three sides a roof and doors... oh and a light on the inside...

 

If you can find, or fabricate a shield for the front (similar to a chariot) of the trailer you'll eliminate 75% of the dust, dirt and debrie. Wind resistance and fuel economy should improve towing as well.

 

I'm veering off your question a bit just 'cause of the replies you're getting. RaftGyde and I have been doing a long distance relationship for a few years and live 100 miles apart. The question is how often and how far do you plan on trailering? If we have a 1000 mile trip, we're riding the bikes. We both have cheap open trailers, though, and trailer the 100 miles between our houses pretty often. Mostly the bikes both live at his house in Staunton because he's in the mountains and that's where we like to ride. They come to my house in Powhatan if we have stuff going on in the Richmond area that we want our bikes for on a weekend we're here. He trailers because his dog comes with him and she's not a candidate for riding on a bike. I trailer because my bike's only going to ride one way. It's an empty trailer on one leg of the trip. Unfortunately, the trailer got used to get my bike to the shop one time and was handy for that. You can see my bike's not much, but he's got an '05 UC and neither one of us has ever had any problems-no dinks, etc. We're not investing in a closed trailer just for this little stuff and again, the question is what will you use it for? If it's just small stuff, the open trailer is fine. I just asked him what he thought about them getting dirty (never noticed that problem) and he said he only notices how much cleaner it is if it's raining. Not quite the answer to your question. . .sorry.

 

Protect it from what?

I have a 5x10 as well and it works great. My only complaint is with the tilt bed. I can ride onto it, but the pivot point is jussssst far enough forward that I have to have a helper pull the front down and latch it.

But whatever you do, don't put a cover on it if you're going to haul it in the open. You'll end up with rub marks.

 

My Dad puts his Heritage Classic in the back of a pickup and tows behind his motorhome. I am not sure of brandname but I found him a complete travel cover made with neoprene, fleece and ballistic nylon, it covers all but handlebar controls. Maybe they were gatorskins ?? Anyhow he has towed through many rainstorms and over nasty mountain passes that were extremely filthy and gritty, I have seen it myself as I helped him unload at my place a lot and will again tonight as he is right now on his way from Oregon going through a horible storm and snow on the pass likely,the truck is filthy and grit covered as is the bike covered up in the back but when we peel the cover off all but the exposed hand controls were clean and in 3 years and 30,000 plus thousand miles the bike has not suffered and still looks like a well taken care of bike should with over25k on it.The worst thing so far is the bike has gotten wet, he has made covers for the handlebars.

 

Hi everyone. I will be trailering my bike next weekend from Chicago area to Melbourne Fl. I have a Kendon open trailer with the stoneguard. Every thing I read about this trailer has been positive. Today I took it out on a 100 mile shake down cruise. When I loaded it on the trailer and put it in the wheel chock it seemed real stable. I put 6 tie down straps on it . Probably over kill. 4 straps would have worked. After 100 miles it was solid as a rock on the trailer. I pulled it with my F 150 pick up. Did not even know it was on the back. I will only cover the bikeat the hotel for the night. Set the alarm and chain her to the trailer. I will let every one know how my trip goes. Bob.

 

Thanks for all of the great replies. I've trailered a few times and have the proper straps etc.. for the amount of time I'd trailer the bike... a couple of times a year at most, it'll prolly work out just fine without covering it it at all or building a bulk head for it to protect from road debris.

 

Depending on your $$$$ - The Kendon "stand-up" IS a great trailer - I had one and used it for several years... I live just about in the middle of CA - I have trailered to Salt Lake, OR, WA and Las Vegas... from there we toured for several weeks - then back on the trailer and home... Going up I-5 for 400/800 miles or to Vegas for 480 miles is Boring... And when the Kendon is Not being used, it stands up in the garage and actually takes up less space than your Bike... I have sense sold the Kendon and havea Wells Cargo - I am a Fire Fighter and plan to retire this April - the wife and I plan to do a lot of touring around the country... our plan is to trailer to a spot - unload and enjoy the area - when ready, trailer to another spot and repeat.. This way the wife is more willing to stay gone for as many weeks as we want - triing to get her on the bike for 8 weeks is Not going to happen... enjoy your trip

 

One more thing. I've been trailering my son's dirt bikes for years, so tying a bike down is nothing to this lady. The first time I trailered the Harley, though, I was a little paranoid because of the weight of it. I was sitting on the bike telling my daughter "tighter". Humph. She broke the seals on the forks. [] When I went for a ride, I had no front brake. [][] The fork oil was dripping on it. Crap. You can tie down too tight! Shhhhhh. . .let's not remind RaftGyde of this one more thing I've done to exasperate him. [&o]

 

Try Gator Hides. They do work in protecting your ride on open trailers.

Website: http://www.gatorhide.com/index.html