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Trailer handling differences

11K views 67 replies 27 participants last post by  ptwingmn 
#1 ·
Hello everyone, I am interested in a new cargo trailer. I have narrowed it down to escapade elite or bushtec. My question is what are the differnce between the two when towing. Twisties, bumps ect. Does one stand out over the other?
I am fimiliar with differences of tires,suspensions,bearing, customer support,ect. Looking for some input from those who have pulled both.
Thanks
 
#27 ·
Tailwind Trailer

Well, I've been scoping out for a new trailer and just found the Tailwind website. They must really be proud of their trailers because they don't post any prices on their website. Anyone know what they may want for one these days ?
I have a homemade trailer using a harbor freight frame and sears cartop carrier that I have been pulling for 20 years with little to no problems. I have a total of $300 in it so I can't complain.
Dave
 
#29 ·
Tailwind cost about 5,000 to $7,500 for top of the line. Nice trailer just too heavy and pricey.
I have owned two trailers and my lighter torrision axle trailer felt heavier behind my bike that my Tailwind does. My Tailwind empty is 210lbs and is designed to reduce the impact and stress put onto the frame of the bike.

I have had 200 lbs of cargo in both trailers and pulled them many miles. The Tailwind out performed the lighter trailer in every aspect.

You may spend a more for the Taiwind but you will never regret it. I spent much less for my torrsion axle trailer and once I had my Tailwind I realized my mistake. If you are in my area I would be happy to let you pull my Tailwind to prove it. If you can do it buy the Tailwind if you cannot make the best of what you buy and enjoy it.

Dale
 
#30 ·
drn151

Hope that you enjoy trailering and what you purchased.

I think you will find that the Tailwind is lighter than the Champion, heavier than the Bushtec, the same as the Hannigan, slightly heavier than the Escapade.

However, the body is lighter than any of them. It is aerospace E Glass prepreg.

The others are FRP. You will not find any FRP in aircraft because it is not stable.

The Tailwind is designed and built for long haul service and takes less fuel to pull than other full size luggage trailers because of its very low drag coefficient.

You will not find this under any other trailer, either.





Not hard to understand why it has the lowest CG. It also has the longest suspension travel, and its variable geometry makes it ride very well empty or full or in between with no adjustment of the suspension.

It has no recommended service between 150,000 mile intervals. The demo Tailwind has never been serviced and it has 187,000 miles on it as of 10/1/09 as seen below at Big Bend National Park Yesterday.


Relative to pricey, anything you buy costs what you pay for it and its upkeep, minus what you can sell it for. The Tailwind is pretty low cost in that aspect.


I hope we get to cross paths one of these days, and that you get to use your trailer a lot.
 
#31 ·
Tom,
I could buy two Bushtecs for the price of your trailer. You make a nice trailer just not for me. Light weight is more important than aerodynamic. Being able to stop is vastly more valuable than the extra 2 mpg gained by a lower drag. Suspension and maintence is easy and doesnt take long on a Bushtec. Tom have you ever considered making an economy version tailwind out of regular fiberglass? Isnt E Glass a little over kill?
 
#32 ·
Tom,
I could buy two Bushtecs for the price of your trailer. You make a nice trailer just not for me. Light weight is more important than aerodynamic. Being able to stop is vastly more valuable than the extra 2 mpg gained by a lower drag. Suspension and maintence is easy and doesnt take long on a Bushtec. Tom have you ever considered making an economy version tailwind out of regular fiberglass? Isnt E Glass a little over kill?
We each have our priorities. You are ruled by price. Others want looks. Still others want technology.

Tom. continue to be the best in technology. If I wanted one made of paper mache and put on bicycle wheels, I will go with a different brand.
 
#34 ·
Trailer Handling

Then buy a Tail Wind. If you look at dollar cost per year or per mile etc. that it will last then it is the least expensive trailer there is in my opinion. Tom has over 182,000 miles on his. I did a lot of research and one of my criteria is the amount of trailers on the used markets...there are none for Tail Winds...why? The owners won't part with them.
You made your choice and I made mine...there are many of us who feel that getting the very best is worth the price...after all, YOU do ride a Gold Wing don't you?
Tom would be the first to tell you to have a good ride and enjoy.

