Topic: Making a motorcycle trailer out of a jetski trailer?

[YogiBear]

Ive recently inherited a galvanized jetski trailer, and I was considering maybe changing it into a motorcycle trailer. Has anybody ever put a bed on a jetski trailer to make it work for bikes? I even found a wheel chock that I had lying around. Pictures are much appreciated! Thanks.

[jesus freek]

I have heard of people welding motorcycle trailer channels to the jetski trailer,but that was for dirt bikes. I have a cb550 and would be worried about the weight. Last year when I had my crf230 I almost inherited my neighbors trailer and was gonna build one. I ended up selling the bike,not needing the trailer. You can check thumpertalk.com and go in the trailer section and poss find some ideas. Good luck

[myhondas]

First, check the gvwr of the trailer. If it will hold the weight, a simple thing would be to turn it into a flatbed utility trailer and put a wheel chalk at the front and a tie down at each corner.

[YogiBear]

I have heard of people welding motorcycle trailer channels to the jetski trailer,but that was for dirt bikes. I have a cb550 and would be worried about the weight. Last year when I had my crf230 I almost inherited my neighbors trailer and was gonna build one. I ended up selling the bike,not needing the trailer. You can check thumpertalk.com and go in the trailer section and poss find some ideas. Good luck

I'll give thumpertalk.com a try. Thanks.

[bill440cars]

   I took a Waverunner trailer, took everything off that was for the jetski, bolted some angle iron across the top of the trailer (because of the curves that were there for the shape of the bottom of the jetski, bolted on a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood, positioned 3 of those plastic wheel chocks (temp., to bump the wheel up on), painted the plywood black and added tiedowns. I have since added an electric winch from Harbor Freight. Haven't done anything else with it cause I have gotten a 3 bike trailer and my Buddy is getting the jetski trailer. Channels WOULD be a good addition though. I think the Wave Runner trailer was rated for 1,000lbs, can't remember. But, it worked for me.

[YogiBear]

First, check the gvwr of the trailer. If it will hold the weight, a simple thing would be to turn it into a flatbed utility trailer and put a wheel chalk at the front and a tie down at each corner.

The trailer actually belonged to a friend before I got it and he hauled a Polaris SL750 (heavy sucker) on it and the trailer never flexed a bit. I guess I could put a row of 2x6's down for a bed. That might be better than thick plywood?  The main thing im curious about now, is how to mount the bed?  

[YogiBear]

   I took a Waverunner trailer, took everything off that was for the jetski, bolted some angle iron across the top of the trailer (because of the curves that were there for the shape of the bottom of the jetski, bolted on a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood, positioned 3 of those plastic wheel chocks (temp., to bump the wheel up on), painted the plywood black and added tiedowns. I have since added an electric winch from Harbor Freight. Haven't done anything else with it cause I have gotten a 3 bike trailer and my Buddy is getting the jetski trailer. Channels WOULD be a good addition though. I think the Wave Runner trailer was rated for 1,000lbs, can't remember. But, it worked for me.

Thats a great plan as well. I only plan on putting one bike on it at a time. (all streetbikes), but I lucked out and my trailer is an older style trailer that is flat and doesnt have a middle portion that dips down like yours. The winch is a great idea. I have thought about doing that as well. Most of the time, I will probably be loading the bikes myself on the trailer . So, the winch would be perfect. How did you mount the bed on yours?

[mgbgt89]

This is my CB200 on my buddies trailer he built. Its just an old waverunner trailer with a piece of C channel welded to it. It can be used for the waverunner, or a motorcycle. The padded boards are great, if the bike shifts and leans over, the boards keep it from being damaged.

[YogiBear]

This is my CB200 on my buddies trailer he built. Its just an old waverunner trailer with a piece of C channel welded to it. It can be used for the waverunner, or a motorcycle. The padded boards are great, if the bike shifts and leans over, the boards keep it from being damaged.

Great! thank you for the picture!!. One thing I really like about the trailer in the pic you posted is how low the bike sits while on the trailer. It must make it alot easier to load when you dont have very much height on the trailer. The trailer I have is pretty high up. The axle setup is a spring over axle instead of spring under axle. The nice low height is especially nice, when you have a 500+ pounder to load up.

[333]

The jetski trailer I got had a rusted out main beam( 4" square tube).  I replaced it with one 3' longer.  I then made a 2X4 and plywood floor on top of the frame, with a trough down the middle with the a 2X6 inside directly on the frame(trough is the width of 2X6).  The tower that the winch was on(winch went to another project) is a brace for the wheel chock, made of  2X6 with 2X4 sides.  Made a 2X4 railing and a hinged drop tailgate(looks like a wooden landscaping trailer).

