify all of the following by saying that I run well to the safer side of most when contemplating a load and securing it. I almost always get grief from fellow drivers about securing my loads. Not called overkill really, but never been accused of not having enough if you get where I'm at...And never lost a load. So, there's that.....


Each tie-down method has its own advantages and disadvantages in my opinion.

E-track works exceptionally well when the straps are used / pulled in a straight (or nearly so) direction from the track. For large crated freight that needs to be secured at the wall (think moving van or similar) there is nothing better that I can think of.
For hauling cars, bikes, or other equipment from a floor track there is also great workability, but one still would want to pull in a straight direction as possible.
That is to say, if you were hauling a car or a bike, you would want the track to run close to the tire tracks (or whatever you are going to tie to) for maximum retention. Imagine rolling a strap right over the tire tread and pulling it tight. The tire would be completely captured, and in almost any conceivable crash, would remain so.
If one is pulling at a hard angle from the track, all the pressure is forced onto the corner of the clip and there is, again my opinion, an unacceptable risk or possibility for accidental failure under load. Either by strap slippage or fastener failure.
When hauling a bike by E-track, and having the straps at wide angles, I would imagine the chances of catastrophic failure under normal conditions to be somewhat lower than big heavy freight, as the weight of the bike falls well under the rated loads of the E-track and straps, but in a hard crash, who knows...For me it's just my personal preference on what I would want my bike tied down with.

A D ring is meant to be bolted to the frame structure of the trailer and by its design, is meant to be pulled from almost any direction. For hauling bikes where straps are almost always run at wide angles, the D-ring is far and away the easiest and -in my opinion- the safest way to secure a bike to the deck.

In a perfect trailer there would be 2 runs of E-track in the wall, low and middle, and D-rings all over the floor.


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And no offense was taken. Thanx for your insight.

 

Here's the inside of my 7x12 w/3' v-nose, so 7x15 from v-nose to end. My bike is not centered on the ramp but even if it was I would want to remove the saddle bags to get the two baggers side by side. Here I think an 8 foot wide would be better. And my wheel chocks do not go into the 3 foot v-nose portion of my trailer, but if I did put one in the v-nose I still don't think two more feet would clear in the tail of the trailer. Not if all three bikes were baggers with fairings. I could be wrong, but from loading my street glide and the wives 1200 sporty I thing a 7x14 would be to tight. An 8x16 Would work well for three bagger's if not an easy four at the same time.