Trailers Push You

[rewindgy]

Surge brakes work on the principle of the actuator is on the trailer tongue. When the trailer starts to push against the tow vehicle the brakes are activated. This is not a big deal on a car or truck! However, on a motorcycle you only have two wheels and if you ever rode over washboard roads you would get the same sensation, wheels hopping, excessive movement side to side plus the push pull same as if you pop the clutch and don't give it any gas. This is not good!!!

[Guest Jammin'John]

Thanks for the kind words everyone !

 

"I think most mc utility trailers are only 150 lbs or so empty. (My homemade wooden trailer is only 160#) So I think you'd be hard pressed to get one up to 500 pounds. Maybe with a load of firewood or something. "

 

I probably had about 200#'s in my CycleMate 2000 LTD.

It holds 22 CF and was full.

 

"And JJ, I'm glad to hear you got a new bike. You gotta get back on that horse! What did you get?"

 

I bought a Stratoliner Midnight !

 

JJ

[Moose]

JJ,

I'm real glad to hear you're gonna be okay. I want to put in my two cents on the trailer subject. I bought an Aspen last year and I had the bracks factory installed. Then I bought a brake assist and did the wiring myself (I'm not much of a mechanic). When adjusting the brakes, I erred on the side of caution: i.e. I didn't over tighten the brake pads or set the brake assist too much. I figured I didn't want too much or too little braking power, but if I had to choose, I'd opt for too little. On my way back from Canada, I noticed my rear breaks were scraping. I didn't want to grind a path in the steel, so I just slowed down a bit before applying the breaks then I used only the front brakes. The trailer brakes applied the rest of the stopping power. I am a proponent of trailer brakes and I wouldn't haul one without them.

Chuck

[Venturous Randy]

As I noted on another thread, I bought a little camper this summer and have pulled it some with my 83 Venture. The camper without any extra gear weighs about 370 pounds. By the time I add the full size air mattress and other camping gear, I am probably over 400 pounds. I did do some upgrading on the bike brakes by going through the calipers, replacing some worn rotors and went to EBC HH superbike brake pads. This helped a lot with or without the trailer.

There is no doubt that while pulling the camper that I am at a heightened state of anxiety. I ride with my thumb on the airhorn button and try to give myself a lot of extra distance. I try to really concentrate on the road and the road conditions. But, I am aware that a little bobble that would be just an irritation without the camper, could turn into a serious problem with the camper.

But, I also have to add that taking off with the bike and camper for a few days in the mountains is so much fun. I have reached the point that at my age and even camping on a good air mattress, camping in a tent is not what I want to do. Actually, before I got the camper, I usually just camped at Holiday Inn.

randya

[86er]

Thanks for the kind words everyone !

 

I bought a Stratoliner Midnight !

 

JJ

 

Sweeeeeeeeet, and glad to hear it!

[Bob Myers]

Sorry to hear about your accedent. Just wondering, You can set up trailer brakes for a pickup or car that makes the trailer help you stop. Can that be done on a motorcycle? Sorry, Redneck ain't here to answere my stupid question. Just didn't know if the same thing can be applied.

 

I have done a bit of research on an electric disc brake. I'm building a single wheel trailer to pull behind my Vulcan 800. All that I have found have such an amp draw that the standard wiring on a stock bike would need some upgrades. Using it continuously like in a car would compromise the battery pretty quickly to. If it were set for just a slight drag instead of actually locking a wheel it may work.

[pick]

Sory to hear about the crash. Hope you get healed up fast! Might have to do some rethinking on buying that trailer?

[Condor]

The original post was made in '06... Maybe posting about trailer brakes would work better in the trailer tech forum???

[Bob Myers]

trailer talk, trailer tech, I did not post any thing I thought of tech value, just random observations. I will look deeper into it and if I am able to conclude any thing worthy of a tech article I will post it there, thanks.

[Gary N.]

If you have ever experienced the thrill of being pushed by a trailer without brakes in any kind of vehicle, believe me, you will never tow another trailer without brakes.

The brakes on these bikes are marginal at best. Now add another 100 + lbs. behind and see what happens especially if you are already at full load capacity on the bike, ie. bags full and two up. I don't care how careful you are you can't allow for unexpected circumstances. I would never attempt to pull anything behind any bike without brakes. My two cents and my opinion.

As for adding brakes. It shouldn't be a big deal. Most manufactures of trailer axles have either electric or serge brake kits available. I think a serge brake set up behind the bike would be the ticket. No extra load on the charging system. The trick, as always, is to get the trailer brakes adjusted just right. I've had no experience towing anything behind a bike but in a pickup you want the trailer brakes to come on just enough so that you can tell they're on but not so much that the trailer is dragging you down before the tow vehicle brakes are activating.

[Brake Pad]

Its hard to ride a bike, with the thought, of expect the unexpected,

when I pull my trailer, I stay away from cars riding next to me, I slow down.

I always ride the right lane, but move to the center, when coming up on merge lanes.

In rain, I get off highways, and ride secondary roads.

I'm almost toooo careful.

Sure, I've been down 3 times, twice on Ice, and a Deer strike.

I know I was going down, but I swerved at the last second, and only caught Her head, down the left side of the bike, I went off the road into a ditch.

wild thing about it, when the bike stopped, i was still sitting on it.