I would also dispute the claim of buying two Bushtec's for one Tail Wind. Without looking at their website and working from memory of when I looked, the price for their TOP OF THE LINE is not very much lower than the Tail Wind. Now if you are talking their lowest cost unit then maybe.
 
#36 ·
I would be interested in a economy version of the Trail Winds trailer too. Maybe cheaper fiber glass body and without the battery and air compressor and such, but keep the suspension and drawbar....something more affordable.
 
#37 ·
You can actually buy 3 lower end bushtecs for the price of tailwind xtc. Two mid level quantum gl's for the same as a xtc. Its your money spend it how you want. Is bushtec that big of a treat to tailwind? So many tailwind owners are quick to bash. Do you guys get a commission for every negative post. We'll have to agree to disagree.
 
#38 ·
Hello DRN151First off, I'm a Tailwind owner, and proud of it. Secondly, I'm not going to try to sell you on a Tailwind for your mind is already made up. I could easily dispute your last post, but why bother? Tailwinds are expensive, but not much more expensive than a fully loaded Bushtec. Tailwinds are not for everyone, and I understand that. I have not noticed any bashing in this thread. The Tailwinders are pointing out the advantages of their trailer, but I have not seen any bashing here. We don't get any commission for bragging on our trailers. We just enjoy telling others the advantages of owning the finest cargo trailer on the market.I wish you luck, and hope you enjoy whatever you decide to buy. It's all good, and ride on.Glen
 
#39 ·
Trailer Handling

You can actually buy 3 lower end bushtecs for the price of tailwind xtc. Two mid level quantum gl's for the same as a xtc. Its your money spend it how you want. Is bushtec that big of a treat to tailwind? So many tailwind owners are quick to bash. Do you guys get a commission for every negative post. We'll have to agree to disagree.
No, we don't get a commission but why are Bushtec owners so sensitive? Like GlockJock said and I said in my first post...enjoy what you have because that is what you wanted. I didn't bash Bushtec ( I looked at them very seriously but it didn't fit my needs) and no Bushtec's are not a threat to Tail Wind. Have a nice ride.
 
#40 ·
drn151

You may remember that Switz has a Tailwind. He also has a Bushtec which he bought first and had a second on order, switching it to a Tailwind.

At the time, he paid more for his Bushtec on order than he paid for his Tailwind that he actually got.

I am glad you got a trailer. I hope you get to use it a lot.

I started building and pulling trailers for motorcycles in April of 1957 so I have been at it quite a while.

When I decided to switch to luggage trailer pulling, I thought I would just buy one as I was very heavily involved in aviation design and manufacture and did not have time to do a new trailer line.

I bought Escapade, Champion, and Hannigan, all having parallel suspension and hydraulic damping. I offered to help Bushtec do a parallel suspension design but they never responded.

There were many compromises in these various trailers, some more than others. I finally decided that the only way to get a no compromise trailer was to design and build one. That is what the Tailwind is about.

It is obviously not for everyone. But for those who get them, just like the Goldwing, it would be hard to switch them to anything else.

Relative to E Glass being overkill, I can not tell you how many times I had to adjust the lid of the Champion and Escapade trailers as the FRP continued to cold creep. At the various rallies in which we had booths, we saw Bushtec owners having their lids adjusted and tires changed. Polyester resin just does not harden to a non creeping material. I wished FRP did not creep. It would save me a lot of money, if it also had the strength of E Glass.

The Tailwind lid is the largest in the industry. It weighs 19 pounds. The next largest is the Champion. My first Champion lid weight 90 pounds. It still crept.

We all have to do what we think is the right thing. I take delight in knowing that our customers will not need to go looking for a welder if they decide to go to Alaska, or that they will very likely never have a Tailwind roll over.

We do not make the shocks. They are Progressive and we have had two fail. That and one wheel seal is the sum total of our warranty replacements.

Sometimes the roads in Alaska are really harsh. Here is a photo of a rig belonging to an Alaskan resident who, along with his wife, were thrown from their Valkyrie by an unmarked ice gouge about 600 miles from their home in Alaska. The Valkyrie had the throttle locked by an aftermarket lock, and the bike went on by itself pulling the Tailwind until the road turned. The photo below shows how it ended up in the bottom of a 25 foot deep ravine. The only damage was the aft section of the draw bar which they ordered a new one from us. The Tailwind had a few scratches that were treated by a local paint and body shop. Their personal injuries were not severe. They got their rig repaired and were back on the road that summer.



