Trailering your bike

[thrasherfox]

I travel a lot, and even though I have a truck I prefer to take my camaro when I travel. it is better on gas mileage and I just prefer it. So I set myself up with a trailer. I tow it behind my camaro and it works pretty well, my last trip I towed it from Fresno to San Diego, in Feb I will be towing it to Arizona. Anyway.. here are the specifics. I am passing this along just in case this might help others out or give them some ideas.

I purchased my trailer from Harbor freight tools for about $250.00 I put it together myself and took it to the DMV for inspection and got my plates and tags

I then went to my local metal yard and purchased an 4x8 ft 1/4 diamond plate steel and had it cut in two pieces (the trailer folds if needed) that cost about $100.00

I then put a coat of primer on top and bottom of the diamond plate steel

I then used gloss black paint in a can, purchased some non skid to mix in with the paint and rolled the paint on to the diamond plate.

I purchased a hidden hitch for my camaro for about $120.00 and put it on the car, it is pretty slick. You really don’t notice it when the hitch isn’t on.

I then purchased a plastic storage box for $34.00 that I mounted to the front of the trailer, I use this for tie downs, carrying helmets and other gear.

I purchased a wheel chock and mounted it to the front of the trailer for the tire to fit into, and I have 8 tie down hooks, one on each corner and 2 on each side.

I put air shocks on the back of the camaro so I can level it out as needed. And I think that is about it for the description. Hope this gives people some ideas if anyone else has had a desire for taking the bikes somewhere but riding it isn’t feasible.

Such as when we go on family trips up north or down south for an extended period of time, I have a hitch on the van and I can take it with me then also.

Ok, so here are the pics….



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[thrasherfox]

Pic 2

 

[thrasherfox]

pic 3

 

[thrasherfox]

pic 4

 

[thrasherfox]

Pic 5 - Here is what the hitch looks like on my car

 

[thrasherfox]

Pic 6 - and here is what the back of my car looks like with it removed...

 

[thrasherfox]

And that will be the last pic.. Hope this is good info for someone.. it works well for me..

 

[vincebusa]

nice set up u got there man.

View attachment smile.gif

 

[the bigpunn]

man, looks good!

 

[jwcfbd]

very nice.

 

[ThunderPants]

That is a nice setup.

 

[orangebusa??]

like the set up but hows that trailor on the road ive seen them smaller trailors on the road and they seam to bounce all around and just look scary how yours i want a trailor just cuz there low and easy to put the bike on but after seeing some on the high way they just look scary any problems like that oh and nice car i just got rid of mine loved it but redid  it from the ground up and a week after it was finished hit a deer frustated me so much i practically gave it away heres a pic of it any way this was after i started fixing it again was a sharp ride for a week or two

 

[Mikey D]

Nice neat little package.

I'm a trailer fanatic from way back. I own 4 of them currently. Here in AZ you can get a permanent tag for them so you don't have to feed and water tham every year like a vehicle.

No better way to increase hauling capacity!

 

[thrasherfox]

like the set up but hows that trailor on the road ive seen them smaller trailors on the road and they seam to bounce all around and just look scary how yours i want a trailor just cuz there low and easy to put the bike on but after seeing some on the high way they just look scary any problems like that oh and nice car i just got rid of mine loved it but redid  it from the ground up and a week after it was finished hit a deer frustated me so much i practically gave it away heres a pic of it any way this was after i started fixing it again was a sharp ride for a week or two

I haven't had any problems.. But my driving habits totally change when I have my trailer.

When I drive without a trailer, I am usually doing 10mph over the speed limit, when I am towing my trailer I am usually doing just the speed limit and stay in the slow lane (kind of what you are supposed to do by law anyway) and I don't have any problems.

I know what you are talking about as far as seeing trailers bouncing all over the place, but I think that is usually caused by:

1) Driving faster than you should when towing
2) Not balancing the load properly
3) And.. if the trailer is too light and does not have a heavy enough load, it will bounce all over the place. but with a decent amount of weight it is pretty stable.

I was paranoid at first, so my first tow was just c jaunt around town to see how it felt. Then I took it on the freeway for a short distance, watching in the rearview, seeing how it felt....

I did a lot of short trips before I made a long trip.. just to get the feel of it...

So far so good...

Bummer about your car.. an IROC... practically gave it away!! doah I would have liked to have had that to rebuild myself as a project car... hit a deer.. that suscks.. at least your still breathing from it...



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[stkr00]

Nice trailer you've got there.

What's the load rating of it?

 

[dezzy7]

Nice trailer ! I traded my large trailer for a smaller one I got a Lowes for about $450 with a drop down gate. A smaller trailer = less weight and easer pull by car or truck. I was a little skeptical about it at first because I had seen them bouncing all over the road. But I soon realized if your stuff is strapped down tight you can roll just as well as if you had a large trailer. And get a higher mpg as well

 

[ghosthawk]

Looks like a great set-up for your money. You have the weight forward so it should be very stable on the road.

 

[BLU88]

great lookn setup.. ill have to check out harbour freight... i need a trailor or was selling my crown vic and buyn a pickup , kinda leaning to the pic up just because storage space is limited at the house. but love the trailor. i usually borrow a freinds trailor and it is the same type of setup.

 

[MET]

Very nice job. I have to put a larger ramp on my trailer, and you just gave me a couple of ideas.

 

[thrasherfox]

stkr00 -

The trailer I have is rated at 990 pounds.

I purchased it for the sole reason of just towing my motorcycle.

The motorcycle I think weighs about 570lbs wet, my steel plates weigh about 100 pounds total, then my plastic storage box is about 15 pounds.. So I feel I am well within the max load for the trailer.

As Dezzy7 mentioned, I wanted something that was just right, something that would do what I needed it to, but I also need something that the entire package was light enough to tow behind a camaro.

I am not a real heavy duty car person, I work on them and probably have above average mechanical skills.

But what I have been told by friends that are into rebuilding cars and such, the camaro has a uni-body frame and that towing (at least heavy loads) is not good for it.

So this is why I opted for the 990 pound version, they do have other trailers that have higher capacity, I am going to paste in the links to the web site for all of you.

If you go to http://www.harborfreight.com/
Then on the upper left corner, click "Automotive" then on the next page in the center section click "trailers" this will take you to the trailer page.. they currently have one on sale part number 90154-2VGA

It is currently on sale for $199.00

It is a Heavy Duty trailer with an 1175 LB capacity.. these trailers fold in half and have caster wheels so you can store them easy if you choose to. They also have unlocking pins that allow you to tilt the trailer so you don’t need ramps. I prefer ramps, but I have loaded a motorcycle on to my trailer by tilting it as it is made to do.

Here is the direct link to this trailer

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90154


They have all kinds of other trailers also, for watercraft.. etc.. and trailer accessory's, spare tires, hitches etc.

And no I am not a Harbor Freight sales person lol.. just was happy with the trailer I got from them.

And oh by the way, I just took a print out of the web site sale and I took it into my local Harbor Freight store and they sold it to me for the price it was listed on the internet. My local store was selling it for a little more than listed on the internet, but if you bring in a printed out copy I think they HAVE to sell the item to you for the price that is listed on the internet



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