Yeah I would do everything I can to ride. Leave something behind if needed, but to me that's maximizing riding time. If you must take your trailer, I would contact HD and see what they may suggest in that area. Either way, sounds like you're going to have a great weekend. Enjoy

 

I'll admit I've always been a bit harsh to those who trailer to "bike" rallys. But if you only have a week off to go to Sturgis and live on the east coast, OK I can see it.

But this trailer to a meet and ride that's only a few hundred miles? WTF? Pick a cool place to ride to just to meet, then go from there. Something tells me that you wear a H-D tee shirt, jacket, helmet, boots, belt, ring and have a H-D decal on your tow vehicle.

 

Really!! All that from my original question? WOW!!!

 

To me maximizing riding time is riding the bike as much as possible. Not only does this add some miles to your ride, you also eliminate the time it takes to load and unload the bikes (twice). You can also split up anywhere after riding together, no need to start and end at the same place. It eliminates the worry about where to leave the trailer.

 

Personally, I would love the extra time to ride to the rendevouz location. You have to cover the distance either way, why not enjoy the ride on your scoot? The more time spent on the scoot the better!

 

Up until about 3 weeks ago i had an enclosed trailer to haul my EG Classic around in. In a year I used it a grand total of one time to go to a rally in Tennessee that I only had a week off to do, and the rally itself was 4 days - I live in Vermont. This is my first Harley and my first bagger, and as I rode more and made improvements to the bike I found I was riding alot further to events than I originally thought, to the point where 3 weeks ago I said screw it and sold the trailer. I don't like iron butt rides and I would prefer to stay off the interstates, so what I do is I plan my routes to stay off them and to do 250-300 miles a day. That way I can stop when I want, see what I want along the way, and ride relaxed. Seeing things that way is an incredible experience and I dont regret a moment of my mindset change away from the trailer...even when it rained. And no it didn't have a Harley decal on the trailer!

The point is if you two are several hundred miles apart, I would guess that if you split that distance you would be in that 300 mile range or less. That's a comfortable day's ride on some nice secondary roads. Give it a try. Nothing like you and the bike and the road to straighten things out.

 

Getting back to the original question as asked vs. the great ride vs.trailer debate....

I've read of some RV and Self Storage lots that give a discounted rate for a week or weekend where you could leave a truck and trailer and not have to pay for the whole month.

You might try calling some of the bigger outfits to see if they offer any short time rates.

Also if you are meeting in an area that has at least one you might look into commercial parking lots that would let you park for more than one day at a time.

Regardless of how you guys start your ride and it really isn't anyone's business but your own, I hope you guys have a great time on 2 wheels.

 

Same thing I thought. Touring bikes don't belong on trailers.

 

What good is the ride going to be if you spend the time wondering if your SUV and trailer will be there when you get back?

 

I'm curious as to why you both want to trailer to a central meeting point,
unload your bikes, then ride together for the weekend.
Am I missing something ?? I just don't understand your reasoning.
Is 'several hundred miles' 800 or 300 ???

Personally I'd ride my bagger there, and if my buddy wanted to trailer,
then so be it.