[bill440cars]

   I took a Waverunner trailer, took everything off that was for the jetski, bolted some angle iron across the top of the trailer (because of the curves that were there for the shape of the bottom of the jetski, bolted on a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood, positioned 3 of those plastic wheel chocks (temp., to bump the wheel up on), painted the plywood black and added tiedowns. I have since added an electric winch from Harbor Freight. Haven't done anything else with it cause I have gotten a 3 bike trailer and my Buddy is getting the jetski trailer. Channels WOULD be a good addition though. I think the Wave Runner trailer was rated for 1,000lbs, can't remember. But, it worked for me.

Thats a great plan as well. I only plan on putting one bike on it at a time. (all streetbikes), but I lucked out and my trailer is an older style trailer that is flat and doesnt have a middle portion that dips down like yours. The winch is a great idea. I have thought about doing that as well. Most of the time, I will probably be loading the bikes myself on the trailer . So, the winch would be perfect. How did you mount the bed on yours?

         

         On each crossmember of the trailer, I bolted a piece of 1" x 1" angle iron across the dip and then bolted the piece of 3/4" marine plywood on there (trimming it at the front, to match the curve of the frame). My buddy who's getting it now, was going to help me take some metal and square up the front of it, but we never did that. I have put 3 bikes (midsized and smaller) on mine, to position the plastic wheel chocks. I was thinking about some of those tubular loops that the front wheels could come up into. I mad ramps out of some 2 x 6's that I had, added end pieces from a ramp kit and when not needed, I stored the ramps under the floor of the trailer, where the trailer dips down. Worked out pretty good. Course my bike(s) didn't sit as low as the on  THIS trailer though. 
     

[YogiBear]

   I took a Waverunner trailer, took everything off that was for the jetski, bolted some angle iron across the top of the trailer (because of the curves that were there for the shape of the bottom of the jetski, bolted on a sheet of 3/4" marine plywood, positioned 3 of those plastic wheel chocks (temp., to bump the wheel up on), painted the plywood black and added tiedowns. I have since added an electric winch from Harbor Freight. Haven't done anything else with it cause I have gotten a 3 bike trailer and my Buddy is getting the jetski trailer. Channels WOULD be a good addition though. I think the Wave Runner trailer was rated for 1,000lbs, can't remember. But, it worked for me.

Thats a great plan as well. I only plan on putting one bike on it at a time. (all streetbikes), but I lucked out and my trailer is an older style trailer that is flat and doesnt have a middle portion that dips down like yours. The winch is a great idea. I have thought about doing that as well. Most of the time, I will probably be loading the bikes myself on the trailer . So, the winch would be perfect. How did you mount the bed on yours?

         

         On each crossmember of the trailer, I bolted a piece of 1" x 1" angle iron across the dip and then bolted the piece of 3/4" marine plywood on there (trimming it at the front, to match the curve of the frame). My buddy who's getting it now, was going to help me take some metal and square up the front of it, but we never did that. I have put 3 bikes (midsized and smaller) on mine, to position the plastic wheel chocks. I was thinking about some of those tubular loops that the front wheels could come up into. I mad ramps out of some 2 x 6's that I had, added end pieces from a ramp kit and when not needed, I stored the ramps under the floor of the trailer, where the trailer dips down. Worked out pretty good. Course my bike(s) didn't sit as low as the on  THIS trailer though. 
     

Thats what im looking for. Thanks Bill. I like that storage idea for the ramps too. I might try to do something like that. I think I might leave mine square in the front, just to get more spots for tie downs, etc.

[mgbgt89]

Having it that low does make it easy to load, especially when hooked to the bumper of my truck, which is very high. I just throw a doughnut spare down in front of the bike, push it up on that, then right up on the trailer. I can load up my smaller bikes very easily. Loading the 650 and 750 is still a 2 man job though.

[bill440cars]

Having it that low does make it easy to load, especially when hooked to the bumper of my truck, which is very high. I just throw a doughnut spare down in front of the bike, push it up on that, then right up on the trailer. I can load up my smaller bikes very easily. Loading the 650 and 750 is still a 2 man job though.

           Well, what ever works, for each one, is what you need to do. Does make a decent one bike trailer. If, you framed up and the trailer on each side of the channel, you could build a filler for where the channel is and have a flat bed as well, for other uses.

