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I guess everybody has their own way to haul their bikes. I prefer a minimally involved way is to use an enclosed trailer. Then no matter the weather, stone chips, or whatever the bike is relatively secure. Puts my mind at ease. As for gas mileage I get about 12-13 pulling with my Xterra. I'll trailer so far then unload the bike. Store the car and trailer in an RV storage lot and ride from there. Works out just fine.
I only trailer mine when I need tire service or other service that requires me to leave it at the service place. My trailer is a tilt bed that I can drive onto. I pull with an F250
I have a 35' toyhauler that we bought so we could take my power wheelchair son camping. Doesn't hurt it also holds the bike. The Dodge diesel got an average of 12mpg going out to BC and back. Only complaint of fuel was the fact we had to use the Wheelchair van to drive my son around, gets expensive when you fill 2 vehicles at the same time.
I consider bearing buddies a partial greasing solution, and pull the bearings every year to clean and pack them. Mine always have some water contamination, just from rain. Someone asked about theft just using the chains - I use a heavy padlock to make them too short for that. Specialty locks and padlocks are just deterrents, if a thief is willing to make noise, they can all be removed fairly easily, object is to make it inconvenient enough they won't try; locks on everything so they have to work at it and take too much time for comfort.
Few new trailers come with tires that aren't some kind of odd name Chinese made cheap tires. All those do for me is get the empty trailer home and then become spares I hope I'll never have to use. I get new rims and mount Goodyear Endurance tires, American made (last time I got some anyway, if they go Chinese I'll find something else) and rated higher for load and speed than what came on both my trailers. A cheap tire coming apart isn't just dangerous, even if you get it stopped safely, you can have expensive damage - I've seen photos on this forum of that happening.
I don't want a trailer wagging my truck's tail, seen that on the road many times. My flat trailer with a single bike, no problem just put it up front and it may be a little nose heavy but nothing the truck can't handle and it won't wag. My 16' enclosed, would be easy to be hundreds of pounds off just guessing, especially with a variety of carried things, not just a bike or two. I got a tongue jack (photo) and can get the numbers right where I want them, easy to use. Amazon has this one, but I actually got a better deal from a local trailer dealer. No worries about trailer wagging.
We've have had a 6x12 MTI trailer for about 14 years. It's covered and I haul an Indian Chief and a Victory Cross Country in it. The bikes are staggered to fit. During the winter I pull the trailer up next to my garage and store the bikes with a light bulb on for condensation and battery tenders on both. I put 4" wooden blocks between the axle and frame when it's being used for storage so my springs don't sag. Driving up the ramp and snugging everything down takes a little time but it's a safe, easy pulling ride.
I have a cheap 2500# ATV wench with a remote control in my toyhauler....mostly use it to load in the rain...but it would work fine for any of those scenarios...
Last edited by Tom84FXST; Mar 2, 2020 at 10:26 AM.
I tow a 16' enclosed trailer about 7-8 thousand miles a year loaded down with drag baggers. I use a 95' ford e350 with the 7.3 powerstroke. Even loaded down with for baggers it pulls great. One thing I would suggest is dont skimp, it will always come back to bite you in the ***.
This pvc and tarp idea scares me. Seems like the kind of idea that winds up costing you way more than you are trying to save in gas.
We had two baggers and a honda three wheeler and a whole bunch of other stuff loaded in there this weekend,
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