Trailer towing question

[BamaDrifter64]

I went the other day and purchased a used trailer to tow behind my I/S that was about 45 miles away from me.  Before I left, I aired up both tires on my bike, 40/42.  Rode to the guy's house with no problems.  Hitched up the trailer and headed home.  Now the Harley genius, who had just taken the trailer on a 6K mile trip, had ruined the trailer tires by putting SIXTY pounds of air in each of the 8" tires.  Needless to say, a nice bald strip in the middle of each tire that otherwise was in almost new condition.  He told me they still tracked fine, no problems with the ride of the trailer with them.  Got out on the highway and at around 65 mph, my bike started a nice shaking motion.  Easing it back down, it would go away.  Trailer is empty and is a fiberglass model.  Took it easy the rest of the way home and just assumed it was the trailer tires.  However, the next day, I saw my rear tire on my bike was half-flat.  Now I'm wondering if I picked up a nail or screw on the way there and the shaking was coming from the low rear tire.  Anyone experience either of the conditions above that can advise?  Don't know why I'm asking, I'm going to have to replace all 3 tires anyway - guess I'm just curious on a Friday afternoon!

Dave

[roboto65]

I bet that flat had alot to do with it !!!

[F-106]

You bring up a good question. i would say the bike tire was the problem. however if you never towed a trailer behind a bike before you will find yourself noticing the ride will be a bit differant from what you are use to. tire pressure is just a important as it is on the bike. tongue weight  will also affect the handleing of the trailer. over time you will learn how to load it and adjust the tire pressure to your needs. play with it and see what happens. you may want to inspect and repace the wheel bearings ao at least you know were you stand. good luck.

[R J]

Depends on how low your rear tire was.   Doubt it was or is the problem.

You get most of your sway from not enough tonque weight.

I'm guessing the ball (tongue on the bike) was higher than the back end of the trailer, hence the sway.........

Get them both the same height unloaded, then when you load it up it will have sufficient tongue weight to run down he road at speed and you just might forget it is here until you go to STOP.   OH, ya might have to have the tongue stepped.  A good welder knows what that means.   Be sure he puts a flat plate on the inside of the tongue (both sides) after cutting and welding to stiffen it up.

[fudgie]

Fix your bike tire and run it with the trailer again. Don't put alot of air in the trailer tires. It will bounce on ya to much. Also check the trailer bearings. Mine we shot after the 68th.

[CajunRider]

Some ideas from my trailer-ing experiences...

- Fix your tires...    Low pressure can cause a wiggle, even without a trailer.

- Make sure the trailer sits level when unloaded.  (Stepped hitched was mentioned above.)

- The "Golden Rule" to how long the tongue should be is "generally" twice the width of the axle.  Too short causes a wiggle. 

- Tongue weight makes the biggest difference of all three previous things... combined... Tongue weight should be 10-15% of total trailer weight, including cargo.  (Higher is acceptable as long as your hitch can handle it.)  For now you can try loading a little weight into the trailer (say... 20 lbs worth of stuff) as far forward as possible and give it a test run.  That should put enough tongue weight to tell you if the trailer is just off balance when empty. 

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

Depends on how low your rear tire was.   Doubt it was or is the problem.

You get most of your sway from not enough tonque weight.

I'm guessing the ball (tongue on the bike) was higher than the back end of the trailer, hence the sway.........

Get them both the same height unloaded, then when you load it up it will have sufficient tongue weight to run down he road at speed and you just might forget it is here until you go to STOP.   OH, ya might have to have the tongue stepped.  A good welder knows what that means.   Be sure he puts a flat plate on the inside of the tongue (both sides) after cutting and welding to stiffen it up.

+1 to all the above

[mikeb]

you stated you checked your tires  you might have a stuck valve core i would check this first .. use the spit ball on the finger to see if you have a small leak .. as most have posted low tire will cause odd things to act weird ..i work for a company that makes the truck drivers check their tire pressures two times a day and we have found that its common to cause a small leak checking the tires this offen. we now use caps call v2bs their medal sealing test caps ..
i know your pain i drove past dayton ohio to het my valk and the rear tire only had 15 lbs of air in it so i aired it up and headed home the next week the bike had a bad vibe again the tire was low again.founf a bolt in the tread i went to the dark side after that

[Ken Tarver]

yep, those little tires have a 60psi maximum on the sidewall, i run 21 psi in my 12" tires on the escapade trailer.

be really carefull when pulling a trailer and a little ole lady pulls out in front of you. if you swerve hard to avoid her, and then push back on the opposite grip to straighten up the bike, the trailer is still trying to push you in the 1st direction you pushed on the grip to swerve around. the momentum of the trailer in the 1st direction may slam you down hard on the pavement. better than t-boning the little ole ladie's car though.

Ken

[PatrickDoss]

I would suspect the bike air pressure first, then the tongue weight, then the tongue height.  We've got a Hitch-Doc hitch on the I/S, and pull a borrowed Bushtec trailer.  Even with the proper tongue weight, it sways the bike a little.  The front of the trailer is lower than the back, but maybe not as low as it would be with a Bushtec hitch.  It really starts above 65mph or so.  We've found by lowering the FRONT tire pressure a little (about 10%), it allows it to grip the road better, and not be so susceptible to the forces from the trailer.  It still does it, just not as bad.  Again, we borrow the trailer from a friend, and only twice in the last 2 years, so it's not worth it to us to get all the "proper" equipment ($$$$$).

[Ken Tarver]

what is your usual tongue weight? I pack the heaviest items right over the wheels, and every thing else to the rear and front of that. No more than 25LBS tongue weight for me.

Using the Bushtec trailer....do you adjust the trailer suspension to get the wheels vertical?

Ken

[PatrickDoss]

what is your usual tongue weight? I pack the heaviest items right over the wheels, and every thing else to the rear and front of that. No more than 25LBS tongue weight for me.

Using the Bushtec trailer....do you adjust the trailer suspension to get the wheels vertical?

Ken

You actually want the wheels tilted out slightly at the top with it loaded.  Going down the road, they become vertical from the down-force.  Or something like that.  We just get the trailer owner to do it before we leave  .

Edit: I just realized you may have been asking me about the tongue weight.  It was recommended that it be 10-15% of the total weight of the loaded trailer.  Most of the time on the Bushtec, if you have the cooler on the tongue and have it loaded with ice and some drinks, that's enough.  Then just spread everything out equally in the trailer.  If you don't have the cooler package, the trailer weighs about 350lbs. loaded, I think, so you'd want somewhere between 35-50lbs. tongue weight.  Again, or something like that   .

[Ken Tarver]

yeah, i've heard of the 10-15% factor before, for me, 2-up plus another 35-50 lbs additional weight for tongue weight on the back of the bike is too much for me, I've always held to the no more than 25lbs and it has worked well for thousands of miles. THATS ON THE BIKE, NOT TRUCKS/CARS.  I've pulled the Cycle Mate cheap economy trailer (which I wish I still had) and now have the overly priced Escapade. Both have pulled very well with out the wiggles. That's just me, not trying to argue, it's just my way of loading and has worked for me.
Ken