Dennis, I remember well the first thoughts I had about moon visits. I looked up and wondered... " what would it take to put my little brother there?"

I have the same hitch as Dennis B. came from a company in the province of Quebec. Have had no problems with it towing my home built trailer which weights 100lbs empty or 160lbs loaded with my camping gear. Not much different than a passanger, I have had it cruising over 130km (80mph) follows like a dream.
You can see pictures of it in my Album.

Hi Regors,

Yes, I looked at their hitch. They used the only strong attaching bolt locations on the back of the scooter. When I made mine, I reinforced all the bolt holes and added a small guesset to the left attachment to make it stronger. I did call them and asked if they had a patent and they said no....So I made my own and made it stronger.

I like your trailer. You did a nice job. Did you use aluminum for the frame or steel?

Did you use a hitch swival on your trailer arm? They are kinda pricey but I think well worth the extra money. I was going to use one when I get around to building my trailer.

You did a nice job. You have the nicest equipment hauler I've seen yet.

DennisB

Hey Dennis, I used a regular hitch coupler, you have to lean the motorcycle over quite a bit to try to lift a wheel up and I usually don't ride like that.
The one place I think the swivel hitch coupler would make a big difference would be it would greatly reduce wear and tear over time.
Like you said rather pricey but I will probably end up with one in the future.
I used 3/4" X 1 1/4" steel on edge for my frame, 2" X 2" for the tongue.

Do you mean something like this?

You can find out more about it here:
http://www.drivelikeapro.com/pages/detail_motorcycles.html

My hitch weight is 15lbs which is the ideal for the hitch I have, that "drivelikeapro" case would be around 40lbs if sticking to company recommendation which seems way too much for hitch weight on a Swing.

Then all you need for a basket is a deep dish hub cap.
The parts that normally attach to the wheel can be face up and would provide enough support to stop the bottom of the bag from moving around.

BTW that drivelike a pro case is only 15lbs with the top, and the top is removable.

Dan.

Guy's, I'm not a gulfer. How much does a set of gulf clubs and bag weigh?

DennisB

I googled that question and answers ranged on average from 30-40 lbs.

Dan, your not going to be driving around with an empty case are you?

A better idea would be to swap out the wheels on your pull golf cart with high speed wheels then rig up an attachment system to drag it behind.
You would also need a cover on the bag so as no clubs could go for a wander. But then you would need a set of tow lights like the tow truck drivers use.
And the Insurance Company would probably want it licensed.

Hi regors,

Just curius, Did you happen to use AutoCad to do your trailer design layout? If so can I get a copy of your .dwg files on this project.

DennisB

The weight of the loaded trailer is not born fully on the hitch. Nor is that weight felt as full dead weight in the lateral pulling of the trailer.

The weight at the hitch, or the tongue weight may be greater than 15lbs., but may not be much greater. That weight is felt as vertical load on the hitch structure and the vehicle it is mounted on. The majority of the weight of a properly designed trailer is supported by the axle(s)/wheel(s). The farther back the axle the greater the tongue weight (properly distributed load).

The rolling wieght, which is felt along the longitudinal axis of the bike is only significant at startup when the full mass must be put into motion. But after the full mass is moving the wheel(s) of the trailer aid in moving the mass.

Think about trying to push a wheel barrow. All of the weight is in between the wheel (far in front of the weight) and the handles (far behind the weight). If you notice most of the weight is born on your arms. Getting it started is the hard part, but once rolling it is fairly easy to keep it rollling barring any obstacles. Now try to push the wheel barrow without a wheel. The wheel of the wheel barrow like the wheels on a trailer remove a very big amount of the friction required to move something laterally.

A fully and properly loaded trailer weighing 160 lbs. should be balanced resulting in minimal vertical weight on the hitch. A properly designed trailer should be aligned and it's running gear should minimize the rolling resistance (drag).

Thanks for your fine explanation. Some people might not have known that you can take the load off the tongue by putting the weight near the rear of the trailer. Taking all the weight off the tongue can actually change the vertical from a downward force to an upward force. That is not good if you are pulling a load with an 18 wheeler or a two wheeler. You have to know basic things about capacities and the load vectors when using a trailer.
Your explanation was a big help in explaning that.

Thanks again

(By the way... how old is your daughter in the avatar with you?

Dale,
I understand and agree with everything you have said.
It was my understanding however that a certain amount
of weight is actually necessary on the tongue to insure
the towing vehicle can maintain control of the trailer.

If I hit a large bump with a trailer attached, the wing will go up
and come down before the trailer does. Since at some point
the trailer will be higher than the bike won't it be shifting its
weight down on the tongue until the two land at the bottom
of the bump and equalibrium is restored?

Dan,

You are correct - a certain amount of weight is necessary on the hitch point to maintain control.

I don't think the momentary downward forces are so great as to cause most of the weight of the trailer to be transferred to the hitch point. Remember the wheel(s) and axle(s) will also absorb some of that weight. The weight while the trailer is airborne is not felt until it touches down again. At that time the weight is shared in proportion between the hitch point and the wheel(s)/axle(s).

Gary,

I almost missed your post, glad I scrolled up. I am so happy that you noticed that beautiful woman. I was pondering her earlier this am and realized how much I am in love with my wife. she is a strong, gracious, loving, and funny woman. I love to hear her laugh - it really brightens my day.

Sorry DennisB for the hijacking of your thread.

When designing and building your own trailer for the silverwing, you have one big advantage over just going out and buying someone else's pre-fab unit. You have the advantage of loading your cargo box, gear, cooler, spare tire, or what ever into/onto your new trailer frame with a weight scale under your hitch end with the tongue parallel to the ground. By moving the box and load back over the wheels or closer to the hitch you can adjust the weight on the hitch ball. That's what I'm planing on doing when this phase of my trailer building is needed.

DennisB

That's OK Dale...LOVE AND HAVING FRIENDS are the most important things in this big world.

DennisB

The first picture looks like my friends bike and the trailer he built . If it is his it weighs 180 lb. loaded . He towed it 3000 miles .The hitch that looked like the one in your picture failed after 900 miles .The company he bought it from flew in another one and he was back on the road the next day . It was good for the rest of the trip . He has sold the bike to my Buddie and we are towing it and my bike to Florida in Feb. The trailer had no ill effects on the bike .I know this guy pretty good and I would say that he was probably doing 75 MPH with that trailer behind him .

Question from me!

When pulling a trailer on your scooters are there stronger suspension struts available or do you simply set the suspension to the hardest setting?

When pulling trailers in cars there are stronger struts available to support the extra weight imposed.

Hi Waspie,

Since the hitch attaches to the swing arm of the scooter, there is no need for a stronger suspension system on the bike.

DennisB

Dennis he never had any more trouble with the second one .He moved the hitch to a motor cycle .I am no t sure what kind .

A company called hagon makes products for the rear end of the Silverwing,
and Hyperpro makes what you need for the front end.

Dan