First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
Elite HDF Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,927
Likes: 5
From: Midwest
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
ORIGINAL: FLHT
Would you like to share your trick about making the tounge longer? And did you have to swap out the wheel bearings to a high speed bearing or did you use it as is?
ORIGINAL: BG Weasel
If you want to do it for a minimum investment, you can do what I did--I bought a Harbor Freight trailer kit on sale (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42708) and mounted a cartop luggage carrier I bought at a yard sale. I picked up some aluminum diamond plate from a metal dealer for $50 and used it for the bed--it's lighter and stronger than plywood. I have less than $200 total in the whole deal.
I bought a receiver-type hitch from www.mchitch.com and a Hoppy isolator unit for the trailer wiring from amazon.com
As far as the ride and strain--put a few extra pounds of air in your shocks and load it correctly and you'll be good to go. There's also a trick to lengthen the tongue on a Harbor Freight trailer so that it pulls better. (The rule of thumb is that the distance from the hitch to the axle should be 2x the distance between the wheels.)
You might choose a different color scheme for the box but my group's colors are Orange and Black. At any rate, the trailer itself looks much better painted black.
[IMG]local://upfiles/12883/443C3D0D5A594D72A11D339ED7C435BB.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/12883/06FE55B269014EBE9ED135150405071E.jpg[/IMG]
ORIGINAL: RiderX
How different is the ride with a trailer? I have an '07 RK and was thinking about getting one but was worried about how different the ride would be and the strain it would place on the engine. How much do they run? Which one would you recommend ofr the Road King.
How different is the ride with a trailer? I have an '07 RK and was thinking about getting one but was worried about how different the ride would be and the strain it would place on the engine. How much do they run? Which one would you recommend ofr the Road King.
I bought a receiver-type hitch from www.mchitch.com and a Hoppy isolator unit for the trailer wiring from amazon.com
As far as the ride and strain--put a few extra pounds of air in your shocks and load it correctly and you'll be good to go. There's also a trick to lengthen the tongue on a Harbor Freight trailer so that it pulls better. (The rule of thumb is that the distance from the hitch to the axle should be 2x the distance between the wheels.)
You might choose a different color scheme for the box but my group's colors are Orange and Black. At any rate, the trailer itself looks much better painted black.
[IMG]local://upfiles/12883/443C3D0D5A594D72A11D339ED7C435BB.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]local://upfiles/12883/06FE55B269014EBE9ED135150405071E.jpg[/IMG]
Another mod I did was to remove the small leaf in the leaf springs. There's no way I'll ever get anywhere close to the 800 pounds the trailer is rated for so the extra spring isn't needed and it made the trailer that much lighter.
I used the bearings that came in it. I did clean out the grease that came in them and re-packed them, though.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,927
Likes: 5
From: Midwest
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
Because they look great. After all, once you get past the wheels and frame it's all about looks. Personally, I'd rather tell people that "I built it" than "I bought it", but that's just me.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,395
Likes: 25
From: St George, UT
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
Years ago I had a Calafia trailer with the boat wheels on it, like the Harbor Freight one. I had to replace the bearings after just a ride from California to Arkansas. Seems the bearings got hot enough to melt the grease and it leaked out. I replaced the bearings, packed them with aircraft wheel bearing grease (which is fibrous), and had no more problems. Aircraft wheels turn very high speeds and yet the wheels are 8-10" in diameter.
Road Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,183
Likes: 0
From: Burbank, CA
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
I'm up here in Wyoming going thru Yellowstone. Never in my life have i seen so many bikes towing trailers. Some of them are just incredible rigs.
Like that Piggy Backer XL!!! great price also.
Like that Piggy Backer XL!!! great price also.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 3,927
Likes: 5
From: Midwest
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
ORIGINAL: electra trike
I built a trailer from Harbor freight cut it down to meet my needs had a hell of a time trying to register it.
I built a trailer from Harbor freight cut it down to meet my needs had a hell of a time trying to register it.
Alexcue--wish I had had mine for my trip through there last year. I had the Road Glide loaded up including a bag on top of the tourpack, and just outside of Cody on Hwy 14 headed for Gillette I dropped my map. Started to do a u-turn and go back to fetch it, but the bike was too top heavy and I was going too slow. The bike ended up on its side and my wife and I were doing the slow-speed hippity hop getoff. Luckly there was no damage except my knee hurt like hell for a couple of days, and a couple of folks helped me pick it up and get back on our way. That wouldn't have happened if I had had a trailer.
Stage III
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
Your bagger won't have any problems towing a trailer. I towed a trailer with my '86 883 for quite a few years with the ol' lady on the back as well. Was able to run 55-60 mph.
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Tourer
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 295
Likes: 20
From: Elgin, Okla.
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
BG Weasel, thats a god awful trailer you got there, who in there right mind would paint it bright orange, guess you stole a can from a road crew or MUST BE A WEASEL, Looks good, thats the first time I've seen it as I can't get into your Myspace here at work, I've got a harbor frieght one like BG does, just got back last week from Colorado pulling my homemade, worked great again., still running the stock bearings but I have bearing buddies on mine and I gave it a few pumps of grease before I took off, I feel the hubs when I stop for gas, and it never was hot. I also noticed while up in colorado and theride up there and back I've never seen so many little trailers being pulled by bikes, the ideal has really took off with folks. Kind of funny seeing peoples expressions and comments when I got up to my campsite and got everything set up, since I just had to pack for one person I was pretty comfy. Later
Chris
Chris
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Road Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,004
Likes: 2
From: somewhere
RE: First trip w/ new pull behind trailer
the piggybacker trailer that i have has grease zerks on the inside spindles that make it quick work to keep the hub bearings filled w/ grease.
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