Trailer to tow behind overland bike...

[Baron Bolton]

Say, for example, that someone had the silly idea of building a little trailer to tow behind a motorcycle for an overland trip......

Where might they find information on this niche within niche topic?
Any thoughts on one wheel or two?
Anyone that's done it?
Any reason why very few folks do this trailer setup?

Thanks in advance HU people

Gabe

www.GABE-RTW.co.uk

[skierd]

Never tried a trailer personally. The few times I've seen a bike towing a trailer it was behind a full dresser Harley, a Goldwing, or a trike ridden 2-up. I've only ever seen 2 wheeled trailers, I can't imagine a 1-wheeler would be particularly safe or stable behind a motorcycle.

Two sites I found from a quick google search, might be able to get some ideas from there.
Trailers motorcycles can Pull cargo

Welcome to Bushtec Performance Trailers


From your blog, I see that you're in the US currently? I used to autocross and a lot of guys built small custom trailers with base kits from Harbor Freight.
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
and
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

The version with 12" wheels is better for extended highway speeds. They used to be a lot cheaper... Simplest and least expensive setup would be taking half a sheet of 4x8 plywood and bolting a cheap large lockable tote box to it.

I think most people avoid trailers because of the added weight, drag, and cost. You'll also need a beefy bike with a strong enough frame to handle the stresses of towing with enough motor to pull the extra weight up grades and enough wheelbase and weight to stop the trailer from deciding the direction of travel.

If you've packed enough stuff that you need a trailer, its time to rethink what all you're taking in my opinion...

[Dodger]

I've never had any inclination to pull a trailer .
However ,if I were to do so ,it would only be a single wheel .
Some links :

One wheeled trailers, hitches, cooler racks for motorcycles by N-LINE trailers

: Schoolhouse Motorcycle Accessories, Inc. - The New Home of Uni-Go Motorcycle Trailers.

http://www.singlewheel.com/


Trailtail™

[CornishDaddy]

I know nothing about bikes - but we did meet a biker in Pakistan who had had a custom SIDE CAR added to his old 800 (?) BMW in Kazakhstan. I think he'd done lots of off roading etc in it .... might be an idea ....

[Baron Bolton]

I'll assume that people have put two and two together, and realised that I am in fact the numpty that's got this trailer build idea into my head.

The story is this. I've done about 23,000 miles on my Honda XR650L, and it's been fantastic in just about every way.
I met up with my girlfriend in USA, and we've travelled together.

A friend of a friend was selling this mint condition BMW for a song, and I couldn't resist the opportunity. So I got the bike, and along with it, the idea of touring two up; down to Argentina and maybe beyond.

I am an engineer, and I am a sucker for a project to make something interesting.
So the trailer thing really struck a nerve.

I am going to do it somehow. Ideally build as much of it as I can myself, but probably end up getting something and modifying it. We'll see.

Thanks for the links. I did find a few of them myself, and was quite taken with the Trail Tail site. Certainly not conventional.
What I struggled to find was information on building a trailer as a DIY project. But there we go. I'm sure it's possible without an internet walkthrough!

Watch this space.

This it the bike:

[Nath]

Food for thought:

Monowheel -barrel trailer


And still being used (now with a different bike), to carry his dog around 8 years later





I can give you the guys email address if you like, but there's not a huge amount to tell. Homemade monowheel trailers are normally mounted to the bike with a UJ off a car driveshaft. In this case the trailer attaches to the back of the bike's subframe, but do be cautious about this - The subframe on the bandit in the pic with the dog is not the original one due to weld failure. Some people run steel tube back from the maincradle to tow from, but this looks ugly and messy.

[Livotlout]

Hi Gabe

Try :-

Trailtail™ - What is Trailtail™?

Dual Sport Trailer???? - ADVrider

TourMAX Single Wheel Motorcycle Trailer

http://forums.delphiforums.com/MCTrailertowing

All the best - Alec

[John in Leeds]

I've been looking at this type of project for some time and have found some excellent research on the dynamics by an Austalian academic - I will dig it out and post links later. In the meantime here is some inspiration

[Big Yellow Tractor]

Superb !!

[AliBaba]

[Flyingdoctor]

I saw this in North Carolina last year. It's a Uni-Go...



A UJ to attach to the bike, an easy scavange...



Suspension is tortion arm by the look of it...

[Pigford]

My old mate Kev has a nice one on the back of his Beeza.....

[beddhist]

The first question you have to answer is where do you want to go? If you think you will encounter bad roads with lots of potholes then one-wheel is the only way to go, otherwise you have a pothole detector. However, if most of your roads will be at least reasonable then stick with two wheels, it will be much more stable.

For my trip in 1988 Bombay - Europe I built myself a one-wheel trailer. Went to the bike wreckers and bought the remains of a farm bike: frame with rear end and suspension. I cut out the top frame tube and bent down the lower tubes, forming the base chassis. Two more straight tubes were welded in from the back, joining the front of the contraption, where I welded in and agricultural UJ. The neat thing about that is that using a broken power take off shaft I had a ready-made coupling. I welded a solid plate onto the UJ which bolted onto the tow bar, taking up the slack in the splines.

The tow bar was constructed from square section tubes. The big wheel on the trailer was good for when we went through some of the big pot holes in India and Pakistan.

Behind our CX500 the whole thing was quite rideable, but handling was a bit like a truck. Prerequisite was riding two-up with a loaded trailer, otherwise the overloaded trailer made the rig unstable.

As an engineer you will appreciate that there is a right way of fitting the UJ and a wrong way.

At the end of the trip the CX was sold and the trailer shipped back to NZ, where I had a tow bar built for my R75/5. We used the trailer only once with a light load and it turned out that the BMW couldn't handle it. Every bend we faced death. As this and your bike are very similar I would be very hesitant to put such a contraption on an oilhead BMW.

One thing I can say: it attracts attention, but takes the fun out of riding. I would rather get my other half to ride a bike.

Here is what the thing looked like:

[Baron Bolton]

What a great response! I love these projects.

I've changed the idea slightly. Leave the big dirt bike here in San Francisco for a few months, and trial this trailer thing around Mexico for a while.
The re-assess. Probably switch back to the Honda.

I picked up a cheapo flat pack trailer from a hardware store, to base the contraption on. The down to the Dept of Motor Vehicles, and got a plate for it, after a superficial inspection.

Then I found an army surplus store and something that looks like it'll work as an enclosure.
Not sure about the ethics of the idea, but it's done now.
I've got an ex-military transport case for Dragon Missiles. Should be waterproof, and certainly heavy duty.

This weekend I'm going to hack the trailer down by 13 inches (look what America's done to me! .... 330.2mm) to make it narrower. Add LED tail/turn lights, and try to knock up some kind of 360 degree swivel, to allow the bike to lean without causing road-traffic accidents.

We shall see.

btw- Trailer, $159, missile case $79

Some pics...

[pbekkerh]

Interesting project although I wouldn't ride with one.

Your trailer looks heavy, what will it weigh?

Here is some inspiration anyway.

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http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MOTORCYCLE-MO...item3ef986f15c

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