Stopping weave.

[Monsta]

Just thought I'd put it out there...

 

If you are trailering and your trailer develops a weave what is the best way to stop it if you are going 50-60mph on a two-lane country road w/traffic behind you?

 

Turn slightly in your lane to redirect the trailer?

 

Brake?

 

Speed up?

 

Let off gas and coast?

 

I know there probably isn't one for sure way depending on conditions but surely there is a wrong way!

 

My trailer started to weave one day after a large truck passed me from the other way going way to fast, plus we had high trade winds that day and the road had a weird track to in that spot. Probably one out of a million as far as conditions go but it made me think...

 

I'll wait and see some answers before I tell how I stopped mine. (not that it is the sure fire way)

[flb_78]

I've never had one develop a weave before, even up to 120mph....

 

I would think that you would want to speed up because if you apply the brakes or come off the throttle, the trailer would push the bike, but then again, maybe the force of the bike slowly down would stop the weave.

 

Hellifino.

[Monsta]

Hellifino.

I gotta use that now.

[BuddyRich]

I would think that just maintaining a straight line and steady speed would pull it back out of the weave

[Monsta]

This has now happened to me about 5 times. Whenever a big truck passes me. It never did this before so I think either my trailer's tire pressures may be off or the fact that my trailer is a big ass square. Although it has always been a big square.

 

Lengthening the tongue should help and I'm currently working on that.

 

It only happens when it is unloaded. Once loaded with the 180#'s of stuff I designed my trailer to hold I have no problems.

 

What I found was speeding up would increase the frequency of the oscillations.

 

Slowing down would work but if there are cars behind you flash your brakes. But slowing down too fast will slow the oscillations but make them larger. Meaning more weave but at a slower pace.

 

I found the best thing to do is to turn within your lane to redirect the trailer. This causes it to straighten up behind you.

[BEER30]

Most of the time , I speed up some if it can be done safely . Sometimes if I cannot speed up, I lean the bike , still maintaining a straight forward line . Basically riding the edge of the tire . Making a turn , applies a more solid force , bracing the scoot to take control of the trailers tongue . As if the bike was still straight upright , the force can rock the scoot to either side , causing the bikes rear to wobble somewhat . I've seen this happen to a bike with a Voyager kit without a trailer . Scares the crap out of ya when you are right behind them doing 70 mph. . I have also down shifted and accelerate at the same time , causing the rear end of the scoot to squat , creating more force in an up and down motion that is greater than side to side motion and neither slow down , nor speed up. So in reference to having to stop after a truck passes , I have not yet had to do this . I've been very fortunate that I had not had to do so.

Now I have had the BEERCART jump from side to side vigorously . Traffic behind me , let's say they just back off !

 

BEER30

[greg_in_london]

Happens to me often enough when I push on too fast with the outfit and trailer (especially if I've repacked to reduce noseweight on bumpy roads).

 

Gently slow down. Keep it straight and let off the throttle. Or rather when I say keep it straight I mean don't do anything sudden - gently turning can be beneficial, but isn't always practical.

 

Speeding up is only an option for very lightweight trailers where there was another reason for the weave. With a heavier trailer I'd be surprised if this worked, although years ago I found that I just got used to the weave on a CX500 with a substantial trailer. I'd forgotten it was still weaving until I looked back and saw it bouncing side to side and three lanes of motorway behind were afraid to overtake...

 

My view - slow down.

 

If the weave is caused by excessive speed (for your rig, the way it is packed, for road conditions) then slowing down is the only logical response. If it's caused by something else, there's a good chance it will die down by itself if you do nothing to make it worse - just stay below any critical speed to leave a margin for safety.

 

In an emergency, if you have over-run brakes, maybe brake, but there is a delay before they come on and matters could get worse in that time, so only brake gently.

[sarges46]

There is some evidence that this is what took BigBob down. His trailer weaved and he braked hard..didnt work out well for him. There are other factors to consider in his crash that I won't mention just yet. We are waiting for the insurance to settle first.

[Yammer Dan]

Probally everyone knows this but I've never heard it on here. When you pack your trailer make sure you have 60 per cent of the weight in front of the axle. A little more don't hurt.Too much weight to the rear will cause weave.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Yammer Dan

[bikenut]

Yammer Dan hit the nail on the head.

If you are light on the front of the trailer it will do just that.

Move some weight forward to stop it.

Bikenut