While this customer story is a little outside the normal, it is certainly a fun way to think about trailers. Sit back and enjoy the story of a small bike, and the fun motorcycle trailer. With fun photos. Here is the story.
Customer Story From Gregory
I so appreciate your website, the amount and quality of information that is freely given out that I wanted to contribute something. Something different.
This is a 1970 Honda Trail 70 with an added one wheel trailer. The Trail 70 has almost all parts replaced except for the chain guard and frame, including a 140cc engine and fabricated exhaust.
The motorcycle trailer is still a work in progress. It has a 100w solar panel as a top, Lithium iron battery inside and is set up to go camping with. The frame is 3/4″ square steel with 1/4″ wood sides and bottom. The challenge is to make a hitch for the bike and connect it to the trailer so that it leans as the bike leans without feeling loose.
As it now stands, riding the bike you can feel the trailer slightly tipping side to side, left to right. It works, but the feeling is distracting, and the weight of the trailer is maybe 50″ off the bike … which might be excessive. Like I said, it is a work in progress … but I like the uniqueness of the project and the challenge.
BTW, I have 2 of these bikes.
Gotta Love A Good DIY Motorcycle Trailer
Congratulations on both the bike build and the motorcycle trailer! Around here we like all kinds of DIY projects, whatever they are.
I do like the low point for connecting the hitch. I have heard that having a higher hitch point can make you feel of the trailer weight worse. And, I have also heard that having the trailer weight below a line of action can make the trailer more stable. Those are opposites.
To elaborate, if you draw a line from the point the trailer tire touches the ground to the hitch point on the motorcycle, they say you want the center of mass for the trailer below the line. That makes the hitch point pretty high.
Personally, I don’t know what to believe. However, it might be worth some experimentation to see if there is any truth to it. It is certainly opposite the other idea of keeping the hitch point low. To make a guess, if the hitch itself is torsionally very stiff, with no extra movement to clunk left and right as the weight shifts, I think it does not matter so much if the hitch is high or low.
I did some things a few years ago with bicycle trailers. We found making the hitch from a good solid U-Joint eliminated most of the objectionable motion when leaning. That is something to think about, but I don’t know if it is what you are feeling. The one-wheeled trailer certainly have more degrees of freedom when it comes to trailer stability.
I do like the kick-stands on the trailer. I think that is a great idea. Looks like they are nice and wide.
Thank You For Sending The Story
The whole motorcycle trailer looks great, and well built. For that matter, the motorcycle too. Definitely unique, in both look and function. Congratulations.
Keep up the good work! Keep thinking, and most of all, keep building!
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