But I had already lost controll, I was bracing for inpact

[hillrider]

Has anyone added electric brakes to an existing trailer?? How much trouble - approx cost (500 - 2000)? I looked at Dexter's site and really couldn't figure out if I could do it or not.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

One of the problems with electric trailer brakes is that if they are not perfectly balanced when applied, they can cause a side force at the hitch. Not a problem for a 4 wheel vehicle or a trike, but sure can be for a 2 wheel bike, especially when descending a grade on a curved road.

 

The other problem is that for a cargo type trailer, with varying loads, the brake application will need to be adjusted so that the wheels dont lockup when its nearly empty, especially when its raining or you have something like oil or wet leaves under one wheel but not the other... but still need to be adjusted for more force when loaded.

 

An acquaintance I used to know had used electric brakes on his motorcycle camper-trailer, and installed the controller, with the pendulum type sensor, INSIDE the trailer. He was told by all the so-called experts it wont work, but he did it anyway. It worked fine. This kept that ugly controller off the bike.

 

I dont have trailer brakes on mine, and they cant be added to it either. I just make adjustments to my riding style and I dont try to carry along everything including the kitchen sink!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BEER30]

Well , I have come to the conclusion to 2 ideas .

First Deer : Mount a giant razor blade in front of the scoot . Let say I'll just slice and dice my way though it .

Secondly trailer brakes: Linear actuator with bell crank linkage mounted under the BEERCART . Size 16 boot on the bottom of the linkage to drag myself to a stop . (Flinstone style) . This will also aid in lifting the BEERCART to change any flat tire !

 

Now that I have been pulling a trailer for some time now , I learn not to get in a hurry , unless I am following Muffinman . Though the BEERCART looks huge , it only weights 185 lbs. empty . I don't think I have hit 500 lbs. in it yet . And if I do , I'll even slow down further and watch my surroundings a whole lot better . I have noticed that I feel a lot more comfortable and more stable riding in the rain with it . The trailer helps keep me more in line when I hit standing water . Just keep in mind , slow it down and don't get in no hurry . Yes , take extra caution . Respect it , don't fear it !

 

BEER30

[1 - UP]

I have electric brakes on my camper, but I haven't hooked them up yet. I can't figure out where to put the controls. (They are not water proof). Now after reading your story I'm thinking of how I can put the controls on my trike. Thank you for sharing your story and getting me back on track.

Ken

1 - UP

[Eddy]

Last Monday I wrecked in Pineville, Ky. There was a multiple car crash in front of me and I locked the breaks and yes I used the front also. I believe the trailer was pushing me just enough to add to my going down. I've done this before on wings in the past and they didn't lockup and I didn't lay the bike down. Needless to say, I'll probably be getting back on a wing even though I love the Venture much more.

Eddie

[sarges46]

You ok Eddy? Sorry to hear about the wreck...hope its not too bad.

[Eddy]

Yeah, just a little sore in a lot of places. The trailer I pull is a Cyclemate Zephyr and it is about 200# empty, so it's a fairly large trailer. I will pull it again and I'll just try to be as safe as I can. That's all any of us can do.

Eddie

[ediddy]

One on my insureds pulls an aluma trailer with his goldwing. A car slammed on the brakes in front of him and he went down. Totaled the wing and did minor damage to the trailer. He had rode rash and a few bruises. The goldwing didn't stop him from going down.

[DaveDanger]

Read this entire thread with interest since I'm wanting to pull a popup type camper trailer behind my new Venture.

I pulled a homebuilt utility trailer behind an '82 Magna 750 daily for about 12 years (it was my only transportation and the stuff had to go somewhere). No idea what kind of miles I racked up on the trailer, but the bike was given to a young fella for a restoration project after I'd put about 80k miles on it, and the trailer had been behind it most of that time.

I remember having to moderate my riding style with the trailer behind, as it does obviously push when stopping, and changes the acceleration curve as well when rolling off from a stop.

As long-time riders, we're all aware that no one out there sees us, or recognizes the limitations we have to deal with, so it's up to us to make our own riding zone as safe as possible. That includes watching every other vehicle within sight, thinking about the fact that deer can and do pop out from roadside brush with little or no notice, and that wet asphalt changes the way you can react to situations.

The initiator of this thread felt it seems, that it's almost an unacceptable risk to pull a trailer. Not to belittle his feelings after a take-down of this magnitude, I can sympathize, (A "grocery-getter" tagged me once before). But to take the attitude that you have to give up what you want to do, is unacceptable to me. you do what you desire to do, but change your approach to the situation in a manner that minimizes the risks. I mean, pulling onto the highway in my pickup truck increases the risk of me getting hit on a daily basis, I don't leave my truck at home and walk. Getting on any airplane and flying to a vacation destination increases my chances of drowning in an ocean, but I ain't walking or driving to South America because of it.

I hook up the trailer, and drive/ride more slowly. I anticipate a bit further ahead what I may have to do to react to the traffic I'm in. If the road is wet, I slow down even a bit more. If I have a passenger, I do all the same things. The bike is heaver than normal and will take longer to slow down, stop or control in a sudden reaction situation. I accept that and adjust my riding style.

JamminJohn, I'm tickled to see that you're still here to start this conversation and that you've already gotten another bike. get back on the horse and do what you want to do. Hope to meet you on the road someday