You're right I've never towed a trailer behind a motorcycle. I've never tried jumping off of a 20 story building either. But by just using my common sense I know neither of those things would be a good thing to try. Yeah you might get away with towing for a long time, but the odds are against you. If you need that much junk with you, take the cage.

 

The difference is you are arguing the trailer issue with people who have and do trailer. I'm sure you've never argued about jumping off a 20 story building with anyone who successfully accomplished it so your opinion is still useless and misguided. Thanks for playing.

Do you ever ride your motorcycle? its dangerous you know.

Now how do your nipples feel again?

 

Boy, I guess you told me! I'm properly chastized.

Good luck to ya.

 

Ha Ha Ha,,, don't take it so personal. My original post was a general comment about all the posts made by people with zero experience on the subject. You chose to take it personal. And to prove your prowess you follow up with a second uninformed comment about something you have no knowledge or experience with. After you've been here a while you'll realize that most people ask questions on a forum to get the opinions of someone EXPERIENCED in a particular subject.

Again thanks for playing. The lovely lady will give you your parting gifts and show you the door.

 

I usually keep my post pretty short to make a point, but I would like to discuss the pros and cons of pulling a trailer across this great country.
First off, before I met my current wife and took frequent pilgrimages with the buds, T-bags, saddlebags, tourpaks etc, worked fine. You pack your gear accordingly...clothes, sleeping bags, tent, whatever.
While in the Black Hills I started noticeing all the different types of trailers folks were using. In particular the Aluma built trailers. Light durable, torsion axle, all the folks who towed them spoke highly of them. A little pricey for me so when I envited my girl to go to Sturgis, I decided to build a trailer for all her stuff and camping gear.
Without rambling too much about it I built a trailer with a torsion axle and angle iron with a Thule cartop carrier and an ice chest on the tongue.

Now the meat and potatoes: First the cons-You have to park like a car! you can't just back into the curb. You may have to go around the block a few times to find a place you can pull straight through or back down a hill.
-you use more fuel
-where and tear on everything(brakes,tires,etc)
-you have to convert your wiring to a four wire harness(not a big deal)
-You need to install a hitch. There are plenty to choose from. Preferably
Hitch Doc or Bush Tec.
-You need a lot of torque for passing.(I prefer a lot of torque for passing
regardless)

Now the pros-You can pack a lot of ****. Sometimes **** you don't need
but you never know. With me it's tools, fix a flat,things of that nature.
With her it's lot's of shoes and endless amounts of useless ****. The first time I took her I went to her house to pick her up she had so much **** sitting out I thought she was having a garage sale!
-You have an ice chest. That's a big one out west. We have a lot of deserts
to ride through.
-When it gets hot you can peel off your leathers and stow them in your
trailer.
-You can camp or you can hotel it. It's up to you or what's coveniant.
-The bike handles better with a loaded trailer than just an overloaded bike.

That's just off the top of my head. Sure...I would rather not pull the lead sled all over hell in back but on long trips it's just practical. The thing handles great, doesn't wobble or bounce and tracks well.

If anybody has anything to add that I missed...chime in!

Cheers!

 

The yard sale comment was great, I went thought the same thing on our first long trip. Now I limit her to two small bags that cannot weigh more than 50 lbs combined. Don't want to over load with crap she don't need.

 

There are different opinions on hitches as well. I would spend the couple extra bucks for a well manufactured swivel type hitch. The bush tech trailer I tow has the swivel built into the trailer .

 

I see a lot on here as to how bad the handling is with a trailer. Try a side car and see if it doesn't affect the handling. MOCO would sell you one for $7000 or so. However, since they started selling Tri Glides, they are no longer offered. I've pulled my trailer well over 20000 mi. You have to be aware of it and not overload. I've seen bikes with passengers that weighed more than my trailer.

 

I bought an old used pop-up camper trailer last year for about $450 and spent another couple hundred more setting up the bike. Cost me several hundred to see if I would like towing a trailer. Well after 2600 miles last summer, we are planning a couple more trips with it this year. Mostly I like saving the money camping instead of a hotel and I like sleeping 3 feet off the ground. It was very comfortable and towed well. We may invest in a newer camper next year. I want to get our $450 out of this one first.

 

It's better than towing your bike with a trailer