Tow Bar and Trailer.

Some of you might find this interesting, some of you will find it sacrilege, and some if you will think I'm crazy! Here goes...

Well it all started with bloody Jamie Oliver. He's organised a music and foodie festival in a couple of weeks, so me and Mrs bigmal are going. Ali is dead set on us taking the bike - good for her. But she's also hell bent on taking a dome tent, sleeping bag, festival cooker, folding chair, etc etc. 

with my size 12 feet, even a few pairs of socks fill one pannier . So I decided I needed one of these....



Scored the one here for £399, and even if I change my mind, I'm sure I could get that back if I sold it. It's made by Watsonian Squire, of sidecar fame. 

My main challenge was finding a towbar.... First I tried bending some steel conduit and making my own.... Epic fail. If anyone wants an art installation for their garden, let me know.... The tangled mess on my drive is going spare.

Then a mate volunteered that his bro runs a little metal fabrication shop - result!
So, took the bike over to his shop a couple of days ago to figure  out a design.  Originally I had thought to bolt it into the passenger foot peg mount, but the right hand side would have needed to sweep out by 50mm to  clear the swingarm. 

So instead, we went for the option of mounting to the good old fender bolts, and after a few hours, he had made this.



Little bit industrial looking.... I would have preferred tube, but he said this would be stronger. All he wanted  for his time and materials was £45... What a bargain. My main contribution to the design was suggesting the horizontal plate be set back and rounded to a D, as you see in the pic, rather than being left square and flush with the towbar side arms. I'll be very glad of that first time I crack my shin on it!

So today I had a trial fit... Had to bend the arms in a little, but all was well. 

I then rather nervously hooked up the trailer (sorry officer, I haven't connected the electrics yet) and hesitantly went down to the next village and back...l

Well the fact I'm sat on my sofa posting this, rather than lying in A&E says it all.  Amazing! The bike felt absolutely normal. I couldn't  feel the weight of the trailer. Cornering was smooth. The secret is that the trailer 'drawbar' can swivel through 360* so as the bike leans into a corner, the trailer stays firmly planted on two wheels.

Once it's painted, powder coated or whatever, I'll post some pics and a vid. But so far so good

Your a brave man in every sense of the word!!! cant wait to see finished product, get the misses to film you riding it so we can all laugh admire how well it works

Cool! that should work a treat   when you retire you'll be able to get a little grill in there and go round like a mobile butty bike selling Cumberland sausage butties 

ps. I'd have it sprayed Blue to match the bike 

Mmmmh!    I seem to recall a 'piss take' on a thread on here a few months back with regards to me getting one of these trailers to haul pigs around the place, yourself and Simbo being the main instigators if I remember rightly?    
My! My! Doesn't time change things eh?   

Seriously though, your mate wants to start thinking about patenting the towbar design and punting them off on before someone else beats him to it.

Nice on Mal - Look forward to seeing this in action.  Just a thought though - I know new car drivers need to take a test before they can tow.  What's the rules with Bikers?

Hmmmmm.... Don't know..... I've towed various trailers behind a car, and borrowed my folks caravan in the past. But a test? I hope not.... I think I'll quietly ignore that one.

Hey Justin... No bravery involved.... You really couldn't feel the trailer there, even in corners. I guess the main issue is to allow even more braking distance, what with our intruder brakes being so brilliant!

I kid you not, the bloke I bought it off had a goldwing, but said his daughter had towed it all the way to Spain behind a lambretta. Mention it to Chrissie... It might appeal

Mal strikes again....its a cracker

How exciting, I would be so happy to have a similar setup. Very well done Sir, would love to see a video as well.

Chrissy says F*CK OFF!! that's why my husband has panniers!!!! not sure what she means but she loves the fact you guys think of her!
Glad it works mal REALLY interesting idea, again PLEASE put vid up when you have it up and running I am dying to see how it goes, or bring it next month! Jo says we are of to France again

Good idea - I've seen a few around.  I'd never be in the situation to need one, but I wouldn't be adverse to using one.

Re licence

"

Licences held before 1 January 1997

If you passed your car test before 1 January 1997 you are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes MAM.
This is the weight of a vehicle or trailer including the maximum load that can be carried safely when it’s being used on the road.
You also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.

Licences held from 1 January 1997

If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary category B (car) licence, you can:

• drive a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes or 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to750kg MAM
  
• tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined weight of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kgLicences issued from 19 January 2013
  

From 19 January 2013, drivers passing a category B (car and small vehicle) test can tow:

• small trailers weighing no more than 750kg
  
• a trailer over 750kg as long as the combined weight of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM)"
  

I know this has caught a few drivers out.  Here's something else you may want to be aware of


"

Towing with a motorbike

You can use motorbikes with an engine size of 125cc or more to tow small trailers.
Your motorbike has to be clearly and permanently marked with its ‘kerbside weight’.
Kerbside weight is the weight of the vehicle without passengers or any load but with a full tank of fuel and filled up with the necessary oils, water and fluids.
The trailer must be no more than 1 metre wide and must be clearly and permanently marked with its unladen weight.
When the trailer is loaded it must weigh no more than 150 kilograms or 2/3 of the kerbside weight of the motorbike - whichever is lighter.
When hitched, the distance between the end of the trailer and the rear axle of the motorbike must be no more than 2.5 metres."


