Pulling a trailer with the fjr

Okay, recently acquired a trailer to pull behind the FJR. This ain't my first experience with trailers and motorcycles, but my first with the Feej. I have made several preliminary trips dragging this thing back and forth to work (100 mile commute), to the store, through the twisties, etc., getting acclimated to the trailer being behind me. So far, so good. I have pulled empty and with some loads, but no where near trailer capacity.

I am getting ready to take a 500 mile (one way) camping trip. I want to take as much as I need, but not so much weight as to potentially become a problem. I have weighed the trailer and it comes in at approximately 180 lbs. (I say approx. because I had to seperately weigh each of the 3 contact points - wheel, wheel, tongue)

Does anyone here have any infor either through experience or otherwise related to a safe maximum load weight? The trailer is homemade and the actual storage area is a car-topper that I think is 20-21 cubic feet.

Scab said:

Okay, recently acquired a trailer to pull behind the FJR. This ain't my first experience with trailers and motorcycles, but my first with the Feej. I have made several preliminary trips dragging this thing back and forth to work (100 mile commute), to the store, through the twisties, etc., getting acclimated to the trailer being behind me. So far, so good. I have pulled empty and with some loads, but no where near trailer capacity. I am getting ready to take a 500 mile (one way) camping trip. I want to take as much as I need, but not so much weight as to potentially become a problem. I have weighed the trailer and it comes in at approximately 180 lbs. (I say approx. because I had to seperately weigh each of the 3 contact points - wheel, wheel, tongue)

Does anyone here have any infor either through experience or otherwise related to a safe maximum load weight? The trailer is homemade and the actual storage area is a car-topper that I think is 20-21 cubic feet.

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I do not know about the weight, :huh: I saw the standard type of trailer and a home made trailer at EOM last year.

The home made looked like it was welded iron had a tool box and was carrying two bicycles, The rider and pillion could haul as*** too. :yahoo:

We rode down last year partially and that bike had no issues, we also road from Townsend back to Louisville Ky with no issues and we made extremely good time.

They still had another 100 miles to go when we split.

I would say you should not have an issue as long as you hitching point is solid.

I post a pic later tonight or tomorrow.

The Suzuki XL7 SUV that I used to pull the FJR home on a trailer, has 153 hp. My goal is to tweak the FJR so that it has slightly more hp than the Suzuki, and then take a picture of the FJR pulling the XL7.

I think Suzuki would like that, don't you. So I'm interested in your towing experience, even if I can't contribute anything worthwhile to your question.

You might try emailing or PMing some of our trailer types on the forum that don't necessarily post very often. Maybe they can help you out here.

Clicky Here

mucho-grassyass, skoot.

When I get back, I will submit a report.

Yes, with pics.

I would think the hitch design would be the main focus point for a weight decision. TJ

The hitch is a bushtec hitch designed specifically for the FJR. The bushtec uses a pin instead of a ball, but this has been modified to standard ball hitch. The mount is very secure. My biggest concern is prolly stopping. It's a little late to find out you are pulling too much after you landed in the back of that buick.

BTW, I found this bushtec used on ebay for a whopping $26. What a deal. I think they retail for well over $300, but not sure.

I pull a 450 lbs Kamparoo popup trailer using a swivle hitch and a Hitch Doctor hitch on my 96 Yamaha Royal Star, which is probably 90 hp max after my engine mods.

Some ole biker that pulls trailers told me a rule of thumb, that the trailer should not exceed 1/3 to 1/2 of the weight of the bike. 1/2 of the Royal Star's weight is what my popup weighs.

The bike pulls it nicely up steep grades.

Hope this helps.

Sounds reasonable.

Hey it would be cool to pull a Harley on a trailer with the Feejer.

:lol:

Bring me one, I'll do it. Make for some great pics.

I have a bushtec trailer I use on longer trips (see my posting in the other Other Trailer Question Thread) (That was me at last years EOM with the blue Bushtec)

I was all set to say you can pull as much as you can pack, but then I remembered what I've seen other people pulling at times and I thought it might need some clarification.

First remeber the less weight you pull the easier it is on everything (wear and tear, gas consumptions, driveability, stopability, etc). Now this statement might seem odd considering we are talking about towing a trailer which means you want to bring more. But for me the reason for pulling the trailer was never about bringing more, just about making it easier to bring what I need.