[YogiBear]

If I had the money, this is what I would buy:

Very cool no doubt, but for now, I'll roll with my ShoreLand'r, hahaha. 

[bucky katt]

i did. i cut the shackles down on the leaf springs (the hitch ball is pretty low on my 94 saturn) and i got the chock and rails from northern tool.

[YogiBear]

So, Im really excited about getting this going. I was looking around at winches. Im thinking about the one from Harbor Freight. Heres the link: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92860
I need a winch that releases the cable as slow as it winds it up. If that makes sense. In other words, I need a winch that will help me unload the bike from the trailer by keeping tension on the line. Im new to winches in general and dont really know the terminology. I think a "free spooling" winch is one that I do not want, correct?

[bill440cars]

 Yeah, a "free spooling" winch would help you unload a bit faster than you might be ready for.

  I recently bought a winch from Harbor Freight that I haven' had the chance to check out yet. It has a wireless remote, so you wouldn't be limited by the wire of the remote control.   

    Here is a link to it, but I bought it on sale and it wasn't this much then:

       http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95912

     I have one like you posted the link to and, even though it says "Free Spooling Clutch", mine will ease the item off just like it pulled it up on the trailer. Now, you CAN unlock the drum and pull the cable out.  Check out the one I posted


                   Capacity Wireless Remote Controlled Portable Winch with Roller Fairlead
Camouflage 12 Volt 3000 Lb. Capacity Wireless Remote Controlled Portable Winch with Roller Fairlead


Remote control gives you safety and freedom of movement during vehicle recovery.

    * 6 feet per minute @ 3000 lbs.
    * Two button forward/reverse remote control
    * Freespooling
    * Drop-forged hook with safety retaining clip
    * 7 gauge mounting plate is predrilled for installation
    * 30 ft. of 3/16" zinc-plated high carbon steel cable
    * Ideal size for SUVs, ATV or yard tractors


Overall dimensions: 8" L x 9" W x 7-1/2" H; Mounting plate dimensions: 8-7/8" x 4-7/8" x 5/8"
Weight: 18.9 lbs.


ITEM 95912-6VGA

$99.99   

 






            

[kirkn]

My own homemade trailer, made from an old boat trailer.  I've used this for nearly 20 years now.  Thousands of miles.

Welded some angle iron to the trailer, used 5/8" plywood for bottom and sides.  Eyebolts down on the floor as well as along the top.  Carried everything from kids' minibikes to '82 naked Gold Wing, to moving 3 separate times,  including the XS750 seen here...

I'd do the jetski trailer in a minute if I were you.

Kirk

[bill440cars]

         Nice job Kirk, serves the purpose and THAT's what counts.

[YogiBear]

Thats a nice setup youve got there kirkn. Must be nice to have sides. 

[bucky katt]

a winch really isnt necessary, not even on the largest, heaviest bikes. the trick is to get enough momentum to get the motorcycle on the trailer but not so much that you run it off the front.

[bill440cars]

a winch really isnt necessary, not even on the largest, heaviest bikes. the trick is to get enough momentum to get the motorcycle on the trailer but not so much that you run it off the front.

          Maybe not for SOME, but SOME of us (at least I ) am getting to where I need ALL the help I can get. And a winch provides that, for ME.  

[YogiBear]

a winch really isnt necessary, not even on the largest, heaviest bikes. the trick is to get enough momentum to get the motorcycle on the trailer but not so much that you run it off the front.

          Maybe not for SOME, but SOME of us (at least I ) am getting to where I need ALL the help I can get. And a winch provides that, for ME.  

Im with Bill on this. I definitely need the winch. Factor in my high(er) trailer deck height and most of the time, I'll be loading by myself. The winch is good insurance for me.

[bill440cars]

a winch really isnt necessary, not even on the largest, heaviest bikes. the trick is to get enough momentum to get the motorcycle on the trailer but not so much that you run it off the front.

          Maybe not for SOME, but SOME of us (at least I ) am getting to where I need ALL the help I can get. And a winch provides that, for ME.  

Im with Bill on this. I definitely need the winch. Factor in my high(er) trailer deck height and most of the time, I'll be loading by myself. The winch is good insurance for me.

           Yeah, I can just see my trying to load the CBX and dropping it. Much less dropping it on ME!   Yeah, I definitely LIKE the assurance that I am able to load and unload much easier because of the winch. Matter of preference.