| Author | Message | ||
     Reepicheep |
I would like to be able to bring one of the bikes with me for the family vacation, which means it has to come along with the minivan. Storing a trailer is a non option for me, so I need another option. I see trailer hitches for $150 or so, and it looks like my Sienna is good for 300 or 350 pounds tongue weight. So the KLR-250 might barely make it on one of those "put the whole bike on it" deals, but no way the Buell would. And I would be nervous about the KLR anyway, that's too close to the upper bound. So the other choice is those "put the front wheel only on the hitch". I'm guessing that would put less then 150 lbs for the klr, and under 200 lbs for the XB9, on the tongue... which is very comfortable. It looks easy to mount as well. For that matter, it looks easy to build if you have a welder... but thats perhaps another topic. So first, anyone have experience with these "ride a wheelie" trailer solutions? In theory, it would have some belt wear and tire wear for that 800 mile journey, but as there is no torque, I can't imagine that the thing is wearing much... maybe 1/4 the normal burn rate.. and its probably closer to 1/10. In theory, it would also create lubrication problems... but if its in neutral and riding a small wheelie, all those tranny parts are in an oil bath anyway, and not much is turning. I could always throw another quart of oil in the primary before the trip, and pull it out when I get there anyway. That'd be easy. I'm guessing gas consumption would be almost unchanged... thats an almost insignificant amount of weight, and little extra aerodynamic drag. I suppose backing up would be a bit of a headache, as you can't see the bike. The tail lights are not obstructed, so I could probably even get away without wiring extra lights. So I can't really see any reason not to take that approach. Buy the hitch (they are cheap), mount that, then buy (I would actually probably fabricate) a front wheel only carrier. Anybody know any down sides of these things I am missing? | ||
| Djkaplan |
Is it possible to put the rear tire on the bumper and letting the front tire ride on the pavement? You'd have to find a way to lock the steering, but it seems better than spinning the countershaft pulley in neutral the whole way. | ||
| Djkaplan |
Wait a minute... you have an XB. Why don't you just take the belt off and install it when you get there? | ||
| Typeone |
there are heavy duty hitch carriers for full-size motorcycles. i cant remember the name of the company that makes a really nice aluminum model but i'll try to find the link for you... | ||
| Typeone |
found it... http://www.mototote.com/ this was the one i wanted but couldn't afford at the time so went with a dirt-only (read, cheapo) version. EDIT: actually that's not the aluminum one i was thinking of, got confused with another dirt bike carrier i was looking at. the Moto Tote is steel construciton. if i find the aluminum one i'll post that too. if you Google 'motorcycle hitch carrier' you'll get a bunch. (Message edited by typeone on September 25, 2007) | ||
| Reepicheep |
The high strength carriers might be fine, but my minivan isn't. The Toyota Sienna can barely carry it's own weight when filled with it's rated 7 passengers. When I load it up with all 6 family members and vacation stuff, it'll already be pushing it. Thats why the "half the bikes weight is still carried by the bike" solutions appeal to me. Great point about the belt, thats an easy job to pull it. Still, I can't imagine it will wear appreciably, and I would not do this more then a couple times a year. | ||
| Typeone |
any airbag/helper system available for the Sienna? boost it up for heavy cargo, air it down for reg stuff (?) seems like they make them for all sorts of vehicles now but no clue about the minivan market. EDIT: as you can tell, i'm not a fan of the 'wheelie' style carrier. ;) (Message edited by typeone on September 25, 2007) | ||
| X1glider |
The limit that I see with these hitch mounted racks is the vehicle you attach them too. I wouldn't ever go over 500 lbs of tongue weight on a mid-size SUV even if the rack can hold more. As for the "wheelie" style hitch racks...I've seen them but I'm not convinced that you couldn't damage a bike with it. Even in neutral, the gears are turning..and with the biked tilted to the rear you risk tranny fluid escaping through the tranny vent tube. Would there end up being any inertial drag trying to turn the clutch, then primary then engine? I'm not sure. For short distances, towing to a shop, I doubt it'd hurt. For a full blown trip, I don't know if I'd chance it. The suggestion about removing the belt on the XB is a good one....I see no problem there. | ||
| Alchemy |
Back to the original problem of not being able to store a trailer. I have the same problem more or less. I was looking at the Sears fold up trailer. You crank the wheels together so the total width of the trailer becomes something like 29 inches. Then you roll it where you want. Expensive at list price of 1500 but compact and has lots of other uses as well. (Message edited by alchemy on September 25, 2007) | ||
| 65460 |
I always thought this was kinda neat, not cheap, and if you read some of the comments on Amazon and epinions, people have used it to tow quite a distance. http://trailerinabag.com/index.html |
