pulling a trailer with my 1100

[ddmclark]

Well, there's a first for everything, and this is mine.
Question for those who have pulled a trailer with their xs or any m/c. I have been kicking around the idea of pulling a trailer this year but don't have a clue on the do's and dont's, any advice out there? I have an 1980 sg, no oil cooler, fully dressed 47,000 km.
thanks
Don

[captjerry]

Finally something I can contribute to
Don, your SG will handle any CARGO trailer just fine.
I pulled a really hideous cargo trailer behind my 79 Std all over the country. Remember back in 79-80 the only cargo trailers I was aware of were large and glorified car tops. I didnt realize it was even back there. The hitch I had was shoddy, and of bad design I dont remember the mfg but it took some ingenuity on my part to keep it from breaking. If you are handy with a welder or know of someone that is your own design is very inexpensive and very easy to build.
As far as what trailer to use is all personal preference and what can your buget stand. I have drug a Starlight thousands of miles with the Wing and you would not know its behind you on your SG. Inexpensive (sortof) and a quality trailer for "her things". http://www.neoshotrailers.com/models.html

The main suggestions I can offer on trailer pulling is keep your tongue weight at 10-15% of total trailer weight. This will keep the trailer from "wagging" Ive never experienced this problem with the cargo trailer only with the camper but have been told it will do it with some cargo trailers if not loaded properly.
During rain and slick conditions you will need to allow yourself a bit more braking room with the trailer in tow. I cannot emphasize enough how well the small cargo trailers do behind a bike. I am VERY serious when I say you do not know they are back there. Your total weight with a cargo trailer is usually around 200-250lbs. With a small cargo trailer I do not feel an oil cooler is necessary. I did install one on my 79 at about 30k miles just on a whim. Couldnt tell a bit of difference with or without it.

I am going to try to fabricate a hitch for my SH that can be removed and installed easily. I only want it on the bike IF Im going to pull the trailer. I have reservations about pulling a camper with the Special models. Weight being the main factor. My camper when loaded (i pack tons of stuff) I am probably grossing around 500lbs. I personally feel that pulling that with a towing vehicle of only 550-575 lbs could get intense. Dragging the camper around is safe however taking into consideration tongue weight, braking early and using the engine alot more for braking. However I am doing this with a motorcycle that weighs over 800lbs and have logged well over 40k miles doing it.

Sorry to get long winded. Cargo trailer no problem. Watch your tongue weight, have fun. You wont know its there. I have owned both swivel hitches standard ball hitches and there is no difference between the two in pulling. Lots of debate on that but I drag the camper with a std ball set up. I just see NO need in a swivel hitch.

J

[Jerry]

I've pulled a trailer for 3 years now with my XJ. Picture below is from this last October on a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon:



Trailer is a home-built and weighs about 125 pounds empty, about 180 loaded.

Check the Off-Site Tech Tips for a few articles on hitch and trailer building. A few of us do it on a regular basis. Captjerry is righ on most of his comments, although I use a swivel hitch...

When I built my rig, I set the tongue height to be in line with the rear wheel axle, so mass of trailer is basically in line with the swing arm. Weight on the tongue is critical; I have a moveable spare tire mount that I tried in different places before I found the best spot where the trailer would not sway empty or full.

My hitch is mountd to the bike 3 ways: main arm bolted through existing holes in the frame under the seat, supporting brackets to bolts supporting the rear of the fender (near turn light mounts) and in my case a stabilizing bar that attaches to the crossbar between my Vetter hard luggage mounts. Very stable. I don't remove the hitch between uses.

In Arizona I had to register the trailer. In Wisconsin I didn't. Chech with your DMV for details. Cost in AZ for registration (permanent, one time) plus title creation for a home-built unit was $139.00.

So yes, you can pull a small trailer with you XS. Hitch can be built fairly easilywith a welder, drill, and something to cut metal parts.

For a story on my home-built unit, see:

http://facstaff.uww.edu/fieldsj/mcycle/mctrailer/

Note the soft-sided cargo holder shown in the construction article has been replaced with a more waterproof hard-shell cargo case as of 2002. My hitch is also slightly different, same design, but the Heim joint has been replaced with one that sticks out a little further from the hitch body.

Is it worth the hassle of towing a trailer? Well, I think so. I carry a larger tent, air matress, camp stove and food, a few more clothes, folding camp chair, and a larger tool kit. I include a camera tripod as well. Hard to do this with just saddlebags and / or a tank bag. Many of my trips are to somewhat remote national parks and monuments, where other accomodations, including restaraunts, are either very expensive or jut not available. For those trips to not so remote places, I still take the trailer as it serves as a lockable storage place so my tent isn't cluttered with stuff.

Pulling the trailer cuts my gas mileage by 3 - 4 MPG. You brake earlier, don't accelerate quite as fast as riding solo. and your line through curves can be affected as the trailer is wider than the bike.

I would stay with a lighter cargo style trailer, as the weight of the tent camper units usually begins at about 285 pounds without your other gear.

[Jerry]

An additional comment.....

Bikes are wired with a 5-wire set-up: ground, left turn, right turn, tail, and stop. Most commercial trailers are wired with a 4-wire set-up, ground, left turn/brake, right turn/brake, tail. This means you have two options: getting a 5 to 4 wire converter from your local auto parts store for the bike or wiring a trailer to match the bike.

In my case, building the trailer and able to buy the lights I wanted, I wired the trailer for the 5-wire system. The trailer is pretty much dedicated to the bike, as I don't pull it with my other vehicles. If you don't have this option, you will need to address the conversion issue.

[skids]

Re: pulling a trailer with my 1100 ?

Regarding stability, there is an optimal relationship with the ratio of the length from the the axle of the trailer to the hitch and the width of the trailer axle. I went with the Harbor Freight kit and it worked well.

