jetfixer
Member
Does anyone tow a trailer with their bike? I do alot of camping and was thinking about getting one.
Towing with the FJR
- Thread starter jetfixer
- Start date
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RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
I don't pull a trailer. But if I did, I'd go with UNIGO.
Spendy, but very popular and stylish, if ya ask me.
Here's one camping option. These are pictures of the the Leesure Lite tent trailer I tow behind my FJR, taken down at Morro Bay last year. Another forum member, kawabeemer, also tows one of these. The reason they work well is that they are only 255 lbs empty. It's not the light weight, sleek design of the little UniGo, but if you like really convenient camping for two adults, it's pretty cool.
jetfixer
Member
Holy moly! That's a nice setup! I'll definitely look at those. I was wanting to pull a camper but wasn't sure if the fjr was capable. You sure have a handle on it! Where did you get your hitch?
big_smile_2u
Well-known member
Here's one camping option. These are pictures of the the Leesure Lite tent trailer I tow behind my FJR, taken down at Morro Bay last year. Another forum member, kawabeemer, also tows one of these. The reason they work well is that they are only 255 lbs empty. It's not the light weight, sleek design of the little UniGo, but if you like really convenient camping for two adults, it's pretty cool.
Some friends of ours have one of these. We went to a rally with them last summer. It was quite windy and rained buckets, as in monsoon rain. They stayed nice and dry. He pulls it with a HD. He did mention that that is was critical to use a hitch mount that twists (like a universal joint). Good luck!
Rick
Some friends of ours have one of these. We went to a rally with them last summer. It was quite windy and rained buckets, as in monsoon rain. They stayed nice and dry. He pulls it with a HD. He did mention that that is was critical to use a hitch mount that twists (like a universal joint). Good luck!
Rick
I
irishcurtis
Guest
What does Yamaha have to say about towing (specifically with regards to th estandard warranty and the YES warranty)?
The hitch is from Dauntless Motors (also available for the FJR from at least one other vendor). Dauntless makes hitches for both Gen I and Gen II. If you get a hitch from them, be sure to specify that you travel with the factory saddle bags.
Your Harley friend was referring to a swivel hitch coupler for the trailer tongue:
I had this very discussion about swivel hitch couplers with kawabeemer before purchasing my rig. He pointed out, and my experience confirms, that a simple straight coupler has sufficient clearance around the hitch ball to allow for the lean angles of any reasonable cornering speeds that are actually consistent with towing a trailer. Out on the web, one camp of opinion claims that these are a "must have" item, saying that in addition to unrestricted lean angles, they will save damage to your hitch in the event you drop your bike. The other claiming it's just another point of failure, citing cases where they have failed catastrophically, and if you drop your bike you probably have other worries than damage to your hitch.
My towing experience has been that, aside from your choice of lane position, you forget that the trailer is even there. The only time I notice it is in very low speed (parking lot) maneuvers or on bumpy roads. There you can sometimes feel a slight "washboard" effect when the tailer tongue moves up and down out of sync with the bike's motion. But what does change is that you must allow for additional braking distance. For safety, you really do need to pay attention to and jealously guard the following distance ahead of you.
I never asked!
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Here's one camping option. These are pictures of the the Leesure Lite tent trailer I tow behind my FJR, taken down at Morro Bay last year. Another forum member, kawabeemer, also tows one of these. The reason they work well is that they are only 255 lbs empty. It's not the light weight, sleek design of the little UniGo, but if you like really convenient camping for two adults, it's pretty cool.
Yamabego?
juniorfjr
Well-known member
There have been posts here from a guy who towed a large utility trailer with steel beams or someother thing. Totally amazing. Also a guy that towed a track bike on trailer loaded with all he needed for a weekend of riding. The bike is capable, is the rider?
DE OPPRESSO LIBER
Official Dumbass
Price???
bvail
Well-known member
I have done a lot of towing with the FJR. I built a couple of trailers from the Harbor Freight trailer kit and a Sears cartop carrier and they work very well. Showed up at a couple of WFOs with the rig. I also towed a big Roll-a-Home behind the FJR, but that trailer (early version) had to be loaded just right or it would get the wigglies. I've been towing for quite a few years with all kinds to trailers (except for the one wheeled variety, which I wouldn't bother with) and have always used a simple ball hitch 1 7/8" which works very well. No need for one of those swivel hitch rigs. The homebuilts would safely tow up into triple digit speeds with no issues. Your mileage will drop a bit, no matter what you are pulling, except maybe the one wheeled thingies.
Some pics of the rig I was using - a nice trailer like this one can be built for about $300 bucks. I got my hitch from Classic Industries in Australia, but there are more available locally these days. As far as what the motorcycle manufacturers state about towing trailers, not one, including Honda (Goldwing) would promote this, but there are few if any warranty issues that I've heard. There is a really good forum on Delphi all about M/C trailers.
