TOWBARS any one ??????????

[Steptoe]

finally finished MY towbar for a MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
with step by step, and MEASUREMENTS as FLOOR PLAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo9XNGPKWXQ

and my hitch I've been working on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQrDp2gvFuw

[trdriver71]

I have seen where they just mount a 2" ball on the bike and then they just put a 2" square coupler on the trailer with a bearing on it so it can turn from side to side as the bike leans and it comes off like a normal trailer.

[crazy steve]

While what he's done will work, it's overkill; I towed a trailer behind my '78 for seven years, and all I used was a standard 2" ball and coupler. Never had any trouble with lean angle.

If the bike fell over, the ball hitch kept it from going all the way to the ground, but I saw that as a good thing....

[trdriver71]

yeah but this way makes it hard to hook up and take apart, while if you just put the bearing on the standard coupler there is no binding when cornering and can be pulled by a car if necessary.

[Steptoe]

have already hooked it up several times, with no hassel,

still have to line every thing up, same as a ball, but mine goes in a hole instead,, wind up the nut by hand, bit of a pinch with a spanner, bobs' your uncle,

I wasn't really worried about the time issue, when your lining up for a cruising trip, who's in a hurry anyway

as for the "standard ball & hitch" rolling thru the twisties, mine did use to stop against each other, thereby affecting the cornering,,

so I built this one, more for something different than anything else

[Eveready1100]

You've got to LEAN it to encounter problems with a standard hitch, which will give you about 20 degrees from the vertical before it hangs up, which isn't leaning for a bike. Besides that, it's illegal to tow a trailer with a bike unless it's got a swivel hitch fitted.

[DGXSER]

I am very impressed with the engineering and creativity in that design. Is it overkill? When your life is at risk, safety has no limits, so no I do not feel it is overkill. In fact, I would bet that if you made a plate to hold the rear roller in place and only had to put that nut on the back to mount it, it would become marketable.

[crazy steve]

You've got to LEAN it to encounter problems with a standard hitch, which will give you about 20 degrees from the vertical before it hangs up, which isn't leaning for a bike...

I leaned mine, and never had any issues; I know I had more than 20 degrees lean angle available, because I checked for that during the hitch build. IIRC, mine would go to a bit over 30 degrees. I had to look at several hitch balls before I found one that gave me that much.

While I couldn't quite scrape pegs, is that something you should be doing while towing a trailer?? I was thought to be crazy, cornering the way I did with the trailer. Going to the bikes limit while towing doesn't seem advisable to me....

[natemoen]

Plenty of people are looking for how to make a hitch, here it is now. Thanks!

[fredintoon]

While what he's done will work, it's overkill; - - -

Hi Steve,
no such thing as overkill and besides that, it seems that a swivel coupling is mandatory in QLD.
A couple of things about the video though.
Bare feet in a garage? Got a video of the "I just stepped on hot slag" dance?
6mm x 50mm flatbar? Is that true metric stock or are they telling lies about their 1/4" x 2" stuff?
And quoting the yield strength of a metric bolt in psi?
What's with that?
Smart comments aside, that's a great engineering job.

[b.walker5]

A couple of things about the video though.
Bare feet in a garage? Got a video of the "I just stepped on hot slag" dance?
6mm x 50mm flatbar? Is that true metric stock or are they telling lies about their 1/4" x 2" stuff?
And quoting the yield strength of a metric bolt in psi?
What's with that?

Yeah, i'd like to to see that dance as well, but it could be worse, he could be wearing his "safety jandals" (thongs in Australian, and not the female type, or flip flops for you guys) like our blokes would have been.

Fred, steel mills down this neck of the woods have been metrimicated for quite a while now. It's actually damned hard to get true 1/4 by 2 anymore.

and as for the psi yeild strength, not even the hardiest of metric souls can make sense of kg/cm, or the multitude of other figures quoted these days.

Steptoe. How much does all that weigh ??

[Eveready1100]

Here's my version. Sorry, just pics & text. Not video savvy like my neighbor.

Not as beefy as Steptoe's version, but a lot stronger than the Classic bar I copied.
The big advantage of Steptoe's design is that it carries the weight from the shock supports, which eases the burden on the rear frame section, though issues with brake caliper clearance prompted me to do it this way.
Ingredients are :
two 4 x 20 flat with a 10 mm hole drilled in on end, for the spar ends.
two 16mm round bar 600mm long , for the spars
two 4 x 20 flat 140mm long with 7 holes drilled in it 6mm I think, for the height adjustable supports, which are welded to the spars 20 mm in front of where the tonge starts.
two 3 x 15 flat 390mm long- 6mm hole one end, 8mm the other, for the uprights.
one 5 x 100 flat 200mm long for the tongue. 20 mm hole for ball.
two single chain links for the safety chain anchors.











Finally, YES! It has been raining up here and my bike looks putrid. I'll get to it soon.

[Jerry]

I built my XJ's hitch back in early 2000. One comment, on both the hitches featured in this thread, is that to me they appear to have the cross-bar to close to the rear wheel. My design has the cross bar back further for a couple reasons.

1. I can change the rear tire without having to remove the hitch.

2. Most states require safety chains on trailers. If the hitch should break, the safety chains keep the trailer attached to the bike. If the hitch fails the trailer tongue will move forward, toward the rear tire. You don't want the tongue to hit the rear tire, so the chains would need to be very short or put the cross-bar back a little further.

Swivel hitches...some people like them, some don't. A major hitch manufacturer, HitchDoc, recommends against them. I have one and like it, but my trailer is used only behind my bike.

Wiring...
I grabbed a couple pairs of water-resistant (maybe waterproof) connectors from an old washing machine. They are 2 sets of male-female connectors with clips on them that lock the 2 halves together. Both sets have a bellows seal that keeps out moisture. The 2nd set gets plugged into the bike-side and trailer-side connectors to keep out moisture when the trailer is not being used. Connectors have 6 pins and can carry enough current to run a small electric motor, so have plenty of capacity for lights.

Nice to see different approaches to building a hitch! Keep in mind that Yamaha does not endorse pulling a trailer with an XS or XJ11. Pulling a trailer does have some risks, so please keep that in mind when contemplating doing so.

[Steptoe]

foot wear

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,come on guys,,,,,,,,,,,

the video was taken after the job was done,, and all hot slag swept up,,

whilst building ,, of course I had boots on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,
don't say a bloody word EV,,, the leopard is changing his spots

an idea to work on, thanx DG for the support, and of course EV

[Eveready1100]

Hi Jerry. The main reason that we kept the ball close to the rear tyre is so the trailer would have less leverage over the bike's tracking, making it a lot more stable over bumps etc. which we have plenty to deal with over here.
If you've ever towed a car trailer (with car onboard) with a long vehicle like an old galaxie for example, then pulled the same trailer with say, a falcon or mustang with a short boot, you would know what I'm talking about.
Rear tyre access on mine is not too bad as all I have to do is undo the footpeg nuts, loosen the strut bolts and the whole thing swings up to get the wheel out.

Geoff, I didn't say a word..............about anything, honest!