Topic: pulling a trailer with a bike?

[masonryman]

  Any one? I have been kicking around the idea. I was thinking about building a single wheel trailer for the ZX10. UNI-GO makes one for the Concourse, frame is similar to the ZX10, but it is very pricey.

Give me some thoughts

Mark

[seaweb11]

My thought when I see one on the road........."why not just drive a camper"?
But I have never tried it

[merc2dogs]

 Trailers are not that hard to pull.

 With a single wheel the trailer and bike will -normally- have the same frontal width, so there's no concern about the trailer being wider than the bike and hooking something.
 
 With a single wheel proper packing is a bigger concern than with a two wheel trailer, low mount points are better for either trailer type, but the high point is less of a concern with a one wheel. High mounts with either type heavy load/light bike can make them tippy when on the side stand, and alter handling more than a low mount.

 Recommend finding someone who has a trailer and test riding their rig before commiting yourself

 In my view a two wheel is more versatile,but a one wheel is sportier, and has less effect on handling, but with a flat means there is absolutely nothing back there to keep it in line, a flat on a two wheel leaves the other wheel to assist in keeping it in line.

 Storage, a two wheel you just unhook and set it down, a one wheel you need to figure out how to store it so it's not laying down all the time.

 Another good thing about a trailer is that you don't need a full dress tour bike to take an occasional tour, mount hitch, load trailer and take the tour, when you're done, you have your naked bike.

ken.

Ken.

[Dusthawk]

I will be mounting a ball hitch to my Rita later this year, and will build a 2 wheel trailer for it. I will mount the tires to the rear of the trailer instead of the middle to let it trail better. It will also allow me to give it a much lower center of gravity. The widest part of the trailer will be only 36 inches, so that won't hinder balance or wind flow much. I tried a one wheel trailer once on a buddies bike and it just felt unsteady.

Jeff

[masonryman]

Thanks guys,

I did not think of the trailer storage issue and I am certainly looking to keep the CG as low as possible.

 I am not looking to do much long distance touring right away, I am in construction and it would be nice to be able to ride to work any time I wanted without the concern of how to get my hand tools home or to the next job if I get sent to another job

[Chris Schneiter]

I would think the big problem would be the "Tail wagging the Dog" syndrome. I had a Ford Focus that TECHNICALLY had a tow rating of 1000 lbs, so I put a hitch on it. I have a boat that both trailer and boat has a weight of about 500lbs., so I thought it would be fine. It wasn't that it wouldn't tow it it was more that every time I hit a bump or the wind blew, the boat would drag the car all over the place. I would think it would be more extreme on a bike.

[Dusthawk]

As long as the CG is kept low and the load as flat as possible keeping the profile down, wind effects are lessened. And remember to keep the weight forward of the wheels and on the hitch, it helps prevent fishtailing.

[masonryman]

If I ever get the 550 rode worthy, it will be next (trailer for ZX10) I am up in the air about 1 or 2 wheels but I know 2 things; all the weight will be between the wheels and the bike and it will have a CG lower then the bike.

[Dusthawk]

Oh, and one other minor point. If you go with a single wheel for the trailer, it raises the CG by 50 to 70%. In other words, it with a 2 wheel trailer and your CG is 24 inches from the ground, the same load with a single wheel will have a CG approximately 36 to 40 inches from the ground, thus making it much more top heavy and unwieldy. The two wheels offer a wider stance for the trailer making it much more stable.

[masonryman]

It would be harder to get any lower than this










http://uni-go.com

[merc2dogs]

Actually if you look at the trailer design, the bulk of the load is sitting pretty high.

 That taper forces the load up, plus you have the suspension in there too, so while the trailer itself looks real low, the only place to carry anything is up high, that is assuming that you can access the tapered portion, if you can't store anything there, and it's just to hide the suspension, then ALL the weight will be above the tire.
 
 with a two wheel trailer the actual load normally sits just above the axles, so while it doesn't -look- as low, the actual weight is lower. With carefull design most of the floor can be below the wheel centers.
   The only way to acheive the same results with a single wheel is to make a very long wheel base to get the wheel and suspension out of the cargo area.
 
Ken.

[nickjtc]

Get a convertible. You would then still have the wind in your face, would not need to wear a helmet, could carry more stuff, and the vehicle would actually be used for the purpose for which it was intended.

Bikes were never designed to pull trailers.

[masonryman]

Get a convertible. You would then still have the wind in your face, would not need to wear a helmet, could carry more stuff, and the vehicle would actually be used for the purpose for which it was intended.

Bikes were never designed to pull trailers.

Humans were not designed to do a good deal of things we do, like going 100+ mph on two wheels, but hey it's a hellof lot of fun.

Mark