Dual Sport Trailer assembly thread

[ben2go]

There is also farm supply houses like Tractor Supply.

[Curtis in Texas]

Mine!
I'm using an 8 inch wheel for now, but the swingarm was built for a 12 inch mag wheel. The rear fender and tail lights are off my 06 KLR and I made a rack over it in case I want to take a spare tire or lash down a bag or cooler on the rear over the rear wheel.
The shock and spring is off a Honda 125. I made the frame and powder coated it to match my bikes bars in my shop. Since I make my own crash bars it was a no brainer. The box is a left over lightweight plastic box I used to carrying parts in my 4X4 truck.

I made the hitch draw bar on the bike to be removable from sleeves welded under the pannier rack. It is held in with two detent pins and the panniers have to be removed for the detent pins to be removed. The drawbar is 4 layers of tubing, one inside of the other, like plywood, that are spot welded together in several places. The hitch itself is a regular car hitch pin and tractor impliment sleeves from Tractor Supply welded through a 1 1/2 thick wall square tubing. The Impliment sleeves are heavy wall DOM tubing with tight clearances at the pins!
The vertical hitch rotation is built onto the the draw bar and I added a grease zerk top to keep it slick, and the horizontal axis is built into the tip of the trailer tounge. The weight of the trailer is low so it doesn't try and lay me over going slow around corners. The balance is almost perfect, loaded or packed.



It pulls so well I forget it's back there. I have upgraded the KLR's brakes to dual piston calipers so stopping it is not a big problem. All the lights are LED and it has turn signals too. I made a spring loaded center stand for the front of the trailer strong enough for me to sit on the trailer at the camp sights when it's unhooked off the bike and the trailer box lid makes an excellet food prep and kitchen table. The 12 in trailer wheel should give me plenty of ground clearance over anything I will want to ride over to get to a campsight. Plus I mounted a bicycle rack on it so I can mount my mountain bike on the trailer and haul my mountain bike with me when the Grandkids want me to come over and ride with them at their house. Or take my bicycle camping with me!

I know, I really need to take some better pictures!

[Patrick46]

Excellent work!!!

[Not the Messiah]

Is it my imagination or is Curtis' KLR unit the first one we've seen with the "universal joint" hitch the right way round?

I built a single wheel "tag-along" for my bicycle years ago when No. 3 Son was tiny. Because it was easy, I made the hitch with the horizontal axis fixed to the bike and the vertical to the trailer. I decided this was wrong after using it for a bit: When the trailer is turned 90° to the bike, it falls over (or as far as the uni joint lets it). AND the bike is forced to the vertical position by the trailer.
If the hitch has the vertical axis fixed to the bike, and the horizontal to the trailer, the trailer can turn 90° and be held upright by the bike. And the bike can lean over onto it's kickstand.
For some reason the commerically available 3rd wheelers all have the joint the "wrong". I'm stuffed if I know why. I guess most of them are road oriented and don't do awkward manouvres like really tight turns - like U turns on trails.

Have any of you builders of mo'cycle 3rd wheelers dealt with this issue?

Cheers
Brian

[lonewolf97]

I cut down a 2 wheel jet ski trailer and pull it behind my roadking.
It has a 1 7/8 ball hitch. I have an idea for a frame hitch for my dr to fit a ball on to pull the little trailer. Just haven't had the time or cash to track down a custom fabricator to make it.
A ball hitch wouldn't work for a single wheel trailer tho.
I don't have any problems with tipping, low speed u turns or the bike on the kick stand. Trailer is 32" wide and can go most places I can go with my bikes. The gameplan is to carry my camp gear on the trailer to a campsite. Unhook and ride usind my campsite as basecamp.

[Patrick46]

Originally Posted by lonewolf97

A ball hitch wouldn't work for a single wheel trailer tho.

Can't understand why not???

You could always put a swivel on the neck...

[Danger4u2]

The swivel in the tongue keeps a 2 wheeled trailer from flipping if the towing bike falls over.
Some bikes will lean farther than the ball will allow, so a swivel makes up for that.
Vertical (v) and horizontal (h) axis must be tied to the bike with a single wheel trailer or it would fall over.
A u- joint is the best way to control v/h axis.

[Patrick46]

Originally Posted by lonewolf97

A ball hitch wouldn't work for a single wheel trailer tho.

Duhhhhhhhhhh.......sorry folks!!

(I try and read things better FIRST before posting next time!)

[k-moe]

Originally Posted by Patrick46

Duhhhhhhhhhh.......sorry folks!!

(I try and read things better FIRST before posting next time!)

Won't that break one or more rules of the internets?

[Curtis in Texas]

Originally Posted by Not the Messiah

Is it my imagination or is Curtis' KLR unit the first one we've seen with the "universal joint" hitch the right way round?