But I'm guessing if it's made by Watsonian, then they'll have designed it to comply.


Looking forward to seeing the results 

Skids in the garage knocking some bits of twig together with elastic & rope as we speak! He'll be breaking pallets up in the morning and measuring up for a sheep carrier without doubt, watch your grand children's prams folks, He'll be on the prowl for a sub frame & wheels!

We have some Black sheep going for a BAAAAAArgain locally! stop dribbling skid

Thanks for the gen on the licence a Dave r. I'm almost embarrassed to say I passed both my car and bike tests exactly 40 years ago  so easily fit into the first category!

The trailer is only 800mm wide which is exactly the same as my panniers.

hawktheslayer wrote:

..... bring it next month! Jo says we are of to France again

What! France? Next month? Ooh la la!  First I've heard of it.... But who knows...

I doubt there's many forum members who fit in the last category !!!  Really interesting project Mal - all the best with it

katsd wrote:

I doubt there's many forum members who fit in the last category !!!  Really interesting project Mal - all the best with it

I'm obviously too young to fit into that category    I was a slow starter with the car   That was 32 years ago   Bike test? there's a bike test? I thought we could just ride! 

DONT laugh, HE really is NOT joking

simbo wrote:

Skids in the garage knocking some bits of twig together with elastic & rope as we speak!

Elastic & rope pffft!    Not much of a D.I.Y.er are you?     Its duct tape and baling cord you need, you can build yourself a rocket to the moon with that stuff!

Skidalot wrote:

simbo wrote:

Skids in the garage knocking some bits of twig together with elastic & rope as we speak!

Elastic & rope pffft!    Not much of a D.I.Y.er are you?     Its duct tape and baling cord you need, you can build yourself a rocket to the moon with that stuff!

I like it!  It's funny how all the best idea's come out late at night?  

Skidalot wrote:

simbo wrote:

Skids in the garage knocking some bits of twig together with elastic & rope as we speak!

Elastic & rope pffft!    Not much of a D.I.Y.er are you?     Its duct tape and baling cord you need, you can build yourself a rocket to the moon with that stuff!

My old man was a great DIY.er and always swore by Duct tape and WD40. If it moves and shouldn't - duct tape.  If it doesn't move and should - WD40

My best friend from school used to call his dad "sellotape man".... Just like your dad but didn't like spending as much!!

I've often seen them on the US facebook sites but never one here-----YET! We'll be watching Mal for reports on what it handles like loaded etc & also fuel returns with & without the trailer.
I don't know if it works for bikes but on cars & vans if you have a towbar & electrics fitted then the electrics must work when the MoT is done & I believe that a trailer MUST have a rear fog light fitted that works & has the relevant switch so it can be switched on in adverse conditions. I advise you to check with your local MoT man Mal ok?

You'll be the envy of us all on the next camping trip Mal 

Pssst Sim, guess whos carrying all our luggage

No room for luggage mate.... I'll be bringing a gas fired barbecue based on how long it took you to light your briquettes 

Ps.... Fuel consumption? Don't care. It's like messing around working out how towing a caravan affects your cars mpg.... If you need to use the caravan, it's kinda irrelevant. 

Thanks for the fog light info Peter. Could be a right pita given that the bike doesn't have one, so no ready made switchgear and wire to tap into. :(

I wonder if I could hide the socket somewhere.... The towbar is only a 10 minute job to take off completely. That way, the mot man wouldn't even know about it.

Thanks Dave.... I'm feeling very lazy now.... That's two bits of research you've done in the last few days re this project which I probably should have done myself! Good news re the fog lamp... One less thing to worry about

You're welcome - just want to see a finished photo !!!!

Good job there Dave as I knew it was on the MoT list somewhere just not sure where or for what obviously!
I'm sure you won't need to hide the wiring much Mal as if you have bags on it can be hidden in one of them I'm sure?

Watching this with interest...

Just wondering how it will behave if you have to hammer the anchors on, having been overtaken by a cattle trailer I was towing with a Landy in the past I remember it as being a less than pleasant experience and I can't imagine it being any nicer on a bike.

Like any riding / driving - you adjust your riding according to the conditions / what you're carrying.  I'm assuming that when Mal's using the trailer, he'll be two-up, possibly with luggage as well so would be taking the extra weight / stopping distances into account & his riding would be different than when he's by himself.

katsd wrote:

Like any riding / driving - you adjust your riding according to the conditions / what you're carrying.  I'm assuming that when Mal's using the trailer, he'll be two-up, possibly with luggage as well so would be taking the extra weight / stopping distances into account & his riding would be different than when he's by himself.

