Hooking up a trailer

Has anyone ever put a hitch and associated stuff on the SW? How much would it pull?

Hi, I have thought about it and looked through the plentiful information available in the archives on this forum. I did not go ahead because my insurance company advised me that it would not cover the scooter when equipped with a tow hitch, since The SW is not approved by the manufacturer for towing. I know that many riders do it anyway and the rules could be different in the US. I am sure in terms of pulling power a light trailer would not be a problem at all.

Yep, look around the forums there are several your side of the pond, in fact Dennis B made one which he tried to market (no idea if it was a success though), his & the bulk of others were/are made to fit onto the swinging arm which makes it a quick & easy job to fabricate

Denray make one ... http://www.denray.ca/produits/produits-detail.php?cartId=20090901155133LaHXTd1ajnfENBX10367&prodId=3&categorie=attaches&prodShipCode=non

Do a site search ...... tow hitch ... should get 13 results

Link to the afore mentioned Dennis B hitch ... https://www.silverwing600.com/t971-trailer-hitch-for-silverwing-scooter?highlight=tow+hitch ...

No new ideas, but a lot of new technology.

The melding of the two makes for interesting winter projects and a lot of "computer riding". I am enjoying reading the newer members discovering all the "new" things they can do to their Silver Wings.

I'm a great fan of trailers; I designed a couple for our dragsters, have towed cars, boats, caravans and all sorts but I have a question:

Cars and vans have tow hitches attached to the chassis/body. Therefore, the trailer-weight is fully-sprung.
Bike hitches such as Denis's are mounted directly on the transmission/rear axle area, thus adding unsprung weight to the wheel directly.

Is this a good idea?

The short answer to "Is this a good idea?" is no (it's a **** idea from an engineering point of view)

There are minimal fixings (& those that are used are not designed for the extra loads that can potentially be added by towing)
There is a large amount of torsional load one particular bolt that is way to small for it's new purpose
The frame is pulling on bearings what were designed for rotational loads
The motion of the wheel will have an inverse effect on the trailer, similarly the motion of the trailer wheels will on the scooter. I wonder what it would be like on the roundabout approach "rumble strips" we have ?

I've seen a picture somewhere of a hitch that someone made to fit onto existing points on the frame, not sure if it was this forum though, might go on a mission this evening

I have about 75,000 miles experience pulling trailer with motorcycle. I say dangerous with Silverwing, probably dangerous with solo bike in real life
As no really good/strong frame to hitch to, brakes/drive line not made/stressed for additional load, SilverWing not good idea.

Two wheel trailer dangerous in my opinion being pulled by bike----drop a wheel off pavement and real thrill. My Kawasaki Concurs so bad with trailer, I pulled it about 20 miles and parked it. Kawasaki Voyager 1200 worked fine with trailer, with Honda CB750, strong homemade hitch pulled Kwik Camp to Alaska.....ok but you knew it was there, real caution required in mud, though.

Now for SilverWing, need trailer----Unigo one wheel,might work----no known hitch, but lots of money, maybe can be done-----cost of set up would far exceed value of now discontinued SilverWing.

Forces generated by trailer on bike really hard to imagine---but believe me they are there.

Uni-go?...Maybe Bandito will post a pic of his DIY single wheel trailer hooked up to his Reflex.

Tim

Thanks, gents.

I'm fairly certain that there are pictures in an album here of the construction of a tow-hitch which was welded to the frame; all the rear panels had been stripped off.
I guess doing it that way would enable a similar system to be devised for a single-wheel trailer.

There's a company in Norfolk, UK who fabricate hitches that attach to the frame.
An X9 friend had one made a few years ago. He took the X9 up and they did it while he waited - he had to book into a hotel for an overnighter, of course, as they needed the time.

Mike, taking the added unsprung weight of the hitch further, in an unloaded trailer all the trailer wieght ahead of the axle would also become part of the rear wheels unsprung wieght.