I'm working on making a trailer to haul my dirt bike behind my wing. I have a small Kwik Kamp cargo trailer that I've used some, but not much. Total weight loaded for a week of camping is 200lbs. all in. Looking at the harbor freight trailers to modify and the total weight will be 425 to 450 with the bike on it. 200lb has been fine. I read wear some if you pull some pretty heavier campers. Do you think 450 is too heavy? Anyone have one for sale? Thanks
I've been researching this for a bit as of late and from what I'm reading, 450lbs is well within the limits but you need to figure your tongue weight as well. Subscribing.
450 is about max for me to pull. I have pulled 515 home from Ma. ,but was not comfortable doing it . My bike and trailer now weighs just a shade over 400lbs and I have hit triple digits with it . Keep trailer as lite as possible is key . I tried to pull heavy KLR and that was a no go. XL250R was great , but new China girl is way way better . Let me know if you want pix of what I have done .
16' boat trailer , shortened tongue , mesh flooring for weight reduction , 12" wheels were replaced with 8" again for weight . Got rid of all but one spring , and placed axle on top of spring instead of the bottom to lower it . More pix available of specific area upon request .
Here is a pic of my sport bike behind my Valk. I built this trailer from a HF kit. It pulled ok in a straight line but even with the 8 inch tires to get it as low as I could. It always felt top heavy in curves and stopping was also not so much fun. Total weight was a little over 450 lbs. I think it would have been better if the axle was a little wider.
I agree, getting the lowest center of gravity is my goal. I've thought about setting it up to just lay my bike on it's side. Still haven't ruled that out yet, since it's upside down, or on it's side a lot in the woods anyway! :nojoke:. I am getting a small HF today and will just play with some ideas. How heavy is the bike you're hauling, yours also @Rail32. My bike according to specs is about 270, and the trailer will be about 150.
Mine will end up pretty close then to total weight as yours. Hoping I can get the trailer under 150 lbs. I pull 200 lbs. with my cargo trailer very comfortably. My goal is to get it at 400 or less, but that will be a challenge.
Bob , I can believe it felt too heavy . Look at how far off ground sport bike tires are . When I had 12 " tires it was miserable to pull for same reason you described . My guesstimating is your almost 10" higher than me . That's why if I find a jet ski trailer I will buy it of cheap enough. A few inches makes all the difference . I found this out pulling campers around the country for others .
I did a search and looked at them. I thought about doing something like that, starting with the HF trailer. Looking at those pictures though, where's the suspension? I'm not overly knowledgable on this subject, but to me pulling 400 lbs behind the wing, that is air born most of the time, would get pretty interesting. Or am I thinking wrong?
I could have saved 8 lbs by using a channel iron for bike wheels , but wanted a utility trailer like a multi tool.
If supported properly 10 gauge bent up would work for rail . I highly considered building one from scratch , as I have built many of trailers. But if you can find a trailer for under $400 , I could never build one for under that . BTW I paid $300 for boat trailer to,start this project. If I ever find a jet ski trailer for $300 ish , I will build another one . As the 6" lower would be super better handling and easier loading I am almost postive . I would still use heavy wire mesh as I am finding the utility trailer concept is super handy here .
I will measure Friday for ya but guess is 10" maybe 12" .
Sorry but I am halfway through a bowl of chocolate marshmallow ice cream , wearing only sweat pants, and it freaking cold outside . > I do not even like my good freinds that much to go outside now :wink2::grin2::laugh:
Think of this kind of like building and then loading cargo in an airplane. Too high for a total Center Of Gravity (COG) is unstable. A plane with this high of a COG would only be stable flying upside down. Not good.
This sounds counterintuitive, but the lighter the trailer, with the same bike at the same height on top, raises the COG and it is LESS stable. Choices are, 1. Lower the cargo. 2. Add cargo weight very low on the trailer. Or 3. A combination of both.
My Kwik Kamp weighs in at 350 when empty. When I bought it the previous owner threw 20 pounds of ice in the cooler and told me it would handle better with MORE cargo inside. After getting home, I tested using zero or up to 4 tool boxes loaded at 50 pounds each. He was right. It pulls better at 500 pounds than empty at 350 pounds!
