Who tows a trailer?

[Holy Roller]

Even with all the extra luggage space the old girl comes with I have seen a few choice trailers for bikes. What is it like to tow a trailer behind a bike?
The tent just doesn't fit in any luggage space or the bed roll. May even be able to take a few extra creature comforts along for the ride.

[phantom]

a couple of weeks ago I saw a Goldwing or something similar towing a bloody huge trailer, bigger than you see behind some cars. Must have been a bugger in the wet or if you wanted to stop in a hurry. Don't know what the legalities are ( someone on here obviously will )

[badlieutenant]

i always thought one of these would be great (http://www.uni-go.com/) and heres a link to a site that gives a bit of history and testimonials from motorcycletrader (http://www.photoalbum.co.nz/business/trader.htm)

[Lou Girardin]

One of our customers uses a Unigo as swears by it. I couldn't come to terms with a trailer on a bike though. Next thing, I'd being scarfing hot dogs and gnats piss beer, hanging Old Glory off a flag pole and voting for George Dubya.

[vifferman]

Having had extensive trailering experience in my professional sheep-shagger days, trailers can be tricky if the weight isn't balanced just right: too little weight on the towbar and the trailer will fishtail, causing the back of the bike to wag; too much, and it makes the steering light.

As far as I know, trailers on bikes are legal, but they are not allowed to exceed a certain weight and shouldn't be heavier than x% (don't know offhand) of the bike's weight. One of the most important facors will be getting the tow hitch set up right on the bike, especially these days when rear subframes are quite lightweight.

[Paul in NZ]

One thing to remember...

If you are towing a trailer you are not allowed to do 100kph on the open road. It's either 80 or 90kph. Thus if you get pinged at 120 or 130 you are in serious trouble.

Cheers

[bugjuice]

got this photo from a recent rallye in the UK..

I had wondered about towing on a bike before, myself. I've seen heaps of bikes doing it, so can't be that bad

[badlieutenant]

Having had extensive trailering experience in my professional sheep-shagger days, trailers can be tricky if the weight isn't balanced just right: too little weight on the towbar and the trailer will fishtail, causing the back of the bike to wag; too much, and it makes the steering light.

As far as I know, trailers on bikes are legal, but they are not allowed to exceed a certain weight and shouldn't be heavier than x% (don't know offhand) of the bike's weight. One of the most important facors will be getting the tow hitch set up right on the bike, especially these days when rear subframes are quite lightweight.
I think the advantage of the unigo is that it submits mass to your bikewhen accelorating and braking but has little effect on handling. The bike doesnt support its static weight. My guess is that one of these trailers would be better than a full pack rack but heavier if that makes sense. Be ideal for hitchers type of bike.
the testimonials page has some guys testing it in europe at 230km/hr

[Holy Roller]

One of our customers uses a Unigo as swears by it. I couldn't come to terms with a trailer on a bike though. Next thing, I'd being scarfing hot dogs and gnats piss beer, hanging Old Glory off a flag pole and voting for George Dubya.
After parting with $3500 odd dollars I'd swear by it also. Though I did see one at the Gisborne rally and was impressed by the clean lines and the way that it tracked behind the bike.

[dhunt]

got this photo from a recent rallye in the UK..

I had wondered about towing on a bike before, myself. I've seen heaps of bikes doing it, so can't be that bad
Do they come with a reverse gear?? I'm sure that must be hardwork trying to navigate round on at low speed such as round town, parking etc.

[bugjuice]

Do they come with a reverse gear?? I'm sure that must be hardwork trying to navigate round on at low speed such as round town, parking etc.
I was thinking that..
Was also wondering about if you went a bit quicker than the trailer could grip round a corner, what'd happen to the back of the bike...

[Biff]

I wonder what would happen if you pulled a stoppie....

[James Deuce]

One thing to remember...

If you are towing a trailer you are not allowed to do 100kph on the open road. It's either 80 or 90kph. Thus if you get pinged at 120 or 130 you are in serious trouble.

Cheers

I think it's 50kph for a bike trailer combo, though no one obeys. An American Chap came here to tour round NZ and got pinged and jailed briefly for exceeding the speed limit by more than 60kph. He'd just done Australia "no worries" and was a bit mystified that the rules were so different here.

I will check and post back, because 50kph puts it in the "why bother?" bin.

[bugjuice]

I wonder what would happen if you pulled a stoppie....
you'd pull a 'jack-knife'.. then a trailer up the arse..

[James Deuce]

The speed limit pdf link on the LTNZ site is broken, so I'll check back later.

[Eurodave]

I, along with my now deceased son, helped develop the Uni Go bike trailers
We made the first 3x molds & then the first run of 43x UniGo bodies/lids & rear cowls
My wife & I did a North Island tour a couple of years back on our Guzzi to the 20th anniversary Sidecar Owners Rally @ Waitomo
Man, we were loaded up,"took everything but the kitchen sink" as the saying goes
Apart from the extra fuel used, lots more weight when balancing/doing the occasional U turn & longer stopping distances etc I hardly knew it was there.
The only times it reminded me were when it went into big road dips & it gave a bit of a jerk & when spotting speed limit signs,slow down to 90k!!!
We covered over 2000 miles those 10 days & apart from a broken throttle cable ,had a virtually trouble free trip
I went away a sceptic & returned a believer

[Waylander]

Eep, no thanks I'll stick with just saddle bags.

[F5 Dave]

Buy a car, you obviously have too much gear. Why on earth having found the freedom of a bike do you want to hinder it with the extra weight?

If you are going on a rally but want to tour later - courier the tent etc home from the next motel you stay at. $3500 will help you buy some decent gear (small light tent, Givi soft or hard luggage, tank bag) and upgrade to a bike that can carry it to boot.

Crumbs, next it will be sidecars, sheesh!

[jed4czar]

I, along with my now deceased son, helped develop the Uni Go bike trailers
We made the first 3x molds & then the first run of 43x UniGo bodies/lids & rear cowls
My wife & I did a North Island tour a couple of years back on our Guzzi to the 20th anniversary Sidecar Owners Rally @ Waitomo
Man, we were loaded up,"took everything but the kitchen sink" as the saying goes
Apart from the extra fuel used, lots more weight when balancing/doing the occasional U turn & longer stopping distances etc I hardly knew it was there.
The only times it reminded me were when it went into big road dips & it gave a bit of a jerk & when spotting speed limit signs,slow down to 90k!!!
We covered over 2000 miles those 10 days & apart from a broken throttle cable ,had a virtually trouble free trip
I went away a sceptic & returned a believer

I'm trying to see if these are still available. The reason I need one is to carry around the gear I need to make a living (TO ANSWER THE PREVIOUS QUERY). Can anybody give me the internal dimensions, Size of the hatch and whether I can get one in NZ?