SO....I live in Florida, work in Kentucky, and go to school in Michigan..The bike is in MI right now, and that makes me angry because I want to ride..I do not have a pickup, or something I can put the bike on to bring it around with me, and have been thinking of how I want to do this. I dont want the bike sitting in MI year round so I can only use it when I am going to school and its not cold (about a 3 month period of time). I was thinking of getting some kind of small trailer, and then just setting my car (s) up with some sort of hitch. A bike isnt that heavy, and I dont imagine having to many problems trying to trailer it. How much would something like this cost me, or does anyone have better ideas? What do you use? How much did it cost you? Let me know
There should be no problem using your car to pull the bike. I had a Grand Prix that I had a class 1 hitch put on it for that very thing, and it worked great. Just don't get a very heavy trailer. Cars are not meant for towing, but if you keep the weight down as much as possible it should be fine.
I just bought one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90154 after doing some research on this board. I figure it'll be good enough for at least one season of trailering. I found some posts where a guy had something like 5500 miles on one and it was still going. I think even another guy was pulling one behind his Neon and still getting like 24mpg. I just got done bolting down some plywood to it and fixing up some anchors for my Baxley sport chalk. All that is left is putting in some d-ring tie downs (on there way from e-bay) and it should be good to go. If you want to go a bit more expensive route you could always buy a Baxley trailer. A guy I know pulled this model behind his Miata: http://www.baxleycompanies.com/ST001ST002.html I've used many a Baxley trailer and they pull straight at any speed and their so light you can't even tell it's behind you. In fact pulling a double with two bikes and the bed of my truck full of gear I still got 20mpg out of my V8 Dakota a few times. The creator/inventor of the Sport chalk and trailer is even a WERA rider and V6 champ if I remember correctly, Chip Mayfield, I believe his user id here is wmayfeild114. Hope that helps or at least gives you some options.
Cars have no problem towing. There is a misconception that they are not made for this....but I'm here to tell you any size car can have a tow-hitch bolted to it and can tow way more than people think..... Get a cheap trailer.
Is a trailer hitch still about $150-$200 installed? I haven't priced them in a while. Oh, and quit reading on the BBS, slacker. Get back to installing my TCs. am I picking you up a pep boys?
I bought a SeaDoo trailer years ago that was converted to a motorcycle trailer. It was really homemade looking and didn't give me much confidence so I sold it. But it was incredibly light since the frame was all hollow aluminum. I think a properly executed conversion to a single rail trailer would be the ticket. I might even go with a custom aluminum rail-type when I retire my truck.
I pull my bike with a Dodge Neon. No problems here (yet). I get 24mpg and have no problem doing 80mph, even up and down hills. It's a very light assemble-it-yourself trailer from Harbor Freight for $250. It doesn't come with the expanded metal floor you see on mine. That cost me about $75 from a local metal working shop. The trailer also folds in half and stands up on end and has little wheels so you can roll it around while it's folded up. The trailer's great. If you balance the bike on the trailer well, you can walk the trailer and bike around with one hand. And the trailer's small enough that I can fit it in my garage with the bike still on it. And if you luck out... you can install the hitch yourself. I got mine here for something like $120 with all the wiring and was able to install it myself. Thankfully the Neon didn't require cutting or anything. Just bolted on to pre-existing holes in the frame underneith.
I have the trailer that V7 is talking about from harbor freight....it is an awesome little trailer for i think $219.99 or something like that (make sure you get the one with the bigger wheels...either the 10-12" i think) The trailer tows like a dream...it's extremely light and easy to pull...after plywood and tiedowns and rails it probably cost me about $270...took about a day to put together, and everything works great on her...
i am about to buy a harbor frieght one as well. ya just cant beat the price. although i wont feel very manly towing it behind my big lifted f250 diesel,lol. the truck desereves a toy hauler - but my paycheck doesnt agree. lol
Just don't drink as much as I did while assembling it. Notice which direction the ball reciever's facing. NOT towards where the car would be. LOL.
And I thought mine was gonna look a little small behind my Dakota The one I bought is the same one sportbikerchic posted, although I spent just about the same amount of money putting pressure treated 3/4" plywood w/ 3/8" bolts on mine as she did putting the nice metal on hers. And now mine won't fold all the way up, I have to use a rachet strap to hold it together when it's folded.
I built this trailer from a scrap 4 x 8 trailer. The only cost involved was the time I spent torching and welding and the $5 fenders. I used to pull it with my 03' corolla; My R1 was pretty back then now, most people are surprised that it runs.