The Kwik Kamp's axle, frame and cargo box don't weigh a lot. But too much of that 350 pounds is the camper bed and tent mounted up on top. Adding weight in the bottom of the cargo box, down low, helps counter balance it and lower the entire trailers COG.
Trailer hooked up to bike , trailer is level , 13" top of bed . Oh never ,ever try riding off trailer with a bike that's under its own power while still hooked up to the wing . :surprise: not just sayin.
It's amazing how light a 1000 lb touring bike gets with leverage applied just right . No wings were hurt in this incident, but I may never be the same . Good news I still have ninja cat like reflexes , score one for the ole man :wink2:.
Trailer hooked up to bike , trailer is level , 13" top of bed . Oh never ,ever try riding off trailer with a bike that's under its own power while still hooked up to the wing . :surprise: not just sayin.
It's amazing how light a 1000 lb touring bike gets with leverage applied just right . No wings were hurt in this incident, but I may never be the same . Good news I still have ninja cat like reflexes , score one for the ole man :wink2:.
CAC, I think they flipped the springs on their trailer also but they don't say so. I thought they were talking "tongue in cheek" about the "German Engineers". Trailer looks pretty much stock except the deck and that chock on the front. You can save some weight by not using the chock. You don't need it. You also don't need both springs. I Have had 4 of those trailer so far and I have removed one spring on all of them.
@Capt. Bob
Because I had no idea where to start and the trailer in the video seems to pull great, I am going to start there. With the dirt bike's front wheel on the tongue, I'll need something to hold it won't I? I was concerned about shedding weight, but it was mentioned above in a post about the high COG and it's effects. They may have put the plywood deck and the gear bag on it to get some weight down low. So, once the snow and ice is gone here, my first pull will be as close to the video set up as I can make it, then make adjustments from there.
Here is the finished trailer just before I sold it to a motorcycle recovery company. As you can see I flipped the axle and got about another 2 inches that is why I had to mod. the coupler and raise the fender a little which I went too high with. I built my rail and loading ramp out of wood to save weight and $$. If I was to do it again I would not solid deck it before I attached the rail. I put the solid piece of plywood on to stiffen up the frame because it is just bolted together. If I did it again I would weld all for corners to stiffen it instead and just repaint. The latest version I have of the HF trailer has a welded box and I like it a lot better. That black block on the deck is where the side stand hit on the deck so I could get off before I tied it down. The loading ramp I just pinned to the deck to travel. I could have saved another 1 1/2 " in height by using a metal rail on the deck.
While looking on EBay today for small trailers I saw this one in Wisconsin. With a torch or saws all lots of weight could be trimmed and a half decent trailer made to pull a single motorcycle on top.
You guys and all this trailer stuff are gonna get me in trouble. I had this old trailer setting at the house, so i rigged it up real quick and put my KLR on it. Rode fine and pulled fine, didnt feel at all like it was top heavy. I wasnt hot rodding, but i wasnt put putting with it either. I ran it 65mph+ down the highway and everything was fine. Put a camera on it so i could watch it behind me and all was good. Pulled it over 50 miles just checking things out. It was an old jet ski trailer. After some painting and fender tightening, it looks like I will be dragging them both down to the mountains now. ;=)
Duckster
Glad to read your comfortable with your KLR on your trailer . I tried my best with my KLR and I was not . At 550 lbs if I remember correctly it sucked bad . Looking back at pix I was too far forward and need a longer tongue for KLR . Bit that rolling weight total I have pulled long distance before and it was not for me . Braking was highly sacrificed and an emergency swerve to get out of harms way would have been ugly . BTW I pulled the weight from Ma. To Wi . And vowed never again .
I pulled mine 600 miles this weekend, no problems. I set the cruise at 65, but ran it up to 75 when passing. Lots of lookers. 70 miles or so in the rain, I didnt care for that, slowed down to 55 on the curves.
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