nusman68
Well-known member
Had to trailer the FJR & my Suz GS1100 to my recent trip to from TX to CA, since my wife & I had the kids with us during that time. I purchased a Kendon 'fold-up' dual rail trailer, complete with the optional stone guard up front & spare tire (which mounts underneath).
First thing: Had to remove the spare, carry it in the back of my 4-Runner because it reduced the ground clearance too much; would scrape on the end of my driveway, which has only a slight slope to it. :glare:
Upon loading the bikes, I immediately noticed that the wheel chock Kendon uses cleared the FJR's lower fairing by all of 1/16"; I put an old towel in the gap to act as a cushion in the event the bike shifted around. Had both bikes tied down with (4) Ancra-brand straps each, with strap extensions as needed. During the trip 'up' I had to tighten the straps slightly (during gas fill-ups) which I anticipated from initial stretching if nothing else.
I was impressed with the trailer's performance, in terms of the handling (its width was a benefit) & torsion bar suspension. However, after reaching CA, as we unloaded the FJR I found the wheel chock had carved away a good portion of the lower fairings 'leading edge' on the right side; in fact, it wore away so much that there was a small hole exposed. :angry2: I would have been supremely pissed, but that fairing already had some gravel damage from a recent Tx Hill Country trip (don't ask) and is on the list to be replaced anyway. All l'll need to do is to cut down the top edge of that chock a bit, dress up the edge and have it re-powdercoated to prevent that problem from recurring.
In transit, the FJR would tilt, despite the suspension & straps being tight; I had to use strap extensions off of the lower fork brace, (as the trailer only has deck-mounted {or lower} tie-down loops) thus the straps did not have a lot of leverage to work with; no way to use a Canyon Dancer setup without pulling something over & down on the upper fairing/dash areas. The old GS1100 was easier to tie down (read:no fairings) but the rear wheel would tend to migrate over from the narrow reinforced expanded-steel mesh 'track' onto the diamond plate trailer deck. It actually caused a 'dent' or 'depression' in the deck it due to it being light gauge metal. (We had to go through some amazingly bad, bumpy highways on the route up through Colorado). Again, this surprised me because I had the front & rear suspensions compressed, straps TIGHT. Next time I'll add some lateral retention strap to the rear wheel.
The stone guard paid off, shielded the bikes from the usual bugs/mudspray, etc. For overnight security, I used an On Guard 3/4" cable lock (1 per bike) through the trailer's deck rails in addition to a Xena disc lock/alarm on the FJR; no issues. On the trip back the straps stayed tighter longer, probably from the 'break-in' stretch. I'm also planning on fabricating a bracket (to add to the deck) just behind the stone guard to hold the spare tire there, vertically. Overall I'm happy with the Kendon but will be happier once the mods are done.
First thing: Had to remove the spare, carry it in the back of my 4-Runner because it reduced the ground clearance too much; would scrape on the end of my driveway, which has only a slight slope to it. :glare:
Upon loading the bikes, I immediately noticed that the wheel chock Kendon uses cleared the FJR's lower fairing by all of 1/16"; I put an old towel in the gap to act as a cushion in the event the bike shifted around. Had both bikes tied down with (4) Ancra-brand straps each, with strap extensions as needed. During the trip 'up' I had to tighten the straps slightly (during gas fill-ups) which I anticipated from initial stretching if nothing else.
I was impressed with the trailer's performance, in terms of the handling (its width was a benefit) & torsion bar suspension. However, after reaching CA, as we unloaded the FJR I found the wheel chock had carved away a good portion of the lower fairings 'leading edge' on the right side; in fact, it wore away so much that there was a small hole exposed. :angry2: I would have been supremely pissed, but that fairing already had some gravel damage from a recent Tx Hill Country trip (don't ask) and is on the list to be replaced anyway. All l'll need to do is to cut down the top edge of that chock a bit, dress up the edge and have it re-powdercoated to prevent that problem from recurring.
In transit, the FJR would tilt, despite the suspension & straps being tight; I had to use strap extensions off of the lower fork brace, (as the trailer only has deck-mounted {or lower} tie-down loops) thus the straps did not have a lot of leverage to work with; no way to use a Canyon Dancer setup without pulling something over & down on the upper fairing/dash areas. The old GS1100 was easier to tie down (read:no fairings) but the rear wheel would tend to migrate over from the narrow reinforced expanded-steel mesh 'track' onto the diamond plate trailer deck. It actually caused a 'dent' or 'depression' in the deck it due to it being light gauge metal. (We had to go through some amazingly bad, bumpy highways on the route up through Colorado). Again, this surprised me because I had the front & rear suspensions compressed, straps TIGHT. Next time I'll add some lateral retention strap to the rear wheel.
The stone guard paid off, shielded the bikes from the usual bugs/mudspray, etc. For overnight security, I used an On Guard 3/4" cable lock (1 per bike) through the trailer's deck rails in addition to a Xena disc lock/alarm on the FJR; no issues. On the trip back the straps stayed tighter longer, probably from the 'break-in' stretch. I'm also planning on fabricating a bracket (to add to the deck) just behind the stone guard to hold the spare tire there, vertically. Overall I'm happy with the Kendon but will be happier once the mods are done.
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