Trailer Hitch & Sidecar

[wayhirpms]

was wondering if anyone know if there are any companies that make either of these for a 79 xs1100 special...would be grateful for any help

[Jerry]

No hitch available commercially. Don't know about a side hack but there are several XS 11 owners who run side cars who might chip in.

You can do a search on side cars and trailer hitches; several threads from over the years should pop up. It will come down to how much "customizing" or fabrication you want to tackle. After all, you are looking for 36 year old bits and pieces which are not thick on the ground.

[MaximPhil]

was wondering if anyone know if there are any companies that make either of these for a 79 xs1100 special...would be grateful for any help

Hi wyhirpms,
A few have built hitches for the XS but I do not recall any names to refer you to. For sidecars our resident guru would be Fredintoon. Try a search of his posts for some interesting insight into the joys of a side car on an XS11
It has been done by some and I recall seeing a rig in the for sale section a few years ago. Good luck with your search.

Phil
PS one of the Australian members drags a large barrel trailer all over Australia with his so he must have made a hitch. Try the ride reports.

[MindWebs]

trailer hitch...

hmmm


that?

yeah, for these old bikes it's a build your own.

but.... from time to time i have seen 1 pop up on ebay for an xs11.

[crazy steve]

Here's probably the best thread on the subject...

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...trailer+towing

[Jerry]

I built my own hitch for the XJ. Not really hard to do but there are a few things I learned during the build and several years of towing with it.

Here is a photo of my XJ pulling my home-built trailer:



If anyone wished I can go into more details about the hitch or trailer construction but it has all been covered on past threads.

I pulled the trailer from 2000 until 2009 with the XJ and from 2010 to 2013 with the Connie. The last couple of years I've stayed in hotels at rallies although I will probably tow it again to this year's Colorado rally as command central is a campground. In total I've probably towed the trailer more than 25,000 miles to rallies and on camping trips between the two bikes.

Towing can be done safely but it takes some common sense and planning. The XS - XJ bikes are not designed to pull trailers, one of the reasons I've never heard of a commercial hitch being sold for them. (HitchDoc does sell motorcycle hitches for many bikes; my Concours has one of them.) If you go down this path take the time to read earlier threads, ask questions, and plan out your project.

[skids]

I fabricated a bracket made out of bed frame steel. Very rigid. You would have to deal with a ball hitch receiver, but the hard part is done. It mounted to a 78E frame.

[LVTom]

Sidecar

Check out the Vetter Terraplane Side Car. These come up every so often on ebay. I own one and think they one of the best looking. It is all about patience and searching to find or have brackets fabricated.