FJR and camping

[VTFJR13]

So my wife and I both love to ride the FJR and we both love camping. But we just can't carry enough stuff on the bike to make us both happy so we decided to by a motorcycle camper. A 2009 Kompac Kamp mini mate. I just installed the Dauntless hitch and did my own 5 way flat plug. because the camper came with a 5 way flat plug. We are going on vacation next week and can't wait to try all this out. This is my first time pulling a trailer with a bike so I will take it easy while I get the feeling for pulling a camper. Here are some pics

Eric

 

[Tree Doc]

Very cool little get up!

Does having the hitch installed preclude you from using the side cases?

 

[YooperDick]

Have a great time camping. That sure is a nice looking rig.

One thing I noticed from the pictures is there seems to be somewhat of an incline of the draw bar from the trailer to the hitch. Ideally the draw bar of the trailer would be parallel to the ground so the pull of the draw bar is directly horizontal as opposed to a positive (or negative) attitude. An undesirable swaying motion could occur if the trailer is not properly leveled.

 

[VTFJR13]

Very cool little get up!
Does having the hitch installed preclude you from using the side cases?

No it shouldn't I didn't try putting them on yet but from others I have seen on this forum with the Dauntless hitches I don't think it will be a problem

 

[VTFJR13]

Have a great time camping. That sure is a nice looking rig.
One thing I noticed from the pictures is there seems to be somewhat of an incline of the draw bar from the trailer to the hitch. Ideally the draw bar of the trailer would be parallel to the ground so the pull of the draw bar is directly horizontal as opposed to a positive (or negative) attitude. An undesirable swaying motion could occur if the trailer is not properly leveled.

Yooperdick I'm thinking with me,my wife and the trunk (with stuff in it) the ass end of the bike will sag enough so the trailer will be fairly level when riding. So hopefully it will pull fine.

 

[kawabeemer]

Make sure you have 20+ lbs of tongue weight, the angle of the tongue either horizontal or low in the front, and test ride the full rig BEFORE the big day. I pull a Leesure-Lite and don't have any problems if it is loaded correctly.

Good luck!

 

[fljab]

That's a pretty cool setup!

I was just up to the NC mountains and saw a couple of camper trailers similar to this, albeit pulled from Goldwings. But still, if you like camping, it's a good solution; easy setup and I'd guess you could put some extra stuff in it (sleeping bags, etc) to keep from packing on the bike, yes?

Have fun, give us a report when you get back!

 

[VTFJR13]

Make sure you have 20+ lbs of tongue weight, the angle of the tongue either horizontal or low in the front, and test ride the full rig BEFORE the big day. I pull a Leesure-Lite and don't have any problems if it is loaded correctly. Good luck!

kawabeemer Thanks for the heads up. I did buy a bathroom scale and it reads 45# of tongue weight right now. But we are not fully loaded yet. That will be Saturday when we leave on our trip. I will try and take it for a test run first. I have been reading up on pulling a camper with a bike and have learned alot of do's and dont's but I still have more to learn. So thanks again for some good advice

 

[Big-D]

That trailer looks really cool, but I must ask, what are the dimensions of the sleeping part. In your picture it appears to be really small. And I might be a little concerned about that single aluminum pole that supports the weight of the sleepers. I would probably do a lot more camping if that little trailer would fit me!

 

[spike747]

Is the hitch bar connected to the sprung or unsprung part of the bike? It kinda looks like both.

 

[VTFJR13]

That trailer looks really cool, but I must ask, what are the dimensions of the sleeping part. In your picture it appears to be really small. And I might be a little concerned about that single aluminum pole that supports the weight of the sleepers. I would probably do a lot more camping if that little trailer would fit me!

Big D the bed area is 4.5 ft by 6.5 ft it is between a full size/queen size bed. There is plenty of room for my wife and I. The bed area near the door is done in removable sections so you can sand up and change your cloths or set up a bench set to sit down inside during bad weather.

 

[VTFJR13]

Is the hitch bar connected to the sprung or unsprung part of the bike? It kinda looks like both.

Spike the hitch is attached to the subframe of the bike. it attaches to the muffler bracket area of the subframe and then up inside the rear fender area.

 

[not2shabby]

Hmmm, how much does the trailer weigh? In your last pic it looks like the rear allen bolt for the muffler bracket isn't tightened down.

Nice garage!

 

[VTFJR13]

Hmmm, how much does the trailer weigh? In your last pic it looks like the rear allen bolt for the muffler bracket isn't tightened down.
Nice garage!

not2shabby the trailer weighs #250 empty. Then of course you will fill the 15 cu ft of space with all you camping stuff. That bolt your referring to is longer than the rest so I had to use a spacer. Dauntless shorted me one bolt and a bunch of nuts so I had to make due with what I had in stock. The garage is nice thanks. I live in a apartment complex that rents out 1 car garages and I'm lucky enough to have one to store all my junk in.

 

[PhilJet09]

Nice! Sure beats sleeping on the ground.

 

[Big-D]

It's amazing how the responses pour in whenever a forum member submits a request for advice, opinion, help or just a comment. Post a picture along with your comment and you can bet that if there is a spider building a web. you'll be notified about it. We forum members notice everything and will advise, rest assured, all ya gotta do is ask!

Thanks for the info. Now can I ask what I could expect to pay for a setup such as that, including the hitch. Again, thanks for sharing. I've seen some campers that are just too wide. Your trailer looks great.

D

 

[RadioHowie]

One thing you really should consider is a "swivel hitch" for your rig.

I recall reading here on the forum within the last year a forum member had his bike thrown to the ground, along with rider and pillion, when a cage hit a trailer being pulled by their FJR. The bike had a standard "ball-type" hitch like your rig. When the trailer got hit, the trailer was knocked over. When that happened, the trailer torqued the bike down to the ground as well, since the range of the "twist" connection between the trailer tongue and the ball hitch is very limited...less than 90 degrees. With a swivel hitch, the trailer can freely rotate in respect to the hitch/bike.

HERE'S an example.

And HERE'S the post I was referring to.

 

[VTFJR13]

It's amazing how the responses pour in whenever a forum member submits a request for advice, opinion, help or just a comment. Post a picture along with your comment and you can bet that if there is a spider building a web. you'll be notified about it. We forum members notice everything and will advise, rest assured, all ya gotta do is ask!
Thanks for the info. Now can I ask what I could expect to pay for a setup such as that, including the hitch. Again, thanks for sharing. I've seen some campers that are just too wide. Your trailer looks great.

D

Big D the campers sell for around $2700 dollars new depending on the dealer and the hitch was $315.00 plus shipping. Yes the size is one of the main reasons I chose this one. The body is 3ft wide and 5ft long

 

[VTFJR13]

One thing you really should consider is a "swivel hitch" for your rig.
I recall reading here on the forum within the last year a forum member had his bike thrown to the ground, along with rider and pillion, when a cage hit a trailer being pulled by their FJR. The bike had a standard "ball-type" hitch like your rig. When the trailer got hit, the trailer was knocked over. When that happened, the trailer torqued the bike down to the ground as well, since the range of the "twist" connection between the trailer tongue and the ball hitch is very limited...less than 90 degrees. With a swivel hitch, the trailer can freely rotate in respect to the hitch/bike.

HERE'S an example.

And HERE'S the post I was referring to.

Thanks RadioHowie for the info. The swivel coupler is on my list of things to get for the camper. I was also told the swivel coupler is nice to have if you drop your bike. We all know with a FJR it is a matter of when not if you drop it.