For me the real advantage of the trailer is not the ability to carry more. Just to be able to carry what I might normally carry but without having to spend 20 minutes strapping it onto the passenger seat of the bike. It also improves the handling of the bike. Instead of all the weight being up on the seat where where it affects the handling, it just becomes a dead weight off the back of the bike. The ability of the bike to turn and flick from corner to corner is unchanged. See KillBoy pics of me on vacation a couple weeks ago when I went through Deals Gap with the trailer in tow!

Killboy Pics

Plus with a trailer if I stop somewhere I can drop my helmet, riding gear and tankbag in the trailer, lock it up and head into a restaurant or something without having to worry about it being unsecure.

The Bushtec trailer I use weighs in at 125 according to the specs. Its a lightweight fiberglass body with only as much steel as needed for the frame/suspension underneath. When my Father and I go on a trip we camp most of our stuff in the trailer and then take turns towing it (him one day, me the next). So frequently we are pulling the trailer loaded to the top with gear.

I would guess ( and this is a _guess_ ) that the weight of everything in the trailer is around 100 lbs tops. I know that with the trailer fully loaded it is just possible for me to lift the back of the trailer to move it sideways. So that would put the total weight around 225 pounds.

I dont think I would want to tow much more weight than that. Also keep in mind I am solo when pulling this weight. If you have a passenger you should be even more careful about not bringing too much weight. But I would think that two people of reasonable weight plus a trailer under 250 should be okay.

One last thing. I have towed with other bikes before this one. But this is the first bike with ABS and it makes a huge difference in confidence when having to panic stop with a trailer. If you are going to tow a trailer on a regular basis and dont have ABS I would strongly recomend you consider trading up to a bike with ABS at some point. If anybody reading this is considering purchasing an FJR and think they might tow a trailer then _get_ the ABS model.

Hope this helps

Colin

Thanks very much for the first hand info. Your advice and warnings will be heeded. Unfortunately, I do not have the ABS, so extra caution will be in order.

Scab said:

Thanks very much for the first hand info. Your advice and warnings will be heeded. Unfortunately, I do not have the ABS, so extra caution will be in order.

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Here is the picture of a heavy home made trailer!

Hope this helps, Now I know that this guy pulled that trailer and did not let it push him.

A lot of Brits and Australians pull rigs, you could check the International board for more feedback, both the new and old archive board. There's a lot of previous posts on those boards.

I would like to add one more thing about towing a trailer behind a bike. Make damn sure it has a swivel hitch! A swivel hitch allows the trailer to rotate independent of the bike and will actually permit the trailer to rotate 360 without disconnecting.

Besides the obvious reason of not binding when the bike leans over there is a very good safety reason. It will allow the trailer to rotate fully around without flipping the bike over.

I know some people have claimed that not having a swivel hitch will help to keep the trailer level if it hits a rock or something. I dont believe this. If a loaded trailer has enough momentum to flip and its firmly attached to the bike, then the bike will be snapped over into the ground! Whereas a swivel hitch allows it to flip but the motorcyclist can still control the bike.

I know this first hand! About 7 years ago I was pulling a trailer and this bitch decides to turn left in front of me. No escape routes all I could to was dive in front and hope for the best. I made it, but the trailer didn't. She hit the trailer broadside. Because of the swivel hitch it was able to roll as it swung around beside me. I actually saw the trailer I was towing swing around beside me for a moment during the accident. As it swung around it was also doing a couple barrel rolls at the same time. It did eventually pull me down to the ground. But not after I was able to get the speed down a bit more.

When it was all said and done the right side of the bike was all chewed up. I had a torn up elbow (ground off the skin just about to the bone, ouchy) but otherwise walked away. The trailer was completely wrecked. Here's a picture taken a couple days later after I got it all home.



If I had a "normal" hitch on there the trailer would have snapped me clean into the ground with no time to react. Because of the swivel hitch I had some time to partially control the rig before impact. I won't tow a trailer behind the bike without one.

- Colin

I smell a new mod coming for the trailer. Currently, it has standard set-up. Lean angle is fine, but not if the trailer goes extreme.