Go to my PICTURETRAIL site for a lot of M/C trailer pics.
p.s. Here's the link to MOTORCYCLE TRAILER TOWING FORUM
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I tow one of these: Aspen Ambassador. It was the only way I could get my wife to go camping from the motorcycle with me.
The electric brakes on the trailer are great.
The electric brakes on the trailer are great.
jetfixer
Member
THanks so much for the info on hitches and trailers. I figurted there had to be people towing but I couldn't find a thread on it. I think I'll start out with the dauntless motors hitch and a harbor freight trailer to haul my stuff for now and move up to a camper when I find a good deal on one someone's getting rid of.
Patriot
Isabella is Lazarus
+2Here's one camping option. These are pictures of the the Leesure Lite tent trailer I tow behind my FJR, taken down at Morro Bay last year. Another forum member, kawabeemer, also tows one of these. The reason they work well is that they are only 255 lbs empty. It's not the light weight, sleek design of the little UniGo, but if you like really convenient camping for two adults, it's pretty cool.
Two of my riding buddies tow these and I think they are really cool...one man operation and quite quick & slick
One tows with a GL1800wing and the other a Honda Shadow 1300 - both with swivel receivers on the trailers
The advantage to me is the Wing buddy puts all my camping stuff - tent, pad, bag, small ice chest, and small cargo box of stuff in his pop up while we travel together leaving room on my bike for clothes, personal items, and spare riding gear.
If was going to a pop up for bike camping, a Leesure Lite would be my definite choice.
Cheers,
Mike in Nawlins'
There is a lot of trailer info here:
Motorcycle Trailer Towing
Here is a list of all the trailers I know of:
Adventure Sports Products
Adventure Teardrop Trailers
Aerobourne
Aluma Ltd.
American Classic Cargo
American Custom Trailers
American Legend
Aspen
B&F Specialties
Badapple
Bike Buddys
Burro Products
Bushtec
California Sidecar
Car Replica Trailers
Cellco
Champion Sidecar
Classic Industries
Country Trailers
Cycle-Mate
Cyclope
Dasz Enterprises
Dauntless Motors
Dreamchaser Trailers
Dutchman's Flyer
Eagle Craft
Eaglemate
Fibro Concept
Gypsy Trailers
Hannigan
Honky Donkey
Kompact Kamp
Lees-ure Lite
Li'l Thoroughbred Trailers
Little Guy
Little Trailer
Matrix Rover
Monogo
MotoGoodies
Motorcycle Barrel Trailer
Motorvation
Neosho
N-Line
Peak Trailers
Piggy Backer
Quicksilver Trailers
R&W Trailers
Ride Rite
Road Dog Trailers
Roadman Campers
Roll A Home
Sarasota Trailers
Scooter Schooner
Scooter Trailer
Scorpion Trailers
Stealth
Stema Custom
Tailwind Trailers
Third Wheel Trailers
Time-Out
TNT Motocorp
Tourmaster
Trekker
Turtle Hull Trailers
Uni-go
WAGS
ZZ Trailers
Motorcycle Trailer Towing
Here is a list of all the trailers I know of:
Adventure Sports Products
Adventure Teardrop Trailers
Aerobourne
Aluma Ltd.
American Classic Cargo
American Custom Trailers
American Legend
Aspen
B&F Specialties
Badapple
Bike Buddys
Burro Products
Bushtec
California Sidecar
Car Replica Trailers
Cellco
Champion Sidecar
Classic Industries
Country Trailers
Cycle-Mate
Cyclope
Dasz Enterprises
Dauntless Motors
Dreamchaser Trailers
Dutchman's Flyer
Eagle Craft
Eaglemate
Fibro Concept
Gypsy Trailers
Hannigan
Honky Donkey
Kompact Kamp
Lees-ure Lite
Li'l Thoroughbred Trailers
Little Guy
Little Trailer
Matrix Rover
Monogo
MotoGoodies
Motorcycle Barrel Trailer
Motorvation
Neosho
N-Line
Peak Trailers
Piggy Backer
Quicksilver Trailers
R&W Trailers
Ride Rite
Road Dog Trailers
Roadman Campers
Roll A Home
Sarasota Trailers
Scooter Schooner
Scooter Trailer
Scorpion Trailers
Stealth
Stema Custom
Tailwind Trailers
Third Wheel Trailers
Time-Out
TNT Motocorp
Tourmaster
Trekker
Turtle Hull Trailers
Uni-go
WAGS
ZZ Trailers
2WheelTiger
Chief Executive Carnivore
tripntx
Well-known member
You'll run across a few problems installing the dauntless hitch, once installed mine has worked great and looks good on the bike.
dauntless hitch install
dauntless hitch install
Auburn
Well-known member
Slight thread hi-jack: (only cause some others asked)
John T - what did your trailer cost?
Same for you nightshine, what did your trailer cost?
Anything either of you would do differently with your trailers?
John T - what did your trailer cost?
Same for you nightshine, what did your trailer cost?
Anything either of you would do differently with your trailers?
