Towing

[STRIPES]

A friend of mine showed up at a rally ready to camp. He brought everything....big fan, electric wheel chair, two dog kennels with two big dogs, coolers, tent, bags, etc., etc., He, motorcycle and trailer weighed in at 2900 lbs on the scale.

 

[Tripps]

He's my hero! (please enter 10 characters?)

 

[HansO]

My camper opens up in a flash gives a 6x4 bed plus a 6x4 hard floor then you can zip on a 12x6 room on one side plus an awning on the other I made a couple of mods including solar power thru 2 deepcycle baaterys built in to the storage compartment I slung underneath I also extended the draw bar the total weight with my mods and fully loaded is 992lbs or 450 kg's the Rocket tows it with ease and I do use the rear brake (I even locked up the Darkside avoiding a 6ft Kangaroo and maintained controll) the trick is to make sure you have about at least 10 to 15% of your total trailer weight on the draw bar, if you do not have enought weight on the draw bar you run the risk of instabilitiy at speed and under brakes regardless of the rear tyre. I have traveled with other riders towing smaller trailers and complaining about their trailer moving about (wagging the tail) and causing them heart failure while braking, after stopping and I have sugested I reload thier trailer redistrubuting the weight they have found an instant change also the trailer/draw bar should if set up correctly so it rides just slightly nose down haveing it up will cause the tail to wag and lift the weight of the rear wheel causing skiding under brakes, running the nose of the trailer to low can cause it to push the rear in change of direction circumstances. I have towed trailers for many thousand miles and never had a problem IT IS ALL IN THE WAY YOU LOAD IT I am trying to turn anybody off because a properly preped trailer bike combo is a pleasure and a great way to Holiday, I hope this has been helpfull

 

[Dennsell]

My camper ( edited for space)
l

Hans where did you find it in Oz ?

The only critsism is Its Not RED

 

[snowbandit]

My camper opens up in a flash gives a 6x4 bed plus a 6x4 hard floor then you can zip on a 12x6 room on one side plus an awning on the other I made a couple of mods including solar power thru 2 deepcycle baaterys built in to the storage compartment I slung underneath I also extended the draw bar the total weight with my mods and fully loaded is 992lbs or 450 kg's the Rocket tows it with ease and I do use the rear brake (I even locked up the Darkside avoiding a 6ft Kangaroo and maintained controll) the trick is to make sure you have about at least 10 to 15% of your total trailer weight on the draw bar, if you do not have enought weight on the draw bar you run the risk of instabilitiy at speed and under brakes regardless of the rear tyre. I have traveled with other riders towing smaller trailers and complaining about their trailer moving about (wagging the tail) and causing them heart failure while braking, after stopping and I have sugested I reload thier trailer redistrubuting the weight they have found an instant change also the trailer/draw bar should if set up correctly so it rides just slightly nose down haveing it up will cause the tail to wag and lift the weight of the rear wheel causing skiding under brakes, running the nose of the trailer to low can cause it to push the rear in change of direction circumstances. I have towed trailers for many thousand miles and never had a problem IT IS ALL IN THE WAY YOU LOAD IT I am trying to turn anybody off because a properly preped trailer bike combo is a pleasure and a great way to Holiday, I hope this has been helpfull

Hanso, nice trailer I was looking at one very similar to that. Cost here in the US is very close to the hard sided trailers that I posted above. The hard side ones are a little bit wider thus more drag I would think on the bike. I believe the hard side the reason its wider is the fenders and wheels are are on the outside rather than under the trailer. Trailer is 10 inches wider.

 

[HansO]

Hans where did you find it in Oz ?
It is a "Kamparoo" by CUB made in Sydney, distrubted all Auss,just have to find your local CUB trailer dealer
The only critsism is Its Not RED

Hey the Kangroo is red

Hanso, nice trailer I was looking at one very similar to that. Cost here in the US is very close to the hard sided trailers that I posted above. The hard side ones are a little bit wider thus more drag I would think on the bike. I believe the hard side the reason its wider is the fenders and wheels are are on the outside rather than under the trailer. Trailer is 10 inches wider.

Cost me 7 1/2 grand with all the Canvas, I forgot to metion that the extended draw bar was also there so I could put the "Chestcold Fridge Freezer" AC/ DC and Gas powered, there are a lot of other cheaper fridge freezers out there but most will not work properly up in the tropics. I strenghtened and extended the draw bar 2 .6 feet or 800mm so I can also carry my "Prowler 13" 13ft siton Sea Kayak on top of the car top Pod that you see(there is a set of carry bars that mount over the pod) in the picture. As far as the width is concerned it is 4ft which is the Max width allowed here in Auss to be towed by a bike which is why its sits high to allow the wheels to sit under. Other mods include replaceing the rather soft multiple leave springs with heavier epilical single leafs and I also replaced the steel 8 inch wheels with 10 inch alloys fitted with radial tyres it now handles the higher speeds (only when passing) much better.

 

[snowbandit]

Hey the Kangroo is red
Cost me 7 1/2 grand with all the Canvas, I forgot to metion that the extended draw bar was also there so I could put the "Chestcold Fridge Freezer" AC/ DC and Gas powered, there are a lot of other cheaper fridge freezers out there but most will not work properly up in the tropics. I strenghtened and extended the draw bar 2 .6 feet or 800mm so I can also carry my "Prowler 13" 13ft siton Sea Kayak on top of the car top Pod that you see(there is a set of carry bars that mount over the pod) in the picture. As far as the width is concerned it is 4ft which is the Max width allowed here in Auss to be towed by a bike which is why its sits high to allow the wheels to sit under. Other mods include replaceing the rather soft multiple leave springs with heavier epilical single leafs and I also replaced the steel 8 inch wheels with 10 inch alloys fitted with radial tyres it now handles the higher speeds (only when passing) much better.

I believe we do not have a law stating what is legal width for a trailer towed by a bike. You think I would be ok with wider? Just have to be careful making turns no? It will be lighter than your towing. Do you have brakes on your trailer?

 

[UNCLE JESSE]

Running the hitchdoc hitch I do have electric brakes on the camper the cargo trailer does not 15cubic feet of storage space and cargo and 24 cubic feet in Bunkhouse camper also king-size bed I need the space

 

[HansO]

I believe we do not have a law stating what is legal width for a trailer towed by a bike. You think I would be ok with wider? Just have to be careful making turns no? It will be lighter than your towing. Do you have brakes on your trailer?

As Long as You are aware of your clearances you will not have a problem example of this a numbsckull member of the Ulysses decided he wanted to get a trailer I advised him of the fact to always be aware of it being there anyway the first trip he went on he went in to a servo and took the side out of his 3ft wide trailer on a bolard that they put in to protect the bowsers !!! he must have only just missed it with the bloody bike, but as I said he was a numbsckull as far as brakes are concerned for a lighter trailer they are not really necasry but I am in the process of fitting some to mine just for safety sake

 

[UNCLE JESSE]

Most people do not run the brakes they are nice for emergency stops. I have a switch on the bike where I can turn them On or Off a specially turning into gas stations so they don't jerk you. A good rule of thumb is if your trailer weight is greater than 50% of bike weight you should run brakes