Towing A Scooter With Rear Wheel Down

[crotchrocket3000]

Hi All,

My bike has broken down and I'm off to look at an Aprilia Mojito 125 as a short term replacement. I have a carrier for the back of my car, where you just put the front wheel of the bike on it and 'drag' the rear wheel. It works great on my VN, but would this mess up anything in the auto box of the scooter???? I just seem to remember you can't tow an automatic car, is it the same for a bike?

[hayasakiman]

I believe the centrifugal clutch works/engages with engine running.
It shall not engage with aft wheel spinning.

I don't think it will mess up anything.

[crotchrocket3000]

Thanks for the swift reply!!

This is my rig!



The distance is only about 5 miles.

[cdwise]

Hmm, a Mojito is small enough it might fit in the back of that Range Rover.

[Forde]

you can put a scooter in the back of that rangie i wouldnt even bother towing it.

[CaseyJones]

Originally Posted by hayasakiman

I believe the centrifugal clutch works/engages with engine running.
It shall not engage with aft wheel spinning.

I don't think it will mess up anything.

There are needle bearings in the assembly between the driven cup and the driving clutch shoes.

Those are not supposed to be turning at any speed faster than idle and only for short periods. When the clutch is engaged, there's no motion between the two assemblies; the needle bearings don't move at all.

If you drag a scoot behind, you'll have those bearings spinning at many times their design speed for much, much longer than intended. Probably they'll burn up after an hour or so...what then? Maybe you'll be spinning the engine and never know it; more likely you'll shred the drive belt. In any event it'll be messy and expensive.

[JerryH]

I am not familiar with the Aprilia Mojito 125, but I wouldn't do it. I would not tow any bike that way, other than a chain driven bike with the chain removed. Even a chain drive bike (with the chain on it) turns part of the transmission, and I wonder what would happen if you hit a bump and knocked it into gear? I suppose you could pull the clutch all the way in, and fasten it there somehow, but I still wouldn't do it. There are hitch receivers for smaller bikes (I used to have one that fit my F150, so I could haul my dirt bike with the camper shell on it) and for bigger bikes, I would just use a flatbed trailer, load the bike on it, and tie it down.

[JerryH]

I am not familiar with the Aprilia Mojito 125, but I wouldn't do it. I would not tow any bike that way, other than a chain driven bike with the chain removed. Even a chain drive bike (with the chain on it) turns part of the transmission, and I wonder what would happen if you hit a bump and knocked it into gear? I suppose you could pull the clutch all the way in, and fasten it there somehow, but I still wouldn't do it. There are hitch receivers for smaller bikes (I used to have one that fit my F150, so I could haul my dirt bike with the camper shell on it) and for bigger bikes, I would just use a flatbed trailer, load the bike on it, and tie it down.

Ah yes, now I remember the Mojito. It was a Honda Joker copy. I always liked the Joker, and wish that they had sold them in the U.S. They are one of the most popular Chinese copies sold here.

[fullmetalscooter]

why? a 1 ton cargo moving van is 20 bucks in most places. an u haul motorcycle trailer is 15 bucks. better yet spend the cash for a good sam membership for 80 bucks and get your rv and 2 other bikes towed. I m cetain your going go damage the auto trans because it will engage once your hit around 10 mph. A hitch mounted tow cost 200 bucks . One of the ones that your roll you bike on to. If your wield you can make on yourself in 2 hours an 50 bucks of metal

[hayasakiman]

Originally Posted by CaseyJones

There are needle bearings in the assembly between the driven cup and the driving clutch shoes.

Those are not supposed to be turning at any speed faster than idle and only for short periods. When the clutch is engaged, there's no motion between the two assemblies; the needle bearings don't move at all.

If you drag a scoot behind, you'll have those bearings spinning at many times their design speed for much, much longer than intended. Probably they'll burn up after an hour or so...what then? Maybe you'll be spinning the engine and never know it; more likely you'll shred the drive belt. In any event it'll be messy and expensive.

I was not aware of such needle bearing used.

To the OP:
I'm sorry, it seems like I misinformed you.

[bandito2]

Originally Posted by CaseyJones

There are needle bearings in the assembly between the driven cup and the driving clutch shoes.

Those are not supposed to be turning at any speed faster than idle and only for short periods. When the clutch is engaged, there's no motion between the two assemblies; the needle bearings don't move at all.

If you drag a scoot behind, you'll have those bearings spinning at many times their design speed for much, much longer than intended. Probably they'll burn up after an hour or so...what then? Maybe you'll be spinning the engine and never know it; more likely you'll shred the drive belt. In any event it'll be messy and expensive.

I disagree with the supposition that the needle bearings would fail because of higher than normal rotation speed. (a set of ball bearings is also included in the assembly) Heat, debris, excessive vibration, overloading and/or lack of lubrication are the usual culprits in bearing failure which are not likely in this scenario. Bearings would soon fail even after normal use if they were to be only as durable as was claimed. I've not known these bearings to ever fail but if they have, it has been a rare event.

The drive belt only moves when the engine is turning; so while towing, it is not likely that the engine would be running; therefore it could not possibly shred with the scooter being towed because the belt would not be moving.

However, even with that said, I would not recommend towing a scooter that small long distances in that way. Mostly because of scooter tire speed rating issues but shorter trips would probably be O.K. IMO. I understand that backing up the tow vehicle with a bike hooked up in that way can be tricky as was discussed in a different forum I frequent.

So, short distance tows or extended tows at scooter tire rated speeds shouldn't be a problem.

[Forde]

Originally Posted by fullmetalscooter

why? a 1 ton cargo moving van is 20 bucks in most places. an u haul motorcycle trailer is 15 bucks

costs a LOT more than that to hire stuff in uk. 20 an hour maybe lol

[Dabears]

The OP said he was looking to tow it 5 miles- I'm taking it to mean that he's trying to sort a way to get it home from the place he buys it.

Maybe I misunderstood, but it sounds like everybody is offering opinions based on assumption that he's wanting to do this regularly. Not sure there's logic to buying another hitch mounted tow rack for a one time deal just to get a scooter home??

[fullmetalscooter]

Originally Posted by Forde

costs a LOT more than that to hire stuff in uk. 20 an hour maybe lol

Yah but you ve got so many old scooter and bikes there that I would love to ride. One of the classic motorcycle clubs there offers a day course for 100 pounds where you can ride a host of old bikes including a 1915 triumph. You ve even get far more scooters there new that we ll never see. Burgman 125 and 250 etc. I guess you also laught when we bitch about gas costing 1.41 canadain a L this summer and it's down to 1.29.9 today. Must be 4 to 5 bucks over there.

[cdwise]

Originally Posted by Dabears

The OP said he was looking to tow it 5 miles- I'm taking it to mean that he's trying to sort a way to get it home from the place he buys it.

Maybe I misunderstood, but it sounds like everybody is offering opinions based on assumption that he's wanting to do this regularly. Not sure there's logic to buying another hitch mounted tow rack for a one time deal just to get a scooter home??

Not everyone, at least 2 of us said to just put it in the back of the Rover. The Mojito is a small lowish scooter and would most likely fit though you might need to put the back seat down. Take it out and it would definitely fit.