towing a motorcycle

[beachbumd]

Hello, new to the towing,I have a '94 Bounder 36' and want to tow my Honda VTX in an enclosed trailer. The question is, are there trailer manufacturers or someone that makes brakes "kits" or something like BrakeBuddy for trailers? Or will I even need brakes for the trailer? The bike is near 900 pounds, I don't have a trailer yet but am thinking about a 6x12 enclosed with enough room for a roll around tool box.

 

[winniman]

I tow a 16 ft enclosed behind my 37g. The trailer weighs about 2500lbs. It has electric brakes on the trailer and I have a brake controller on my mh. I also have a landscape trailer that has surge brakes on it, which I find work just fine if you dont have a brake controller on your coach. My bike also weighs about 900 lbs. My hitch on the mh is only rated for 5000 lbs. If I put two touring bikes and gear in the trailer I am near maxed out on what the mh can tow. I had my welder buddy make me up some wheel brackets that our front tires roll into. This makes securing the bikes much easier. Make sure the trailer you buy has tie down anchors positioned along the bottom of the trailer. I have towed the bikes on the landscape trailer and watched them on the rear camera. We have had straps come loose, so I was considering the possibility of adding some kind of camera inside the trailer so I could keep an eye on the bikes as we travel. Dont know if anyone else has done this or not. Would sure hate to get to destination and open the trailer to find my baby toppled over. ahhhhhhh.

 

[becks-WO]

Years ago we towed a 6x12 enclosed trailer with bike inside, and room for other stuff as well. Kept bike out of the weather, and worked real well.

 

[Wavery]

Check the laws in the States that you plan to tow. Some States don't require brakes, some require them over 1K#..... the majority seem to require them @ ~ 1500#
http://towingworld.com/towinglaws.cfm

 

[Michael Holden]

My MH is 36' and I tow a 6' x 10' enclosed Pace. It weighs 900 lbs. (rated 2,990 GVW) and the bike weighs 800. Also in the trailer are a spare tire/wheel for the trailer (15?) and a 100 lbs. propane cylinder for extended dry camping. The cylinder weighs about 67 lbs. and holds 100 lbs. of propane, roughly 24 gals. It could be empty or full depending on circumstances, so all told I?m towing < 2,000 lbs.

MH has controller but trailer has no brakes (common for under 3,000 GVW). When I bought it I decided to try it ?as is? before deciding whether or not to install brakes. That was over 3 years ago. Actually cannot tell the difference between towing it and not towing it, and have noticed no effect on fuel consumption either. Someday a larger MH and a longer trailer will be in the picture, but for now this set-up works great.

 

[Lou Schneider]

If the trailer you buy has standard size tires (14" or larger) it's easy to add electric brakes.  It's just a matter of buying the backing plates and brake drums, bolting them to the existing hubs and running the control wire to the hitch.

I did this many years ago to a lightweight travel trailer that was just under the legal braking weight and it was straightforward and relatively inexpensive.

You'll also have to add a 12 volt battery and a breakaway switch to conform to most state laws.

 

[Wavery]

If the trailer you buy has standard size tires (14" or larger) it's easy to add electric brakes.  It's just a matter of buying the backing plates and brake drums, bolting them to the existing hubs and running the control wire to the hitch.

I did this many years ago to a lightweight travel trailer that was just under the legal braking weight and it was straightforward and relatively inexpensive.

You'll also have to add a 12 volt battery and a breakaway switch to conform to most state laws.

It depends on whether the axle already has the backing plate mounting flanges on it. Even if it doesn't, a new axle with the brakes installed is pretty cheap.