Dauntless Trailer Hitch ?

Stephen · Feb 15, 2011

Anyone else have a Dauntless hitch by DMC Sidecars for an '04?

Holy cow, nothing seems to go together right. The directions are iffy & not clear. Especially installing the upper & lower brackets.

Help!

Please?

escapefjrtist · Feb 15, 2011

Paging AuburnFJR or FJRay to the white courtesy phone...Either of them will be able to help you out Stephen.

Have fun!

--G

FJRay · Feb 15, 2011

I built my own hitch but I think It mounts the same. The foward mount bolts under the passenger foot rest and the upper one bolts to the tail section under the plastic. It takes some shiming and a litle grinding to get it to clear the bags.

A forum member from Florida sent me some pictures but I don't remember who it was. I will look around and see if I can find the pictures.

Auburn · Feb 16, 2011

I have a Bushtec hitch. There are others here who have installed the Dauntless.

Stephen · Feb 21, 2011

Well, I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to get the hitch to fit. Ain't gonna go, I'm afraid. Nothing fits. The upper & lower brackets seem to be made for some other model... maybe a Gen 2. The directions are horrible. I did call Jay at DMC & he couldn't tell me anything. He said to bring it down or send it back. So I'm going to box it up, send it back.

I checked out the Bushtec site, but no hitch for an FJR is listed.

Somebody must make hitches!

midlifeuturn · Feb 21, 2011

I wasn't very happy with the hitch options for the FJR, so I'm in the process of making my own. If anyone has some links to more options I'd love to see them as well.

FJRay · Feb 21, 2011

Stephen said:
Well, I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to get the hitch to fit. Ain't gonna go, I'm afraid. Nothing fits. The upper & lower brackets seem to be made for some other model... maybe a Gen 2. The directions are horrible. I did call Jay at DMC & he couldn't tell me anything. He said to bring it down or send it back. So I'm going to box it up, send it back.

I checked out the Bushtec site, but no hitch for an FJR is listed.

Somebody must make hitches!

I think If it were me I would take it and the bike to Dauntless and have them make sure you have the right hitch. I know their hitch works but that doesn't mean they sent you the right one. I don't think they are to far from you. If you were closer I would say bring it here and I would help you out.

You might PM Fast joy ride and ask him if his fit OK. He just bought one from Dauntless.

Millsaps2 · Feb 22, 2011

I checked out the Bushtec site, but no hitch for an FJR is listed.

Bushtec does make a Gen I and Gen II hitch. I purchased one for my '03 and '07. Give them a call. They will be at Bike Week as usual.

The bags are closer together on the Gen II and require a slightly different design.

Pepperell · Feb 22, 2011

I've been toying with the trailer idea. I think I might try this hitch that Bernie on the fjrowners forum made. No welding required!

Two-Wheeled Tourist · Feb 25, 2011

I currently use the hitch made by Denray (Canada - https://www.produits-denray.com/eng/hitches.html) and it's a one piece unit that bolts behind the passenger peg mounts. I had to modify the vertical support rails so it would attach to a mount under the passenger's seat. I think it was originally designed for the Gen 1 FJR which could explain the vertical rails being 1.5" longer than I wanted them to be. It has 50lb. max tongue weight limit and works just fine with my homemade trailer. Hitch USA (https://www.hitchusa.com) is the US distributor for these hitches.

VTFJR13 · Feb 26, 2011

Stephen said:
Well, I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to get the hitch to fit. Ain't gonna go, I'm afraid. Nothing fits. The upper & lower brackets seem to be made for some other model... maybe a Gen 2. The directions are horrible. I did call Jay at DMC & he couldn't tell me anything. He said to bring it down or send it back. So I'm going to box it up, send it back.

I checked out the Bushtec site, but no hitch for an FJR is listed.

Somebody must make hitches!

Stephen

I have the Dauntless hitch on my Gen 2 bike and there is two different hitches gen 1 versus gen 2. Mine installed very easily. Dauntless was a pleasure to do business with. I had alot of questions and they were able to answer them. Here are a couple pics

Stephen · Jun 9, 2011

Well. I finally had some nice weekday weather and the time to ride down to see Jay at DMC Sidecars. They took the bike into their shop and mounted the hitch assembly. There were a few problems but, in the end, it was all fixed. Everybody was very professional, I was given the grand tour, and best of all, there was no charge for the 3 hours of assembly time.

I still have to do the wiring.

However, there is one small problem. It seems that the hitch height is placed at 19", not the standard 13". So unless I want to have the trailer tongue angled up, I have to figure out a way to lower it 5-6 inches.

One idea is to weld/bolt another 2" tubing to the tongue and reattach the hitch assembly. But only gain me about 2".

I checked out a few of my friends' hitches, and they are all at the proper height.

Any ideas???

NightShine · Jun 9, 2011

Stephen said:
However, there is one small problem. It seems that the hitch height is placed at 19", not the standard 13". So unless I want to have the trailer tongue angled up, I have to figure out a way to lower it 5-6 inches.

One idea is to weld/bolt another 2" tubing to the tongue and reattach the hitch assembly. But only gain me about 2".

I checked out a few of my friends' hitches, and they are all at the proper height.

Any ideas???

Stephen, I also have a Dauntless hitch on my bike, and had the same problem with the hitch height. I ended up mounting the tongue coupler from my trailer onto a "swivel coupler" I purchased, and then made a couple of plates to offset the assembly from the trailer's tongue. I just reused the holes that were already in the tongue and couplers. You can make the plates any height that suits.

The result is trailer that tows level, and the swivel better decouples the trailer from the bike in the case of a drop.

Hum. Looks like it's about time for a fresh coat of paint...

Stephen · Jun 9, 2011

Great idea. Thank you.

Stephen · Jun 10, 2011

I found a trailer shop right down the street!!!

Their going to do exactly as you suggested.

Cool!

Stephen · Jun 14, 2011

Stephen said:
I found a trailer shop right down the street!!!

They're going to do exactly as you suggested.

Cool!

Dauntless Trailer Hitch ?

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