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Cruiser
Posts: 175
Hinton, Iowa | I am preparing to pull my trailer for the first time this summer and am in need of any tips on towing. Mainly proper tougue weight and do's and don't's. Any advice would be appreciated.
Ride safe(or stay warm till you can), Mike |
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Cruiser
Posts: 71
Bayonne, NJ | Hey there,
Many people do tow a trailer on there motorcycle. But if you read the owners manual almost every motorcycle company says that motorcycles can not be used for a trailer device.
Personal reasons i seen go wrong:
Trailer tip overs ( causing the bike to suddenly spin and ejecting the rider and passenger
too much weight for the motor to handle ( causing extreme wear and over heating even ceasing the motor)
And you can kiss your extended warranty away
Just food for thought Be careful
Edited by soprano13 2010-02-11 12:15 AM
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Cruiser
Posts: 77
| soprano13 - 2010-02-11 12:14 AM
Personal reasons i seen go wrong:
Trailer tip overs ( causing the bike to suddenly spin and ejecting the rider and passenger
too much weight for the motor to handle ( causing extreme wear and over heating even ceasing the motor)
And you can kiss your extended warranty away
Just food for thought Be careful
I'll agree with all that! The bestest issue for longevity, Baring mishaps is to get that motor running cooling. The easiest way is to pull it off the O2 sensors and add a fuel controller. The clutch under normal conditions should not be an issue.
Some items to look for is to make sure the hitch of the trailer is pionted slightly down when hooked up and on level ground, this adds more tongue weight and keeps it from whipping as bad. Load the majority of weight to the front of the trailer and you may have to stop a couple to a few times to make the nessesary adjustments in cargo to find the sweet spot.
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Cruiser
Posts: 175
Hinton, Iowa | Lloyd - 2010-02-11 3:59 AM
soprano13 - 2010-02-11 12:14 AM
Personal reasons i seen go wrong:
Trailer tip overs ( causing the bike to suddenly spin and ejecting the rider and passenger
too much weight for the motor to handle ( causing extreme wear and over heating even ceasing the motor)
And you can kiss your extended warranty away
Just food for thought Be careful
I'll agree with all that! The bestest issue for longevity, Baring mishaps is to get that motor running cooling. The easiest way is to pull it off the O2 sensors and add a fuel controller. The clutch under normal conditions should not be an issue.
Thanks Lloyd. When Kevin puts your cams in, I don't see power as an issue. More concerned with
handling issues and different scenarios.
Some items to look for is to make sure the hitch of the trailer is pionted slightly down when hooked up and on level ground, this adds more tongue weight and keeps it from whipping as bad. Load the majority of weight to the front of the trailer and you may have to stop a couple to a few times to make the nessesary adjustments in cargo to find the sweet spot.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 721
| For proper tongue weight you need to know the approximate weight of your trailer and load, then the rule of thumb is to have between 10% to 15% of you total trailered weight on the tongue. This same rule applies to both cars and motorcycles and I have towed with both.
I've towed many different trailers always using this rule and have NEVER had a problem. If you get a little sway in the trailer (especially at higher speeds) then you need to add some more tongue weight but be careful, the more weight you put on the tongue the more the front suspension will unload thus causing worse instability than a slightly swaying trailer. |
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Tourer
Posts: 412
Fargo, ND | I would agree totally with Travelin Man's 10 - 15% of the loaded weight of your trailer. I did a test with mine last summer on my trip out west. I use a 'fish scale' to lift the tongue of the trailer and weigh it when it's all loaded and ready to go. I started with 20 lbs. of tongue weight and towed it about 50 miles. I could tell it was definitely too light as I could feel the trailer causing input to the bike at highway speeds. I stopped and moved stuff around inside the trailer to increase the tongue weight to 25 lbs. That was much better, however, I could still feel a little bit of an occasional 'wag' from the trailer. I stopped again in another 50 miles and moved stuff again until I had 30 lbs. of tongue weight. That was the magic number in my case as all was well. The trailer basically disappeared (figure of speech) and no more 'wag'. My trailer weighs about 175 lbs. empty and I would guess I had 100 lbs. +/- of stuff in it. A little experimentation will give you the answer you're looking for...Good Luck! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 175
Hinton, Iowa | Flastix, Thanks for the reply.I have a fish scale I was planning on carrying with me. I thought
I had heard 30- 40 pounds.
Lloyd thanks for your input also. Soon I won't have to worry about power after Kevin X installs
my Cams.
Ride Safe, Mike |
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Cruiser
Posts: 175
Hinton, Iowa | Flastix, Thanks for the reply.I have a fish scale I was planning on carrying with me. I thought
I had heard 30- 40 pounds.
Lloyd thanks for your input also. Soon I won't have to worry about power after Kevin X installs
my Cams.
Ride Safe, Mike |
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Tourer
Posts: 576
, IA | ya i run mine at 34-36 lbs and my shock at 300 and a put a swivel hich on the trailer so when bike is parked and leans no extra pressure on hitch and i really do not think there would be and dealer to question warranty work on bike because a hitch is installed on bike at least none of my dealer that have serviced warranty issues have ever said no |
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Cruiser
Posts: 162
Extreme Southern, AZ United States | I have towed trailers for over a hundred thousand miles now. The first trailer had a swivel hitch, the next and subsequent trailers didn't and I find them unnecessary. I would agree with 25-30 lbs on the tongue. I also would recommend that you balance the majority of the weight over the wheels. If you use a rack on top of the trailer and pack it, ensure that the heaviest items are down low, inside the trailer if possible. As far as power I haven't had any problem towing any trailer, to include fullup camping trailers with the victory, the TC or the Vision. |
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Trailer tougue weight?