Which is all well and good and I'd expect no less from any experienced rider or driver and I agree with you 100%

But there are times when some doyle on the road will do something that means your brakes and your ticker get a proper workout, we can take all the precautions in the world but that doent make us infallible.

Tbh I hope it behaves well because its a neat looking thing, plus it could be left locked up at a campsite/hotel while you go touring the area on the bike without being laden down with all your gear.

True - too true !!   I've experienced that sphincter tightening moment more than a few times due to no fault of my own.

OMG what a great trailer that is and an excellent fabrication of the tow bar.

So today I decided to do a few jobs to get the bike and trailer ready...

Here's a pic of the towbar powder coated, and with chrome towball added. I also fitted the socket for the trailer electrics onto the number plate bracket.



I used a couple of cable ties to clip the wire to the towbar frame, and then brought it up under the seat, and cut it to length, ready to tap into the wiring loom there.

The bit I was very wary of was hacking into my bikes electrics to wire in the socket for the trailer lights... So rather than using scotch locks, I got one of these automatic wire strippers from screwfix, which as well as being excellent as a wire stripper generally, can also strip insulation off the middle of a wire... It makes a very clean cut, but doesn't damage any of the wire core.



I used this to prep the wires then solder a joint. Apparently a really good way is to wrap the wire you are adding round the supply wire several times, then solder. But space was tight in the little loom, so I just settled for a butt joint., like this.



Here's the finished wiring... (By the way, the tapes just for insulation... The strength is in the soldered joint itself). The blue trailer wire is spare (reversing/fog light?).



Thanks to the wiring diagram on this brilliant forum, I was really pleased to find that I had picked up all the correct coloured wires and all stop/tail/indicator functions worked as planned on the trailer! Phew!

I know virtually nothing about the "theory" behind wiring, resistance, etc. but I just figured it would be less of a strain on the Suzuki loom to have the trailer run on LED lights. So I've got a pair of modern LED units, for £15.

I removed the old lights, and was baffled to find a big of a mess in the trailer wiring dept. 7 core trailer wiring uses standard colours, eg red for brakes, yellow for left indicator. Here's a pic of the connections...



Bottom left is the feed from the bike.... red has been cut... That should be brakes... But the brakes were working! So I suspect some diy Johnny has re-wired both lights and trailer plug with his own unique colour code. I've got a new cable and plug, and will hopefully re-wire it properly tomorrow.

Meanwhile i did a bit of tidying up on the trailer itself (the eBay seller had been very selective with his photos. Close up, there are lots of chips which I'll touch up another time). But for today I refurbished the hitch (which was tatty mainly due to a heavy bike lock having been left on it which has scuffed off the paint and caused it to rust). 

Before and after pics.




Eventually I'd like to take the body off completely and spray the chassis, but that will do for now!

There's also a little locking flap which hides the trailer  lid release....that was hanging off, and it's hinge was rusty... Before and after:






Well avid readers...l you'll have to wait a while for action pics of me towing, as I still need to sort the  lights and fit an undersized number plate to the gap between the lights. So that's all for now...

Well done Mal with making a silk purse out of a sow's ear!
Glad it all has gone well for you as I know you were a bit worried about it working ok. Plod on & you'll make a cracking job of it I'm sure!

Damn Mal that's REALLY impressive and seriously out of the norm for bike mods

Great job Mal

Well done Mal, when you get this up and running you'll be an Articulated Cruiser 

Goodness me what an excellent thread and write up. Looking forward to the video, with the greatest of interest now.

Excellent write up Mal, Good job done mate. I am well impressed with this, really opens up the possible uses of the bike & pulling a trailer just means a little mor caution, which I have no doubt you will give.

Well done Mal, good write up and pics.

Great job Mal   any chance of a pic of the bike with the trailer hitched up?

Yep, I'll grab some tomorrow evening... Forecast is better than today has turned out.

simbo wrote:

Great job Mal   any chance of a pic of the bike with the trailer hitched up?

How was the golf? you still handicapped by you

You still looking for the ball Sim ?

Flippin eck Mal, you have been doing some ace stuff last year or two. This is ace as well, from what I have seen of this so far, you need one very big pat on the back matey 

Cheers crash. Sorted the electrics on the trailer today, but by the time I'd finished it was pissing down so I didn't fancy doing a road test! Hopefully get a few pics and maybe some vid tomorrow.

As promised, here are some pics of the trailer hitched up. (Excuse the temporary number plate)











Mrs bigmal also shot a few secs of video on our old vid camera, and I'll download that to my Mac at work tomorrow, so you can see the handling.

it'll look better in the same colour of your bike Mal but looks good nonetheless!