My first experience with the first trailer that I ever owned.

[Eck]

I reposted this for the newer members (since 2005) and for those older members who need another laugh.

 

I figured I would post this again in hopes that:

1) - It saves you and or your motorcycle when loading it into an enclosed trailer.

2) –and that it leaves you with many laughs and smiles to learn from

 

Take a journey with me on a personal adventure and learning experience.

 

This incident took place on June 15, 2005

I bought a 6 x 10 enclosed trailer to haul my Venture in since my wife doesn’t ride much. After getting the trailer home and in the driveway I disconnected it from my truck.

I opened the side access door and rear ramp door and my wife and I were admiring it and talking about some things we want to do to it to personalize it for our use.

 

After staring at the “opening” of the rear ramp door, the “door opening height” did not appear to be high enough to drive my Venture through due to the height of the windshield on the bike.

I took out a measuring tape (again) and measured both the bike height and the door opening height. Measurements showed the windshield is 1/2 inch to high, thus obstructing sufficient entry clearance.

 

So….being the rocket scientist I am, I thought WTH…....just slowly pull the bike in to “see” if the windshield clears the door height opening.

I get on my Venture, fire it up, and proceed slowly up the ramp door. Sure enough, IT CLEARS. (yea, I knew it would. Sure I did), in fact it cleared by about 2 inches due to the angle of the ramp door.

Knowing it will fit, I proceed “slowly” pulling further into the trailer and I get to where my body is right in the doorway where I had to “duck” just a little to get my head and body in.

 

Low and behold “THE RIDE BEGINS”!!!!!!!!

The front of the trailer goes up in the air and the cabin/ floor of the trailer is now at about a 72 degree angle (and so is my bike with me on it) and the ramp door is flush with the ground.

The top of the trailer doorway came down between my arms and inside of the windshield.

There I am sitting with the top of the trailer door frame in my face, hands squeezing the clutch and front brakes. I use my thumb and hit the kill switch. It’s silent. OK, now what do I do?

My mind is going a million miles a minute, thinking, I can’t back off the door because my windshield will hit the door frame and bust it off, and it will cause the front of the trailer to fall back to the ground and the bike and I will go really fast in an upward direction. I pause; can I control the trailer movement if I do this? Answer: heck no. Can I get off the bike? Again, answer is no. What will the weight shift difference do?

 

All this is going through my mind and outside the trailer I hear my wife screaming, Are you OK, what can I do? Just tell me. I’m yelling back at her, Hell, I don’t know, let me think a minute. Yep, I’m stuck ..I’m in a real bind here.

The door frame is between me and the windshield and it is slightly bending the windshield forward because the bike is edging backwards. I’m losing tire traction on the plywood..

I yell to my wife to get away from the trailer and stand in the garage. I flip the kill switch back to on and start the bike. I begin moving inward (and upward), I dick to get my body on the inside of the door frame, and then I remember. Ah hell, both antennas are up and I don’t want to break them off..

 

I shut the bike off, kickstand goes down, I wedge my foot on the floor behind the kickstand in an effort to stop it from sliding backwards. I slowly get off, holding on for dear life (weight shift worry again). Carefully reach back and lower both antennas. I get back on, and fire it up again..

The front of the trailer is still pointing due north. God and heaven are laughing at me now…I slowly edge inward and I get to that “balancing point”. The front of the trailer wants to come down, and yep, I am scared because I don’t want to damage the bike or the trailer. I can picture my bike going THRU the floor when the front slams down. The front of the trailer is moving downwards, no upwards, no downwards.. Pivot point maneuvering. Yea man, I am rocking now!!!!!

 

Bravery kicks in, here goes, I tell myself just drive on in until the front of the bike is about to hit the front of the trailer and hit the brakes and HOPE the bike doesn’t go thru the floor..

 

I rev it up, let out the clutch and off I go…the front of the trailer SLAMS against the driveway pavement; I hit the kill switch and brakes. I’m stopped, it’s silent. It takes a moment to realize everything is very still.

 

Kickstand slowly goes down, key off. I get out of the trailer and just stand there looking at my wife..

 

WOW that was one hell of a ride.

 

Now, the pun of this lesson is:

NEVER FORGET to lower the rear stabilizer jacks before you drive into or out of a trailer.. (or just attach it to the pulling vehicle first!!!!)

 

 

 

 

[Zzyzx]

So it only takes one rocket scientist to load a motorcycle into a trailer, always wondered about that. :)

Great story Eck!

[XV1100SE]

Funny. But at least you learned your lesson and didn't crash the bike like some people do loading it into a trailer. I don't think I've seen you post similar incidents after the first one. Too bad you didn't get this one on video !

[cowpuc]

Funny. But at least you learned your lesson and didn't crash the bike like some people do loading it into a trailer. I don't think I've seen you post similar incidents after the first one. Too bad you didn't get this one on video !

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing!!! Only thing that could have been better would to have gotten to see the first production of "Mr. Eck Demonstrates His Adult Teeter Tooter" live!!!

Good one Eck - down right excellent story!!

[Edbo]

I can hear it now!!! "Hey Watch This" as ECK says this to his wife

[bill in mn]

If your laughing ,I am too. That's funny .

[Flyinfool]

Now you really need to do a reenactment with multi angle video.

[Bert2006]

Glad you made it out of that one with no damage and no injury.......you had me in stitches though with your write up . Would have made a great video.

[Condor]

Loading bikes onto trailers make for some great.... and hopefully humorous... stories. Good thing it was on flat ground. I can see the trailer... with you and the bike in it... trucking down a sloped driveway.. And no matter how hard you romp on the bikes brakes it doesn't do any good...

[midnightventure]

I have a trailer much like that for the same reason. Luckily I had a helmet on the first time I pulled in because without a thought about me hitting I hit. Before you start up the ramp it looks like there is plenty of room.

[djh3]

You know when I first started reading this, I thought immediately OH no its not hooked to anything. This could go really bad quick. Had a scary moment or 2 loading a stock car on a flat bed trailer a couple times.

[vzuden]

I too, had a moment with a car on a tralier. I purchased a Fiat Spider as a basket case profect. It was not running and had no interior or operating brakes. I trailered it home and my wife was willing to help me unload it. Well since I help, my plan was to push it off the trailer with her steering. Since it was a slight upgrade once it got off the trailer there is no need for brakes, right?.

 

With no interior which meant no seat, I put box in it for her to sit on. I told her if it did happen to roll too far to just pull up on the park brake lever. My truck/trailer is backed into my driveway with the truck mostly off the street and maybe two car lengths between the back of the trailer and the garage. The garage door is open. Two car with one half to be the home for the Fiat with the other half for cycles.

 

It was almost all I could do to push the car off the trailer and as soon as the rear wheels hit the ramps, off she went. Unfortunately I had the truck and trailer at a slight angle in the driveway so the car is headed to the side of the garage where, in a nice neat row are my RSTD, Honda CB750, and her Kymco scooter. My assistant is doing all she can to steer but to no avail. I yell for her to pull the park brake but I had not confirmed it worked - there wasn't a need for it right? Wrong. By the time I climbed away from the trailer and ran to grab the car bumper it had rolled into the garage and the car bumper had nudged the saddle bag guard on the RSTD. I saw the bike shake a little but that was all. If it had tipped over it would have had the domino affect and taken down the other two. Upon inspection I found the RSTD had slid ahead a few inches on its side stand. No damage!

 

The whole event was similar to watching my little granddaughter at the bowling alley. Give the ball a shove and watch it slowly roll to the pins. Only in this case the ball was the car and pins were cycles. And... I had to chase the ball down the alley!