Trailering do's and dont's
Tourer
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 359
Likes: 0
From: Western North Carolina
Thought a trailer would a nice addition to my ultra for a vacation to the smokies checked and double checked everything safety chain lights load balance tongue , special ball did eveything possible to be safe. Trailer bounced sideways at 65mph on open interstate dumped us. $100.000. worth of emergency room and doctor bills 4 months out of work, Totaled motorcycle, Harley Davidson advises against it . After my new Ultraclassic arrives there will be no trailer per Harley Davidson warning, My ultraclassic was 2004 with 67000 miles on her, so I dont consider myself a newbee. Please ride safe, if out of room use UPS I will Never put myself or a passenger in that danger ever again.
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 675
Likes: 3
From: Newport, Wa
over 25,000 on mine... believe what you want.... travel at 80mph... believe it or not.... swivel hitch is important and long tongue arm... I won't tour without it.... did 18,000 this year... 5 months, that's all we have...8500 with trailer this year
Supporter
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,245
Likes: 69
From: Northford, CT
Have been towing a Bushtec trailer for 6 years. Watch turns like gas stations it is easy to forget it is back there. The only time I feel the trailer is on steel grated bridges, tires of the trailer are on different track than the bike. There are many trailers out there decide on what you need and then look for one that will fit that. I looked for several months before deciding on Bushtec. It is one of the more expensive trailers but have no regrets at all.
Road Master
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,156
Likes: 1
From: Nebraska
Thought a trailer would a nice addition to my ultra for a vacation to the smokies checked and double checked everything safety chain lights load balance tongue , special ball did eveything possible to be safe. Trailer bounced sideways at 65mph on open interstate dumped us. $100.000. worth of emergency room and doctor bills 4 months out of work, Totaled motorcycle, Harley Davidson advises against it . After my new Ultraclassic arrives there will be no trailer per Harley Davidson warning, My ultraclassic was 2004 with 67000 miles on her, so I dont consider myself a newbee. Please ride safe, if out of room use UPS I will Never put myself or a passenger in that danger ever again.
Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
From: Colorado
Make sure the tongue weight is correct. Better a little heavy than too light, too light will cause it too bounce on the hitch and start moving the bike around (tail wagging the dog). I hook my safety chains to zipties that are wrapped around the bag guards. That way they can't pop me for chains not being hooked up and if the thing did come loose it won't drag the bike with it. I'd rather have the trailer come loose from anything that I'm towing with. Don't ask me how I know. Really
Thought a trailer would a nice addition to my ultra for a vacation to the smokies checked and double checked everything safety chain lights load balance tongue , special ball did eveything possible to be safe. Trailer bounced sideways at 65mph on open interstate dumped us. $100.000. worth of emergency room and doctor bills 4 months out of work, Totaled motorcycle, Harley Davidson advises against it . After my new Ultraclassic arrives there will be no trailer per Harley Davidson warning, My ultraclassic was 2004 with 67000 miles on her, so I dont consider myself a newbee. Please ride safe, if out of room use UPS I will Never put myself or a passenger in that danger ever again.
But I do have some questions for you..
1. Have you pulled a trailer before?
2. If so how many miles and years have you been towing?
3. What "kind" of a trailer were you pulling?
4. How did you have it loaded?
5. What did you hit that caused the trailer to bounce sideways?
As to your last comment, if by one mishap you feel uncomfortable pulling a trailer - which I agree if you are not 100% confident in the hardware and/or your ability to control, I agree, do not put yourself in harms way. But then if you read thru this entire forum, there are a lot of motorcycle accidents without trailers and yet you still continue to ride motorcycle. Sometimes you need to get back on that horse. :-) If it were me - I would want to know "why" and "how" it flipped sideways so that I could figure out a way to avoid it next time, or handle the situation (be prepared).
Ride safe, pack light, or make a friend pull the trailer next time. ;-)
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- then based on that logic, you better sell your momo and never ride an iron horse ever again. ;-) 
I get not having enough weight on the tongue, too light and it can lift that back end up, not good and you get wags over bumps - very dangerous...
But what about the opposite - what "is" the true danger of having a heavy tongue? Aside from the bad ride on the back end causing the bike to bottom out...? Curious.
But what about the opposite - what "is" the true danger of having a heavy tongue? Aside from the bad ride on the back end causing the bike to bottom out...? Curious.