I strongly recommend that you make the hitch point as close as you can to the rear tire. This will reduce the "fulcrum" affect and keep as much weight on the front tire of the bike as possible. That is where most of your braking comes from and that is where you need that weight to maintain the braking traction. Be cautious! Pulling off the road onto a gravel parking lot can be a real experience. Stopping on a steep, dirt road can be impossible. I once had to do a controlled skid at about 1 mph all the way into an intersection!!!

I recommend that you find a way to turn off the running lights and headlights when you do not need them. (relay and switch) There will be times that the charging system will NOT keep up if you don't. BTW, there are trailer light converters ("computers")that fit beneath the taillight bracket of the standard models xs11's. I put some LED trailer lights on the trailer to cut down on current draw. They are available in Cabella's catalog.

I have had a lot of fun with mine. If you want to see my hitch, go to:

http://home.earthlink.net/~sidskids/hitch.htm

Originally posted by ddmclark
Well, there's a first for everything, and this is mine.
Question for those who have pulled a trailer with their xs or any m/c. I have been kicking around the idea of pulling a trailer this year but don't have a clue on the do's and dont's, any advice out there? I have an 1980 sg, no oil cooler, fully dressed 47,000 km.
thanks
Don

[Jerry]

Skids:

Would like to do a side by side hitch comparison at some rally. Yours looks to be a bit higher than mine. With me on the bike, the axis of trailer tongue is pretty much straight through swing-arm pivot points and rear axle.

About hitch to tire spacing... couple comments.

First, many people use safety chains incorrectly. The chains need to be only as long as is needed to let the trailer go through a full range of left to right turns. This will give the chains enough slack to take into account vertical movement. Then they need to keep the tongue from striking the tire if the hitch should break...forward movement is limited by the chains. So, there is a relationship between your chain length and hitch to tire clearance. The third item is that the chains need to keep the tongue from hitting the ground if the hitch breaks. They should be crossed like an X, with left chain going to right safety hook and vice-versa. This forms a 'pocket' under the tongue. To-long chains will let the tongue hit the ground or the tire, neither is a very safe condition! So, if designing a hitch, take some consideration about how close to mount the hitch to the tire. You do need some space for the chains to do their job if needed.

I'll measure mine and see what I came up with. Been a few years, don't remember all the specs!

[ddmclark]

pulling a trailer with my 1100

Well I thankyou all for the info, there is million dollars worth of great advice here, by the way thats 1.6 million Canadian . I would have never thought of keeping the hitch in close to the bike, super tip.
The trailer in the photo is exactly what I had in mind. There is one problem, up here in the great white north the DMV frown apon homemade trailers that are not "engineered" so I might have to buy that from the local sales outlet, but I could do the rest myself.
One more question regarding the cooooling . Me and the boys where in Washington state last july traveling east of the Cascades, the temp was 108 the xs was complaining, ie bogging etc. going thru some of the small villages, this is why I thought it might need an oil cooler and could be to hard on the engine.

Thanks in advance
Don

[skids]

Good idea Jerry. We'll compare. I never thought about crossing the safety chains. I don't actually use 'em on the bike, but it is a great idea for the truck pulling a trailer.

Originally posted by Jerry

Would like to do a side by side hitch comparison at some rally. Yours looks to be a bit higher than mine. With me on the bike, the axis of trailer tongue is pretty much straight through swing-arm pivot points and rear axle.
snip

[Jerry]

One more question regarding the cooling . Me and the boys where in Washington state last july traveling east of the Cascades, the temp was 108 the xs was complaining, ie bogging etc. going thru some of the small villages, this is why I thought it might need an oil cooler and could be to hard on the engine.

I have not seen any problems without a cooler on the XJ, and have pulled it through some pretty hot conditions, freeway speeds at temps in the 90 - 100 deg F range. I have an oil cooler to install, is one of those winter projects I hope to get to, but more for peace of mind than to solve any problems. Have also pulled through some high country in Colorado without problems. Below is a link to a photo taken from Molas Pass, Colorado. This is in the SW corner of the state between Durango and Silverton. Year was 2001.

http://facstaff.uww.edu/fieldsj/mcyc...02001/gf8.html

Only real change I make is to go with 1 range cooler plug, BP7ES instead of the stock BP6ES (NGK). However, even that doesn't seem to make much difference, again just a peace of mind thing.

As for the bogging, will leave that to the carb gurus!

I built my trailer to get a lighter unit than the commercial frames I have seen. However, it is a chore, not less expensive for the most part, and can make licensing more difficult. I had no problems getting mine titled in Arizona, but did have to get it inspected, demonstrate lights worked, and had to meet all regs concerning fenders, safety chains, lights, license plate bracket and light, so on and so on. The commercial products save a lot of time, hassle, and most come with either a title or bill of sale to help in licensing.

One other point...I had kept a list of all purchases for trailer parts, dates, amounts, purchased from, with addresses. This helped make the licensing go easier, as I took the list with me to the DMV and they did make a copy of it to keep with the title application. Proves I didn't steal any of the parts, I guess.....also that I had paid sales tax on everything.

While there are minor problems with pulling a trailer, harder to park than a solo bike, harder to get bike on center stand (it can be done, though) and less fuel economy, the creature comforts you can take to camp make up for it!

[Sidecarmikel]

This topic has been well covered and pretty much covers my experiences, but there is one trick I have always used. Pick up a "Bar End" mirror from an aftermarket place like Dennis Kirk's. Mount it in addition to the two mirrors you already have. Mount it in such a way that it is aimed at the trailer rather than the road behind. A well built and balanced trailer is truly easy to forget. On a long trip the mirror helps to remind you the trailer is back there. Mikel