I realize that not many will have a major incident and hope that no one does. It is a fact of life that when we travel several thousand miles a year, we are exposed to errors by others, even if we never made any ourselves.

Sheila Winnie's record setting ride of 126,120 miles pulling a Taiwind in a year exposed her to several incidents. One of these was being struck broadside by a pickup being driven illegally on the shoulder. It hit her heavily loaded Tailwind at 35 mph.

The E glass body had damage to the front of the right side panel which was replaced, and the aft section of the draw bar which was replaced. However, she pulled it 2,460 miles from the impact site to our shop two days later in a day and a half, for repair. Not too hard to figure out the speed you have to go to do 2,460 miles in a day and a half, and this was a trailer that had a very severe impact.



Over the years, we have been accused of making a trailer that: "had too much quality" or was "over engineered", or was "overkill."

Relative to the very low drag coefficient, there are several manifestations of high aerodynamic drag, of which high fuel usage is one. The partner of fuel economy is tank range. This weekend, we had a ride out west and one of the riders was on a 1500 with a Tailwind. It is nice to have the 80 mph speed limits west of Kerrville, but it is hard on fuel economy because there is always a heavy cross wind which is why there are so many windmill farms there. The fuel stations are few and far between and some have just been closed, like Balmorea. At one fuel stop, the rider of the 1500 put in 6.3 gallons of gas. That is the capacity of the tank, so even though his engine was still running, he was out of gas. That would have been 10 or 20 miles of pushing with a high drag trailer.

Final drive wear and rear tire wear are also manifestations of high drag trailers.

The most insidious one though, is the performance loss at high speed. Remember, aerodynamically, that horsepower required goes up to the cube of the speed increase. If you have a high drag rig, using a large percentage of your available horsepower in cruise, then you do not have the excess horsepower needed to accelerate in restricted passing situations.

With the Tailwind, I very rarely down shift to pass, even thought I have a 70 series tire that is like overdrive gearing.

The Tailwind is very low drag, so you do have to start your deceleration earlier than with other trailers. Kind of like the difference in shooting an approach in a DC 3 versus a DC 9.
 
#42 ·
Tom,
I'm very glad to see you are actively participating here again. I always learn something new when discussions like this come up. Like I've said before, someday I will own a Tailwind because of the quality and superior engineering. The Tailwind truly is in a class of it's own.
 
#43 ·
You can actually buy 3 lower end bushtecs for the price of tailwind xtc. Two mid level quantum gl's for the same as a xtc. Its your money spend it how you want. Is bushtec that big of a treat to tailwind? So many tailwind owners are quick to bash. Do you guys get a commission for every negative post. We'll have to agree to disagree.
I think it is time we move beyond the "you call me a name and I call you a name mentality" It is so easy for some to sit at their computers and post rants slaming one product or the other. Or just trying to entice a negative response.

There are so many more important things in life than what trailer you pull.
If you agree to disagree so be it, but lets focus on family and friends and riding. Then if you have a problem with your bike or trailer come here for help and advice like so many others do in a peaceful way.

As I have said before pull what you want, not what someone wants you to!!
Dale,
 
#44 ·
My criteria are as follows.
1. Trailing arm suspension(no bounce)
2. Easy to get cargo in and out of(leaves Hannigan out, hard to get cargo out of the front)
3. Light weight under 180lbs, easier to stop
4. Nice looking trailer (color matched)
5. Price around $5k
6. 24+ cubic ft
I can tell you really like the Bushtec, because you are defending it and it doesn't match all of your criteria. That doesn't matter, if you like, you like it.

1. no trailing arm suspension, but it doesn't bounce
2. Cargo is easy
3. Actual weight with accessories for Quantum GL is about 190lbs
4. Can be color matched
5. Price 3,000 to 5,000
6. Actual size is debatable, but is not the 26 Cu Feet as Advertised.
See thread http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280036
 
#45 ·
I can tell you really like the Bushtec, because you are defending it and it doesn't match all of your criteria. That doesn't matter, if you like, you like it.

