Looking to build my own trailer from an old one I have. Has anyone done this and if so can you give me some tips or share some plans you might have or know where I can find some on the web? ty

 

Are you talking about one to tow behind your bike, or one to tow your bike?

If to tow your bike, I did it. I just had to make sure that I balanced, and centered the bike when loaded. If there is too much on the tongue, it will be too heavy on the ball of the hitch.
If to far back, it will lift the tongue off the ball on the vehicle and not track correctly.

You also must make sure it is centered. If on one side, it could cause the trailer to flip over to the side when turning.

 

Yes, one to use to tow the bike behind a minivan.

 

Back when I finished building my chopper I also decided to build a trailer for it since I knew I was going to be taking it to SC from KC a few months later. Didn't want anything that would take up either garage space or parking space in the driveway. Found two similarly designed trailers online (Trailer in a Bag and Porta-Chopper) and used those basic concepts to design my own trailer using 2 1/2" square tubing for the main backbone and 1 1/2" tubing for the axle tubes. Simply rolled the bike on top of a 2x12 to find the center of gravity and calculated it to put a little less than 10% of the bike weight on the tongue when it was loaded on the trailer. Put a set of 12" trailer rims with cheap Wally World 12" radial tires on it instead of using trailer tires (30 psi vs 60 psi gave the bike a bit smoother ride). Magnetic trailer lights from Harbor Freight and had no problems.

Have since mondified the original design to use the torsion axle setup I bought from Porta-Chopper. Makes the bike ride much smoother.

Don't have any plans, did all this in my head and on the garage floor with a Sharpie. But I'll answer any questions I can.

 

It's pretty straight forward as said before. A good touge length is 4 foot in front of the bikes front wheel. It may look a little long but makes turning and backing a lot easier.
Good Luck you should do alright.

 

I have a 6 1/2' X 12' pipe top ultility trailer with 3500lbs axle. Pulled the boards and layed a length of 10" X 2 1/2" channel iron down the middle. welded this in. I then built me a wheel chock with 3" X 3" X 1/4" angle iron and place it in position. Drilled 2 holes through bottom of chock through channel iron and on front through pipe top. I then bolted with 1/2" bolts and tacked the nuts to the pipe top and underneth the channel. I remove the chock when need more space and add extra nuts to double lock just incase. I then welded some attach points with large chain link along the fram. I use ratchet straps with snap hooks on both ends. I have pictures of my Goldwing but have none of the Harley. Will try to post the pictures. Dont know how its asking for a URL

 

You never said what kind of mini-van. Details for inquiring minds who need to know. Here is a way you can do it cheap.

It works really well. Go to my DIY site. How To Fabricate an Inexpensive Motorcycle Trailer Using an Unwanted Boat Trailer PDF Download

 

2011 Honda Odyssey, will check out your pdf!