single wheel trailer "on the cheap"

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ampster
Tourist
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:15 pm
SELF INTRODUCTION: got interested in solid modeling and motorcycle designs at the same time - although I haven't built anything yet I do plan on building a custom mc pull behind trailer and will be looking for advise. My Thanks goes out to all the people who have devoted their time into keeping this type of web forum going.
Location: Crystal, MN.

Re: single wheel trailer "on the cheap"

Post by ampster »

well she's done! Friggen state, I don't know where I got the idea I had to get it inspected... :angry-cussingblack:

called first thing this morning attempting to make an appointment to get it inspected (recommended) and was told the soonest was sometime in August, not good when you're planning on hitting the road in a months time! So I took half a day off work to go sit in a line - ok wasn't bad I was the 2nd person, and the guy was like "you brought the trailer here?" with a surprised look on his face! He said I just had to take the receipts to the dmv and get it registered.

I was a bit too honest and just listed what I spend roughly on materials as $600 so the lifetime sticker ran me another $128.

Total dry weight came in at 68lbs with 11lbs tongue weight. We added three 20lbs logs, one in each basket and the tongue weight went up near 50 so gotta remember to carry heavy stuff all the way to the rear and keep the cooler light in the forward basket.

Will take some pics this weekend with everything fully loaded and we'll do another tongue weight on it then. I want to test it on a 4 to 5 hundred mile day with it packed - and while we are still in *this* state before committing to the 5,000 mile trip we have planned for the west coast.

:auto-biker: :auto-dirtbike:
User avatar
ampster
Tourist
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:15 pm
SELF INTRODUCTION: got interested in solid modeling and motorcycle designs at the same time - although I haven't built anything yet I do plan on building a custom mc pull behind trailer and will be looking for advise. My Thanks goes out to all the people who have devoted their time into keeping this type of web forum going.
Location: Crystal, MN.

Re: single wheel trailer "on the cheap"

Post by ampster »

We put on 4,997 miles on the trip. Left on July 6th and made it back home the evening of July 18th.

I took a few pics (or so I thought i did) of the trailer after it was completed - however something was goofy with my digital camera and I had to reformat the memory in order for it to work for the trip - so i don't have any "as completed" pics which show the real nice chrome Bicycle fender which turned out to be the weak link of this design!

On our first night into the trip, we made it as far as Oacoma, SD. There were a couple of good size bumps in the road which I couldn't see in the dark (last night time driving we did on this trip - so much for attempting to make up time!)...the 2nd bump caused the rear edge of the fender to connect with the tire and that's all she wrote for the tire, tube and fender! The fender turned into a "pretzel" and was wedged up against the tire (now flat) and we had to take the fender off to limp back roughly 1 mile to an off ramp.

We were down for a day while my wife back home located a spare tire 70 miles behind us. However that was a knobby tire and not street tread - hey I'd take what ever they have at this point!

That knobby lasted until we made it to the west coast - it had developed a nice bald spot on one side. My wife thought she had located another spare in Eureka, CA. and we hauled butt to make it there by closing. Turned out to be a bicycle shop and they couldn't help us. Stayed over night and we did locate the one and only spare they had for miles around. After speaking with the guys at the mc shop, they reminded me that knobby tires are not rated for hwy use so we lowered the speed a bit at first. They also balanced this tire which helped alot. The street tread tire I had first mounted and the 1st knobby spare were not balanced. Note, on the way back home, I did have it up to 80mph at times and the knobby tire held up just fine and made it all the way home (2000 miles give or take) and it appears to still have 75% life left on it - balancing must have helped alot.

Since I couldn't trust the amount of miles a knobby tire would last, and considering how hard it is to locate 2.50x14 tires, we made the choice of heading east out of Eureka towards home instead of continuing down the coast to L.A., California.

My wife back home had located an actual street tread tire in Roseville, CA., so we headed down there from Redding, CA. to pick up the spare and change the oil in the bike. The nice folks at Roseville Yamaha said it was cool that I could change my oil behind their bldg.

Over all the trailer handled just fine. The best part about it is you don't have to take it into consideration when going into the twisties...you just ride your bike like normal and lean as needed. One side marker light is out - didn't notice that until after we had got back.