1. no trailing arm suspension, but it doesn't bounce
2. Cargo is easy
3. Actual weight with accessories for Quantum GL is about 190lbs
4. Can be color matched
5. Price 3,000 to 5,000
6. Actual size is debatable, but is not the 26 Cu Feet as Advertised.
See thread http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280036
Ok, your starting a new career, and you seem to have some sort
of hang up on the cap. of Bushtec trailers. I believe you made
your point. The actual weight seems to be another problem,
did you weigh one or two or threeof them? Seriously, I believe
most everyone overstates capacity. I have a friend with a Breeze
and they state 20 cu/ft, I can get a he hockey sticks more in my
Bushtec then he can get in his. Much more then 6 cu/ft of chit.
I for one believe a perfect rectangle holds the most, but I have
yet to believe the stated capacity is wrong. Hey like Tom says,
when you have the correct computer program, you'll never know for sure.

Just my 2 cents!
 
#46 ·
To put cost into perspective, I currently have 103,000 miles on my Tailwind.
Taking into account initial purchase price, one set of tires, powder coating the wheels, and one tail light bulb, I come up with an operating cost of 7.7 cents per mile.

JM
 
#47 ·
Ok, your starting a new career, and you seem to have some sort
of hang up on the cap. of Bushtec trailers. I believe you made
your point. The actual weight seems to be another problem,
did you weigh one or two or threeof them? Seriously, I believe
most everyone overstates capacity. I have a friend with a Breeze
and they state 20 cu/ft, I can get a he hockey sticks more in my
Bushtec then he can get in his. Much more then 6 cu/ft of chit.
I for one believe a perfect rectangle holds the most, but I have
yet to believe the stated capacity is wrong. Hey like Tom says,
when you have the correct computer program, you'll never know for sure.

Just my 2 cents!
O.K. I have been on a rant about the overblown capacity of my Bushtec.
My Quantum GL weighs 190lbs with Cooler, Rack, Tongue Stand, rear markers and bumper, Spoiler, small pockets on inside and Electrical Connection Air compressor. These are accessories and are in addition to the base weight. I think Bushtec got the weight right at 140lbs base.

As for the size, I could accept 1-2 cubic feet miscalculation on a trailer this size. I challenge you to measure a Bushtec Quantum and come up with 26 Cu feet. Measure the largest 3 interior dimensions, my measurements still came up with under 24 Cu Feet and that is assuming the whole trailer is that one big box. My generous estimate is that the trailer is 20 cu foot internal capacity.

I will be measuring the capacity with styrofoam peanuts, but I need another large garbage bag worth before I do. I'm not gonna let this go.
 
#48 ·
O.K. I have been on a rant about the overblown capacity of my Bushtec.
My Quantum GL weighs 190lbs with Cooler, Rack, Tongue Stand, rear markers and bumper, Spoiler, small pockets on inside and Electrical Connection Air compressor. These are accessories and are in addition to the base weight. I think Bushtec got the weight right at 140lbs base.

As for the size, I could accept 1-2 cubic feet miscalculation on a trailer this size. I challenge you to measure a Bushtec Quantum and come up with 26 Cu feet. Measure the largest 3 interior dimensions, my measurements still came up with under 24 Cu Feet and that is assuming the whole trailer is that one big box. My generous estimate is that the trailer is 20 cu foot internal capacity.

I will be measuring the capacity with styrofoam peanuts, but I need another large garbage bag worth before I do. I'm not gonna let this go.
Your not REALLY going to use them electrically charged peanuts?????
I'm thinking you will have a hard time with the lid capacity.It's at least
4/5", I know I get a lot in that area. before I close it.
 
#49 ·
Beeeee Sure, that the wind is not blowing!!!!!!!

Neighborhood snow storm.
 
#50 ·
I can tell you really like the Bushtec, because you are defending it and it doesn't match all of your criteria. That doesn't matter, if you like, you like it.

1. no trailing arm suspension, but it doesn't bounce
2. Cargo is easy
3. Actual weight with accessories for Quantum GL is about 190lbs
4. Can be color matched
5. Price 3,000 to 5,000
6. Actual size is debatable, but is not the 26 Cu Feet as Advertised.
See thread http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=280036
WOW...resurrecting a nearly two year old thread to bash a product...talk about an agenda!
 
#51 ·
NJREF,

I don't know about this particular case, but I have gone searching for a particular item and found myself responding to a years old thread without realizing it, Until the post is up.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
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