Motorcycle Trailer; what features would you have

[81xsproject]

So, due to the combonation of low funds, access to metal fab equipment, and a mill boneyard full of materials I am builing a motorcylce/utility trailer. Here is a VERY rough scetch of my ideas. I thought i would put it up and see what you guys thought and get some ideas on what you might put on it if you were designing a trailer. One idea I had since i drew it up was having a middle tire rack as well for single bike hauling. One of the big focuses is weight. The floor will be plywood. I have access to plenty of heavy expanded steel, but don't want road crap coming up. I want to be able to stand it up by myself. I am still a student and rentals don't always have the extra space to have a trailer just sitting around. That, and I have to pull it with a '94 Toyota pickup w/ a four banger.

[dewibp]

Interesting subject since I just hauled (2) motorcycles back on my trailer. I have a Dodge Dakota with a V-6 and it pulled harder than I thought. As a matter of fact I spent $60 in gas to go a total of 240 miles. Mine is built similar to the sketch you have attached. IF you have access to aluminum I would build it so it is lighter than mine. I also have a front shield to keep water, mud, etc. off the bikes. I would also make it as low to the ground as possible to make loading/unloading easier. I have aluminum wheels and car tires which I think helps the ride along with a good suspension system. If you are interested I could send you a few pictures of mine for ideas.

[xssiveone]

I had a small utility trailer built for me years ago. I'm not a welder, so self construction was not an option for me, but I did draw up the plans.

About the only thing I would have done differently is put larger wheels on it. I only have 8" wheels on mine, and a 1" axle. Both contribute to overheated, and failed, wheel bearings. I'd go at least 13" wheels, if not 14", for 2 reasons:Less bearing heat, and not every place will carry 8 or 10" wheels, while just about any place that sells car tires will carry 13 or 14". And, I would have made mine bigger. I pulled mine with a 4cyl Tempo, Wife, 3 kids, and I plus all the camping gear with no problems so I don't think you will have any problems with your truck. Of course, my area of travel was all flat so if you have hills or mountains you might have some difficulty.

There is a formula for axle placement, but I can't find it right now. In order to track properly, for every foot of trailer length(including tongue) your axle should be so many inches back of center. I'll keep looking for it.. hopefully I will find it. I used this formula and my trailer tracks beautifuly, even when passing, meeting, or being passed by, semi trucks. No sway or anything.

I did find one site of interest in my search: M/C trailer plans It has a very nice set of plans for trailer construction.

[81xsproject]

Unfortunately, no access to aluminum. I too am tring to keep it low for the same reason. The rouned ramps are for better header clearance. Every time I have loaded my bike up a ramp, I have scraped the header pipes.

I do also have LOTS of hills/mountains to go over here.

[xssiveone]

It appears that I wuz er, ah... wrong about axle placement.

It appears that it is the "box" that is measured, and not the total length, including tongue. In any event, here is a page with some trailer building info on it. Axle placement

[81xsproject]

hmmm... the idea of a tilt trailer is VERY inviting. I wonder how much harder it would be to build. Or, with proper axle placement, I could just tip the trailer to load?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Jessie,

I wasn't necessarily on a budget, but I always wanted a welding machine, and to learn how to weld, so I got one, and then I justified the purchase with building my own motorcycle trailer, since they wanted around $500.00 for one that would handle the XS1100. Take a look at this thread:TC's Welding and trailer project!

I, too, highly recommend the large tires, mine are IIRC at least 12 or 13", will roll better, less revolutions, also get larger axles, less stress on bearings as well. As you can see, mine is only a 1 bike trailer, not realizing that I might want to haul more than one, like if someone wrecked during a rally, etc.? But I was looking more for conserving weight to make it pull as easily as possible to keep the fuel consumption down. Mine weighs around 300-350lbs, then add the 600 for Godzilla, and it's a 1/2 ton added to the main vehicles weight. I was only going to be pulling it with SWMBO's little 2.7l SanteFe.

I didn't use springs, most of the roads are pretty smooth, and the large tires take up a fair amount of the bounce, and it allows the frame to sit lower for easier loading. A longer ramp rail will allow you to load the bike without worrying about how high it sits! And being able to remove the rail and clamp it onto the trailer is better than the large tailgate design of utility/lawnmower trailers you get cause those stick up and create lots of wind drag!

I first built the RAIL, and then layed it on a 2x4 and rolled Godzilla up on it, and found where the balance point for Godzilla was, and then positioned the axle a few inches behind that point! After it was all done, after loading and securing Godzilla on it, I can unhook it from the hitch and move the trailer around easily. I calculate I have only about 50 or so lbs of actual tongue weight, but it tracks perfectly, at 80+ mph!!

Solid floor is good, 1/2 to 3/4" plywood should be good, or you could try to find some steel mesh? Oh, that's right, you wanted splash/splatter protection. That's why I put the inside guards on the wheel wells of the trailer, but in the rain, you're still going to get lots of splash/splatter/spray just from the towing vehicle's tires!

Aside from the spare tire slots, you might want to add a toolbox vs. having to put it inside the car/truck? Box could also hold the tie down straps, security chains, spare bike parts, etc.?

I had to buy my steel, so I ended up with paying close to $500.00 for all the parts afterall, but it's a custom trailer that suits my needs and I only saw 1MPG drop from my tow vehicle!! YMMV!?
T.C.

[DiverRay]

If you can get a pair of air shocks for a car, and use them for the spring, you could probably build a "lowering" trailer. Just a thought...
Ray

[Pat Kelly]

I bought a tilt trailer from Harbor Freight. 8' x 4', 12" tires and used expanded metal for the deck.
First thing I hauled with it was an XS750 from Martinez to Modesto (over thw Altimont). It pulled just fine with my 68 F100 6cyl.
As far as the tilt for loading/unloading...... it is quite a thrill. When loading, you need to weight the back so it stays tilted until the front wheel is on the trailer. Then you get to the balance point and it suddenly comes down from thw (trailer)wheelie, SLAM!!!!
Unloading is just the opposite, roll back, roll back, tilt-wheeee!!!!!
I would say for bikes, keep it low and use ramps.
I like the airshock idea XSecpt I would use airbags. Air shocks put all the load on the shock mounts (a horizontal bolt in most cases). Air bags sit on the axle and push-up on the frame. I have a set on the back on my truck for load levelling. It can raise my (unloaded) truck about 6" @ 60 psi.
FWIW te tilt is great when I haul trash to the dump. Tilt, scrape, and go.