I built a single wheel "tag-along" for my bicycle years ago when No. 3 Son was tiny. Because it was easy, I made the hitch with the horizontal axis fixed to the bike and the vertical to the trailer. I decided this was wrong after using it for a bit: When the trailer is turned 90° to the bike, it falls over (or as far as the uni joint lets it). AND the bike is forced to the vertical position by the trailer.
If the hitch has the vertical axis fixed to the bike, and the horizontal to the trailer, the trailer can turn 90° and be held upright by the bike. And the bike can lean over onto it's kickstand.
For some reason the commerically available 3rd wheelers all have the joint the "wrong". I'm stuffed if I know why. I guess most of them are road oriented and don't do awkward manouvres like really tight turns - like U turns on trails.

Have any of you builders of mo'cycle 3rd wheelers dealt with this issue?

Cheers
Brian

I've always built my trailers this way. Mainly because when I was in my 20's I worked for a Trailer Fabrication Company that built one wheel dual bike trailers for apartment dwellers. It was a slick set up. The single wheel was between the two bike rails near the rear of the rails. The hitch was a monsterous square tubing design that was super beefy. the best part about them was the tie down arms were keyed and easily removable. And that made the trailer 34 inches wide so it would fit through a 36 inch doorway real easy and store on the balcony patio on it's end really easy.They could carry two motorcycles, but you had to load one backwards to get them to fit right. But that's when a 650 cc bike was a monster!
Anyway, their hitches used the same axis configuration as the one I built for my trailer. It leans exactly the same angle as my bike in turns whether fast or slow.


That Company also made a rear single carrier for motorhomes that lowered as it swung out from the vehicle on one end to load a bike on.
It had an angled plate welded to the pivot pin that did the lowering and lifting as it rotated. Then after you strapped the bike to the rail you'd push the bike and rail at the lowered end back towarfd the vehicle and it would raise the bike back up to the bumper height and latch into a beefy plate and latch. It was so slick! They added a roller skate wheel to the tip of the lowered rail so it would push easier with the bikes weight on the rail. It was so simple to raise a bike up to the road position I'm surprised they didn't set the Industry Standard for motorcycle carrier.

We made thousands of them. The Snowbird Retired Crowd loved them for hauling their little Hondas and Yamahas behind their Motorcoaches.
The carrier attached to the ends of the back frame rails with a set of reciever hitches so the Owners could still haul a trailer like normal or pull a Towed!

Been thinking of making me one so can load a single bike to the back of my vehicles without having to mess with a trailer. They would make those single rail reciever hitches on the market now look like childs toys.

The Company was called "Red Ant Motorcycle Carriers". I did a Patent Search to see if I could find it and turned up nothing on the Original Company or their design.

Too bad all the Original designers and Welders have all died now too.

[rw4x4van]

Originally Posted by Curtis in Texas

I've always built my trailers this way. Mainly because when I was in my 20's I worked for a Trailer Fabrication Company that built one wheel dual bike trailers for apartment dwellers. It was a slick set up. The single wheel was between the two bike rails near the rear of the rails. The hitch was a monsterous square tubing design that was super beefy. the best part about them was the tie down arms were keyed and easily removable. And that made the trailer 34 inches wide so it would fit through a 36 inch doorway real easy and store on the balcony patio on it's end really easy.They could carry two motorcycles, but you had to load one backwards to get them to fit right. But that's when a 650 cc bike was a monster!
Anyway, their hitches used the same axis configuration as the one I built for my trailer. It leans exactly the same angle as my bike in turns whether fast or slow.




That Company also made a rear single carrier for motorhomes that lowered as it swung out from the vehicle on one end to load a bike on.
It had an angled plate welded to the pivot pin that did the lowering and lifting as it rotated. Then after you strapped the bike to the rail you'd push the bike and rail at the lowered end back towarfd the vehicle and it would raise the bike back up to the bumper height and latch into a beefy plate and latch. It was so slick! They added a roller skate wheel to the tip of the lowered rail so it would push easier with the bikes weight on the rail. It was so simple to raise a bike up to the road position I'm surprised they didn't set the Industry Standard for motorcycle carrier.

We made thousands of them. The Snowbird Retired Crowd loved them for hauling their little Hondas and Yamahas behind their Motorcoaches.
The carrier attached to the ends of the back frame rails with a set of reciever hitches so the Owners could still haul a trailer like normal or pull a Towed!

Been thinking of making me one so can load a single bike to the back of my vehicles without having to mess with a trailer. They would make those single rail reciever hitches on the market now look like childs toys.

The Company was called "Red Ant Motorcycle Carriers". I did a Patent Search to see if I could find it and turned up nothing on the Original Company or their design.

Too bad all the Original designers and Welders have all died now too.

How about these
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3760965.pdf

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3760965.html

[Curtis in Texas]

Originally Posted by rw4x4van

How about these
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3760965.pdf

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3760965.html

You are a Genius Sir! That's the carrier we built.

The Trailer was cool too, but I'm going to have to look for it later. Heasded out the door for Fathers Day Cookout!

[rw4x4van]

Originally Posted by Curtis in Texas

You are a Genius Sir! That's the carrier we built.

The Trailer was cool too, but I'm going to have to look for it later. Heasded out the door for Fathers Day Cookout!