Oh yeah, I dropped the bike twice on this trip, first time ever! The 1st was in Murdo - I had forgotten to put the kickstand down and wondered why I wasn't hearing the usual noise of the kickstand when I layed it over to the left...and the 2nd was in Waldport, OR. when we were stopping for dinner. The 1st drop, my daughter helped me pick it up, the 2nd time I did it the "correct" way and just by myself (with your back to the bike, you pick up on the handle bar and saddlebag guard) and it was actually very easy to pick up. Note, the trailer was still connected to the bike both times, and it never touched the ground while the bike was on its side...only water had drained out of the cooler!

I didn't take alot of pics myself, but my daughter took over 400. I concentrated on taking pics of the bike/trailer and background scenery to show the trailer at those locations.

The link below is to just the pics I took (36)

http://s773.photobucket.com/albums/yy11/ampster_photos/

from Murdo, SD. which was suppose to be where we stayed the 1st night, turned out to be the 2nd night.
Image
User avatar
curt
Long in the Tooth
Posts: 1068
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:36 am
SELF INTRODUCTION: hi everyone its me from the old bord hopeing to see everyone come here and all the newcomers . lets make this as good as the old one or even better . lookin foreward to seeing everyones projects continue and ill be continueing mine too
Location: utica new york

Re: single wheel trailer "on the cheap"

Post by curt »

i remember when i used to drink i used to forget that pesky kickstand all the time it was ok though bikes were a lot cheaper then and rattle cans were all i painted with then way easier to touch up the worst thing was pickin all the grass outa those s/s b carbs the throat was so long it could really pack in the dirt ahhh the good old days thanks for the memories
ever notice when you hit somethin or someone with a hammer you feel instantly better
gearhead1951
Builder
Posts: 367
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 4:49 am
SELF INTRODUCTION: I am an expat tennessee hillbilly and retired us navy engineer livin' in Scotland and I have a love of old cars , trucks, motorcycles and most any other machinery !

I dont know if I can think of enough to say to reach the two hundred charactor minimun set by the mods , but I will persevere
Location: Greenock Scotland

Re: single wheel trailer "on the cheap"

Post by gearhead1951 »

check the single wheel trailer on this bike !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFyPyA5vVSc :obscene-drinkingcheers:
User avatar
ampster
Tourist
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:15 pm
SELF INTRODUCTION: got interested in solid modeling and motorcycle designs at the same time - although I haven't built anything yet I do plan on building a custom mc pull behind trailer and will be looking for advise. My Thanks goes out to all the people who have devoted their time into keeping this type of web forum going.
Location: Crystal, MN.

Re: single wheel trailer "on the cheap"

Post by ampster »

been awhile since I've visited here! Good to see the address hasn't changed recently!

I like that enclosed single wheel trailer in the vid gearhead! I may end up using the Thule sidekick eventually for something like that - now that I've replaced the trailer hitch on the bike with one of the "n-line" models and no long have to worry about tongue weight. Supposedly their hitches will handle 1,000 lbs tongue weight...which means the bike itself would be the weakest connection if someone were to tow 1,000 lbs behind their bike!

I made a few changes to the trailer this past winter. Added a "wheel well cover", mudflap and mounted a complete spare wheel assy;

Image

Image

To mount the spare wheel to the tongue, I ended up buying a less than $10.00 spare wheel bracket for a late '60's to early '70's Corvette! That bracket is bolted to a 3/8" thick plate which is mounted to the tongue with square u-bolts. Worked perfect!

I also made a couple changes in that the side cargo nets are perm attached to the baskets now. I also used those odd looking "bungee" cords to hold down the cooler. Doing those changes helped for at the end of a days ride it's less to haul into the motel each night.

With the new trailer hitch on the bike, the trailer no longer rocks back and forth at all.

We made a trip out to Wash. D.C. earlier this month and the guys riding behind us said they never seen it rocking at all. They did notice it would get some air time every now and then going over bumps.

About loading the trailer/making sure each side is equal...We are not seeing an issue if the bags are off by a few lbs. So, it appears it's not super critical to get both sides equal - just don't be to far off from each other.

We will be making an In-N-Out Burger run to TX at the end of next month - if the temps are up in the 90's down south I may just bring the trailer in order to have cool drinks (water) during rest stops.

So far this trailer has been from one side of the U.S. to the other - and I believe we have all the bugs worked out now. Seems to be a good design.

If anybody is interested, I've updated this link to include CAD drawings showing most of the information;

http://s773.photobucket.com/user/ampste ... s/library/

copy anything you want from there, modify as needed to suit your design.

This next link shows the mod's I did to the trailer this past year;

http://s773.photobucket.com/user/ampste ... ler%20mods

Although I don't visit here much lately, if someone has a question just send me a private msg and I'll get back to you.
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