New home made bike trailer

[macx]

First, please forgive the less than well organized group of pics and the scant descriptions.

Standing outside of the motel room with laptop on a garbage can to get wifi.

I'll clean it up better in a few days.

Anyway, here it is

http://s719.photobucket.com/albums/ww20 ... 20Trailer/

[zbodan]

Well done! I like it!

It looks very clean and professional; the first photo to the finished product is a giant leap!


You were loading those bikes up to come drop them off at my place, right?

[towerworker]

Very, very nice!
You are quite the professional.

wayne

[macx]

All accolades most gratefully accepted!!

It isn't always that my brainstorms translate into something that actually works

Like I told Rick, the concept is usually fine but the execution often lacks.

Trouble is, only one bike fits on at a time so can't deliver both on the same trip Zbodan.
Sure, I'll deliver them. I'll sell ANYTHING - for the right price!
I'm sure they make new ones every day.

Oh, and I think most of the "professional" appearance comes from the spiffy paint -
and the only thing I had to do with that was pay for it :-)

I had some folks concerned about the front/rear weight bias and the balance as it
might affect straight towing with no swaying. On another forum, I had more than
one suggestion to load the bike on the trailer, then push it back and forth to find
that ideal tongue weight which helps avoid sway. Obviously couldn't do that as the
trailer bed is only as long as the bike, so had to calculate it and keep my fingers
crossed (in other words, a SWAG estimate). I had found out the front/rear % of
the bike, and knew my trailer weight from adding up the weights and length of the
various steel pieces, then wet my finger and held it up in the breeze and said
"let's put the axle right about - - - here" And, believe it or not, it tracks straight
and true. I LOVE it when a plan comes together!!

As my uncle used to say "yesterday I couldn't spell eng-y-neer and today I are one"
(he was a Swede too :-))

OK, gotta hit the road for the last leg of the trip Albequerque to Vegas, then pry all
that stuff out of the 2 cars. Absolutely packed to the roof. It's a case of be careful
when you open a door,at least one something will fall out.

Cheers!

[Rider Rick]

If your wife has to hit the brakes hard I pity that little dog...you'll never be able to find it

[Keppelj]

Looks good! Only thing I would do is to weld caps on those up facing open tubes before rain water gets in there else those tubes will rust from the inside out.

[macx]

I actually did think of that but honest to goodness actually didn't have the time to cut and fit those 8 caps.
Made it to the license burear with 5 minutes to spare on the last day of the week they're open, and if I'd of had
to wait until Monday, it would have caused major problems getting out to my new apartment & job in Vegas in
time to do everything I have to get done this week before I start work Monday.

I did seal weld the top joints of all the pieces that are welded together vertically.

Now I'd hate to screw up that nice Imron paint by welding. Besides, the trailer will be sitting in a garage for the next 3 years unless I have to haul the bike in for warranty servicing so I can leave it overnite to avoid missing work. I darn well better
NOT have any reason to haul it in for repairs!!

[Rider Rick]

Hey Mac! You at your destination?

[macx]

We're in Vegas.

Going to sign and move into the apt in the AM.

FINALLY!

But finally got a chance to get back to listening to audio books.
I really enjoy that, much better job of keeping me from getting drowsy on long trips.

I love to read, and I can get so involved in the story that I even miss turns sometimes.

Have to get my little Volvo smog checked and licensed in NV tomorrow.
Don't know if NV requires any kind of inspection on a new vehicle, will find out.
Gotta license it in NV, too. Not going to worry about the trailer, shouldn't be
out of the garage hardly at all while I'm here.

Man, saw some super neat scenery on the way between Kingman AZ & Vegas!!
Extremely rugged, esp around Boulder Dam. For SURE gonna make that area
and some of those side roads one of my first exploratory trips on the bike!

You know, after all this adventure, I actually have to go to w*#k Monday !! :-(
Aaarrrgghhhh!!!

[Rider Rick]

Hoping I will have time to come down to Vegas and see you a couple of days after the 4th, Max. I'm gonna come across from California and go up to Rachel, see the Extraterrestrial Highway and try to snap some lights in the sky, lol...maybe see some of my old girlfriends .

By the time I get to Vegas I won't have much money left anyway, so should be safe .

I put on the barbacks from Moto-techniques. I went with the longer modified...15/8, and it worked pretty well, except the upper clamps they sent were not drilled right, the bolts kept getting friction-stopped. I had to use the oem clamps and they tightened down without much complaint.

[macx]

By all means!

You've got my phone number but try to call later afternoon if you can.

I haven't been able to find a Verizon coverage map that shows if I will
likely have cell coverage at the jobsite, plus it's frowned upon to get
cell calls during meetings :-)

[Rider Rick]

I'll text ya if you have a text plan , no interruptions, lol.

[macx]

Finally, here's some pics and specific dimensions & info just in case anyone
is interested and needs a lightweight trailer that's easy to load

http://www.mediafire.com/?692k3b7w112b3c8